Another sigh. “I’m sure it’s not just you. A whole new generation of young people won’t know my deeds. How fast we are forgotten. Would you believe my picture was once on the cover of every newspaper in Russia?”
She didn’t seem to expect an answer to that as she set down her glass, took a cigarette out of a bag, and lit it. She inhaled, closing her eyes as a blissful expression appeared on her face.
“Do you know what I did?” she asked.
“I think I heard…”
“I killed a man.” She paused and stared at me with those unblinking eyes again, like she was waiting for a reaction. I was getting nervous that the woman was more than a little unhinged. We didn’t need her in the house, but I couldn’t think of a way to get her out of it.
When I didn’t speak, she kept talking. “I shot him five times right in front of his Cossack bodyguards. They were so surprised a woman would do such a thing, they just stood there and let me shoot him. I was so nervous, my aim wasn’t very good. It took him five days to die.” She shrugged. “I think the loathsome ones are hard to kill. Their blood is already so full of poison; they aren’t like other people.”
The woman was definitely unhinged. I tried to think of what Dr. Rushailo would do if faced with such a person, but nothing came to me. The whole conversation was so bizarre it was almost like I was in a dream. I didn’t want her to meet Stepan and the twins.
She stood up. “Now I want to see my father.”
I had to stop her. “He’s had a long day. Are you sure you couldn’t come back?”
She gave that same harsh laugh. “He’s had a difficult day? I’ve had a difficult life.”
She got up and walked out of the sitting room. I followed her, asking her to stop, to wait, anything I could think of, but she didn’t listen. She went into the library, shutting the door behind her. I heard her say, “Still working on the memoir, I see,” and then I heard the door lock.
“Did you tell him?” I asked Osip.
“No, who is that woman? Zarja is storming around cursing. What is going on?”
I explained as we hovered in the hall, counting the minutes she was in there. I didn’t have to wait long until she came back out and walked over to me.
“Good, you’re still here. My father tells me you somehow manage things in this house. My people are taking it over, but I’ve consented to let him and his hangers-on stay in the attic. Move any personal items you want to keep by the end of the day tomorrow. We’ll move in the day after.” She laughed. “Close your mouth. You’re gaping at me.”
“You’re taking over the house?” She’d gone too far.
“That’s what I said.”
I shook my head. I was really beginning to dislike this woman. “You can’t be serious. You can’t just show up here and take over the house. Papa would never agree to that. It’s his house.”
“Papa? Oh, what a sweet name. You have wormed your way into his heart.” Her voice was full of hatred. “But he has agreed. He knows he’s lucky I’m letting you have the attic after I told him the alternative. I could turn you all out on the streets. That’s where most of the worthless nobility are going to end up—there or in prison. They are being arrested by the scores.”
She was trying to scare me. “No, not my stepfather. He took an oath of loyalty.”
“To whom? The Duma? They’re on their way out too. It’s time for the aristocrats to pay for spending their whole lives exploiting the people. My people will see to it.”
She wasn’t making sense. “I don’t understand. Who are your people?” Did she mean other released prisoners?
“My comrades. My party, the Socialist Revolutionaries. The people who are going to be in charge now.”
My head was spinning. She couldn’t just move people into the house. There had to be a way to stop her.
The woman turned to Osip. “We don’t need a footman, of course. So ridiculous! Go find yourself a job that is of use to modern Russia.” She looked all around the room. “Though not until after we arrive. We’ll need you to do some rearranging.”
She swept out the door, leaving it open. Snow swirled inside. As Osip moved to close it, I heard a choking sound from the study. I ran in, hearing Osip following close behind me. Papa sat behind his desk, his face red and his hand pulling at his collar.
“Help me get him down on the floor.”
I loosened his collar, relieved to see his breathing ease a little.
“Go get Hap and tell him we need a doctor,” I said.
We got him up to bed and the doctor came to examine him, though by the time the man arrived, Papa seemed better. Once again the doctor said that Papa had overdone it and he needed to rest. I knew it was more than that.
When Dmitri came home, I pulled him into the sitting room to tell him what had happened.
“Is there a way to stop this woman from taking over the house? Is there anyone in charge I can go to? It will kill Papa to have her and all those people here.”
“There’s no way to stop it,” he said. “It’s happening all over the city.”
I threw up my hands, anger rushing though me. “He’s an old man and he worked hard for years and years. It isn’t fair.” I wanted to scream.
“I know. But they won’t be stopped, and some of them could get violent.”
The image of Vladislav clubbing Archer jumped into my mind, and my stomach turned over.
“I’ve agreed to turn my own house over to my own party,” Dmitri said. “I just met with one of the leaders this morning.”
“You’re letting them have your house?” I couldn’t believe it. He’d said he’d take me back there.
“I heard some horror stories this morning. It was better them than a bunch of strangers storming in and taking it over. At least they are going to pay Tatiana and hire someone else to help cook for all of them. It’s not ideal, but I couldn’t think of a better solution. I wish I’d known about the general’s daughter. I would have made my group set aside some rooms for you. I can’t even give you my room. I told them I didn’t need it.”
“That’s all right. You thought you had a room here.”
He went to the window and looked out, then turned back to me. “No, that’s not it. I didn’t want to bring it up before, but perhaps now is the time. I’ll need to leave soon.”
“Why? Where are you going?” I was confused.
“I’m not sure, but I need to leave Petrograd.”
I sank back into a chair, my throat closing up. “Leave?” I whispered. It was too much. I couldn’t bear it.
He came over and knelt down beside me, taking my hands. “Yes. The provisional government is going to fall. And it’s going to fall soon. There are too many factions fighting for power, and Lenin is too powerful for all of them. The general’s daughter is going to find out very soon that her group may not have any power at all.” He grimaced. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. There are remnants of the army in the south and in the east. I thought I’d try to get to one of them.”
“Why? I thought those regiments all wanted to bring the czar back.”