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i9i6] A BAND OF MALEFACTORS 437
But we only heard all these details when we arrived
at Petrograd. Meanwhile the confusion was so great
in our Foreign Office, suddenly deprived of its head,
that I had had to wait a whole week for permission
to come and attend the obsequies of my son !
We paid the last honours to his mortal remains at
an imposing and never-to-be-forgotten ceremony, when
we realised to what an extent a regiment is a real family
—a family that the blood of its members cemented more
firmly every day.
Two days after I thought it my duty to go and see
Sazonoff, who was still residing in the Foreign Office.
I expressed my sincere feelings of regret. " Our
reactionary party is really mad!" I said amongst other
things. " How can they, given the state of people’s
minds and the very comprehensible suspicions of the
Allies, risk an appointment like that of Sturmer?"
" You are wrong, my dear M. Nekludoff," interrupted
Sazonoff, "the reactionary party has nothing to do with
it; it has ceased to exist for the last few months, having
become fused in the moderate Right. There is a band
of malefactors who at the present time are endeavouring
to assume the reins of government; and Sturmer is one
of the heads of this band." M. Sazonoff went on to tell
me that almost on the eve of his enforced resignation he
had been to Mohilev, where the Emperor had received
him most graciously and had approved of all that he
had submitted to His Majesty’s decision.
I paid no other visits. We stayed with an intimate
friend of my wife’s, who surrounded us with the most
touching care. Only relations and real friends were
allowed to come and see us. The first person my wife
wished to see was Count S. Wielopolski, whose son had
been killed the same day as ours. We had a long talk ;
besides the sorrow inflicted on him by the death of this
beloved child, the Count was terribly anxious with
regard to the fate of Poland, about which nothing was
settled. He was still awaiting permission to go and
seethe Emperor, but this permission did not arrive. "I
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