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Rasputin had one other secret: he always said what she wanted to hear. Including what she kept deeply hidden and did not dare utter even to herself. He said it for her.

Rasputin was the sole figure who could have averted war at that time. She could have cited him as the voice of God and the people. She could have entreated Nicholas to listen to him.

Rasputin, however, lay wounded in a distant Siberian village.

The day after the state dinner with the French president, under a hot, threatening sky, 60,000 men engaged in military exercises. In the evening there was a farewell dinner on board the France, and a military orchestra played marches. With a convulsive smile Alix listened to the frenzied allegro. Once again, the French ambassador described the scene in his diary: With a suffering, somehow pleading face, she begged the ambassador, “Couldn’t you possibly….” Paléologue guessed and with a gesture of his hand asked the orchestra to stop. She was on the verge of hysterics. Olga rushed over to her.

The Gulf of Finland was lit by the moon, and the battleship’s shadow lay on the water.

From Nicholas’s diary:

“19 July, 1914. After breakfast summoned Nikolasha [Nicholas Nikolaevich] and informed him of his appointment as commander-in-chief until I could join the army.… At 6.30 went to vespers. Upon my return I learned that Germany had declared war on us….

“20 July. A good day in particular in the sense of an upsurge of spirit. At 2.30 set out on the Alexandria to Petr[ograd] and took a cutter directly to the Winter Palace. Signed the declaration of war. From the [Hall of] Malachite, we went out into St. Nicholas Hall, in the middle of which the declaration was read. Then public prayers were said.… The entire hall sang ‘Save Us, Lord’ and ‘Many Years.’ I said a few words. Upon our return the ladies rushed to kiss our hands and rather wore Alix and myself out.… Then we went out on the balcony on Alexander Square and bowed to the enormous mass of people.… At about 6 we went out onto the embankment to the cutter through a large crowd of officers and public. We returned to Peterhof at 7.15 and spent a quiet evening….

“23. In the morning learned good news: England has declared war on Germany….

“24. Austria has finally declared war on us. Now the situation is quite clear.”

Thus began the war that destroyed an empire.

On December 31, he looked back as usual on the year just past:

“We prayed to the Lord God to give us victory in the coming year and a quiet, tranquil life after that. Oh Lord, bless and strengthen our incomparable, valorous, and uncomplaining host for further victories.”

What about Rasputin? Once recovered from his wound he sent telegrams. Subsequently a great deal would be written about a certain mysterious telegram to the empress in which Rasputin predicted ruin and misery in war.

Alix herself later believed this and in Tobolsk talked of the mysterious telegram. But in the notebook of the holy man’s utterances, I found some very different telegrams from those days:

On July 19, the holy man wrote a telegram predicting peace: “I believe in, I hope for, peaceful rest. A great crime is being undertaken, we are not participants.”

But the prediction did not come true; war began—and Grigory predicted victory. Yes, as always, he predicted what his masters wanted to hear.

July 20, 1914: “The criminals shall receive all evil and cunning a hundredfold.… Strong is the Lord’s grace, beneath its shelter we shall remain in greatness.”

But when he returned to Petersburg and sensed Alix’s casting about, Rasputin attempted to revive his apocalyptic predictions. Nicholas forbade him to visit the palace. As always, the Holy Devil did a turnabout just in time. Now he was declaring to his admirers: “I am glad about this war. It will rid us of two great evils: drunkenness and German friendship.”

Chapter 7

A NOVEL IN LETTERS

The German embassies were burned. The Literary and Artistic Circle expelled anyone with a German name. The future Prime Minister Boris