Page:Julian Niemcewicz - Notes of my Captivity in Russia.djvu/270

242 until at last, I was called and ushered into his cabinet. “It is you, Sir,” said he, “who have just been set at liberty by the Emperor?”–“Yes, Sir,” said I.–“And you incur his displeasure again, Sir?”–“How so, in what manner?” said I.–“You have paid a visit to a lady in waiting to the Empress, without the leave of the court.”—“Where and when?” said I, “I go nowhere but to see my friends, and I have not the honour of knowing any of the ladies you speak of; allow me to ask her name?”—“That is not the question,” replied he, “but the Emperor pardons you this time, and I advise you not to remain too long in St. Petersburgh. Adieu.”—I got into the carriage, and returned to General Kosciuszko; I related to him my adventure, and said that there must have been a mistake, or I must have been mistaken for another. I afterwards went to Marshal Potocki's, where I found all my friends assembled. They received me with transports of joy, and told me, that as soon as they had learned that I was carried off, though the