Therefore there was no question of curtailing old Prince Michael’s discourse. Having cleared his throat he went steadfastly on:
“The madman has persuaded many of them that they have made great collective strides forward. Give him another ten years and it will be too late to save our country at all—the rot will have gone too deep. So I must say to you that I feel Leon is quite right—it is a cancer consuming Mother Russia and we must destroy it before it is too late.”
The old man paused to examine his audience and Anatol chose the opportunity to speak. “Let us not underestimate the old tribal barbarities of our country. Russia has always been a nation in which a small number of leaders have controlled all policy. Stalin did not invent that—it is the nature of Russia. If we upset Stalin it will be to no avail at all if we do not replace his regime with powerful leadership of our own. Otherwise another Stalin will emerge and that will be that.”
Baron Oleg was scowling. “So we should forestall the rise of a new Stalin by substituting our own Stalin for him. You reactionaries never fail to amaze me. You would negate everything we want to achieve. The idea is to free our country—not replace one tyrant with another!”
“Please.” It was Prince Leon: he said it softly, for emphasis, and eyes swiveled to him.
Leon put both hands on the arms of his chair as if to rise; but he kept his seat when he spoke.
“I believe there is a solution you all may find acceptable.”
Alex watched him. Leon had spent a lifetime holding them all together, preventing the factions from splintering. It was natural and inevitable that Leon would have devised a scheme to catalyze them now.
“I think we agree our immediate goal is to depose Stalin and annihilate the system by which informers are forced to produce names, and the secret police make lists, and mass arrests take place in the night.
“I believe we all agree also that the very first step in any new government in Russia must be to return the farms to the farmers.
“It is a primary rule for any successful revolutionary leader to destroy the forces that brought him to power. Lenin did this by forcing out Trotsky and many others but he made the mistake of keeping Stalin too close. When Stalin took it on he did what Lenin should have done. He wiped out virtually all of the ‘Old Bolsheviks.’ But it has weakened the hierarchy and it makes him vulnerable now.
“We know he has nothing left but a few key people and a horde of nondescript mediocrities. He is afraid to surround himself with capable people—they might prove too dangerous. His sycophants follow him like craven beggars. I think it is clear they go on supporting him because they can count on salvation only so long as he prevails.
“There is a small number who are loyal to him out of conviction—Beria, Malenkov, just a few. Stalin and this handful must be killed but the rest may be brought into the new system. Offer amnesty to the lower echelon of bureaucrats and I do not see much danger of a post-Stalinist Bolshevik revival.”
Prince Leon stopped momentarily. His eyes held them: he wanted their attention now. “Very well. What we must provide is a cadre, a top echelon of power. What I propose is a compromise I believe we all can accept regardless of our ideological leanings. I propose a Union of Russian Republics to be proclaimed under a figurehead Czar.”
Anatol snorted. “A constitutional monarchy. I suspected as much.”
“Yes.” Leon’s firm expression challenged him. “A prime minister system not unlike the British. No, Anatol, please let me finish. I propose that we replace the Bolshevik junta with a new Supreme Ruler of All the Russias.
“The new Czar must be connected by blood to the royal line because these things are still important to the Russian soul, even today. That is one reason why we must reject the thought of putting the mantle on General Deniken, our last Supreme Ruler. Deniken is old. He may be a hero to us in exile but to the Russian people he has the name of an enemy tainted with defeat. And he smacks of the old system, the White Armies with their weaknesses and corruptions.
“The Czar must be a new face but with a name people will recognize. And he ought to be a figurehead of some charm and dash rather than iron-fisted strength. Having this Georgian beast in the Kremlin has been a trauma to the Russian spirit—I believe they will respond best to a leader who is more to be liked than feared.
“The Czar will be the head of state only ceremonially and this must be made clear from the beginning. The real power shall reside in a cabinet of ministers led by a prime minister.
“At the beginning we shall have to provide interim ministries until there has been time to establish a constitution and arrange for elections. Very likely that will have to wait until the end of the war with Germany but we cannot allow postponement to become an excuse for self-perpetuation. There will be free elections in all the Russian republics and it is essential that we show the people proof of this by beginning to set up the apparatus.
“We must earn the goodwill of the people and the bureaucracy, and we must do it quickly. This is one reason we must have as our figurehead a man of overwhelming charm—a man who won’t intimidate the people. He must be a young man, too young to be held responsible for any of the horrors of nineteen-seventeen. He must have presence and speak well in public and he must be able to relax with the people.”
Count Anatol said acidulously, “You do not want a Czar, Leon. You want a cinema star.”
Baron Oleg Zimovoi exhaled a ball of pipe smoke and spoke through it. “You are talking about a specific man, aren’t you? You have someone in mind.”
“Of course I do. Can’t you guess, Oleg?”
“I am afraid to.”
Anatol’s eyes lay uncomfortably against Alex. Then they turned back to Prince Leon. “Are you putting Alex Danilov’s name into the drawing?”
Alex sat bolt upright in alarm.
Prince Leon said, “I admire many of Alex’s excellences but political charm is not among them. No. I have in mind a great-grandson of Nicholas the First—the son of the Grand Duke Mikhail Andreivitch.”
“Prince Felix,” Anatol said.
Oleg snatched the pipe from his mouth. “That motor-racing playboy—you are not serious!”
Anatol said, “I agree with Oleg. Have you ever tried to pin that boy down to a political argument? He would rather talk about cricket matches at Maidstone. He is a frivolous child,”
“And you smiled when you said that,” Prince Leon answered. “No one can help liking him—and no one can possibly fear him.”
General Savinov had developed a slight list in his chair but his voice remained sonorous. “I rather like the boy myself.”
Prince Michael Rodzianko said, “You cannot restore a monarchy without acknowledging the fact that there remain three Grand Dukes eligible to assume the throne. The young prince’s father is one of them—how can you bypass the father and crown the son? It is unthinkable.”
“The point of it is that he is not a Grand Duke,” Prince Leon said. “He is not associated with the Czars of old. We must make every effort to avoid giving our enemies excuses to condemn our actions. By crowning a young charmer we demonstrate at once that the throne is merely ceremonial and yet that we are prepared to honor the great Russian traditions. I put it to you that there is no better candidate than Felix. No Grand Duke would be acceptable to the left-wing factions and nobody without royal blood would be acceptable to the monarchists. Felix is the ideal compromise.”
Anatol shifted his aloof eyes toward Alex. “You know him better than we do. What is your impression?”