The Czar, with Queen Elizabeth on one side and Princess Marie[19] on the other, was in the centre of a long table at which eighty-four guests were seated. The Czarina sat opposite him, between King Carol and Prince Ferdinand.[20] Olga Nicolaïevna was next to Prince Carol, and replied with her usual natural charm to his questions. The three other Grand-Duchesses, who found it none too easy to conceal their boredom on such occasions, lost no chances of leaning to wards me and indicating their sister with a sly wink.
Towards the end of the meal, which proceeded with the usual ceremonial, the King rose to give the Czar a toast of welcome. He spoke in French, but with a strong German accent. The Czar replied, also in French. He spoke pleasantly, in a musical, well-modulated voice. When dinner was over we went into another room, where Their Majesties went round talking to the guests, and those to whom this favour was not accorded lost no time in collecting in groups as affinity or mere chance dictated. But the evening was cut short, as the Standard had to leave Constanza the same day. An hour later the yacht put to sea and set sail for Odessa.
The next day I heard that the scheme for the marriage had been abandoned, or at any rate indefinitely postponed. Olga Nicolaïevna had won.[21]
On the morning of June 15th we arrived at Odessa. The Czar reviewed the troops of the garrison, who were presented to him by General Ivanoff, commanding this military area.
The next day we stopped for several hours at Kishineff in Bessarabia in order to be present at the unveiling of a monument to the memory of Alexander I., and on the 18th we returned to Tsarskoïe-Selo. Two days later the Czar was visited by the King of Saxony, who came to thank him for his appointment as honorary colonel of one of the regiments of his Guard. During the visit the troops paraded before the palace. It was the only ceremony which marked the King’s short stay. On June 23rd he bade farewell to the Imperial family.[22]
Shortly afterwards we left for Peterhof, where we embarked on July 14th for a short cruise in the fjords of Finland. The Alexandria[23] took us from Peterhof to Cronstadt, where the Standard was waiting for us. As we were going on board the Czarevitch jumped at the wrong moment, and his ankle caught the bottom of the ladder leading to the deck. At first I thought this accident would have no ill effects, but towards evening the boy began to be in pain and his sufferings rapidly increased. Everything pointed to a serious crisis.
When I woke next morning we were in the heart of a Finnish fjord. It was an exquisite spot. The sea was deep emerald green, flaked with white by the waves, and dotted with small islands of red granite crowned with pines whose trunks flashed in the sunshine. In the middle distance was the shore, with its long fringe of yellow sand and its dark green forests which stretched away to the horizon.
I went down to Alexis Nicolaïevitch’s room. He had had a very bad night. The Czarina and Dr. Botkin were with him, but quite powerless to alleviate his terrible sufferings.[24]
The day passed sullenly and slowly. Since the previous evening I had noticed that the suite were a prey to unwonted excitement. I asked Colonel D—— what the cause was, and learned that there had been an attack on Rasputin and that his life was in danger. He had gone to Siberia a fortnight before, and on his arrival at his own village, Pokrovskoïe, had been stabbed in the stomach by a young woman. The wound might be fatal. There was great excitement on board, whisperings and mysterious confabulations which suddenly stopped whenever anyone suspected of being an adherent of Rasputin came near. Everyone else was inspired by a lively hope of being at last delivered from that baneful influence, but no one dare reveal his joy too openly. The villainous moujik seemed to have nine lives, and he might recover.[25]
On the 19th we returned to Peterhof, where the President of the French Republic was expected. Our cruise was only interrupted, and we were to resume our voyage after he left. Alexis Nicolaïevitch had taken a turn for the better in the last two days, but he was still unable to walk, and he had to be carried off the yacht.