Alexander II_ The Last Great Tsar - Edvard Radzinsky [96]
As before, though, they did not approach. This was an ominous calm, however. Rumors were going around the palace—the rebels’ cannons were already aimed at the cathedral and palace. They had to wait from hour to hour.
By the afternoon she had nearly forgotten the inevitable threat rushing between her sick children and sick friend.
That night she could not sleep. She went down to the palace’s half-cellar, where the Convoy’s Cossacks were resting in the warmth of the furnace, and tried to encourage them, to strengthen their spirit through prayers. Later, before dawn, she talked with Lili Dehn. And all this time she kept sending him telegrams, which returned with the mocking comment: “Place of residence unknown.” The place of residence of the Autocrat of All the Russias was unknown! She could not stand it—she sent for Paul, who had not been called to the palace since his son killed Rasputin. He came and told her that Nicky’s train had been held up, but Nicky was alive and well.
She begged Paul to do something. Catastrophe was imminent. He did not try to explain to her that the catastrophe had already occurred; he pitied her. He informed her that he, Kirill, and Misha had written a draft manifesto, which they intended to take to the Duma and in which the tsar granted a ministry accountable to the Duma. Yes, yes, she now understood: concessions were needed. (No one paid any attention to the manifesto signed by the three grand dukes. The Duma was waiting for a very different manifesto.)
On the night of March 1, Alix received yet another blow. At about one in the morning General Ivanov appeared at the palace—the same man whom Nicky had sent out with a crack detachment of highly decorated men.
In her lilac study, the old general told Alix how the railway had been seized and the echelon surrounded by rebels. And propagandized. Those men with their St. George’s Crosses refused to leave their train cars—no one would come to the aid of the palace. Again her delusions emerged: she begged the old man to try to get through to Nicky.
After the general’s departure she realized she was totally defenseless. The mutineers could come at any moment. Again she sent a Cossack lieutenant from the Convoy for Paul. The emissary walked up to the gate of the grand duke’s palace and rang for a long time. Receiving no response, he scaled the fence and was amazed to see the formal entry to the palace open. He wandered through the endless halls of the empty palace and realized the servants had fled. Finally he came to Paul’s bedroom. At the door slept Paul’s valet, all that remained of a great many servants.
He explained to Paul that the palace was expecting the mutineers at any moment. The grand duke started making phone calls, negotiating. Finally he asked the lieutenant to tell Alix that the Duma guaranteed the palace’s safety and Alix should not worry. He would sooner part with his own life than let … and so on.
On the morning of March 2 Alix wrote two long letters to Nicky. Two Cossacks from the Convoy sewed the tiny envelopes under their trouser stripes.
She: “My heart breaks from the thought of you living through all these tortures & upsets totally alone—& we know nothing of you, & you know nothing of us. I am sending Soloviev & Gramotin to you, giving each a letter, & hope at least one shall reach you. I wanted to send an aeroplan, but all have vanished. The young men will tell you all so I have nothing to tell of the state of affairs. It is all hateful, & events are progressing with colossal speed. I firmly believe, though—& no one shall shake this belief—that all will be alright.… Clearly they dont want to let you see me so above all you must not sign any paper, constitution, or other such horror—but you are alone, without your army, caught like a mouse in a trap, what can you do? This is supremely base and mean, unprecedented in history, to detain one’s sovereign.… What if you show yourself to the troops in other places and gather them around? If you must make concessions, under no circumstances are you obliged to honor them since they