Axelson nods gently in response; I sense his compassion for this innocent, trapped girl. But she is all smiles.
“Come and meet my sisters!”
We look along the landing: three other young women are coming out of a doorway. They are all about my age, and they smile warmly at me and introduce themselves: Olga, Tatiana, Maria.
I realise that I had some imaginary picture of stuck-up haughtiness, and I was completely wrong. They are ordinary, friendly young women. They all welcome Axelson too. All are dressed in simple white cotton blouses and long dark skirts. Olga, the eldest, with chestnut hair and a broad, open face, smiles expectantly at the professor.
“So you’re the famous hypnotist! We are hoping you can help poor Alexei.”
“I hope I can help you all.” Axelson seems a little bemused by their remark. “May I be introduced to your mother?”
“Of course.” Indeed, a door is already opening. The gaunt, lined face and tired eyes of the woman who had ruled the Russian Empire appears.
“Professor Axelson.” Alexandra speaks slowly, and her gestures are deliberate and theatrical. She holds the back of her hand out, her wrist angled downwards for the professor to kiss it. He kneels, and I curtsey. The girls smile, and Anastasia laughs.
“Mother, when we leave Russia, we will have to forget all this bowing and scraping. We’re not royal, not any more.”
I look at them all. “Where will you go?”
Tatiana answers me. “As soon as the Bolsheviks permit it, we will sail from St Petersburg to Sweden. Then to England, to Father’s cousin, King George. They say we can live on the Isle of Wight, which we once sailed to on our yacht.”
Olga buts in. “But then, we will go to Switzerland. It’s better that we live there, because they are neutral.”
“Or America” Anastasia adds.
Alexandra looks at Axelson. “So, Professor, you are here under the instructions of these ridiculous Bolsheviks. I believe they want you to hypnotize me.”
“Yes – if your Majesty will permit.”
“I do not permit. In fact my husband said, at first, that we should not even allow you into the house. He doesn’t want to meet you, and has declared the whole thing a tiresome business. But I agreed to your visit, even though I have no intention of being hypnotized.”
The professor doesn’t quite know what to say. I remain quiet too, and smile, a little nervously, at the four girls. Tatiana looks from our faces to Alexandra’s.
“Mother, don’t keep these poor people waiting! Explain – about Alexei.”
“Professor Axelson, I have permitted you and your assistant to visit my family for one purpose only – a purpose which that jumped-up little man Yurovsky must not know about. So, I command you to tell him nothing. Now, I will explain. My son Alexei is not in good health.”
“Your Majesty, I am aware of his medical condition. While my Hypnotic-Forensic Method is a powerful tool, it applies only to the mind. It cannot cure diseases of the body. Also, I understood that the imperial family doctor is here in Yekaterinburg with you?”
“Yes – Dr Botkin is here with us, as well as our most faithful domestic servants. But when I say Alexei is unwell, I mean that, as well as his illness of the blood, he is in poor spirits. He does has lively patches now and then. He is very happy sometimes, when Leonid, the kitchen boy, is here; they are good friends and play all sorts of games. But he also has times when he is quiet and subdued. Not at all how a boy of his age should be.”
“There have been drastic changes in your circumstances, your Majesty. A child may pick up on these things, he may express his disquiet in a number of ways…”
“I’d like you to look into Alexei’s mind, his inner feelings, Professor. This will be your reward for your first session.”
She holds out a glittering ruby. It catches the light, glimmering like red wine in a crystal glass.
“Please, your Majesty. There is no need to offer me any reward. Keep your jewels: you may need them when you travel out of Russia. I am most happy to conduct a Hypnotic-Forensic session with young Alexei, if he himself is comfortable with it.”
“Then we are at your disposal, Professor Axelson. Where will you conduct the hypnosis?”
“Wherever Alexei feels most at home. May I meet him?”
I notice a figure at the doorway that Alexandra came out of. The boy is taller than I expected; his face is handsome and finely featured. His auburn hair glints with copper, and his eyes, gray-blue like his mother’s, seem to look through me, to my soul. I feel I am looking not at a prince, but at a young artist or poet.
He smiles at us, and the faces of the whole family light up. The four girls go over to him. “Alexei, look who is here! This is Professor Axelson, and this is Agnes Frocester. They are here to talk to you.”
Alexandra bends down and speaks to him, whispering in his ear. He shakes his head; she speaks some more, then he nods. She stands and turns to us.
“This is the room my husband and I have, and Alexei sleeps here with us. But he says he would prefer to talk to you, Professor, in the bedroom of the Grand Duchesses.”
Maria laughs. “You mean our room, Mother! Come in here, and we will sort things out.”
We go into a room where four cheap, iron-framed beds are arrayed along the walls. The carpet is frayed and threadbare, the pretty floral wallpaper is faded. A sewing machine stands on a table in the middle of the room, directly under a naked electric light bulb hanging on a thin cord. Despite the paint covering the windows, I can sense the daylight and the bright summer colors outside. I say to myself “Like a caged bird, waiting to fly.”
“What was that?” Tatiana smiles at me.
“Oh, nothing. But I truly hope you are allowed to travel soon.”
“Oh yes, we’ll be leaving here, probably within a few days.” She nods confidentially at me. “Most of us cannot bring ourselves to chit-chat with the guards, but Maria is better at tolerating them: I think she is a saint! She has chatted to one or two of them, and found out some interesting information. Apparently, the Czechoslovak Legion, who are loyal to Father and Mother, have defeated an army of Red Guards, and captured territory near Yekaterinburg. So, the Bolsheviks will move us away from the battle zone.”
“Do you think the Red Guards will be defeated?”
“I don’t care who wins! All I know is that me and my family are a nuisance to Lenin and his friends. The sooner they can get us out of the country, the better – for them and for us. After the February Revolution, Mr Lloyd George, the Prime Minster of Britain, proposed that we should go and live in England, and the Provisional Government was arranging it. But then there was some last minute difficulty – probably it was dangerous to travel, because of the war. But now the war is nearly over! Do you know any news?”
“No. I’ve been staying at another house in Siberia for months. We got newspapers delivered, but they were always out of date.”
“I know, Agnes, that Russia and Germany have signed a cease fire. And I know that the Germans will surrender soon to the British and the Americans. I will thank God with all my heart, when the world is at peace and everyone stops hating and killing each other. And, our family can travel! I think in a few days they’ll send us to St Petersburg, and put us on a ship.”
Maria pulls out the wooden chair which stands next to the sewing machine. She looks at her brother. “It’s a hard chair, Alexei. Do you want the cushion I made?” The boy nods, and she gets a cushion of sewn patchwork squares for him. So far, he has not spoken, but his eyes are taking it all in. I think: he’s a listener, not a talker; he understands more about life than most boys his age.
Maria smiles. “A chair for you, Professor?”