September 20th.—After a journey of two days we are comfortably reinstalled in Tiflis. How delighted I am to live again in our cosy nest, with all the luxury of civilisation round us. I do hope that the wandering existence that we have lived since our marriage has come to an end. My gaiety has come back to me and the world is beautiful again, and I am just going to live and forget the privations and dangers of the past months. All the horrors of war have vanished like a bad dream. November 30th.—Our stay in Tiflis, alas, did not last long. The Grand Duke Michael, setting out to St. Petersburg, has charged Sergy to work out projects in case of a new war with Turkey, (Oh! horror!) and has ordered him to bring them personally to St. Petersburg. We are leaving Tiflis in the beginning of December. CHAPTER XVIII ST. PETERSBURG We have put up at the Grand Hôtel where we feel very comfortable. This winter I mean to lead a quiet, homely life, being wonderfully changed after my marriage. Out of a frivolous society girl, I have developed, thanks to Sergy, into a very domestic sort of person. I have seen enough of the world to understand how flippant it is, how empty—a vanity of vanities! Marriage has given me a new view of the world altogether, I have taken off my rose-coloured spectacles to look at life as it is, and have learned many things which I did not know. Russia continues to outlive troublesome times; after the war it is the anarchist conspirators who organise inquisitions, condemn to death, and hold themselves the office of executioners. A rumour has spread in town that on Easter Eve there will be a repetition of St. Bartholomew’s night, and that all the wealthy inhabitants of the city will be massacred. The life of our Emperor is in constant danger. An attempt to murder him was made whilst he was taking his usual afternoon walk. Luckily the malefactor’s bullet missed the Tzar. Petersburg is all in a flutter through that attempt. Te Deums are sung in all the churches and the town is decorated all over with flags. The day of the attempt, during the performance of the opera “Life for the Tzar,” a large audience packed the house from floor to ceiling. When the Emperor appeared in his box, the hymn “God save the Tzar,” resounded through the hall; the whole audience rose to their feet, and deafening cheers were heard. Our monarch bowed graciously in response.