Читать книгу Hunt for Wunderwaffe. Immortal - Сергей Соловьёв - Страница 7

In the morning Losunov woke up easily, jumped up from the couch, instantly found himself in the toilet, where he began to shave feverishly and lather himself, giving himself a decent look. Migom changed his shirt to a fresh one. He had to look appropriate, especially for an officer of the Life Guards.

– Only, your nobility, there are no pies, are over. I’ll go to the restaurant car, I’ll get food there, – instead of “good morning” Philemon said, as if with condemnation.

– You, Stepanov… And in general, you have to be kinder to people, – answered, and even then not immediately, Nikolai Petrovich.

– So do I feel sorry for your young lady? Yes, perhaps only fish or, here, with soaked cranberries and honey…

Indeed, those pies were just noble, Losunov recalled. It tastes so amazing. Such, cooks in the Urals were, he did not expect.

– Nothing, soon the station, still buy. Parking – as much as ten minutes.

“I’ll have time. I do not like your nobility, I have this porridge in the morning. During the service I ate enough. Probably a lifetime in advance.

– Okay, okay. Here’s a ruble for you, just don’t grumble. Well, and there sausages still buy tea in reserve, and bread a couple of pounds. There is also something sensible.

– I will do everything, your good, in the best possible way!

And the batman, in a cheerful mood, jumped out of the compartment. Well, Losunov thought a little, remembering the last day. It all seems good, but it was necessary to imagine and calculate the next moves of the British. So, if George Hardson did not remember anything about that drunken evening, he will behave as before, according to an old legend, according to his already accepted plan. If not, what would he do himself? The simplest thing is to get off the train in Chelyabinsk, wait there two days, before the express train from Moscow, and go further. The most reasonable solution, of course… And he, himself, Losunov, what should he do? Here, everything was not easy. In thoughtfulness, the headquarters captain ran his hand over his uniform, checking his pockets, and finally fished out from the inside what he was looking for, a token with a knocked out number. The General Staff Intelligence sign, such is the paizza that will force the police and gendarmes to obey.

Then there was a knock in his compartment, and Losunov quickly threw his uniform over his shoulders, and even managed to put his hands in his sleeves.

“It’s Glafira. The young lady invites you to breakfast. She said she would be glad.

– Yes, I’m going now!

And what could he answer? Quickly button up, and bravely, without stumbling, follow towards your own destiny! He opened the locker, looked doubtfully at two bottles of cognac, and a couple of Madeira from his stocks, and closed it. True, he grabbed a bar of chocolate. That would be more appropriate. And then, I checked my view in front of the mirror, and calmly left the compartment, closing the door behind me.

At the table, all so elegant and beautiful, Veronika Evgenievna acted with her own hands. Even without thousands of necklaces on the chest, even without earrings decorated with sapphires and without rings on thin fingers. So, simply, in a burgundy Chinese silk robe decorated with extraordinary flowers and tigers.

The young lady slowly spread butter on pieces of the whitest bun, and covered this work with black caviar with a spoon. I must say, it turned out just fine. Coffee cups stood nearby, and pieces of refined sugar in a porcelain vase were laid out. Complete idyll, in general.

Perov or Makovsky would, right, admire such a wonderful still life, but Bryulov, and, of course, would pay more attention to the lovely young lady. Actually, Nikolai Petrovich himself, too. However, kissing a pen occupied by a knife, how is it possible? And Losunov froze, in a slight indecision, not knowing where to start.

– Nikolay? Come on, without “you.” It’s easier and more enjoyable. And simpler. I, nevertheless, from the merchant’s house, I can – she put down the knife, and calmly kissed him on the cheek.

“Good afternoon, Veronica,” he said a little shockingly, sitting opposite.

– Everything is ready, we will have breakfast. Are you with or without sugar? Here, I’m used to refining in this England. Yes, by the way, it is very convenient, hands are not sweet..

She poured coffee from the coffee pot herself, moved the cup to Losunov, like a saucer with sandwiches.

“Chocolate, love, Nestle,” she said calmly, removing the wrapper.

Then Nikolai Petrovich looked at a little different, at the dimple between the girl’s collarbones, at the triangle of the neckline with an elegant hollow, at just the batiste skin of the beauty.

– Eat, otherwise the oil will melt, the heat is on the train, – she smiled, – if it happens, then in St. Petersburg I can treat you better, in my apartment on Gorokhovaya. Where do you live?

– Right on Palace Square, just behind the Arch of the General Staff.

– Yes? – and she smiled dazzlingly, not letting the sandwich out of her right hand – are you, Grand Duke?

– No, the officers of the General Staff are lodging there, in the Palace. Prior to that, he lived at the Semenovsky regiment, in regimental apartments. And so, our estate was sold, they bought a house near Vyborg.

– The places are beautiful. Although, in our Yenisei, in Krasnoyarsk, it is much better and richer. And you have the fish you want… Have you tried grayling? Or there, Belarusian woman? But muksun, so you just lick your fingers, but under a glass of “Madeira”… she said dreamily.

– As usual. Herring, flounder and sturgeon. Ordinary St. Petersburg pedestals. And, also smelt, – Nikolai smiled.

