One afternoon, while in the handsome room set apart for Rasputin"s use at Tsarskoe-Selo, I was sitting writing at his dictation, when there suddenly entered the Emperor, who had just come in from one of his frequent solitary walks in the park.
His Majesty flung himself wearily in a chair, and began to discuss a diplomatic matter concerning Austria, and to ask the Father"s advice, for he now scarcely ever acted upon his own initiative.
Rasputin reflected for a few moments as he stood gazing out of the window, and then, having given his opinion as to the proper course to pursue, he added:
"There is another matter which should have thy attention--a matter which is being hidden very carefully from thee."
"And pray what is that, Father?" inquired the Emperor.
"It is the secret and traitorous dealings which one Yakowleff is having with British agents with a view to betraying Russia into the hands of the English," declared the sinister monk.
"I do not follow."
"To this man Yakowleff thou gavest the concession for improvements at Otchakov. On pretence of obtaining financial a.s.sistance he has been to London, and there, according to what my friends tell me, has been in consultation with certain British agents, whose intention it is to obtain our military and naval secrets."
"Then you denounce Yakowleff as a traitor--eh?" snapped the Emperor.
"I certainly do. If thou doubtest me, order Protopopoff to make a police search at his house in the Vosnesensky. Something will certainly be found there," he said, with insidious cunning, well knowing that Protopopoff"s _agents-provocateurs_ had already taken steps to secure the financier"s undoing.
"I have here the names of two Englishwomen who are in the British Secret Service, and who were recently in Petrograd with Yakowleff." And he produced a piece of paper upon which he had scrawled the two names in his illiterate calligraphy. "The women are back in London, but he was with them a fortnight ago."
"Are you quite certain of all this?" asked Nicholas dubiously. "I always believed Yakowleff to be my friend. Indeed, he has already shown his loyalty to me."
"And in return thou gavest him the valuable concession for Otchakov,"
growled the monk.
"If you a.s.sure me, Father, that what you have said is the truth, and not mere hearsay, I will call Protopopoff, and he shall make full inquiry."
"It is a pity that the Otchakov scheme should be given into the hands of thy enemy," the monk declared, and thus the matter dropped.
In Petrograd late that night, after the usual evening a.s.sembly of the sister-disciples, when all the women had departed and I was again alone with the monk, Protopopoff arrived, and said jubilantly:
"Your words to Nicholas have borne fruit regarding Yakowleff. The Emperor spoke to me on the telephone, and, acting on his instructions, I ordered a police search, when some doc.u.ments in cipher were found in a drawer in his writing-table."
"And you arrested him?"
"No. He seems to have somehow got wind of what was in progress, for he left Petrograd yesterday for Helsingfors, and has escaped!"
"Escaped!" shrieked Rasputin, springing to his feet in dismay.
"Yes. Gone back to London, I believe."
The monk knit his brows and stood stroking his unkempt beard. He was thinking out some further devilish plot.
"Feodor," he said at last, turning to me, "write down what I say."
I crossed to the table, and when I was ready he dictated the following:
"In consequence of his traitorous dealings with emissaries of a foreign Power, I, Nicholas, refuse to grant Ivan Yakowleff his application for a concession for improvements at Otchakov, and hereby grant the privilege unreservedly to Alexander Klouieff, of 48 Kurlandskaya, Petrograd. Further, I order the arrest of Ivan Yakowleff and the confiscation of all his property."
Alexander Klouieff! The fellow was an ex-agent of secret police, a man ready to do any dirty work, even murder, for Rasputin, if paid for it--a low-bred criminal of the worst possible type! So the concession was to be given to him, and he, of course, would in due course, in exchange for payment, hand it over to the monk, who would share the huge profits with his friends.
"Nicholas shall sign that to-morrow," Rasputin remarked with confidence.
"As soon as he has done so I will see that copies be sent to each of the men in London who have subscribed, and they will no doubt prosecute Yakowleff for fraud. In any case, he is ruined and cast out, so he no longer stands in our path."
"Excellent!" said Protopopoff. "Does Klouieff know?"
