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that our own arrival is a significant event, even though no one appears to be treating it that way. A
visit by the Queen of England is inherently significant, is it not? And of course, except for Ella, no
one seems to want Alix to marry Nicky.”
“Another thing - Yulian was shortly to be leaving for Paris,” Rayley said. “He and Katya had
been granted an exalted and apparently rather rare opportunity to dance there. Filip put this out as
part of the motive during our afternoon in the saunas, when he suggested that Antonovich killed Yulian
out of professional jealousy.”
“Then perhaps young Yulian’s loyalty to the Volya was not truly so unswerving,” Tom said. The
energy of the room was picking up again and they had all leaned a bit closer into the center of the
circle. “The chance to dance in Paris with Katya may have tempted him away from his duties to the
cause.”
“Now we’re onto something,” Trevor said with enthusiasm. “I’m not sure which, if any, of
these notions is the closest to correct, but I feel in my bones that this is a fruitful line of questioning.
For the one assumption we cannot be foolish enough to make is that Yulian was the only member of
the Volya within the Winter Palace. We cannot assume that all threats to the imperial family died with
him.”
“The Tchaikovsky ball is in two days,” Emma said. “Everyone will be there. Not just the
imperial family and Ella, but Alix and the Queen as well. If I were a revolutionary I would consider
it …the last day of hunting season.”
“Quite right,” Rayley said. “Even with the loss of a man on the inside, the Volya may be
prepared to continue whatever scheme they’d conceived. We can’t say for sure it would be the ball,
but the timing is suspicious, is it not?”
“Damn suspicious,” Tom said, slapping his thighs. “Especially in light of the fact that, just as
Emma says, all the birds will scatter the day after the ball. Once the imperials and their consorts are
at the seashore for the season, they’re beyond the reach of anyone, the Volya included.”
“Just how desperate would you guess these revolutionaries to be?” Rayley asked. “Enough so
that they’d be willing to alter a plan at the last minute, even if they have lost a key player?”
Trevor winced. “If anyone should have a word to say on the subject, it’s Davy. But where
could he be? I expected him some time ago.”