The Seeds of Power Read online

  ‘Your Excellency!’ Anatole certainly remembered Charles. But he was uneasy, and glanced even more uneasily at the big sailor standing at Charles’s shoulder.

  ‘This is Silas,’ Charles explained. ‘The last time I arrived without a servant, remember? You guys seemed to be upset about that, so this time I thought there’d be no mistake. Aren’t you going to let us in, Anatole?’ Anatole opened the door, and the two Americans stamped into the hall, shedding snow as they did so. ‘I’ll tell you, Anatole,’ Charles said. ‘We have had one hell of a journey up from Sevastopol. Now tell me what’s been happening?’

  Footmen helped them out of their coats, and Silas looked around him in wonder. The skipper had told him about this palace, but he hadn’t really believed him. ‘Happening, Your Excellency?’ Anatole asked.

  ‘I got a letter from the Countess Anna, just before Christmas,’ Charles told him. ‘It had been written back in September, but things have been a bit confused Stateside. In the letter the Countess said there was some kind of trouble, involving my wife, and that I should be here. So I came as soon as I could, war or no war. Didn’t seem much point in writing, as I can travel as fast as any letter. Trouble is, as I said, the Countess’s letter was dated September, and here we are virtually in March. I want to know what’s been happening.’

  ‘I do not know, Your Excellency.’ Anatole snapped his fingers and gave instructions in Russian, and a footman hurried off to fetch a tray of vodka and glasses. Anatole showed Charles into one of the downstairs reception rooms, and looked more uncertain than ever as Silas followed his captain; but at least the two men had taken off their caps.

  ‘Anatole,’ Charles said. ‘It is my intention to go out to Bolugayen first thing tomorrow morning. But I wish to have some idea of what I’m going to. The Countess Anna wrote that she was taking Madame Cromb back home to Bolugayen. Now you tell me, are they there?’

  The footmen arrived. Silas looked at the clear liquid with a puzzled expression, then lifted the glass and sniffed. ‘That is the damndest smelling rum I ever did see, skipper,’ he commented, in English. ‘Fact is, it don’t smell at all.’

  ‘That’s because it isn’t rum, Silas. But it’s still drinkable.’ Charles set his mate an example. ‘I asked you a question, Anatole.’

  ‘The Countess and Madame Cromb returned to Bolugayen last September, Your Excellency.’

  ‘So they are there now. Right. And there’s been no trouble?’

  ‘No trouble, Your Excellency. Well...’

  ‘Give, Anatole.’

  Anatole licked his lips. ‘There has been no trouble, Your Excellency. But twelve days ago the Princess Dagmar came home. She spent the night here before going out to Bolugayen.’

  ‘And that’s bad news, is it?’

  ‘I do not know, Your Excellency. But the day after the Princess was here, a squadron of Cossacks came to Poltava. They were also going to Bolugayen. They only stopped by the city to pick up some policemen. Colonel Vorontsov went himself.’

  ‘All to Bolugayen? That does sound like trouble. But I guess the Countess Anna must have sent for them. She’s in charge there while the Prince is in Poland, right? That’s what she put in her letter.’

  ‘I believe that is so, Your Excellency.’

  ‘I still think we should get out there as rapidly as possible. Have some horses arranged for us at first light tomorrow morning, Anatole.’ However much he was looking forward to seeing Alexandra again, and making sure she was all right, it was the thought that Anna was in Bolugayen while Colin was in Warsaw that was quickening his heartbeat.

  Anatole looked as if he might have said something further, but changed his mind. Instead he looked towards the two footmen who were hovering in the doorway. The two men spoke to each other in such rapid Russian that Charles could not follow them, but he caught the name Yevrentko. ‘What’s that?’ he demanded. ‘Yevrentko is here?’

  ‘He wishes to speak with you, Your Excellency. Apparently he saw you on the street.’

  ‘Then bring him in.’

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency. But...’

  Charles went to the door, and the footman stepped aside to admit the man who was waiting at the front door. His clothes were torn and mudstained, his face was bruised, and twisted with pain and misery, and he looked half-starved. ‘Yevrentko?’ Charles went to him. ‘Is it really you?’

  Yevrentko fell to his knees. ‘Monsieur Cromb? Oh, Monsieur Cromb! Thank God I have found you.’

