And, by dint of activity and the assistance of the persons to whom he had letters, he had succeeded in bringing the Countess’s business to a satisfactory conclusion.  He found it just as Mr. Bellingham had told him.  In an autocratic country, if you are to have justice at all, you will have it quickly.  Moreover, it was evident to the authorities that a man coming all the way from America, and presenting such credentials as Claudius brought, deserved to be attended to at once—­the more so when his whole appearance and manner were such as to create a small furore, in the Embassy circles.  Claudius went everywhere, saw every one, and used every particle of influence he could obtain to further the object of his visit.  And so it was that, at the end of a month or so, a special ukase provided for the payment in perpetuity to herself and her heirs for ever of the jointure-money first decreed to the Countess Margaret for life only from the estates of her late husband, Count Alexis of the Guards.  This was even more than Claudius had hoped for—­certainly more than Margaret had dreamt of.  As for Nicholas, Claudius cared nothing what became of him, for he probably thought him a foolish Nihilist, and he knew enough of the Countess’s character to be sure she would never let her brother suffer want, whatever his faults.

So when he had concluded the affair he hastened to Berlin, telegraphing from thence the news of his immediate return.  In less than a fortnight, at all events, he ought to be in New York.  The thought gave him infinite relief; for, since he had finished his business in Petersburg, the reaction which in strong natures is very sure to follow a great effort, for the very reason that strong natures tax their powers to the utmost, recklessly, began to make itself felt.  It seemed to him, as he looked back, that he had heard so little from her.  Not that he complained; for he was fully sensible of her goodness in writing at all, and he treasured her letters as things sacred, even to the envelopes, and whatsoever had touched her hand.  But he felt keenly that he was in total ignorance of her doings; and one or two references to Barker troubled him.  He too had his suspicions that the scheming American had been concerned in the sudden fit of caution developed by Messrs. Screw and Scratch.  He too had suspected that his quondam friend had been insincere, and that everything was not as it should be.  But he was neither so wise as Margaret, who would have told him not to soil his hands with pitch, nor so supremely indifferent as the Duke, who would have said that since he had got the money it didn’t matter in the least if Barker were a brute or not.  On the contrary, Claudius promised himself to sift the evidence; and if he discovered that Barker was guilty of any double-dealing, he would simply break his neck.  And as Claudius thought of it, his teeth set, and he looked capable of breaking any number of necks, then and there.