She slipped from his grasp and rose above the surface, fighting desperately for breath. A moment only was her white face visible; Baranoff had caught her again by the shoulders and the two immediately sank.
“The coward! He’ll drown her!” cried Wilfrid.
A few strokes brought him to the place of their disappearance. Fearing that she might rise no more Wilfrid swam downwards without coming upon either of them. Unable to hold his breath longer he rose to the surface and saw Baranoff, a few feet away, drifting with the current, still clinging to the Czarina.
“I’m drowning! I’m drowning!” he screamed in a paroxysm of terror.
In another moment Wilfrid and Ouvaroff were by his side.
“Let go your hold, or I’ll kill you!” said the furious Prince, and, clutching the Count by the back of his collar, he forced his head under the water, a diversion that caused Baranoff to relax his grasp, while at the same time Wilfrid seized the unconscious Czarina and holding her head above the surface, struck out immediately for the shore.
Prince Sumaroff, who had witnessed the catastrophe without being able to render any aid, descended the steps as Wilfrid drew near with his burden.
“I trust the lady lives,” he said preparing to assist her from the water.
“If not, Russia will mourn its Empress,” replied Wilfrid, revealing the Czarina’s face to the gaze of the petrified Prince.