The Shadow of Tyburn Tree

since you were so greedy for my company you should take me to a place where you would have no other. She will, I am sure, appreciate the cleverness of such an explanation, and when my relatives then urge that you erred only through lack of knowledge of her Court she will pardon and recall us.'

'All that you say seems to me the essence of wisdom,' Roger agreed. 'But in the meantime, whither are we bound?'

'Our first stage is to Tosno, a township some forty verstsfrom Petersburg upon the Moscow road, which we should take were we going to Tula. But from Tosno we shall turn east, and by way of Vologda, Viatka and Perm, come to Ekaterinburg; the new city which has been founded by the orders of the Empress in the gap through Ural mountains. It is the gateway to Asiatic Russia, and residence there is accepted as exile in Siberia. Few people of our station go further east unless definitely ordered to do so, and the offspring of a con­siderable number of the nobility who settled there on being banished by the Empress Elizabeth now form a by no means uncultured society.'

Roger gave her a gentle squeeze. 'You have planned well, sweet­heart; but I think I can offer you a brighter future. That is, if you are prepared to leave Russia?'

'Leave Russia!' she exclaimed. 'But in our present situation that is impossible.'

'On the contrary, my love, I have already arranged passages in a ship that is sailing from Petersburg in a few days' time. We have but to return there and go aboard in secret to-night.'

She considered that for a moment, then she said: 'I would not be averse to leaving Russia for a year or two; but I am greatly attached to my country and 'twould break my heart were I never to see it again. To do as you suggest would be such flagrant disobedience of the Empress's orders she might decree that I was never to return.'

'Since she loves Russia so dearly herself I cannot think that she would be so harsh as to place a permanent ban on one of her subjects returning to the country of their birth. Particularly as you would be able to. urge your marriage vows as your excuse for leaving without her consent. 'Tis a wife's duty to obey her husband and go with him wherever he chooses to take her.'

'True, and Katinka is not by nature given to bearing malice for long. So be it then; we will return to Petersburg after dark. I have heard so much of the Court of Versailles and the fair land of France, that 'twill pleasure me greatly to see it all with you as my cicerone.'

Her words gave Roger a nasty jolt. He had forgotten for the moment that in spite of the ceremony in the English church she still believed him to be a Frenchman. His mind had been so occupied with more urgent matters that he had entirely overlooked this compli­cation, and he wondered anxiously what he had better do about it.

His first impulse was to tell her the truth, but on second thoughts he saw that to do so would be to invite a score of awkward questions. Knowing her passionate love for Russia he dared not admit that he had come there as a spy. She would realise at once that he had used her as his catspaw and the result would be disastrous. Worse, she might guess the unpalatable truth, that he had never really loved her, but became

her lover only in order to ferret out Russia's secrets. Her love for her country might then prove stronger than her passion for himself and feeling herself utterly humiliated and outraged, the violence of her anger might even lead her to denounce him.

Swiftly he decided that he must leave that skeleton in its cupboard at least until he had her out of Russia, so he said: ' 'Twill be the great­est joy to show you Paris and Versailles; but this is a British ship, so first we go to England. I also know that country well and have many friends there. London is near as gay as Paris and I'll be as proud as a peacock to show you off in its most fashionable salons.'

They were now on the outskirts of St. Petersburg and as the coach rumbled on into the country he told her about life in the western capitals, and thoroughly enjoyed answering all her eager, excited questions.

At four o'clock they halted by the wayside and the servants cooked a meal for them. Then, while they ate it, Roger raised several points that had been troubling him considerably.

'Our ship,' he said, 'may not sail for two or three days. We shall remain concealed on board, of course; but what of your two servants and the coachmen? Can you rely on their discretion? What, too, of the coaches? Their premature return to your grandfather's stable is certain to arouse comment; moreover, if the progress of our journey is not reported by the police in the towns through which we are expected to pass, a hue-and-cry may start, and that might lead to a search for us in all the ships in port.'

'The servants will say only what I tell them,' she replied at once. 'They are my serfs and brought up to die rather than disobey me. But the matter of the coaches presents a most tricky problem.'

He smiled. 'If you can trust your people, I think I have a way to prevent the suspicions of the police being aroused. After the coaches have taken us to the port we mil send them off again to Ekaterinburg. Whenever they halt near a village or town the maid and valet can make purchases of poultry, eggs, fruit and so on, just as they would if we were still with them; but you must instruct them to say that what they buy is for us, and to keep the blinds of this coach down whenever it is driven through a street. The police, who seem to miss little in this country, will then believe us to be pursuing our journey as intended and duly report our progress.'

'What a clever husband I have,' she laughed. Then, when they had finished their meal she called the servants round her, gave them their orders, and made each of them kiss her ikon in token of obedience.

As soon as dusk had fallen the coaches were turned about and set out on their three-hour drive back to St. Petersburg. On reaching the outskirts of the city they took a circuitous route to avoid all the main streets, and soon after ten o'clock reached the timber-wharf without incident.

The White Roseout of Hull was lying there with only a mast-light burning. While the servants began to unload the baggage under Natalia's supervision Roger went aboard and introduced himself to Captain Tommy Bell. The Captain proved to be a jolly, red-faced, downright little Yorkshireman. He damned the Russians for a set of 'scurvy cheating knaves,' called Roger 'lad' and told him to bring aboard 'the Missis.'

Within an hour they were installed with all their belongings in a clean roomy cabin under the poop, and for the next three days they did not leave it. On Wednesday, the 12th of September, the White Rose set sail for England, and Captain Bell took them down to a cubby hole normally used for confining drunken or mutinous seamen, where they remained hidden while the ship was cleared by the Customs off Cronstadt. By mid-day the formalities were completed, sail was set again, and they were able to come up on deck as the ship headed for the open waters of the Gulf.

It transpired that Tommy Bell had a great fund of racy stories, and as soon as he found that Natalia was not easily shocked he kept his passengers in fits of laughter at every meal, their gaiety being added to by her attempts to imitate his Yorkshire dialect.

They had left St. Petersburg with the chill of autumn already upon it, the first snow being expected in a few weeks, but the weather' remained good and became somewhat warmer as the ship steadily ploughed her way south. She called at Reval, Libau and Dantzig, then on the morning of Wednesday, the 19th, dropped her anchor in the roads of Copenhagen.

Although Roger's honeymoon had been thrust upon him, he had to admit to himself that he had thoroughly enjoyed it. Captain Bell's unfailing good humour and Natalia's own happiness had both con­tributed to making things easy for him, and not a single incident had occurred to arouse the sadistic viciousness that he so hated in her.

But now he had to give his thoughts again to his own work. Had he been free to do so he would have gone straight from St. Petersburg to Stockholm in order to acquaint King Gustavus with the Danish plan of campaign. As it was he considered that he had been lucky in losing so comparatively little time; since, although he had overshot the mark by being carried so far south as the Danish capital, he felt sure that Mr. Hugh Elliot would find swift means to send a despatch to Stock­holm. He must therefore see the British Minister as quickly as possible, and once this duty had been performed, he would be able to return with a clear conscience in the White Roseto England.

On learning that the ship was to lie for two nights off Copenhagen, he decided that it would be worth while to take Natalia ashore and put up at the Silver Hart, as it would both make a pleasant break in the voyage for her and enable them to enjoy themselves in the city more easily.

By two in the afternoon a hackney coach deposited them with their baggage at the inn. As soon as their things had been carried up to a room, he asked her if she would mind unpacking while he went out for an hour or so, as he wished to change some money and also to call on Baron le Houze, the French Minister, who was an old acquaintance of his.