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EMPRESS ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA AND THE TSAREVICH ALEXIS NIKOLAEVICH IN LIVADIA (CRIMEA)

THE TSAREVICH ALEXIS AND HIS SPANIEL JOY, IN THE PARK AT TSARSKOE

wept bitterly. He also wept another time when he saw the colours of the Svodny regiment being taken out of the waiting-room. Some days later, I do not remember the date, I was notified by telephone of the arrival of the emperor. I went to the station. After the arrival of the train the emperor left his car and walked very quickly through the station without throwing a single glance at anybody, and took his seat in an automobile. He was accompanied by a marshal of the court, Count Vasily Alexandrovitch Dolgoruky. Together with Dolgoruky the emperor seated himself in the automobile.

Two men dressed in plain clothes came towards me; one of them was Vershinin, a member of the Duma. They told me that their mission was ended and that from this time on the emperor was to be under my guard.

I can not forget a certain circumstance I witnessed at that time. There were quite a number of persons who had been in the emperor’s train. When the emperor left the train these people crowded out to the station platform and quickly dispersed, throwing frightened looks in all directions. It appears that they were very much afraid of being recognised. All this looked rather disgusting.