“I believe we all agree also that the very first step in any new government in Russia must be to return the farms to the farmers.
“It is a primary rule for any successful revolutionary leader to destroy the forces that brought him to power. Lenin did this by forcing out Trotsky and many others but he made the mistake of keeping Stalin too close. When Stalin took it on he did what Lenin should have done. He wiped out virtually all of the ‘Old Bolsheviks.’ But it has weakened the hierarchy and it makes him vulnerable now.
“We know he has nothing left but a few key people and a horde of nondescript mediocrities. He is afraid to surround himself with capable people-they might prove too dangerous. His sycophants follow him like craven beggars. I think it is clear they go on supporting him because they can count on salvation only so long as he prevails.
“There is a small number who are loyal to him out of conviction-Beria, Malenkov, just a few. Stalin and this handful must be killed but the rest may be brought into the new system. Offer amnesty to the lower echelon of bureaucrats and I do not see much danger of a post-Stalinist Bolshevik revival.”
Prince Leon stopped momentarily. His eyes held them: he wanted their attention now. “Very well. What we must provide is a cadre, a top echelon of power. What I propose is a compromise I believe we all can accept regardless of our ideological leanings. I propose a Union of Russian Republics to be proclaimed under a figurehead Czar.”
Anatol snorted. “A constitutional monarchy. I suspected as much.”
“Yes.” Leon’s firm expression challenged him. “A prime minister system not unlike the British. No, Anatol, please let me finish. I propose that we replace the Bolshevik junta with a new Supreme Ruler of All the Russias.
“The new Czar must be connected by blood to the royal line because these things are still important to the Russian soul, even today. That is one reason why we must reject the thought of putting the mantle on General Deniken, our last Supreme Ruler. Deniken is old. He may be a hero to us in exile but to the Russian people he has the name of an enemy tainted with defeat. And he smacks of the old system, the White Armies with their weaknesses and corruptions.
“The Czar must be a new face but with a name people will recognize. And he ought to be a figurehead of some charm and dash rather than iron-fisted strength. Having this Georgian beast in the Kremlin has been a trauma to the Russian spirit-I believe they will respond best to a leader who is more to be liked than feared.
“The Czar will be the head of state only ceremonially and this must be made clear from the beginning. The real power shall reside in a cabinet of ministers led by a prime minister.
“At the beginning we shall have to provide interim ministries until there has been time to establish a constitution and arrange for elections. Very likely that will have to wait until the end of the war with Germany but we cannot allow postponement to become an excuse for self-perpetuation. There will be free elections in all the Russian republics and it is essential that we show the people proof of this by beginning to set up the apparatus.
“We must earn the goodwill of the people and the bureaucracy, and we must do it quickly. This is one reason we must have as our figurehead a man of overwhelming charm-a man who won’t intimidate the people. He must be a young man, too young to be held responsible for any of the horrors of nineteen-seventeen. He must have presence and speak well in public and he must be able to relax with the people.”
Count Anatol said acidulously, “You do not want a Czar, Leon. You want a cinema star.”
Baron Oleg Zimovoi exhaled a ball of pipe smoke and spoke through it. “You are talking about a specific man, aren’t you? You have someone in mind.”
“Of course I do. Can’t you guess, Oleg?”
“I am afraid to.”
Anatol’s eyes lay uncomfortably against Alex. Then they turned back to Prince Leon. “Are you putting Alex Danilov’s name into the drawing?”
Alex sat bolt upright in alarm.
Prince Leon said, “I admire many of Alex’s excellences but political charm is not among them. No. I have in mind a great-grandson of Nicholas the First-the son of the Grand Duke Mikhail Andreivitch.”
“Prince Felix,” Anatol said.
Oleg snatched the pipe from his mouth. “That motor-racing playboy-you are not serious!”
Anatol said, “I agree with Oleg. Have you ever tried to pin that boy down to a political argument? He would rather talk about cricket matches at Maidstone. He is a frivolous child,”
“And you smiled when you said that,” Prince Leon answered. “No one can help liking him-and no one can possibly fear him.”
General Savinov had developed a slight list in his chair but his voice remained sonorous. “I rather like the boy myself.”
Prince Michael Rodzianko said, “You cannot restore a monarchy without acknowledging the fact that there remain three Grand Dukes eligible to assume the throne. The young prince’s father is one of them-how can you bypass the father and crown the son? It is unthinkable.”
“The point of it is that he is not a Grand Duke,” Prince Leon said. “He is not associated with the Czars of old. We must make every effort to avoid giving our enemies excuses to condemn our actions. By crowning a young charmer we demonstrate at once that the throne is merely ceremonial and yet that we are prepared to honor the great Russian traditions. I put it to you that there is no better candidate than Felix. No Grand Duke would be acceptable to the left-wing factions and nobody without royal blood would be acceptable to the monarchists. Felix is the ideal compromise.”
Anatol shifted his aloof eyes toward Alex. “You know him better than we do. What is your impression?”
Alex did not know Felix terribly well. He was not certain that anyone did. Felix was a frenetic exuder of passions and trivialities but it was more smoke screen than self-revelation; there was a private core to the young prince. Whether it could be dangerous he had no way of telling.
Finally he said, “He meets the qualifications.”
“Then can we agree on this? I impress upon all of you the seriousness of this decision. Once taken it opens the way to the fulfillment of every dream we have harbored for twenty years.”
Eight men in a closed room, seated comfortably on expensively upholstered chairs, stared at one another in a silence that was broken only by the throbbing of a balalaika in a distant part of the palace.
Baron Oleg Zimovoi was the one to break the spell. “I am not thrilled with the idea of restoring even a semblance of the old order. But Leon has the rectitude of inevitability. If the rest of your factions can stretch a point to find this scheme acceptable the socialists will not be the ones to block it.”
“We need more than your indifference, Oleg. We need your active support.”
“You have it.”
“Very well.”
A shiver ran through Alex: his eyes widened. It was done: as simply as that it was done.
11
In the massive dining hall the banquet was laid on for half-past nine-an early hour to dine in Spain but many of the guests had distances to travel home.
The assassin found himself seated between a pair of very old men who accosted each other with delight: “My God, Leonid, I thought we were both dead.” One of them wore the white uniform of an admiral in a navy that had not existed for twenty-one years.
The table sat six guests at each side and one at either end; there were four rows of four tables each with white-draped serving tables along the walls. The White Russians were serving a seven-course meal to more than two hundred people and the assassin was mildly impressed by the sheer dimension of it.
There were empty seats at the favored tables and that confirmed his expectation that the men in the drawing room did not intend to interrupt their closed meeting to attend the dinner. He had ample time and it would be an excellent meal; there was no reason for concern. He laid his napkin across his lap and masked his face with a
