"I think so."
They strode rapidly from the museum through a major courtyard. Hank to the right and a step behind the uniformed guard.
The other was saying, "The Teremni preceded the Great Palace. One of its walls was used to become the rear of the later structure. We can enter it fairly freely."
They entered through another smaller doorway a hundred feet or more from the main entrance, climbed a short marble stairway and turned right down an ornate corridor, tapestry hung. They passed occasionally other uniformed guards, none of whom paid them any attention.
They passed through three joined rooms, each heavily furnished in Seventeenth Century style, each thick with icons. The guide brought them up abruptly at a small door.
He said, an air almost of defiance in his tone, "I go no further. Through this door and you are in the Great Palace, in the bathroom of the apartments of Catherine Second. You remember your maps?"
"Yes," Hank said.
"I hope so." The guard hesitated. "You are armed?"
"No. We were afraid that my things might be thoroughly searched. Had a gun been found on me, my mission would have been over then and there."
The guard produced a heavy military revolver, offered it butt foremost.