(WINTER OF 1913)
WHILE the illness of Alexis Nicolaïevitch threw such a gloom over the Imperial family, and the influence of Rasputin, a product of their very distress, continued to grow, life at Tsarskoïe-Selo seemed to flow along as smoothly as ever, at any rate to outward appearance.
At that time I still knew very little about the staretz, and I was searching everywhere for material on which to base my judgment, for his personality interested me decidedly. But it was anything but easy. The children never mentioned Rasputin’s name, and in my presence even avoided the slightest allusion to his existence. I realised that in so doing they were acting on their mother’s instructions. The Czarina no doubt feared that as a foreigner and not orthodox I was incapable of understanding the nature of the feelings of herself and her family towards the staretz, feelings which made them revere him as a saint. By imposing this duty of silence on my pupils she allowed me to ignore Rasputin, or conveyed to me her desire that I should behave as if I knew nothing about him. She thus deprived me of any chance of taking sides against a man whose very name I realised I did not know.
From another source I had been able to convince myself that Rasputin played a very insignificant part in the life of the Czarevitch. On several occasions Dr. Derevenko told me the amusing remarks Alexis Nicolaïevitch had made about Rasputin in his presence. The latter tickled his young imagination and piqued his curiosity, but had no influence whatever with him.
As a result of Mlle. Tioutcheva’s protest, Rasputin no longer went up to the Grand-Duchesses’ floor, and he visited the Czarevitch but seldom.
No doubt the authorities were afraid I might meet him, for the rooms I occupied were adjoining those of my pupil. As I had required his personal attendant to keep me informed of the smallest details of his life, Rasputin could not have seen him without my knowledge.[16]
The children saw Rasputin when he was with their parents, but even at that time his visits were infrequent. Weeks, and sometimes months, passed without his being summoned to Court. It became more and more usual to see him with Madame Wyroubova, who had a little house quite near to the Alexander Palace. The Czar and his heir hardly ever went there, and meetings were always very rare.
As I have already explained, Madame Wyroubova was the intermediary between the Czarina and Rasputin. It was she who sent on to the staretz letters addressed to him and brought his replies—usually verbal—to the palace.