17 September 1917. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Younger)

Non-fiction

Project 1917 is a series of events that took place a hundred years ago as described by those involved. It is composed only of diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers and other documents

Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna (the Younger)

Petrograd, Russian Republic

Direct attack had availed me nothing, very well, then, I would try the indirect. Upon inquiry, I learned that KuzminAndrei Kuzmin - ensign, revolutionary, "president" of the Krasnoyarsk republic (1905), assistant chief of the Petrograd military district in 1917., Kerensky's new assistant, enjoyed the confidence of both Kerensky and of the Soviet. I decided to act through him and attack, as it were, on both fronts at once.

Certain of my friends who had the necessary connexions undertook to arrange this meeting. They gave a dinner to which they invited among others Kuzmin and myself. Kuzmin was among the guests awaiting my arrival. Purposely, he was not placed beside me at dinner. When we rose from the table and scattered about the rooms, I watched for an opportune time to begin my conversation. Finally the moment came. As not to be silent, I said something inconsequential and fumbled for my cigarette case in my bag. The case was empty. Kuzmin reached for his somewhat awkwardly, offered me a cigarette, and gave me a light. When we both were smoking, the ice seemed to melt.

We talked. I listened. When he finished speaking about himself, he questioned me.
I began to tell him about myself, about the atmosphere in which I had been brought up, about my work during the war, my conversations with the peasants. He listened intently, hands folded on the table, head bent. It was now his turn to hear for the first time in his life something contrary to all that had been taught him since childhood. Much of what I said was evidently incomprehensible to him and he asked more detailed explanations. Finally, when I had spoken of my life at the front and at Pskov, he raised his head and asked:
"Is it possible that the Romanovs love Russia?"
"Yes, they do; they have loved and will continue to love her always, no matter what happens," I replied, not suspecting how often I would in the future have cause to remember this sentence.
The way was paved. Now I could speak of my father. And that night, bidding Kuzmin good-bye, I felt that I had accomplished something by talking with him. My father was not set free by the day of my wedding, but I now felt less anxious about his fate. And I was not mistaken} a few days later the guards were removed from his home.

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