The Secret Wife(56)





As he rode into the lane that led to the cottage he could see from afar that the front door was open. What was Tatiana doing? He had told her not to open it to anyone. As he got nearer he saw it had been smashed and hung from its frame in splintered pieces. Fear gripping his heart, Dmitri leapt from his horse and rushed inside.

‘Tatiana!’ He screamed her name and ran from room to room in blind panic. A chair lay overturned in the sitting room but she wasn’t there. He checked again, looking inside cupboards, behind drapes. The bag stuffed with money was still beneath the bed so that ruled out robbery. Next he searched the outhouse and the nearby woods, with a pressure in his chest so painful that he staggered.

‘Ta-ti-ana!’ he screamed at the top of his voice and began the search all over again in case he had missed anything. Where was she? How could she simply disappear? Towards one copse there were hoof prints in the soil and possible signs of a scuffle. He leapt on his horse and set off in that direction but when he came to a fork in the road, he could see no tracks to indicate which way the riders might have gone. He was howling with grief, like a man possessed, as he picked one path and rode down it into the gathering night.





Chapter Thirty-Two

Ekaterinburg, Russia, 15th–16th July 1918

When Dmitri could control himself enough to think clearly, he realised one or more men on horseback must have followed them to his cottage. He had been looking out for Red Guards in a car or truck – their normal mode of transport – and had been so ecstatic to hold Tatiana in his arms once more that his professional caution had slipped at the most crucial moment. The pursuers must have waited till he left the cottage then snatched her. Did that mean she was back at the Ipatiev House already? He would not be able to tell until eleven the following morning when they came out to exercise in the yard.

What had made the guards suspicious? Maybe one of the other cleaning ladies told them of the imposter in their midst. Perhaps Yelena had panicked and told them herself. What would happen to her now? Might she be back at the farm, having secured her freedom with a betrayal?

He decided not to disturb the farmer and his wife with the news but rode to the Ipatiev House, keeping out of sight on side roads and alleyways. It was after eight so the curfew was in operation and the only signs of life were the night guards standing in their turrets. Next he went to the lodgings where Malevich was staying, got the landlady to fetch him, and explained in a shaking voice what he had done.



‘We must storm the house straight away,’ he insisted.

He could tell Malevich was horrified at his actions, although he hid his emotions beneath a professional soldier’s veneer. ‘If she is back inside the house, you can be sure they will have doubled the guard in preparation for an attack tonight. And the fact remains that there is nowhere to take the family. Let us sleep on the problem and consult Sir Thomas tomorrow. Perhaps he can make enquiries through official channels.’

‘You don’t understand, Malevich!’ Dmitri was almost in tears. ‘They might kill her tonight.’

‘I think I’m beginning to understand,’ he said gently, putting an arm round his friend’s shoulder. ‘You should have told me before. I did not realise you were in love with her.’

‘More than love … much more than love …’ Dmitri whispered, his eyes swimming.

‘Come then. I will ride out with you around the town and its outskirts. I’ll bring rifles.’

They trotted up and down the backstreets, one by one, stopping to watch and listen whenever they passed official buildings, ducking out of sight when they saw soldiers. It remained light until almost midnight but when the darkness fell it was hopeless to search further.

‘What if it wasn’t Red Guards who took her? Who else knew of your plan?’ Malevich asked.

‘Only the farmer, Tolmachev, and his wife and daughter, and the daughter’s friend Svetlana.’

Dmitri’s mind kept running through the possibilities. Could Tolmachev’s wife have turned them in to protect her daughter? But then they wouldn’t get the money, and her daughter might be imprisoned anyway, so that didn’t make sense. He couldn’t believe Svetlana had betrayed them, after the way she carefully guided Tatiana out of the house – but perhaps she had.



‘Let’s go to your cottage and try to retrace their steps,’ Malevich suggested, and Dmitri was grateful for a plan. His own brain was overwhelmed.

As they approached, he prayed for a miracle: that they would go in and find Tatiana sitting on the sofa with a plausible explanation for her absence. He held his breath as they dismounted and ran indoors, but there was just echoing silence, the absence of the woman who filled all his waking thoughts, who had been there in the flesh just a few hours before.

‘Isn’t it strange,’ Malevich mused, ‘that if it was the Red Guards who took her, they didn’t arrest you both?’

‘Perhaps there were only a few and they feared I might overpower them.’

‘But in that case, you’d think they would return with reinforcements.’ He sat down. ‘Perhaps it was not the Red Guards after all. Perhaps word reached the White Army and they sent an advance party to fetch her.’

Dmitri felt a ray of hope. ‘Do you think that’s possible? But how could they have heard she was here?’

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