"Ah! all goes well, my dear Féodor!" he exclaimed. "That woman will be sorry she denounced me, I assure you."
I could discern the motive of the conspiracy, but as yet had no idea of its true depth.
It was not until a week later, when one night the Minister of War called upon the monk, and in my presence they discussed the Svetchine affair.
"You did well, General," declared Rasputin, with an evil smile. "What has really happened in Vilna?"
"Well, the woman Isembourg, though she was a spy of Germany, is now on our side in the contra-espionage service," was his reply. "From the first she assured me that the colonel was extremely honest and patriotic. Though before the war she had several times tried to induce him to give her military information, yet he always declined and endeavoured to avoid her."
"Well, that difficulty can be overcome, surely?" asked the monk.
General Soukhomlinoff, a traitor himself, laughed lightly as he replied:
"Of course. There were other means. Elise, three days ago, handed over to me a typewritten document revealing the secrets of the defences of Grodno, which she reported had been given to her by Colonel Svetchine in return for a promise of ten thousand roubles when she could obtain the money from a secret source in Petrograd."
"Then he is a traitor!" exclaimed the monk eagerly.
The general winked, and replied: "Elise Isembourg declares that he is, and that he gave her the document."