Free The Midwife of St. Petersburg by Linda Lee Chaikin Page B

Grinevich falsely blamed the Bolshevik Jews. He ordered a brutal retaliation, and by the time the truth came out, a woman and child had been killed and a rabbi beaten.”
    “Was Grinevich ever called to answer for his rash action, sir?”
    General Roskov looked at him, surprised. “Of course not. It was a mistake. The point is, he’s afraid the same violence might break out again and wants soldiers to back up his police.”
    The general pushed Durnov’s letter aside and sat down on the edge of the desk. He removed a cigarette from a silver box and stared at it thoughtfully.
    Alex took a box of matches from his shirt pocket and dutifully lit the general’s cigarette.
    “Durnov has requested that I send you to aid his investigation. You will be reporting to him. Unfortunately, Alex”—he inhaled deeply and then scowled—“Count Yevgenyev is over Durnov.”
    “I’m fully aware, sir.”
    “I haven’t written Count Yevgenyev about the reckless behavior of his son. I think it best I speak with the count directly, after I return to St. Petersburg. Don’t expect much from Durnov with the count overseeing his work. He’ll be looking out for his own neck.”
    “I understand, General.”
    “As soon as I can, I’ll get you transferred back to the Okhrana.”
    “I was hoping for a return to the Imperial Cavalry, sir.”
    “You’ll be needed here. In the meantime, Durnov expects Captain Gusinsky and his half dozen to arrive with you. You are to collect information on Chertkov and go to St. Petersburg. This matter in Kiev won’t supersede the Duma’s concerns about Rasputin. The secret police will have their plans in place by September or October. After watching Rasputin tonight,” he said, displeasure hardening his face, “it’s clear his influence must end.”
    He stood and clasped Alex’s shoulder affectionately. “I’ll be joining you in St. Petersburg in the fall. Zofia and Tatiana will be anxious to return since your time with us has come to an end.”
    “Tatiana will be disappointed, but I’ll see that she understands.”
    Alex left the general’s study, troubled. He found himself becoming more entrenched in work he neither wanted nor approved of. The cords that he’d first visualized as a means to advancement and freedom were threatening to become chains of iron.
    He went upstairs to his room to inform Konni he would be leaving at dawn.

Part Two

 
    The harvest is past
,
The summer is ended
,
And we are not saved!
    J EREMIAH 8:20

S IX
The Secret Meeting
    August 1914, Kiev
    T he August moon ascended above the vast Peshkov fields of ripened wheat like a mammoth globe of shimmering gold. Across the sky, trails of fiery red, deepening into copper, drifted over the distant steppes. Karena, flanked by Sergei and Ilya Jilinsky, walked along the dusty wagon road between the fields awarded to the family more than two generations earlier by the grandfather of Czar Nicholas II.
    The warm, scented winds stirred, bringing the fragrance of rich vegetation, baked earth, and a copious harvest. Dust stirred up around Karena’s high-button shoes, and she worried about soiling her lace-hemmed, red and white skirt. She wanted to look intelligent and professional when she met Dr. Lenski’s son Petrov and his sister Ivanna at the Bolshevik meeting that evening.
    “You worry too much, Ilya,” Sergei continued. “Nothing will go wrong. The meeting will be safe. No one even knows Lenski’s here.”
    Ilya’s brows, made fair by the long, hot summer in the fields, formed a straight furrow above the bridge of his nose. He shoved his sun-brownedhands deeper into his trouser pockets, a behavior Karena knew indicated he was not convinced.
    Sergei, with dark hair and eyes, was, on the other hand, typically smiling, though his demeanor was often hard and joyless.
    “The Okhrana knows everything,” Ilya said a moment later, his quiet voice loud with insinuation. “The secret police have been prowling about ever since