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430 EVIL OMENS IN PETROGRAD [chap. xxii.
negotiate without your being present." " I know, and I
am delighted about it; if only your draft of the
arrangement could be accepted, and above all carried out!"
Besides his ability, M. Pokrovsky had impressed me
favourably by the complete absence of all bureaucratic
pomp. Any other Minister would have brought with
him at least two or three subordinates mainly occupied
in giving their chief his cue, in advertising him well
amongst the natives and in flattering him cleverly at
meals—which is a tremendous aid to digestion ! The
Controller of the Empire only had his son with him, a
charming young man who had just completed his studies
and who was going into the Army ; his two elder sons
had been at the front since the outbreak of war.
Pokrovsky was closely followed by a whole group
of our parliamentarians, the remaining members of the
Duma, and three members of the Council of the Empire:
Prince Lobanoff, Baron Rosen, and Count Sigismund
Wielopolski. The Swedes, on their side, had arranged
beforehand a large luncheon party in honour of these
guests at that same Hasselbaken restaurant, where they
were to be received by the most notable Swedish
manufacturers and financiers, also by representatives of
the Press.
The day before, we made an expedition, with MM.
Miliukoff, Schingareff, Itchas, and a Lithuanian poet
whose name I have forgotten, to that beautiful spot
Salt-sjobaden, and we dined at the restaurant. The
expedition was thoroughly successful and favoured by perfect
weather. Schingareff and one of his colleagues were
rather late in arriving at the meeting-place, but they
arrived at last, and were profuse in apologies: "At
one of the places where our boat stopped we were told
we could get here on foot through the forest, and we
could not resist the pleasure of an hour’s walk in this
divine weather. It was truly delightful; it reminded
me so vividly of the forests of Russia."
I can still recall the very pleasant and typically
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