Part 10 (1/2)
Rasputin, his eyes fixed upon his visitor, slowly nodded in the affirmative.
”That means ruin--perhaps imprisonment for me!” Hardt gasped, his face pale and anxious.
”I might say the same thing,” remarked the saint, stroking his long, untrimmed beard. ”But I do not. We are both strong enough to resist all attacks. Any suspicion against Mia.s.soyedeff must be removed. I will see that the Emperor promotes him to-morrow. Our one stumbling-block is Peter Stolypin.”
”One that, I take it, must be removed?”
”Yes--at all costs. That is why the Empress has sought out this woman Baltz, who, if my estimate of her s.e.x is correct, is a wild firebrand.”
”She certainly is viciously vindictive.”
”One thing is certain, our friend Stolypin has no idea that he is seated on the edge of a volcano,” remarked the monk. ”He lives extremely happily with his wife and children in that beautiful villa over on the Islands of the Apothecaries, and has no suspicion of the coming storm. I promised his wife to go to her salon to-morrow night.”
”And will you go?”
”Of course. There must be no suspicion. Are we not, all of us, his best friends?” asked the monk, grinning evilly.
”I am returning to Berlin by way of Stockholm on Thursday,” Hardt said, for he gave as the reason for his frequent visits to Germany and Scandinavia that he bought leather in those countries. ”Have you anything to report?”
”Yes. One or two things,” replied the Starets, who ordered me to write at his dictation as follows:
”MEMORANDUM.
”FROM GREGORY TO NUMBER SEVENTY.
”Have acted upon your instructions regarding the Kahovsky affair.
Some important correspondence was seized by the police at his arrest, and for two days matters looked extremely unpromising. I paid T. twenty thousand roubles to close his lips, and induced the Emperor to release Kahovsky and restore his papers. I suggest that he should be recalled from Russia and sent to London, where, being unknown, he might be extremely useful to you.
”Madame Zlobine is at the Adlon Hotel in your city. She has quarrelled with the General, and strict watch should be kept upon her. She has been heard to express very decided views against Her Majesty. It may be found that she is in communication with J. If so, it is in the interests of Stolypin's anti-German campaign!
”Hardt will explain verbally the position of the latter, and the discovery of the woman Baltz. Meanwhile His Excellency is unsuspicious that we are aware of his hostile intentions towards us.
”Please do me the favour to a.s.sure His Majesty the Emperor of my continued efforts in the service of Alexandra Feodorovna, even though matters are daily growing more complicated. Anna [Madame Vyrubova], moreover, is more difficult to please.
”Both Sturmer and Protopopoff are under my protection, and I have already contrived to advance them. Kokovtsov is growing in favour and will be a force to be reckoned with in the immediate future.
Urge Mia.s.soyedeff, from your side, to exercise the greatest caution. There are whispers, but I have endeavoured to stifle them by contriving his advancement through the Emperor, who yesterday decorated him.
”The Imperial pair will shortly visit the Danish and Swedish Courts, and probably go for a cruise in Norwegian waters, though there is, as yet, no announcement.
”I am still working upon the project you set out when we met in Helsingfors two months ago regarding the reduction and weakening of the army. I have already initiated the matter through ladies whose husbands are in the Ministry of War. It will mean the expenditure of a considerable sum of your money, but I know it will be a mere bagatelle if your object is accomplished.
”I have to acknowledge a payment of one hundred thousand roubles into the Azof Bank from an unknown source. Please remember that S. in Paris and J. in Rome are making big claims upon me, and that next month I must receive a similar sum.
”Hardt has told me that matters are progressing well at Carlton House Terrace, and also in Paris. Of that I am glad to hear. Let our next meeting be at the Phoenix Hotel in Abo, where I am unknown, and which you can reach without notice. At present I dare not leave Russia, as Her Majesty will not hear of it.
”It would be as well to make the next payment through the Aktiebank in Abo. They would not suspect.
”Do not fail to impress upon both Sukhomlinoff and Mia.s.soyedeff the necessity for the utmost caution. Till we meet.”