  ‘Anatole! Vodka!’ Anatole signalled a footman forward, and Yevrentko drank greedily.

  ‘And I think you’d better lay on some food. Come to think of it, we could eat too.’ Charles himself gave Yevrentko a second glass of vodka, then assisted him into the sitting room. Anatole ordered the meal to be prepared. ‘Now tell me what happened to you?’ Charles asked. ‘Where are your glasses?’

  ‘The Princess smashed them, Your Excellency. She burned my books. My books!’ His voice rose an octave.

  ‘The Princess? Are we talking about the Princess Dagmar?’

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency. She is a devil. A devil!’

  ‘Calm down. What was the Countess Anna doing while all this was going on?’

  ‘The Countess Anna! Oh, the Countess Anna!’ Yevrentko buried his face in his hands and began to weep.

  Colin refilled his glass. ‘Yes, the Countess Anna. You are not going to tell me that she stood by and watched her sister beat you up?’

  ‘The Countess Anna is no more,’ Yevrentko wailed.

  ‘What did you say?’ Charles grabbed the schoolmaster by the lapels and jerked him to his feet.

  The vodka glass fell to the floor and smashed. Anatole signalled a footman. ‘You’re telling me the Countess is dead?’

  ‘No, Your Excellency, no.’ Yevrentko trembled. ‘She is locked up. Imprisoned. She has been caned, raped, debauched, by order of the Princess.’

  ‘By God!’ Charles released him, and Yevrentko slowly sank back into his chair. Charles could feel every part of his body tingling with fury. ‘What about my wife?’

  ‘I do not think she has been ill-treated, Your Excellency. But she is also locked up.’

  Charles nodded. ‘You say there are Cossacks and policemen on the estate? Doing Dagmar’s bidding, I’ll bet.’

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency. But...’

  Charles had turned to face Anatole. ‘Where do you stand in this, Anatole?’ Anatole looked more embarrassed than ever. ‘You’d better pick the right side, Anatole,’ Charles said, ‘because, when the Prince comes home...’ Anatole cleared his throat. ‘Give,’ Charles commanded.

  ‘The Prince has been arrested, Your Excellency. By order of the Tsar.’

  ‘I cannot believe that.’

  ‘It has been in the newspapers, Your Excellency. And the Princess confirmed it when she was here. The Prince was involved in a plot to kill the Tsar, and he has been arrested, along with Mademoiselle Cromb. They are saying he will be hanged.’

  It was Charles’ turn to sit down.

  ‘Looks like a tricky business, skipper,’ Silas commented. ‘Long odds if we can’t get no help.’

  Yevrentko raised his head. ‘The Cossacks have gone on,’ he said, now also speaking English. ‘They left eleven days ago. The day I was thrown out to starve. I have starved, monsieur. For ten days on the streets of Poltava, begging...and then I saw you...’ He began to weep all over again.

  ‘There’s food on its way,’ Charles assured him. ‘But you say the Cossacks have gone? Gone where?’

  ‘They were to carry out a pogrom against the Jews. Most of the police went with them, and Colonel Vorontsov. There are only four policemen at the house. But they will be back, any day now.’

  ‘Then whatever we’re gonna do, we’d better do it now. What about the people in the town?’

  ‘They hate the Princess. Given the lead...’ Yevrentko gulped.

  ‘This legal?’ Silas asked.

  Charles gave a savage grin. ‘No. We’d be start
ing a revolution. You game?’

  ‘I’d like to know what you’re aiming to do.’

  ‘Well, I’ll tell you, Silas.’ Charles stood up again. ‘It doesn’t look as if I can do anything about my cousin, except make diplomatic representations and pray they’re in time. But I reckon I can do something about my wife and sister-in-law.’ He kept his voice even with an effort. ‘So you and me’ll pay Bolugayen a visit. I mean to go there, collect my wife and the Countess Anna, and then get the hell down to Sevastopol and rejoin the ship.’

  ‘Can we make that, skip?’

  ‘I believe we can.’

  ‘What about these guys?’

  ‘Only these two know what we’re planning. The rest don’t speak English. But you do, don’t you, Anatole?’

  ‘I will say nothing, Your Excellency.’

  ‘I believe you, Anatole. And I’ll tell you why: you’re coming with us.’

