Petersburg. After a few
preliminaries, which need not be set down here, Drummond continued:
"The day after Jack arrived in London, there being nothing whatever to
detain him in England, we set off together for St. Petersburg, and are
now domiciled above his blacksmith shop. We are not on the fashionable
side of the river, but our street is wide, and a very short walk
brings us to a bridge which, being crossed, allows us to wander among
palaces if we are so disposed. We have been here only four days, yet a
good deal has already been accomplished. The influence of the Prince
has smoothed my path for me. Yesterday I had an audience with a very
important personage in the Foreign Office, and to-day I have seen an
officer of high rank in the navy. The Prince warns me to mention no
names, because letters, even to a young lady, are sometimes opened
before they reach the person to whom they are addressed. These
officials who have been kind enough to receive me are gentlemen so
polished that I feel quite uncouth in their presence. I am a little
shaky in my French, and feared that my knowledge of that language
might not carry me through, but both of these officials speak English
much better than I do, and they seemed rather pleased I had
voluntarily visited St. Petersburg to explain that no discourtesy was
meant in the action I had so unfortunately taken on the Baltic, and
they gave me their warmest assurances they would do what they could to
ease the tension between our respective countries.
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