Our stay in the Crimea was longer than usual owing to Alexis Nicolaïevitch’s illness, and we only returned to Tsarskoïe-Selo in December. We then spent the whole winter of 1913-14 there.
Our life at Tsarskoïe-Selo was far more intimate than when we were in residence at other palaces. With the exception of the maid-of-honour on duty and the officer commanding the “composite”[13] regiment, the suite did not live in the palace, and unless relations were visiting the family the latter generally took their meals alone very quietly.
Lessons[14] began at nine o’clock, and there was a break from eleven to twelve. We went out driving in a carriage, sledge, or car, and then work was resumed until lunch at one. In the afternoon we always spent two hours out of doors. The Grand-Duchesses and, when he was free, the Czar, came with us, and Alexis Nicolaïevitch played with them, sliding on an ice
[Illustration: THE CZAREVITCH WITH HIS DOG “JOY” ON THE BALCONY OF THE ALEXANDER PALACE, TSARSKOÏE-SELO. SEPTEMBER, 1914.
mountain we had made at the edge of a little artificial lake. He was also fond of playing with his donkey Vanka, which was harnessed to a sledge, and his dog Joy, an attractive little liver spaniel with short legs, and long silky ears which almost touched the ground.
Vanka was a creature of quite unusual intelligence and sense of humour. When the idea of giving Alexis Nicolaïevitch a donkey had been mooted, all the horse-dealers in St. Petersburg had been referred to in vain. Cinizelli’s Circus had then agreed to part with a thoroughbred animal which had grown too old to perform any longer. Thus had Vanka come to Court, and he seemed to be immensely attached to the young family. He certainly was most amusing, for his repertoire of tricks was quite inexhaustible. In the most expert manner imaginable he would turn out your pockets in the hope of discovering delicacies. He was particularly fond of old indiarubber balls, which he would quietly chew, closing one eye like an old Yankee.
These two animals played a large part in the life of Alexis Nicolaïevitch, for his amusements were few. Above all, he was very short of playmates. The two sons of his sailor Derevenko, his ordinary companions, were much younger than he, and had neither the education nor the development desirable.