The Russian’s handsome, sensitive face relaxed responsively.
“Many people have said so, sir, who knew us both,” he replied.
“You wonder why I sent for you?”
“Yes, sir—naturally.”
“Naturally. And yet I myself scarcely know why I did so, except——”
He paused, and Boris waited. Not for long.
“Why didn’t you two trust me?”
Sir Robert’s deep voice quivered with poignant emotion, and, though he controlled his features, his eyes betrayed an agony of regret and reproach.
“I—I don’t know, sir,” stammered Boris. “I think—we—believed—feared that you were the enemy of our unhappy country; that—in your position——”
“I the enemy of Russia—of the real Russia? Paula could never have thought that.”