If the empress was present at dinner we used to sit in the following order: The emperor in the middle of the table; opposite him, the empress. To the right of the emperor, Hendrikova, and next to her the Grand Duchess Maria. To the left of the emperor, Schneider and Dolgoruky. To the empress’s right, the czarevitch; to her left, Tatischeff and the Grand Duchess Tatiana. Gilliard was seated at the end of the table and opposite to him were the Grand Duchess Anastasia and myself. If the empress dined upstairs her place was taken by the Grand Duchess Olga.
Botkin always dined with the imperial family, but had his lunch with his own family. He was seated with the Grand Duchess Olga and the czarevitch. Sometimes on holy days Dr. Derevenko and his son Kolia were invited to dinner. Dinner was cooked by Haritonoff. The food was good and there was plenty of everything.
Besides dinner and lunch, tea was served twice daily. In the morning the emperor had tea with the Grand Duchess Olga in his workroom. Tea in the evening was always served in the emperor’s workroom and only the family was present.
At the time of my arrival in Tobolsk two commissars, Pankratoff and Nikolsky, stayed there. Pankratoff was not a bad sort of a fellow, but showed weakness, and was influenced by Nikolsky. Pankratoff did not cause us any uneasiness. The emperor used to talk to him and Pankratoff told him many interesting things about Siberia, where he used to live in exile. The emperor spoke in a rather sarcastic way about Pankratoff calling him, “the little man”—he was rather small in stature. Nikolsky was rough and the family did not like him. I do not remember if Nikolsky ever made us feel uncomfortable or if ever the czarevitch cried on account of his rudeness. During the Bolshevik period no commissars were allowed in our house. It seems to me that some commissars arrived in Tobolsk, but were not recognised by the soldiers. The first commissar that ever entered the house was Iakovleff.
The Bolshevist revolution at first paid no attention to us and it looked as if we were completely forgotten. However, finally the Bolsheviki remembered us, and our money allowance was stopped short. We were given a soldier’s ration and were ordered to limit our necessities to 150 roubles per week. Several servants were discharged, and we began to get very inferior food. Only two courses were served—soup and meat.
I did not speak to the emperor about the Brest-Litovsk Treaty but I noticed that the emperor suffered greatly after the Bolshevist revolution. The emperor abdicated because he thought it would be better for Russia. It turned out to be worse. He did not expect that and suffered dreadful remorse. After we received the news that the state of affairs in Russia was very bad, I twice saw the emperor looking very much upset, remaining silent for a long time. His personal situation did not grieve him and he endured it without repining.
Iakovleff arrived in Tobolsk in the beginning of April, at the time when the czarevitch was sick. I was sitting by the czarevitch’s bed. The emperor, accompanied by Iakovleff and another man, who seemed to be his assistant, entered the room. Iakovleff looked at the czarevitch. The emperor said: “My son and his tutor.”
Iakovleff did not appear to me to be a man of culture. He looked more like a clever sailor. I do not remember the appearance of the other man. Iakovleff gazed attentively at the czarevitch, after which they departed. Later the emperor and Iakovleff returned to the room, but without the third man. They looked at the czarevitch and kept silent. A few days later I was again in the czarevitch’s bedroom. He was very ill and suffered greatly. The empress promised to see him after lunch. He waited and waited, but no one came. All the time he called: “Mamma, mamma.” I went out of the room and looked down the hall. I noticed the emperor, the empress and Iakovleff standing in the middle of the hall. I did not hear what they were talking about. I returned to the czarevitch’s room. He began to cry and asked: “Where is Mamma?” Once more I left the room. Somebody told me that the empress was anxious about something and this was the reason why she had not come to see the czarevitch. I was told that she was alarmed because the emperor had to be taken away from Tobolsk. I returned to the room. Between four and five o’clock the empress came. She was quite calm, but her face showed traces of tears. Being afraid to disturb the czarevitch she began to tell me in an undertone that the emperor must leave Tobolsk, and that she and the Grand Duchess Maria were to go with him, and that as soon as the czarevitch was well the others would all follow them. The czarevitch overheard her but did not ask her to tell us where we were going, and wishing to avoid embarrassment, I did not ask her either. Soon after that I left the room. I thought that during the time they were preparing themselves for the journey, they probably would not like anyone to be present. They dined alone upstairs.
In the evening we were all invited to the empress’s boudoir (the green room), where the tea was served. Conversation ran on travelling. We spoke mostly of luggage. At two o’clock the coaches arrived, one of them had a hood. I wished them good-bye in the lobby. The emperor took a place with Iakovleff, the empress with the Grand Duchess Maria, and they departed. They were accompanied by Botkin, Tchemodouroff, Dolgoruky, Demidova and Sedneff. We did not know the place of their destination. Not one of us had any idea that they were to be taken to Yekaterinburg. We all thought they were going to Moscow or to the east. The children were of the same opinion. We were all very anxious. We did not know what was going to happen to them. Of the persons left behind Tatischeff was the senior; and of the remaining part of the imperial family, Tatiana was considered senior in the place of the Grand Duchess Olga.
The czarevitch was gradually recovering, though very slowly. The first news we received was brought by an isvostchik who drove one of the coaches used by the family.