few people knew or know how powerful a man prince serganoff really was in these bad old days. he waved his hand and thousands of men and women disappeared. he beckoned and he had a thousand sycophantic suppliants.
in the days before he became chief of the police to the entourage, he went upon a diplomatic mission to high macedonia, the dark and sinister state. he was sent by none, but he had a reason, for dimitrius, his sometime friend, had fled to the capital of the higher balkan state and serganoff went down without authority to terrify his sometime confidant into returning for trial. in high macedonia the exquisite young man was led by sheer curiosity to make certain inquiries into the domestic administration of the country, and learnt things.
he had hardly made himself master of these before he was sent for by the foreign minister.
"highness," said the suave man, stroking his long, brown beard, "how long have you been in the capital?"
"some four days, excellency," said the prince.
"that is ninety-six hours too long," said the minister. "there is a train for the north in forty minutes. you will catch that, and god be with you!"
prince serganoff did not argue but went out from the ornate office, and the minister called a man who was waiting.
"if his highness does not leave by the four o'clock train, cut his throat and carry the body to one of the common houses of the town--preferably that of the man domopolo, the greek, who is a bad character, and well deserving of death."
"excellency," said the man gravely, and saluted his way out.
they knew serganoff in high macedonia and were a little anxious. had they known him better they would have feared him less. he did not leave by the four o'clock train, but by a special which was across the frontier by four. he sat in a cold sweat till the frontier post was past.
this man was a mass of contradictions. he liked the good things of life. he bought his hosiery in paris, his shoes in vienna, his suits and cravats in new york; and it is said of him that he made a special pilgrimage to london--the mecca of those who love good leather work--for the characteristic attache cases which were so indispensable to the chief of gendarmerie of the marsh town.
he carried with him the irrepressible trimness and buoyancy of youth, with his smooth, sallow face, his neat black moustache and his shapeliness of outline. an exquisite of exquisites, he had never felt the draughts of life or experienced its rude buffetings.
his perfectly-appointed flat in the morskaya had been modelled to his taste and fancy. it was a suite wherein you pressed buttons and comfortable things happened. you opened windows and boiled water, or summoned a valet to your bedside by the gentle pressure you applied to a mother-of-pearl stud set in silver plate which, by some miracle, was always within reach.
he had an entire suite converted to bath-rooms, where his masseur, his manicurist and his barber attended him daily. he had conscripted modern science to his service, he had so cunningly disguised its application, that you might never guess the motive power of the old english clock which ticked in the spacious hall, or realize that the soft light which came from the many branched candelabra which hung from the centre of his drawing-room was due to anything more up to date than the hundred most life-like candles which filled the sockets.
yet this suave gentleman with his elegant manners and his pretty taste in old china, this genius who was the finest judge in the capital of pekinese dogs, and had been known to give a thousand-rouble fee to the veterinary surgeon who performed a minor operation on his favourite borzoi, had another aspect. he who shivered at the first chill winds of winter and wrapped himself in sables whenever he drove abroad after the last days of september, and had sent men and women to the bleakness of alexandrowski without a qualm; he who had to fortify himself to face an american dentist (his fees for missed appointments would have kept the average middle-class family in comfort for a year), was ruthless in his dealings with the half-crazed men and women who strayed across the frontier which divided conviction from propaganda.
physical human suffering left him unmoved--he hanged the murderer palatoff with his own hands. yet in that operation someone saw him turn very pale and shrink back from his victim. afterwards the reason was discovered. the condemned man had had the front of his rough shirt fastened with a safety-pin which had worked loose. the point had ripped a little gash in the inexperienced finger of the amateur hangman.
he brought dr. von krauss from berlin, because von krauss was an authority upon blood infection and spent a week of intense mental agony until he was pronounced out of danger.
he sat before a long mirror in his bedroom, that gave on horridge's hotel, and surveyed himself thoughtfully. he was looking at the only man he trusted, for it was not vanity, but a love of agreeable company that explained the passion for mirrors which was the jest of st. petersburg.
it was his fourth day in london and a little table near the window was covered with patterns of cloth; he had spent an exciting afternoon with the representative of his tailor. but it was not of sartorial magnificence that he was thinking.
he stretched out his legs comfortably towards his reflection, and smiled.
"yes," he said, as though answering some secret thought, and he and the reflection nodded to one another as though they had reached a complete understanding.
presently he pushed the bell and his valet appeared.
"has the grand duke gone?" he asked.
"yes, excellency," replied the man.
"and the grand duchess?"
"yes, excellency."
"good!" serganoff nodded.
"is your excellency's headache better?" asked the man.
"much better," replied the chief of police. "go to their highness's suite, and tell their servant--what is the man's name?"