  ‘Me, Your Excellency? In the snow? I am too old, Your Excellency.’

  ‘You look in great shape to me, Anatole.’

  ‘The Princess will crucify me if I help you.’

  ‘Maybe. Trouble is, I’m gonna crucify you if you don’t help me, and I’m the one in the chair, right? Don’t worry about your future; I’ll give you a job in the States. The two countesses will appreciate having a Russian butler about the house.’

  Anatole commenced to shiver almost as vigorously as Yevrentko. But Yevrentko now stopped shivering. ‘I would like to come with you, sir.’

  ‘You?’

  ‘The Princess treated me like a dog, sir.’

  ‘There’s a point. But can you see without your specs?’

  ‘I won’t let you down, sir.’

  ‘Okay. Seems like we have ourselves an army, Silas. Let’s go.’

  ‘We’ll need weapons, skipper.’

  ‘Silas, this house is full of weapons. Just choose your poison.’

  *

  Dagmar went to Alexandra’s room, and Alexandra scrambled off the bed where she had been lying, fully dressed.

  ‘What was that screaming?’

  ‘Anna having hysterics.’

  ‘You have been torturing her again.’

  ‘My dear Alix, I have not yet begun to torture her. I am indulging her in what she likes best, whoring. I may well get around to torturing her when Constantine gets back. I look forward to that.’ Alexandra drew a deep breath. ‘I would like to visit David Fine.’

  ‘Your lover?’

  ‘He is not my lover. But, yes, I wish to visit him.’

  ‘To see if he still has his balls? Or to have some fun with him? Come along, then.’ Dagmar went down the stairs, listening to the rustle of her sister’s skirts behind her. ‘You may say he is not your lover, but do you know that the rascal had the temerity to declare his love for you?’

  ‘He does love me,’ Alexandra said.

  ‘Well, well.’ Dagmar opened the door leading down to the cellars. One of the footmen hurried forward, but she waved him away. ‘We do not want to be interrupted.’ She went down the steps. ‘Has he fucked you?’

  ‘Of course he has not.’

  ‘You are so chaste,’ Dagmar said contemptuously. ‘Or is it just that he did not have the opportunity. Would you like to fuck him?’

  ‘You are nauseating,’ Alexandra said.

  ‘Be careful, little sister,’ Dagmar recommended. ‘Or you may find that I can be very nauseating indeed.’ She opened the door to the meat cellar, and Alexandra gave a little gasp. David Fine hung from one of the meathooks. He was naked, his body a mass of bruises and lacerations. His head hung, and he scarcely seemed to breathe. He had a fortnight’s growth of beard.

  ‘What have you done to him?’ Alexandra screamed.

  ‘Very little, as yet. Just tickled him up a little.’

  ‘But...he’s dead!’

  ‘No, no. Look.’ Dagmar went to the barrel of water which stood against the wall, dipped the ladle, and threw some water into David’s face. His head jerked, and he gave a little shiver. His eyes opened, and he blinked at his tormentress. ‘There, you see,’ Dagmar said. And he is fed two square meals a day. I want him to be fully aware of what is going on. Especially when he is hanged. Now, what shall we do today, David?’

  David Fine inhaled, and his head half-turned as he realised there was someone else in the room. Then he saw Alexandra, and he gave a little moan, and closed his eyes again. ‘He thinks you have abandoned him,’ Dagmar said. ‘Well, you have, haven’t you, my dear? What would you like to do with him? Would you like to castrate him? It can be such fun. I castrated Vassily, you know, with a piece of wood. It could have been one of those very pieces of wood there. Bring one to me.’

  Alexandra looked at the staves, leaning against the wall.

  ‘You are going to scream, as you have never screamed before,’ Dagmar told David. ‘And do you know, your screams are going to grow higher and higher.’

  Alexandra wrapped her fingers round the length of wood, drew a long breath, and brought it down on Dagmar’s head with all of her strength.

  *

  Dagmar did not utter a sound; her knees gave way and she struck the floor with a thump. ‘You have killed her!’ David gasped.

  Alexandra knelt beside her sister. She felt not the slightest remorse. Hitting Dagmar was something she had dreamed of doing ever since she could remember, since Dagmar had first caned her. But when she put her head next to Dagmar’s breasts she could hear the irregular thumping of the heart.

