“And anyway,” said Marianne, “why should Sophie know anything about the Volkonskys?” She sounded as confused as Sophie felt.
Sophie glanced down the corridor toward the gallery. The door was still open. Where were the white wolves now? The princess needed her protectors. But somehow she knew that even that savage creature she had seen at the lake would not be enough to save the princess from this man.
The princess sat next to the general at the far end of the table. He played with a knife while he waited for his food. The princess looked sullen and moody.Her face is no longer beautiful, Sophie thought.
“Sheisin trouble,” Marianne whispered. “She’s done something wrong.”
“I wouldn’t want to make the general angry,” Delphine added under her breath.
“Don’t stand in the doorway whispering!” the general cried. “I don’t like females who talk in quiet voices. It makes me feel they’re plotting!” He turned to the princess. “Anna knows I believe in openness and honesty. Anything she says or does must be seen and heard by me …”
The princess stared at Sophie as if she wanted her to say something to the general. But what? What could Sophie say that would make this man leave them alone?
Ivan appeared with a large silver tray.
“At last!” the general cried, even though Ivan had been gone only a matter of minutes. His expression as Ivan started to unload plates onto the table in front of him was one of contempt. Sophie wondered how Ivan could bear serving such a man. She felt she would have been tempted to let the food spill all over his perfectly pressed gray trousers.
“Bring coffee!” he snapped.
When Ivan said nothing, he cupped a hand to his ear, as if he were deaf.
“Yes, sir,” Ivan said. But his voice was dull, defiant.
“Hear that, Anna?” The general looked down at the princess. “There’s atonein his voice. If he were one ofmymen, I’d dismiss him!”
The girls walked slowly toward the table. The princess stared at them as if she had never seen them before. Sophie could tell nothing from her blank expression.
“I need your help!” The general leaped up and pulled chairs out for each of them, flicking the seats with a napkin before they each sat down. He took his place once more, and now his mood changed. He leaned forward, his face earnest and grave. His voice became softer, and with a jolt Sophie understood that if she closed her eyes and listened only to his voice, she could make herself believe that he wasn’t cold and ruthless, but that he actually cared. The voice was one that you wanted to listen to.
“Sadly, girls, my dear Anna,” the general said, glancing across at the woman next to him, “this beautiful princess, dressed in furs and diamonds, has problems. Can any of you guess what they might be?”
This one simple question, said in such a straightforward manner, changed the mood in the room. It was as if he was appealing for their help. How could they refuse?
Delphine crossed her legs and looked as if she might speak. Then she stopped. The general saw it. “There’s no need to be polite, Delphine.” He picked up a knife, ran the edge along his finger. His fingers were thick and the nails short and clean. “It’s true. The princess has no money!” He put the knife down and placed his large hand over the princess’s.
His eyes focused on Marianne.
“You areclever girls,” he said quietly. “I knew that the minute I saw you, especially you, Marianne. I would have you in my spy unit, cracking all those codes.”
Marianne pushed her glasses up her nose with the same pride as when she had solved a math problem in front of the class. Something flickered in the general’s eyes. He knew he’d got her.
It’s like a battle campaign,Sophie thought.He’s like a sniper and he’s just picking us off one by one. First Delphine, now Marianne.
“Have you any ideas how we can help the princess in herperiloussituation? You see, she was given a substantial sum to return here to the palace and play the princess!” He stroked her fur. “She alwayswassuch a princess!” He sighed. “But I am beginning to think that she is just playing a game. She has had her money and is living here with no intention of repaying her debt.”
He let the silence swell in the room until it became unbearable. When no one said anything, his mood changed again.
“I have given her every opportunity to pay and, sad to say, she has treated me with contempt.” He squeezed the princess’s hand as if to comfort her. She winced. His voice no more than a menacing whisper, he added, “But what she does not realize is that while she plays the princess at her estate, I will not play the fool!”
“It wasn’t like that, Grigor.” Her voice shook. “There were no conditions attached to the loan.”
“But itwasa loan, Anna. Not a gift.” He sighed. “We are faced with a very difficult situation. We have to find the money somehow. Of course, we could shoot wolves!” He laughed and sliced into a lump of meat. “In the days of the Tsars, you could get three rubles for each wolf tail! Do you know how they used to hunt wolves in the days of the Tsars, Sophie?”
He smiled at her lazily. The meat on the end of his fork was rare, a blurred circle of pink in the center. Juice dripped onto the plate.
Sophie wanted him to stop, wanted to look away. But she couldn’t.
“The huntsmen would string nets around one part of the forest and set the peasants at the edge to yell and wave heavy clubs,” the general went on. “Then they would enter the forest with their packs of ravenous hunting dogs driven mad by the smell of dead horseflesh …”
