He took it and pressed it lightly, not wholly trusting me. Then I left him, for I had no time to lose. To the Kremlin—that was my one thought as I sped. As luck would have it, at the very gate I stumbled on Maluta. The dwarf looked at me keenly and began to follow me, and I, impatient of him and not minded to be troubled with him, turned sharply.
“Be off, Maluta,” I said. “I have no time for you now—or use either.”
But he still followed. We were entering the Red Place and a second time I ordered him off, but he came on and plucked at my coat.
“You seek her,” he said, peering at me, white-faced and ferret-eyed; “you seek the Princess Daria?”
I started; was the thing unnatural in mind as well as body?
“Yes,” I said, “O astrologer, I seek the princess.”
“She is in the gardens of the Kremlin, serene excellency,” he said, bowing low.
I stared.
“Do you mean it, goblin?” I cried. “Is she really there? If this is a piece of your acting—of your trickery, you will pay dear for it!”
He laid his hands on his heart and then his forehead.