Instantly the danger was apparent, and instead of driving back to the
hotel, I called out to the man to take me to the Moscow railway station, in order to put the spy off the scent. I knew he would follow me, but as he was on foot, with no drosky in sight, I should be able to reach the station before he could, and there elude him.
Over the stones we rattled, leaving the lurking agent standing in the
deep shadow, but on turning back I saw him dash across the road to a
by-street, where, in all probability, he had a conveyance in waiting.
Then, after we had crossed the Neva, I countermanded my order to the
man, saying--
"Don't go right up to the station. Turn into the Liteinoi Prospect to
the left, and put me down there. Drive quickly, and I'll pay double
fare."
He whipped his horses, and we turned into that maze of dark, ill-lit, narrow streets that lies between the Vosnesenski and the Nevski, turning and winding until we emerged at last into the main thoroughfare again, and then at last we turned into the street I had indicated--a wide road of handsome buildings where I knew I was certain to be able to instantly get another drosky. I flung the man his money, alighted, and two minutes later was driving on towards the Alexander Bridge, traveling in a circle back to the hotel. Time after time I glanced behind, but saw nothing of the Baron's spy, who had evidently gone to the station with all speed, expecting that I was leaving the capital.
I found Elma in her room, ready dressed to go out, wearing a long
traveling-cloak, and in her hand was a small dressing-case. She was pale
and full of anxiety until I showed her the slip of paper which Otto
Kampf had given me with the address written upon it, and then together
we hurried forth.
The house to which we drove was, we discovered, a large one facing the
Fontanka Canal, one of the best quarters of the town, and on descending
I asked the liveried dvornick for Madame Zurloff, the name which the
"Red Priest" had written.
"You mean the Princess Zurloff," remarked the man through his red beard. "Whom shall I say desires to see her?"
"Take that," I said, handing to him the piece of paper which, beside the
address, bore a curious cipher-mark like three triangles joined.
He closed the door, leaving us in the wide carpeted hall, the statuary
in which showed us that it was a richly-furnished place, and when a few
minutes later he returned, he conducted us upstairs to a fine gilded
salon, where an elderly gray-haired lady in black stood gravely to
receive us.
"Allow me to present Mademoiselle Elma Heath, Princess," I said, speaking in French and bowing, and afterwards telling her my own name.
Our hostess welcomed my love in a graceful speech, but I said--
"Mademoiselle unfortunately suffers a terrible affliction. She is deaf
and dumb."
"Ah, how very, very sad!" she exclaimed sympathetically. "Poor girl! poor girl!" and she placed her hand tenderly upon Elma's shoulder and looked into her eyes. Then, turning to me, she said: "So the Red Priest has sent you both to me! You are in danger of arrest, I suppose--you wish me to conceal you here?"
"I would only ask sanctuary for Mademoiselle," was my reply. "For
myself, I have no fear. I am English, and therefore not a member of the
Party."
"The Mademoiselle fears arrest?"
"There is an order signed for her banishment to Saghalein," I said. "She
was imprisoned at Kajana, the fortress away in Finland, but I succeeded
in liberating her."
"She has actually been in Kajana!" gasped the Princess. "Ah! we have all
heard sufficient of the horrors of that place. And you liberated her! Why, she is the only person who has ever escaped from that living tomb to which Oberg sends his victims."
"I believe so, Princess."
"And may I take it, m'sieur, that the reason you risked your life for
her is because you love her? Pardon me for suggesting this."
"You have guessed correctly," I answered. Then, knowing that Elma could
not hear, I added: "I love her, but we are not lovers. I have not told
her of my affection. Hers is a long and strange story, and she will
perhaps tell you something of it in writing."