“Your Majesty, had I known that, I should have refrained from all comment, still less would I have dared to exact a kiss from——”
At this point he was interrupted by the Empress, eager to learn the result of the interview between Alexander and Wilfrid.
“The Czar spoke to you,” she said breathlessly. “What did he say or do?”
“He did precisely what I should have done if I possessed a wife and saw a stranger kiss her. He challenged me to a duel.”
The Czarina’s face showed signs of the liveliest disquietude; in her agitation she half rose from her seat.
“Oh, but you did not fight! You have not accepted!”
“Your Majesty, do not distress yourself. The duel has not come off—never will. Now, may I make so bold as to ask your Majesty what strange event befell you after leaving me. How came you to be in the Neva?”
The Czarina trembled, partly with fear, partly with indignation.
“The recollection turns me cold. I, the Czarina, to be handled so! They could not have known who I was. They could not have meant to kill their Empress. I was seized by four men; one pressed his palm upon my mouth—the others tied my hands and feet. It was the work of a few moments; then I was lifted up and flung into the river. I have a faint recollection of rising to the surface, of battling for life; but everything at this point fades away into oblivion. It seems like a dreadful dream.” She shuddered and added, “I am told by Prince Sumaroff that my life is due to you.”
“I—I had a hand in saving you,” said Wilfrid, referring to the second immersion, while she, of course, was thinking of the first—to her the only one. “I saw you floating on the water and brought you ashore.”