"The appointment is at Savignyplatz, 17, Charlottenburg. Do not
fail. Please inform A. [Alexandra Feodorovna] and obtain
instructions.--EVNO."
At once Rasputin became active. He went to Peterhof, where the Court was
at that moment, and carried out Azef's desire. He was with the Empress
and Madame Vyrubova for a couple of hours ere he rejoined me, and we took
the evening train back to the capital.
That night he called upon Stuermer, who had with him his sycophant and
ex-policeman Manuiloff, and they held counsel together. Then, next
afternoon, we both left Petrograd for Berlin.
We had no difficulty in discovering the house in the Savignyplatz. It was
a good-sized one on the corner of the Kantstrasse, and the old woman who
opened the door at once ushered us into a pretty drawing-room, where we
were greeted by a rather tall, dark-haired and refined young lady, who
welcomed us in Russian, and whose name Rasputin had told me was
Mademoiselle Paula Kereicha.
"You must be very tired after your long journey, Father," she said,
bowing her head and crossing herself as the monk mumbled a blessing upon
her.
"No; travelling is very easy between Petrograd and Berlin," he replied
affably; and then he introduced me.
I could see that somehow she resented my intrusion there. She glanced at
Rasputin inquiringly.
"Oh, no," laughed the monk. "I quite understand, mademoiselle; you need
have no fear." Then lowering his voice to a whisper, he said: "I know
full well that living here as secret agent of the Okhrana you have to
exercise every caution."
Paula Kereicha--who I afterwards found was a second-rate variety actress
who sometimes took engagements in order to blind people to her own
calling, that of police-spy--smiled and admitted that she had to be very
careful.
"It is not the Germans that I fear," she said. "They know me well at the
Wilhelmstrasse, and I am never interfered with. Indeed, they assist me
when necessary. No. It is the Terrorists who would do me harm if they
could. There is a dangerous group here--as you know."
"I know well," said the monk; "only last week Tchapline and Vilieff were
given Stolypin's necktie owing to your denunciations. They came to Russia
from Berlin, and were arrested immediately they set foot across the
frontier."
"No," she protested. "Azef was here. It was he who put papers into their
baggage, and then telegraphed to the police at Wirballen. Neither of the
men was dangerous as far as I could see, but our friend Evno believed
them to be; hence he deemed them better out of the way."
I could see that the young woman had some scruples regarding the dirty
work for which she received money from the Ministry of the Interior in
Petrograd. And surely hers was a highly dangerous profession.
Apparently it was not desired that Rasputin's arrival in Berlin should be
known, for we were shown to our rooms by the stout old Russian woman, and
I heard the handsome Paula speaking on the telephone in a guarded
manner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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