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[1] To give some idea of what I mean, it is only necessary to record that in one of these books (which is based on the evidence of an _eyewitness_ of the drama of Ekaterinburg, the authenticity of which is guaranteed) there is a description of my death! All the rest is on a par.
Everyone desiring information about the end of the reign of Nicholas II. should read the remarkable articles recently published in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ by M. Paleologue, the French Ambassador at Petrograd.
[2] It was in 1909 that my duties as tutor to Duke Sergius of Leuchtenberg came to an end. I had thus more time for my duties at the Court.
[3] An Imperial sporting estate in the Government of Grodno. This forest and the Caucasus are the only places where the aurochs, or European bison, is found. They still rove these immense forests, which occupy an area of more than three thousand acres.
[4] An ancient hunting-seat of the kings of Poland.
[5] He was generally carried by Derevenko, formerly a sailor on the Imperial yacht _Standard_, to whom this duty had been assigned several years before.
[6] He had the same surname as Derevenko, the sailor whom I have mentioned above. A constant cause of confusion.
[7] About 85 per cent. of bleeders die in their childhood or early youth. The chances of a fatal issue diminish greatly as they attain manhood. That is easily understood. An adult knows how to exercise the care his condition requires, and the causes of trauma are thus greatly lessened. Although hæmophilia is incurable, it does not prevent many of its victims from reaching an advanced old age. The children of Alexis Nicolaïevitch would not have been affected by this terrible malady, as it is only transmitted by women.
[8] Queen Victoria did not like the Germans and had a particular aversion for the Emperor William II., which she handed on to her granddaughter, who always preferred England, her country on her mother’s side, to Germany. Yet she always remained greatly attached to the friends and relations she had left there.
[9] She was extremely anxious to improve the lot of poor women by building maternity and other hospitals. She hoped to establish professional schools, and so on.