CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | A Modern Free-lance | [1] |
| II. | Baranoff’s Proposal | [10] |
| III. | The Inn of the Silver Birch | [22] |
| IV. | In the Princess’s Bed-chamber | [33] |
| V. | Discovered, or not Discovered? | [45] |
| VI. | Heiress to the Throne! | [54] |
| VII. | Wilfrid Defies the Czar | [63] |
| VIII. | A Charming Tête-à-Tête | [76] |
| IX. | A Document Missing | [88] |
| X. | The Document Found | [98] |
| XI. | “Thou Shalt Bruise His Heel” | [108] |
| XII. | A Grim Beginning of a Reign | [117] |
| XIII. | The Triumph of Baranoff | [129] |
| XIV. | In the Dead of Night | [137] |
| XV. | How Paul Died | [149] |
| XVI. | The Fall of the Regicides | [160] |
| XVII. | A Vow to Slay! | [172] |
| XVIII. | The Masquerade | [180] |
| XIX. | The Princess’s Kiss | [190] |
| XX. | Wilfrid Receives a Challenge | [201] |
| XXI. | “Your Opponent is an Emperor!” | [210] |
| XXII. | “This Duel must not be” | [221] |
| XXIII. | Wilfrid’s Abduction | [230] |
| XXIV. | The Figure in the Grey Domino | [241] |
| XXV. | The Doctor’s Plot | [246] |
| XXVI. | Without a Memory! | [254] |
| XXVII. | The Czar’s Portrait | [263] |
| XXVIII. | Pauline Repents | [271] |
| XXIX. | Wooing a Czarina | [280] |
| XXX. | Behind the Curtain | [287] |
| XXXI. | “I Belong to Wilfrid, not to You!” | [295] |
| XXXII. | Flight | [300] |
| XXXIII. | Reconciliation | [309] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| “Remain Here,” said the Duchess, Addressing Her Two Attendants | [Frontispiece] |
| Rising to His Feet and Holding the Lamp on High, Wilfrid Looked About Him | [34] |
| Wilfrid Drew His Own Blade and Assumed an Attitude of Defence | [299] |
BY NEVA’S WATERS
CHAPTER I
A MODERN FREE-LANCE
On a cold January night in the first year of the nineteenth century, a state ball, given by command of the fair young queen, Louisa, was held in the Royal Palace at Berlin.
Of those who attended this fête, many, chiefly of the masculine sex, were indifferent to polonaise or waltz, finding their entertainment in the galleries where, somewhat after the fashion of a modern restaurant, stood little tables, at which parties of two or more, while glancing at the dancers, could at the same time regale themselves with a supper and converse upon the topics of the day. This was a feature recently introduced by the Russian Count Wengersky, and though Court fossils stood aghast at the innovation, it had met with the approval of Queen Louisa and had brought immense popularity to the Count.