Remember: Betray us, and as long as the earth holds poison or steel, as long as men can strike or woman betray, you shall not escape vengeance. The Nihilists never forget their friends, or forgive their enemies.
Prince Paul. Really? I did not think you were so civilized.
Vera (pacing up and down). Why is he not here? He will not keep the crown. I know him well.
Pres. Sign. (Prince Paul signs.) You said you thought we had no creed. You were wrong. Read it!
Vera. This is a dangerous thing, President. What can we do with this man?
Pres. We can use him.
Vera. And afterwards?
Pres. (shrugging his shoulders). Strangle him.
Prince Paul ( “Nature is not a temple, but a workshop: we demand the right to labour.” Ah, I shall surrender my own rights in that respect.reading). “The rights of humanity!” In the old times men carried out their rights for themselves as they lived, but nowadays every baby seems born with a social manifesto in its mouth much bigger than itself.
Vera (pacing up and down behind). Oh, will he never come? will he never come?
Prince Paul. “The family as subversive of true socialistic and communal unity is to be annihilated.” Yes, President, I agree completely with Article 5. A family is a terrible incumbrance, especially when one is not married. (Three knocks at the door.)
Vera. Alexis at last!
Password. Væ tyrannis!
Answer. Væ victis!
(Enter Michael Stroganoff.) Pres. Michael, the regicide! Brothers, let us do honour to a man who has killed a king.
Vera (aside). Oh, he will come yet.
Pres. Michael, you have saved Russia.
Mich. Ay, Russia was free for a moment when the tyrant fell, but the sun of liberty has set again like that false dawn which cheats our eyes in autumn.
Pres. The dread night of tyranny is not yet past for Russia.
Mich. ( One more blow, and the end is come indeed.clutching his knife).
Vera (aside). One more blow! What does he mean? Oh, impossible! but why is he not with us? Alexis! Alexis! why are you not here?
Pres. But how did you escape, Michael? They said you had been seized.
Mich. I was dressed in the uniform of the Imperial Guard. The Colonel on duty was a brother, and gave me the password. I drove through the troops in safety with it, and, thanks to my good horse, reached the walls before the gates were closed.
Pres. What a chance his coming out on the balcony was!
Mich. A chance? There is no such thing as chance. It was God’s finger led him there.
Pres. And where have you been these three days?
Mich. Hiding in the house of the priest Nicholas at the cross-roads.
Pres. Nicholas is an honest man.
Mich. Ay, honest enough for a priest. I am here now for vengeance on a traitor!
VERA (aside). O God, will he never come? Alexis! why are you not here? You cannot have turned traitor!
Mich. (seeing Prince Paul). Prince Paul Maraloffski here! By St. George, a lucky capture! This must have been Vera’s doing. She is the only one who could have lured that serpent into the trap.
Pres. Prince Paul has just taken the oath.
Vera. Alexis, the Czar, has banished him from Russia.
Mich. Bah! A blind to cheat us. We will keep Prince Paul here, and find some office for him in our reign of terror. He is well accustomed by this time to bloody work.
Prince Paul (approaching Michael). That was a long shot of yours, mon camarade.
Mich. I have had a good deal of practice shooting, since I have been a boy, off your Highness’s wild boars.
Prince Paul. Are my gamekeepers like moles, then, always asleep?
Mich. No, Prince. I am one of them; but, like you, I am fond of robbing what I am put to watch.
Pres. This must be a new atmosphere for you, Prince Paul. We speak the truth to one another here.
Prince Paul. How misleading you must find it. You have an odd medley here, President — a little rococo, I am afraid.
Pres. You recognise a good many friends, I dare say?
Prince Paul. Yes, there is always more brass than brains in an aristocracy.
Pres. But you are here yourself?
Prince Paul. I? As I cannot be Prime Minister, I must be a Nihilist. There is no alternative.
Vera. O God, will he never come? The hand is on the stroke of the hour. Will he never come?
Mich. (aside). President, you know what we have to do? ‘Tis but a sorry hunter who leaves the wolf cub alive to avenge his father. How are we to get at this boy? It must be tonight. Tomorrow he will be throwing some sop of reform to the people, and it will be too late for a Republic.
Prince Paul. You are quite right. Good kings are the enemies of Democracy, and when he has begun by banishing me you may be sure he intends to be a patriot.
Mich. I am sick of patriot kings; what Russia needs is a Republic.
Prince Paul. Messieurs, I have brought you two documents which I think will interest you — the proclamation this young Czar intends publishing tomorrow, and a plan of the Winter Palace, where he sleeps tonight. (Hands paper.)
Vera. I dare not ask them what they are plotting about. Oh, why is Alexis not here?
Pres. Prince, this is most valuable information. Michael, you were right. If it is not tonight it will be too late. Read that.
Mich. Ah! A loaf of bread flung to a starving nation. A lie to cheat the people. (Tears it up.) It must be tonight. I do not believe in him. Would he have kept his crown had he loved the people? But how are we to get at him?
Prince Paul. The key of the private door in the street. (Hands key.)
Pres. Prince, we are in your debt.
Prince Paul (smiling). The normal condition of the Nihilists.
Mich. Ay, but we are paying our debts off with interest now. Two Emperors in one week. That will make the balance straight. We would have thrown in a Prime Minister if you had not come.
Prince Paul. Ah, I am sorry you told me. It robs my visit of all its picturesqueness and adventure. I thought I was perilling my head by coming here, and you tell me I have saved it. One is sure to be disappointed if one tries to get romance out of modern life.