"boolba, excellency," said the valet.
"yes, that is the fellow. ask him to come to me. the grand duke mentioned a matter which i forgot to tell boolba."
boolba made his appearance, a suave domestic, wearing the inconspicuous livery of an english butler rather than the ornate uniform which accompanied his office in kieff.
"that will do." serganoff dismissed his valet. "boolba, come here."
the man approached him and serganoff lowered his voice.
"you have made a fool of me again, boolba."
"excellency," pleaded the man urgently, "i have done all that was possible."
"you have placed my fortune and my life in the hands of an american criminal. if that is your idea of doing all that is possible, i agree with you," said serganoff. "be careful, boolba! the arm of the bureau is a very long one, and greater men than you have disappeared from their homes."
"illustrious excellency," said the agitated man, "i swear to you i did all that you requested. there were many reasons why i should not entrust this matter to the men of the secret society."
"i should like to hear a few," said serganoff, cleaning his nails delicately.
"excellency, the grand duke stands well with the society. he had never oppressed them, and he is the only popular member of the imperial house with our--their society."
"our society, eh?" said serganoff, noticing the slip. "go on."
"besides, excellency," said boolba, "it was necessary not only to kill the grand duke, but to shoot down his assassin. our plan was to get this american to shoot him in the park, where he walks in the morning, and then for one of the society to shoot the american. that was a good plan, because it meant that the man who could talk would talk no more, and that the comrade who shot down the murderer would stand well with the government."
serganoff nodded.
"and your plan has failed," he said, "failed miserably at the outset. you dog!"
he leapt to his feet, his eyes blazing, and boolba stepped back.
"highness, wait, wait!" he cried. "i have something else in my mind! i could have helped highness better if i had known more. but i could only guess. i had to grope in the dark all the time."
"do you imagine i am going to take you into my confidence?" asked serganoff. "what manner of fool am i? tell me what you have guessed. you may sit down; nobody will come in, and if they do you can be buttoning my boots."
boolba wiped his damp face with a handkerchief and leaned nearer to the man.
"if the grand duke dies, a certain illustrious person succeeds to his estates," he said, "but not to his title."
serganoff looked at him sharply. the man had put into words the one difficulty which had occupied the mind of the chief of police for months.
"well?" he said.
"the title is in the gift of the czar," said boolba. "he alone can create a grand duke who succeeds but is not in the direct line. therefore, the killing of yaroslav would bring little but the property to the illustrious person. only if his imperial majesty decided upon a worthier holder, or if the grand duke fell under a cloud at court, could it pass to the illustrious person."
"that i know," said serganoff. "well?"
"well, highness, would it not be better if the grand duke were disgraced, if he were brought to st. petersburg to answer certain charges which the illustrious person formulated? after, the grand duke might die--that is a simple matter. russia would think that he had been put to death by the court party as a matter of policy. yaroslav is not in favour at the court," he added significantly; but serganoff shook his head.
"he is not sufficiently out of favour yet," he said. "go on, man, you have something in your mind."
boolba edged closer.
"suppose the grand duke or the grand duchess were involved in some conspiracy against the imperial house?" he said, speaking rapidly. "suppose, on evidence which could not be disputed, such as the evidence of the london police, it was proved that either the grand duke or his daughter was in league with an anarchist society, or was attending their meetings--does your excellency see?"
"i see," said serganoff, "but they do not attend meetings."
boolba hesitated.
"yet," he said, speaking slowly, "i would guarantee that i could bring the grand duchess irene to such a meeting, and that i could arrange for the place to be raided whilst she was there."
serganoff put down his orange stick and eyed the other keenly.
"you have brains, boolba," he said. "some day i shall bring you to st. petersburg and place you on my staff--if you do not know too much."
he paced the apartment, his hands clasped behind his back.
"suppose you get in touch with this american again, bring him to the meeting, unless he's afraid to come, and then boldly suggest to him that he goes to st. petersburg to make an attempt upon the life of the czar himself."
"he would reject it," said boolba, shaking his head.
"what if he did--that doesn't matter," said serganoff impatiently. "it is sufficient that the suggestion is made. suppose this man is amongst these infamous fellows when the london police raid and arrest them, and he makes a statement that he was approached to destroy the imperial life, and the grand duchess irene is arrested at the same time?"
boolba's eyes brightened.
"that is a wonderful idea, highness," he said admiringly.
serganoff continued his pacing, and presently stopped.
"i will arrange the police raid," he said. "i am in communication with scotland yard, and it will be better if i am present when the raid is conducted. it is necessary that i should identify myself with this chapter," he said, "but how will you induce the grand duchess to come?"
"leave that to me, highness," replied the man, and gave some details of his scheme.
