In the afternoon of the next day the cruiser La France arrived in Cronstadt harbour with the French President on board. The Czar was there to receive him. They returned to Peterhof together, and M. Poincaré was taken to the apartments prepared for him in the palace. In the evening a gala banquet was given in his honour, and the Czarina and the ladies-in-waiting were present.
For four days the President of the French Republic was the guest of Nicholas II., and many ceremonies marked his short visit. He made an excellent impression upon the Czar, a fact which I was able to prove to my own satisfaction under the following circumstances.
M. Poincaré had been invited to the Imperial luncheon-table, where he was the sole guest. He was received without the slightest formality into the family circle at the little Alexandria Cottage.
When the meal was over the Czarevitch came and showed me, not without considerable pride, the ribbon of the Legion of Honour which the President of the Republic had just given him. We then went out into the park, and in a few minutes we were joined by the Czar.
“Do you know, I’ve just been talking to M. Poincaré about you?” he said in his usual affable manner. “He had spoken to Alexis and asked me who had taught him French. He is a remarkable man, with a splendid intellect, and a brilliant talker. That’s always useful; but what I like most is that there is nothing of the diplomat about him.[26] He is not reticent, but plain-spoken and frank, and wins one’s confidence at once. If only we could do without diplomacy humanity would make immense strides.”
On July 23rd the President left Cronstadt for Stockholm, immediately after a dinner given in Their Majesties’ honour on the La France.
The next day, to our utter amazement, we learned that Austria had presented an ultimatum to Serbia on the previous evening.[27] I met the Czar in the park in the afternoon. He was preoccupied, but did not seem anxious.
On the 25th an Extraordinary Council was held at Krasnoïe-Selo in the Czar’s presence. It was decided to pursue a policy of dignified but firm conciliation. The Press was extremely angry at the step taken by Austria.
The next few days the tone of the Press became increasingly violent. Austria was accused of desiring to annihilate Serbia. Russia could not let the little Slav state be overwhelmed. She could not tolerate an Austro-Hungarian supremacy in the Balkans. The national honour was at stake.
Yet while tempers were rising and the diplomats were setting the machinery of all the chancellories in motion, heartrending telegrams left Alexandria Cottage for distant Siberia, where Rasputin was slowly recovering from his wound in the hospital at Tioumen.[28] They were nearly all of the same tenor: “We are horrified at the prospect of war. Do you think it is possible? Pray for us. Help us with your counsel.”