Part 30 (1/2)
”They tried to escape and they were shot down by our brave guard I would have pardoned them for your sake, all but the thief, who broke the jaw of coht, because I am happy Else they would have died with Sophia Kensky in theDo I not please you, that I put away this woman, as eon, all for your sake! Do you see a big man with one eye? He has half my misfortune, yet he sees a million times more than Boolba! That is the butcher Kreml--some day he shall see the Kre littleof the days when I was Boolba the slave? Na, na, _stoi_! Think of to-day, to-night, my little child of Jesus!”
There were times when she could have screaed to pick up one of the chane bottles which littered the floor, and at intervals were throith a crash into a corner of the rooreat brutal face There were times when she was physically sick and the room spun round and round and she would have fallen but for the man's arm But the hour she dreaded most of all came at last, when, one by one, with coarse jests at her expense, the motley company melted away and left her alone with the erly ”Every one?”
He clutched htly
”To s, all these fellows, my little beautiful”
The old carpet was still on the stairs, she noticed dully Up above used to be her own rooe She had a piano there once She wondered whether it was still there There used to be a servant at the head and at the foot of these stairs--a long, green-coated Cossack, to pass ithout authority was to court death
The roo saloons, separated by heavy silken curtains; his bureau was at one end, his bedrooroped his way A table had been set, croith bottles and glasses, piled with fruit, sweetmeats, and at the end the inevitable samovar
”I will lock the door,” said Boolba ”Now you shall kissthe holy cross”
She braced herself for the effort, and wrenched free In a flash he caown at the shoulder She twisted under his arth of tattered and torn silk in his hand, and the er-nails upon her white shoulder He stopped and laughed--a low, gurgling laugh--and it was to the girl like the roar of sohness,” he mocked, ”would you rob a blind ether!”
He blundered to the door There was a click, and the room was in darkness
”I am better than you now,” he said ”I hear you in the dark; I can almost see you You are by the corner of the table Now you are pushi+ng a chair Little pigeon, co she was safe because she could locate him It hen he was silent that she was filled ild fear He moved as softly as a cat, and it see in the dark was almost justified Once his hand brushed her and she shrank back only just in ti tered
”Come to me, Irene Yaroslav!” he roared ”Have I not often run to you?
Have I not waited throughout the night to take your wraps and bring you coffee? Now you shall wait on me by Inokente! You shall be eyes and hands for o the way of Sophia Kensky”
She was edging her way to the door Once she could switch on the light she was safe, at any rate for the ti silence, and, try as she did, she could not locate hi herinto being, he leapt at her She saw hi hands In a second he had her in his arms The man was half mad He cursed and blessed her alternately, called her his little pigeon and his little devil in the saainst her bare shoulder, and strove to push him off
”Come, my little peach,” he said ”Who shall say that there is no justice in Russia, when Yaroslav's daughter is the bride of Boolba!”
His back was to the curtain, and he was half lifting, half drawing her to the two grey strips which ain, rinned Boolba ”That is fine er which had provoked the cry It was that vision, twice seen in her lifeti fro this time a scarlet cord
It was about Boolba's neck before he realized what had happened With a strangled cry he released the girl, and she fell back again on the table, overturning it with a crash
”This way, Highness,” said a hollow voice, and she darted through the curtains
She heard the shock of Boolba's body as it fell to the ground, and then Israel Kensky darted past her, flung open the door and pushed her through
”The servants' way,” he said, and she ran to the narrow staircase which led below to the kitchen, and above to the attics in which the servants slept
Down the stairs, two at a time, she raced, the old man behind her The stairway ended in a square hall There was a door, half ajar, leading to the kitchen, which was filled withinto the street, and this was also open She knew the way blindfolded They were in what had been the coach-yard of the Palace, and she knew there were half a dozen ways into the street Israel chose the ain to the front of the house