“It sounds horrible, but I am quite sure that there was nothing that you could possibly do about it,” Richard suggested.
“That is what I thought at first,” the Prince replied. “Instead I helped my friend to escape from Russia overnight. It was not an easy thing to do, but we managed it. When he was safely over the Russian border, I told the Czar what I had done.”
Nathlia gave a cry.
“How could you have done anything quite so stupid – oh, Alexis, he might have had you killed.”
“That was what I expected. But at the same time I just could not allow my good friend to suffer quite unnecessarily in the appalling way that had been planned for him.”
“What happened?” Richard asked.
“To my surprise the Czar laughed. I think it was just the impertinence of it that amused him.”
“Then you were v
