Читать книгу Once A Grand Duke by Alexander Grand Duke of Russia - Alexander Mikhailovich - Страница 20

The news of the tragic events in the Winter Palace made my father decide to go to St. Petersburg. He could not bear being separated by twelve hundred miles from his beloved imperial brother, and we were told to prepare to spend the coming winter in the north.

A dense cloud of gloom hung over the entire country. The official cheerfulness of the numerous generals who met us at the big stations along the route failed to disguise their anguish. Everybody understood that the Czar would not be able to escape much longer the continuous attempts on his life unless a firmer hand took the trembling wheel of state. The old-timers thought my father should be put in charge of the Government because his sterling soldierly qualities were favorably known throughout Russia.

Few people realized that even the most influential members of the imperial family had to reckon at that moment with the power of a woman, strange in their midst. We children learned of her existence on the eve of the arrival of our special train to the capital, when we were summoned to the salon car.

We saw at once that a heated conversation must have taken place between our parents. The face of our mother was covered with red spots while father puffed at a long black cigar, a thing he seldom risked doing in her presence.

“Listen, boys,” said father, pulling at the Cross of St. George which he had received for conquering the Western Caucasus and which was always attached to the high collar of his coat, “there is something I want to tell you before we reach St. Petersburg. You have to be ready to meet the new Empress of Russia at your first dinner in the palace.”

“She is not an Empress as yet,” interrupted mother; “do not forget that the real Empress of Russia has died only ten months ago.”

Father jumped up and stood erect, his six-feet-three towering over us.

“I wish you would let me finish,” he said sharply, raising his deep voice, “we are, all of us, faithful subjects of the Emperor. We have no right whatsoever to criticize his decisions. A grand duke has to take his orders in the same spirit a simple soldier does. As I started to explain to you, boys, your imperial uncle deigned to marry Princess Dolgorouky. He has bestowed upon her the title of Princess Yourievskaya to be used until the period of state mourning for your late Aunt Marie has passed. Then Princess Yourievskaya shall be crowned Empress of Russia, but even now you are supposed to kiss her hand and follow all the other rules prescribed by etiquette. There are likewise three children by this second marriage of the Czar. A boy and two girls. They are naturally your cousins. Be friendly with them.”

“Je pense que vous allez un peu fort quand même (I think you are going a little too strong),” remarked mother, trying to control her temper.

We five boys looked at each other. I remembered that during our previous stay in St. Petersburg we were not permitted to approach a large apartment in the Winter Palace occupied by a beautiful lady and several small children.

“How old are our new cousins?” suddenly asked my brother Sergei, who even at the age of eleven possessed an inclination for getting all available data.

Father did not like his question. He looked displeased.

“The boy is seven, the girls are six and four,” he said dryly.

“How is it possible . . .” commenced Sergei, but father raised his hand:

“That will be all, boys. You may return to your car!”

We spent the balance of our journey discussing the mysterious goings-on in the Winter Palace. We decided that father must surely have made an error and that the Emperor was married to Princess Yourievskaya for much longer than ten months. But then it looked as though he possessed two wives at the same time. The real meaning of mother’s distress became clear to me much later. She was horrified lest a bad example should confront her unspoiled children: the ominous word “mistress” had been rigorously kept out of our dictionary up to then.