  ‘No.’ she said. ‘But I will.’ She reached for the stake again.

  ‘No,’ David said. ‘You cannot kill your own sister.’

  Alexandra looked up at him. ‘You can ask for her life, after what she has done to you?’ She stood up and against him on tiptoe, to release his wrists. When she did so, he fell to his knees beside Dagmar.

  ‘Why did you do this?’ he asked.

  ‘To save you.’

  ‘But...you will be in terrible trouble.’

  ‘I will not be here. Neither will you.’

  ‘But.’

  ‘Listen, do as I say. Help me.’

  Between them they raised Dagmar to her feet, and

  David held her against him while Alexandra carried her wrists above her head and secured them to the meathook. ‘She’ll scream the place down,’ David said.

  ‘No, she won’t.’ Alexandra lifted Dagmar’s skirt and tore strips from her petticoat. These she rolled into a ball and stuffed them into Dagmar’s mouth. Dagmar was beginning to regain consciousness now. Alexandra tore another strip from her petticoat to bind the gag into place. When she was finished she was panting, but Dagmar was helpless, although she could move her legs; her toes just reached the floor. David Fine watched in amazement. ‘Now listen,’ Alexandra said. ‘I am going to go upstairs and fetch some clothing for you to wear. I will tell the servants not to come down here. I believe they will obey me, but if any of them does come down, you must hit them on the head. Right?’

  David gulped. He had never hit anyone on the head in his life. Alexandra held his arms and shook him. ‘It is them or us, David. You must understand that.’

  He nodded. ‘I do not understand why you should risk your own life to save me.’

  ‘Silly boy,’ she said. ‘I will be back in ten minutes.’ She looked at her sister, who was now fully conscious. Dagmar’s eyes were rolling and she was trying to stamp her legs and making shrilling sounds through the gag. ‘If you want to beat her, you do it,’ Alexandra said. ‘Or you can fuck her if you like. After what she has done to you, you can do anything you like to her.’

  ‘You people frighten me,’ David said. ‘I don’t want to do anything to her. I don’t even want to look at her.’

  ‘Ten minutes,’ Alexandra promised. She went up the stairs, closed the cellar door behind her. The footman waited patiently in the hall. ‘Listen, Paul,’ Alexandra said. ‘The Princess bid me tell you that under no circumstances is she to be disturbed. Do you understand me?�
��

  ‘Yes, Your Excellency.’

  She went first of all to Dagmar’s apartment. She knew where everything was, had no difficulty in finding Dagmar’s jewels and money. There was enough comfortably to finance a journey to Sevastopol and then a voyage to America.

  She crammed everything she regarded to be of any value into a large satchel, and was turning to leave when she saw the pearl-handled revolver. She had no idea Dagmar owned a revolver. She picked it up and broke it—it was fully loaded with six bullets. She put that in her satchel as well. Then she hunted through Colin’s wardrobes.

  David and Colin were about the same height, and although Colin was by far the heavier man, the clothes would be an adequate fit, especially concealed under a greatcoat. She hurried along to her own apartment. As she passed the door to Anna’s apartment she hesitated. Should she take Anna with her? But Anna would wish to take command, run things. Anna was just too strong! She would have to find her own salvation. Anyway, there were people in there; Alexandra could hear the maids chattering as they cleaned the rooms. And she couldn’t possibly wait for them to finish.

  She returned to her own apartment, and dressed in the warmest clothes she had, adding a heavy coat and gloves, drawing thick boots over her stockings. Then she filled another satchel with some changes of underclothes; she’d be able to buy anything she’d forgotten in Sevastopol before they put to sea. And then? She was going to her husband. With David? Charles was a kindly man. He would understand about David.

  That they had travelled together, as man and wife, for several weeks? They would have to travel as man and wife. She didn’t know if she loved David. But she wanted to be loved by David. All of her life she had wanted to be loved, adored, by someone, and there had never been anyone other than David. And besides, as she had probably saved his life, he would love her even more desperately. Charles would understand.

  *

  Alexandra put the revolver in her coat pocket, slung the two satchels over her shoulder, and went downstairs, where the footman remained on duty. ‘I told you that the Princess does not wish to be disturbed, Paul,’ she said.