Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/192

182 the Czar Paul, and the unfortunate circumstances under which his majesty began his reign?"

"Utterly!" cried the horror-stricken Ivan, growing red and pale by turns. "Oh, what have I done?—I never dreamed of any sorrow save my own." But after a long pause he resumed, with a look of returning composure: "I think he did not misunderstand me. It is true I saw a look of pain pass across his face, and I wondered at it for a moment. But his manner to me grew even gentler than before. He asked me what my father's supposed crime had been, and I told him frankly. Then he said, 'He shall be sought out and restored to you, if he be not already beyond our reach;' and he added, 'Beyond the reach of God he cannot be. Is it not so?' I thought he waited for an answer, and I said, 'Yes, sire.' That was nearly the end. He told me I should receive a communication to-morrow through the Governor of St. Petersburg, General Soltikoff. Then I kissed his hand; and the gentleman-in-waiting, who accompanied me to the gate of the palace, asked for my address. Now, Adrian, you know as much as I can tell you. But," he added to himself, "not all; the look, the tone, the manner, these are mine, mine only. These it is that give me the precious sense that I myself—Ivan Ivanovitch Pojarsky—am recognized, thought of, cared for."