"Of course not. I shall pay him something for the use of his name before he knows exactly what has transpired," was the crafty reply of the "blessed Gregory"--as so many termed him.
Two days later I went as usual to the palace with my master, and he took me with him along to the Emperor"s room, in case any writing was to be done. The monk"s first words were of the escape of Yakowleff.
"The traitor has gone back to his English pay-masters!" said the Starets.
"I have written here the order for his arrest and the confiscation of his property."
And he placed before the Emperor the doc.u.ment I had written. To Rasputin"s dismay, however, His Majesty seemed disinclined to append his signature. To me, Nicholas, who was wearing an old grey tweed suit, seemed very doubtful regarding the whole transaction.
"Who is this person Alexander Klouieff?" he demanded. "I must know something more of him."
"He is a man of considerable wealth--upright, honourable, and devoted to thee," Rasputin a.s.sured him. "Canst thou not place thy trust in those I recommend? If not, I say no more."
"Of course, Father; but the concession was granted--while this order makes it appear that it was only applied for."
"Surely it is not wise that thou shouldst be known to have granted favour unto a traitor?" was the monk"s clever reply.
Still Nicholas hesitated, at which Rasputin grew furious, declaring that he had no time to waste in idle discussion.
Dropping the familiar form of speech he was in the habit of using to the Emperor, he stood erect and said:
"You know the message which your dead father gave you at the seance last night! If you refuse to sign this decree, then I will abandon Russia to-day and leave you, the Empress and the lad to your fate. Remember, I am G.o.d"s messenger and your divine guide!"
The Tsar stood terror-stricken and in fear lest the real ruler of Russia should once again depart from Petrograd and refuse to return. Further refusal to sign was useless; therefore he bit his lip in chagrin and appended his signature to the doc.u.ment, which not only deprived the unfortunate Yakowleff of his concession, but also denounced him as a traitor and a swindler.
The result was that not only did Rasputin obtain possession of the concession for Otchakov, but he sold it a month later for a huge sum to a syndicate of bankers in Vienna, who still hold it. The monk, after paying a dole to the ex-agent of police, divided up the spoils with Protopopoff, Sturmer and Soukhomlinoff, and, in addition, he bought a very valuable diamond necklace for Anna Vyrubova.
As for poor Yakowleff, he was, as Rasputin had plotted, prosecuted in London for fraud, and sentenced at the Old Bailey to a term of imprisonment.
As the months went on, in the first half of 1914, I noticed that the acquaintanceship between Rasputin and his well-paid chemist-friend, Badmayev, became closer. Badmayev held the formula of the poisonous concoction which at intervals Anna Vyrubova secretly introduced into the food of the Tsarevitch, causing the poor lad those mysterious illnesses which were puzzling the physicians of Europe.
That some fresh plot of a diabolical nature was in progress I felt confident, but of its actual motive I could ascertain nothing. Yet it turned out to be a conspiracy--no doubt inspired and suggested by Potsdam--of a peculiarly devilish character.
It was on that fateful day that the "Germanisation" of Russia became complete. Thanks to the traitorous a.s.surances of Soukhomlinoff, Minister of War, Russia, alas! found herself suddenly plunged into hostilities.
Petrograd, of course, went wild with excitement. Our loyal Russians, who believed in official declarations and in their Tsar, were ready to fly at the Teutons, little dreaming that already, before a single shot was fired, Germany held all the honours of the game, and had the Russian bear shackled hand and foot.
At four o"clock in the afternoon Rasputin called me, and handing me an envelope which seemed to contain some small object--a lady"s silver powder-puff case I afterwards knew it to be--said:
"Feodor, I want you to go to the booking-office of the Finnish station at the departure of the train for Helsingfors at five-thirty. There you will meet a fair-haired young man who knows you by sight. He will say the word "Anak," and when he does, hand him this in secret. He will quite understand."
This order I carried out. I had not been at the crowded station five minutes when a young man, carrying a small handbag, elbowed his way through the excited crowd and uttered in an undertone the word "Anak." I greeted him, and surrept.i.tiously handed him the little packet, for which he thanked me and disappeared on to the platform.