Rasputin by Frances Welch

Author:Frances Welch [Frances Welch]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781780721545
Publisher: Short Books
Published: 2014-04-08T16:00:00+00:00

That autumn the Man of God was himself fighting battles on various fronts. Aside from dealing with a growing band of enemies, he was plagued by worries that his powers were failing. In the previous year he had, according to the secret police, been reduced to brushing up his techniques as a hypnotist. The Okhrana had found a letter from Rasputin asking for lessons in hypnosis. A surveillance agent reported that the teacher of hypnotism had a moustache and was ‘swarthy of face’.

Neither of ‘the Tsars’, needless to say, had any inkling of Rasputin’s self-doubt. Shortly after their emotional tea, the Tsarina summoned him back to the Palace to help Alexis and pray by the boy’s bedside. The Tsarina wrote to the Tsar: ‘19 September… You, I know, notwithstanding all you will have to do, will still miss yr little family & precious agoo wee one [Alexis]. He will quickly get better now that our Friend has seen him & that will be a great relief to you.’

The Tsarina met Rasputin regularly at Anna Vyrubova’s house during this period. But, for all her confidence in ‘our Friend’, she was still worried about being seen with him: ‘23 Sept… Ania [as she called Anna] was offended I did not go to her, but she had lots of guests, & our Friend for three hours.’ The following day they did meet. She wrote to the Tsar: ‘24 Sept… flew for half an hour… to Ania’s house, as our Friend spent the afternoon with her & wanted to see me. He asked after you… may God give you courage, strength & patience – faith you have more than ever and it is this wh. keeps you up… And our Friend helps you carry yr. heavy cross and great responsibilities.’

Such was her faith in Rasputin as strategist that she was soon suggesting that she herself make contact with Nicholas Maklakov, the Minister of the Interior: ‘25 October… Our Friend came for an hour in the evening; he will await yr return and then go off for a little home… our Friend wishes me quickly to speak to Maklakov as he says one must not waste time until your return.’

When the Tsar returned to the Palace, he too gleaned support from Rasputin, writing at the end of October: ‘Felt utter fury against the Germans and Turks for their foul attack in the Black Sea! Only in the evening, under the influence of Grigory’s soothing words, did my soul regain its equilibrium.’

But the stabbing in Pokrovskoye had, according to several accounts, added five years to Rasputin’s age. He began taking opium frequently and an old friend, who saw him at the time, said: ‘He walked around hunched over in a gown.’ Rasputin was shaken when he found himself unable to heal an old woman: ‘The Lord has taken my power away from me.’

It was not until his dramatic cure of his stalwart Anna Vyrubova that he felt his vitality returning. He was with Mossolov, Director of the Imperial Court, when he heard that Anna had been seriously injured in an accident.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.