the empire, and who do so still. Easily
influenced by those in whom he trusted, thousands of crimes were
committed in his name of which he had no knowledge and of which he had
never known. At all events, I liked him, and moreover, I had thorough
faith in my own influence over him.

In like proportion to my familiarity at court and to the emperor's
fondness for my society, I was cordially hated by the nobility; but as
they feared me quite as much as they hated me, and as my real standing
among them remained a mystery, I was constantly fawned upon to a degree
that was nauseating. Even the story I had so lately heard from the lips
of the princess had not materially lessened the liking I felt for
Alexander, for I could understand much better than she could, all the
influence that had been brought to bear upon the emperor not to pardon
the woman in whose possession had been found cyanide of potassium
intended for his wine. I did not believe he had intended that she
should go to the island of Saghalien; I did not believe that he could
be held accountable for the evils that befell poor Yvonne in the
isolated garrisons of Siberia. He had been convinced that she intended
to poison him, and he banished her; there his part of the evil ceased.
The awful things that happened in the garrison he did not know about,
could not hear about, for I believe that among all his friends, I was
the only one who dared to tell him the truth. Even the prince lied to
him, for I had often heard him do so.

As to the killing of Stanislaus, who could blame the czar for that? The
man had endeavored to kill him; had twice snapped a pistol in his face
and still held it in his hand when the emperor tore it from his grasp
and struck him on the head with it. Who would not do the same? I repeat
all this as my excuse for still feeling that affection for him which
our intercourse had taught me. The real criminal in the case of the
story of Yvonne was Durnief. Him I hated, and his name was on one of
the lists that had been read off to me before going to the palace that
night. There were special orders concerning him, too--but that will be
dealt with later.

Now, as I entered the cabinet with the prince, I confess that I had
some doubts concerning my reception for I had no idea what the prince
had said to his majesty, and I knew only too well the inclination of
the czar to listen to anything that had a suspicious side to it,
particularly if that suspicion con