spies are spread all over the world. In every city there are men like that swine at the railway station. They watch people who they consider enemies of Russia and they seek any opportunity to do them harm. You cannot risk it, not for all our sakes!”
‘My only justification for not intervening in the torture and murder of Katya Gregorieff had been that I should survive as an independent witness who could carry the truth out of Russia with me, and now Gregori was telling me that I must never tell the story, for his sake, for Anna’s and for my own.
Unknowingly, too, he had made me fearful in a way he could not suspect. As I have told you, I had created a certain version of my background which had been accepted across the world, and through it I had become a voice and a pen for the oppressed and mistreated of the world. If the Tzar’s spies were to reveal my past, then nothing I ever published or said - not just the story of poor Katya - would ever be believed.
‘ “What must I do?” I asked Gregori. “You must promise me, faithfully, that you will never reveal this story to anyone. I make you the same promise. Go home to America and leave us Russians to do what we must with our own country, but never, ever tell the story of my sister.”
‘And so,’ she said, ‘I made him the promise that he asked for.’
Only now, at the end of this long and harrowing tale, did Mrs Fordeland lower her face and weep.
Nineteen
A Warning from Sherlock Holmes
Holmes stood up and went to the gasogene, pouring a large drink for each of us. By the time he had done, our client had recovered her composure and took the glass from him with a steady hand.
‘I am deeply sorry,’ he said, as he regained his seat, ‘to have occasioned you pain by my questions, Mrs Fordeland.’
She shook her head firmly. ‘Not at all, Mr Holmes. It is I who should apologize. When I first consulted you I was, perhaps, misled by some desperate hope that this matter could have nothing to do with events in Russia so long ago. Even when you questioned me about my connections with Russia I
succeeded in convincing myself that whatever was happening here in England had no possible
connection with the warning Gregori Gregorieff gave me in Vladivostok. Perhaps, also, I did not wish to remind myself of my own failure.’
‘Your own failure?’ I asked, genuinely puzzled.
‘If my upbringing lacked in other respects,’ she said, ‘it served to develop in me a strong sense of justice, most particularly where my own sex are involved. I have tried never to allow my frailties as a woman to prevent me from doing or saying what I consider to be my duty. Where poor Katya
Gregorieff was concerned, I failed. I failed at the time because I did not intervene from fear, so I made myself a promise that I would attempt to redeem my cowardice by publishing the story of Count Skovinski-Rimkoff where the world might read it. I failed her in that as well. You may believe me, gentlemen, that there is not a day that passes when I do not remember her. Never do I step on to a lecture platform, never do I take up my pen to write an article, but I remember, and accuse myself for my failure.’
I thought about where this lady had come from and what she had accomplished and I was outraged that she should think herself cowardly.
‘My dear lady,’ I said, ‘I cannot imagine why you should upbraid yourself or regard yourself as having failed in any respect. When I first read your book about your experiences in Mongkuria, I was overwhelmed with admiration for the courage that enabled you to take up the challenge of that largely unknown kingdom thirty years ago. Every word that you have said today has increased my admiration.
I have had the privilege of knowing a number of brave men and women, but I do not hesitate to say that you must rank among the first.’
‘You are exceedingly kind, Doctor, and it may be that I should have found some way of speaking of these things before, but I had given my promise to Gregori. Had I known that he was out of Russia, I might have felt able to speak earlier.’
‘Out of Russia he may be,’ said Holmes, ‘but someone has set the Russian Embassy’s best on his trail.
Someone there evidently fears him, as somebody there fears you, Mrs Fordeland.’
‘But why should they fear me or Gregori, Mr Holmes?’
‘You fear the threat that Professor Gregorieff explained to you - that any exposure of Count Skovinski-Rimkoff may lead to exposure of your own past. That is exactly what the count fears about you, Mrs Fordeland.’
‘If I were to reveal to the world what I witnessed that night in Russia and identify the perpetrator, I cannot see that it would be more than an embarrassment to the Tzar in the eyes of the world. The count would surely never be punished for his actions. Why would he fear me?’
‘Because there is no effective representative government in Russia, because, in the end, everything rests upon the Tzar’s opinions, it is absolutely necessary for anyone who intends to reach the higher echelons of society in that country to take one of two courses - they must ally themselves to the Crown and solicit the Tzar’s goodwill or they must take the risk of joining one of the factions who oppose the Tzar and seeking their goodwill. Count Stepan fell into disfavour with the late Tzar, because of an unseemly episode in London when he allowed his bestial habits to run away with him. The result was an incident which brought him to the notice of Scotland Yard and might, indeed, have resulted in a prosecution. I understand that political pressure was applied and the victim of his excesses was paid off. It was not, I imagine, an episode that earned him any credit with the former Tzar. It may be the reason why he has only recently returned to London for the first time since that affair.’
Holmes took his pipe from his coat pocket and began to fill it as he spoke.
‘You are a well-informed and intelligent woman, Mrs Fordeland. You cannot but be aware that, since the death of the old Tzar and the accession of Nicholas, factionalism among the nobility of Russia has greatly increased. Even now, so soon after the coronation, there is a group who support the Tzar, a group who support the Tzarina, believing that there is a difference of interest between them, a group who support the Tzar’s mother, who, it is rumoured, is against her daughter-in-law, a group who believe that Nicholas is too weak to be a good Tzar and should abdicate in favour of a cousin, and who knows how many other groups.’
He tamped the tobacco into his pipe with his long fingers.
‘In such a climate,’ he continued, ‘the Tzar must seek allies, and such a search will create an opportunity for a man like Count Skovinski-Rimkoff. By becoming a “King’s man” as it were, he can expect advancement and preference from the throne, and he seems to have succeeded inasmuch as he is here in London not as a casual visitor but as one of the official Russian party attending Her Majesty’s Jubilee.’
Holmes lifted his filled pipe, mutely asking permission, and our guest gave him a nod.
‘All of which,’ he continued, when the pipe was well alight, ‘makes you a very apparent threat to the count. He must know that you live the other side of the Atlantic. He certainly knows that you are a woman famous for speaking her mind on the subject of personal freedom. Why then, he will have asked himself, are you in London now - at a time when his past folly in London has been forgotten and he comes as one of his tzar’s representatives? Why else, except to make sure that his past crimes are revealed at this time, when they will become not only a personal humiliation, but also a reproach to his country and a slur upon his royal cousin. I am sure that he fears a fuss in the British press which will result in his recall to Russia and the consequent loss of royal favour.’
Mrs Fordeland stared at my friend. ‘But Mr Holmes,’ she said, ‘you know that this is not true.’
‘Certainly,’ he agreed, ‘but were you or I to assure the count, or Major Kyriloff at their embassy, that your presence in London is entirely connected with your desire to experience the Jubilee festivities and to meet your former pupil, King Chula, they would not believe us. They would assume that these are only excuses to conceal your real purpose.’
‘That is preposterous!’ the lady exclaimed.
‘Entirely,’ agreed Holmes, ‘but it is an unfortunate habit of personalities much less arrogant than the count’s to believe that any incident occurring in their vicinity is related to and aimed at them. Which creates a serious problem for you.’
‘I had understood you to say that I was not in any apparent danger, Mr Holmes.’
‘So I did, Mrs Fordeland, but that was, with respect, before you revealed to me your connection with Count Skovinski-Rimkoff, let alone the fact that a Russian official warned and threatened you before you left that country.’
‘Then you now believe that I am in danger, Mr Holmes?’
