Princess Zara

"During all this time you were like a child in the hands of your

friends. You did precisely what they told you to do, no more, no less.

You were absorbed by the one idea. You could not see nor reason beyond

that. You even forgot your fiancé and your love for her, save on that

one day when the sight of her on the street brought her vividly before

your mind; but the following morning even that recollection was gone.

At last your madness changed to a type more morose and sullen. The

delay fretted you, and one day without consulting your friends, you

resolved to act. You had reason enough left to know that your mind was

growing weaker and you feared that it would be altogether shattered;

that you would never avenge the fate of your sister unless you acted at

once. You told nobody of your intention, but you armed yourself with a

pistol and started for the palace. You had determined to kill the czar

before your reason fled utterly."

"Regarding the two hours that passed between the time you were last

seen by your friends, and the events that happened in the palace that

day, nothing is known. What streets you traversed on your way there;

how you gained admittance to the palace, which was guarded as strictly

as it is now; how you passed the guards and gained access even to the

cabinet of the emperor, are mysteries which have never been solved, and

never will be this side of the grave. All that is known is that you

ware your old uniform, the same one from which the czar once tore the

buttons, and it is possible that it had something to do with passing

you through. At all events you did pass them all, and you did reach the

person of the emperor himself. Ah, it must have been grand! I would

that I could have been with you then! I would that I could have seen

and heard all that took place there at that time--the only time when

the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth has been told to

his august majesty. There was one of our agents there who heard it all;

that is how I know about it now."

"The emperor was alone when you entered, and you had closed and locked

the door of the cabinet before he discovered your presence. He did not

know that you were there until a sharp command from you caused him to

raise his head; but it was only to see you standing there with the

pistol in your hand aimed at his head, and to hear you say that if he

uttered one cry for assistance, or attempted to call for help in any

way, you would shoot."