He, not understanding the question, answered:
"The danger is not over yet, although the storm is certainly lessening, and, once lulled, the Neva will return to its bed; but until then much damage may yet ensue."
"It was not that I meant; but if he is still in any danger—he, the Czar!"
Pushkin was amazed. What interest could this girl, Bethsaba's friend, feel in the Czar?
"Danger at the hand of man cannot assail him, for Araktseieff has taken the most stringent measures for his protection. All those who were given shelter in the Winter Palace are being transferred to the Admiralty. Nay; at such a time his very foes, even had he any, would be the first to protect him."
"How can that be?" she asked, and waited for Pushkin's answer with the devout attention with which, in former times, the answers of the Oracle were received.
A secret instinct told Pushkin that he must answer in all sincerity.
"Because the feeling of 'humanity' is stronger than that of 'love of freedom.' It protects alike the serf when persecuted by the Czar, and the Czar when persecuted by the serf!"
The two girls heaved a deep sigh of relief into the air, weighted with these significant words.
"You are laying cruel waste in these two hearts," whispered Zeneida in Pushkin's ear. "You had better go back to your work."