The Secret Of The Night
Gaston Leroux
Paperback
(Independently published, May 19, 2020)
The surviving Nihilists have condemned the Russian General Trebassof to death for the crimes he and his troops committed against the revolution. Three attempts on his life have failed, but the Czar is determined to keep him alive. The Czar assigns the redoubtable, French detective reporter, Rouletabille to the case. It quickly becomes apparent that one of the General’s own retinue is in league with the assassins! Why?"BARINIA, the young stranger has arrived." "Where is he?" "Oh, he is waiting at the lodge." "I told you to show him to Natacha's sitting–room. Didn't you understand me, Ermolai?" "Pardon, Barinia, but the young stranger, when I asked to search him, as you directed, flatly refused to let me." "Did you explain to him that everybody is searched before being allowed to enter, that it is the order, and that even my mother herself has submitted to it?" "I told him all that, Barinia; and I told him about madame your mother." "What did he say to that?" "That he was not madame your mother. He acted angry." "Well, let him come in without being searched." "The Chief of Police won't like it." "Do as I say." Ermolai bowed and returned to the garden. The "barinia" left the veranda, where she had come for this conversation with the old servant of General Trebassof, her husband, and returned to the dining–room in the datcha des Iles, where the gay Councilor Ivan Petrovitch was regaling his amused associates with his latest exploit at Cubat's resort.