The girl, having heard this, only whimsically wrinkled her nose a little, and then smiled charmingly. No, Filimon is resolutely right, everything is right, Losunov immediately thought. And why wouldn’t he marry? Yes, all one thing, he was entitled to an apartment from the Military Department, and his salary was not bad, he began to collect possible arguments “for” the headquarters captain.

– Here, and ate. Okay, you go see yourself before I get bored with you. But, at lunch I will be glad to see you again.

– I’ll go, – Losunov got up and kissed her hand.

A slight bow, and he was able to leave this place, although his legs did not really obey him now. It was as if they decided for him that it was better to stay here.

At one time, at the cadet school, this pa, with a bow to the lady and the subsequent retreat, was studied for a long time. That the future officer could do such a figure gracefully and beautifully, and not anyhow, in the manner of a pimpled and stooped student.

I came to my senses already in my compartment, sitting on the couch, with a pie in one hand, and with a glass of hot tea in a cup holder in the other. Scattered bit off, chewed, but nodded to Philemon sitting opposite

– How’s the pie, your nobility?” he said.

And Losunov was silent, only again nodded scattered. The orderly’s voice was heard as if from afar, and Nikolai Petrovich’s ears seemed to be covered with cotton wool. He winced a little, but said:

– That’s all right. Can you remember where they offered us an apartment from the Military Department at the beginning of the year?

– So on Voskresenskaya embankment, your nobility. But, you yourself said that they say, on Palace Square, the service is much closer.

What so far could he explain to Philemon? Vague desires, about which, as the poets say, “are similar only to the breath of a light breeze”? And the devil knows him, he was afraid to jinx him. So far, all the same, because you are not afraid of anything, but how this happens, immediately superstition is clogged in the head, and you cannot pull it out with ticks. Nikolai thought, and slowly said:

– Exactly. Let’s return to St. Petersburg, you will have more work, you will have to move to a new apartment..

CHAPTER 9 Spy Passions

Losunov was sitting on the couch, reading a book, or rather pretending to read. Opened on the next page, and he himself, here, was expecting lunchtime. It was necessary, as usual, without attracting the attention of other travelers, to sit at the table, and calmly dine. Although, damn it, you have to sit at the same table, with a batman, even a British one. Here, of course, Philemon does not count. I already looked at the bottle of white, but then I decided that vodka would be superfluous. The head should be fresh, he had too many important things to do.

– Yes, your nobility, not worth it. And Veronika Evgenievna, so the young lady is sweet, but she does not hurt, when they use a lot of intoxicant. Her daddy, only on a pilgrimage and escaped. From addiction to vodka. This is in Krasnoyarsk, – and smiled, – and with churches there are not rich. Taiga out, Yenisei, there is a lot of that. It’s good to walk like that in the Mother See, in prayed places, a nice thing is simple. There are many temples, and especially in Zamoskvorechye.

– You’ve called everything, I see?” Prepared?

– So it is, your nobility. You need to look, what kind of lady will be, here you need to think about everything ahead. Daddy, of course, is a drinker, and he went to the bear with an ax and a horn, and in general, a very hot man. Well, they’re lying, I think.

– What’s lying?”

– What hot!

– So he’s a Siberian, an industrialist. Not everyone can make a fortune like this. And then, taiga, gnus, dashing people drag.

– Exactly, your nobility. And here, and the young lady is such, right the angel of heaven…

Yes, the daughter of such a beastly merchant, somehow turned out to be calm, and even cute. So this is how to watch. After all, their regiment chief, Major General Mints, was always lenient towards soldiers, but in Moscow, the rioters were not spared in 1905. Bullets and bayonets were also involved. Or here, General Kaufman, Konstantin Petrovich, Tashkent Governor-General. They also said that a kind and condescending person, and did not give anyone to rebel in the Turkestan province, hung and shot, without getting up from a folding chair.

– Okay, Philemon, order a table there for us, in the restaurant car. And so, Guryev’s porridge for dessert, what else is good, do not forget. And a bottle of “chablis,” without fail.

– I will fulfill everything, your nobility!

Well, Losunov, already reassured himself, as in the first attack on the Presnensky barricades, convinced himself that not every bullet flies at the target. And here, in fact, not the Moscow vigilantes with Smith-Wessons, but the young lady, and the beauty and the clever in addition. And, Nikolai Petrovich bravely knocked on the door of Mademoiselle Samoilova’s compartment.

– I’m ready,” Veronica said with a smile, leaving the carriage corridor, “Let’s go.”

Nikolai Petrovich only meaningfully kept silent, only slightly bowed his head, a little completely. Let’s go to the vestibule, along the way he bowed with already familiar fellow travelers.

– Good day, Nikolai Petrovich. I really count on a game of chess, – said Altunin, who approached slowly, – but, Ilya Sergeevich, I agreed with Hardson after lunch. Just while the train reaches Chelyabinsk. We have here, a whole chess club has formed.

– So we will do… Let it pass for now. Excuse me.

– Gavrila Andreevich Altunin, at your service. Of course, without a doubt. Very glad to see you, Veronika Evgenievna! I always treat with the greatest respect to your father, Evgeny Petrovich Samoilov.