"At about one o'clock in the night, I was told that the Prince had just awakened. I immediately went to him. He was pale as death. At the sight of me a troubled, welcoming smile lit up his youthful features. 'Nicolas!' he exclaimed. 'Here you are at last! Heavens, how glad I am now that you have come! Now you shall not leave me again. I will not let you go.'
"'Of course I shall not leave you,' I answered with emotion. 'Here we shall stay together till we are quite well again.'
"'Yes ... yes ... together ... till I ... get ... well....'
"So convinced was he that his recovery was to be speedy and certain. One had to swallow one's tears and to hide one's grief.
"'Has Igor told you everything?' he continued. 'The Emperor has given me the St. George. I am so happy! There is the telegram, there, on the table.'
"I sat down beside the bed, as he asked me, and tried to talk; but soon noticed that he was falling into a state of semi-consciousness. At my slightest movement, however, he opened his eyes and exclaimed: 'There, he is gone—and I said I would not let him go!'
"At about eight o'clock in the morning the Prince grew more restless. He constantly asked to be moved from one side to the other, now putting his arms under his head, now embracing me feverishly and stifling a cry or a groan.
"A telegram arrived, saying that the young hero's parents were on the way to him and would be with him at five o'clock. At midday the doctors examined the patient again and found the pulse good, and the poisoning not advancing. There was still hope. At about four o'clock, however, a change for the worse suddenly set in. The breathing became more frequent and the pulse weaker. There were signs of sepsis and delirium. The train by which the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were arriving was two hours late. In the meanwhile the patient's strength was failing minute by minute and it became necessary to recur to the aid of injections to stimulate the heart's action. His lips were constantly moistened with champagne, and in order to hide from the Prince the hopelessness of his condition, we filled our glasses and told him that we were all drinking with him to his speedy recovery. It was horrible beyond words, and never in my life shall I forget those few sips of champagne in the presence of the dying Prince!
"Clear consciousness alternated with delirium. At seven o'clock he suddenly threw his poor little thin arms round my neck and whispered, 'Like this.... Like this ... together ... to meet them.' I thought at first that he was wandering, but no! He was alluding to the arrival of his parents. At last they came. For one moment he recognised them. The Grand Duke had brought his dying son the Cross of St. George from his Imperial uncle.