In more than one instance a young man, madly in love with her and enthusiastic in the cause of freedom, had journeyed to the land of his birth determined to strike a blow against Tzardom in order to secure her favour, yet, alas! the result has been fatal—either death, or the mines. Vain, and fond of admiration, she had numbers worshipping at her shrine, yet through all the breath of scandal had never touched her. Indeed, so intensely bent was she upon her purpose, that her heart appeared steeled against love, and she treated those who paid her court with queenly reserve. Of her parentage or real name nothing was known except that she took the oath in Petersburg and afterwards went to Switzerland, where she speedily developed into one of the most fearless of Terrorists.
I returned to the theatre-entrance after reading the order from Pétroff. I saw my man emerge, and followed him to the Westminster Palace Hotel, where he was staying.
Punctually at the time appointed, I was ushered into a pretty sitting-room at Richmond, the windows of which commanded a broad view of the Terrace Gardens and the picturesque valley of the Thames. In a few moments Sophie Zagarovna entered, and greeting me with a winning smile and pleasant words, sat down and commenced to chat.
“I am here, in England, upon a secret mission from our Circle,” she said in Russian, replying to my inquiries. “The Executive have recommended you as one who can assist me. It is for our Cause, but its true object must not be known just yet. You must understand that it is not because you are distrusted, but because there are spies in the very walls. Will you help me?”
“For the Cause—yes,” I replied.
“Then listen. For the future I shall be known as Sophie Kalatenka, daughter of the late General Kalatenka, Governor of Smolensk, and you are my brother Ivan. We shall both change our residence and live at a West End boarding-house, where the other boarders will know us as brother and sister.”
“Yes,” I said, puzzled.
“You wonder why?” she added, arching her brows and laughing. “Well, you will see. No one knows you at the Embassy, do they?”
“No.”