been a criminal offence to meet the czarina unveiled. Two windows of the room looked down upon the Red Place, so that the inmates had ample opportunity to observe the occurrences without; the interior was furnished in the rich Oriental fashion, and was evidently no longer occupied by the guards, but had probably been added to Sophia’s suite of apartments. I had always felt a good deal of curiosity about this princess, who had so overshadowed her sisters and her blind brother, Ivan. She had shared her brother Feodor’s education, and had taken advantage of all the liberty so lately given to the women of the czar’s family, during Feodor’s illness taking a prominent part in affairs of State, putting aside the last formalities which hedged in the imperial household; therefore, I was not surprised when the door opened at last to see her enter alone. Sophia Alexeievna at that time was still a young woman, but exceedingly stout, her short figure being crowned by an enormous head, out of all proportion even to the bulky body, and the Russian dress of the day increased her appearance of flesh, falling, as it did, a long full robe from the throat to the feet; that night, it was black, edged with sable, and embroidered with silver. She was an extremely plain woman, but there was an imperial dignity in her bearing which counterbalanced the effect of her proportions, and her small eyes were keen and penetrating, with a glance at once haughty and unflinching. Yet there was a charm about the czarevna’s manner when she wished to please, and her voice could be exceedingly pleasant and winning. She came forward now to a table in the center of the room, and signed to me to approach, which I did with a profound obeisance. My curiosity was thoroughly roused, and, moreover, I felt a strong desire to secure the friendship of this remarkable woman. She had learned enough French to address me by name without hesitation, but beyond that she spoke in Russian, which was fortunately as familiar to me as my mother tongue. “M. le Vicomte,” she said pleasantly, “you are doubtless surprised at this arbitrary summons; but we have learned to look upon you as a friend of our late brother, the martyred czar, and we felt that we could rely upon your kindness and your discretion to execute a--” Sophia hesitated, and I fancied she was deciding what shade of importance to give to her request, “a delicate mission for us at this time, when we cannot easily spare one of our own trusted relatives.” It was my turn to hesitate a little, for I was not willing to commit myself blindly to the performance of some secret mission. “Your highness can rely on my friendship and discretion,” I murmured, “and it would give me pleasure to do any reasonable service for any of the imperial family.” The czarevna cast a keen glance at me as if she thought my reply a little ambiguous, but was far too astute to show any doubt of my fidelity.