Overcome by a sense of defeat, Ella stood up. ‘You have to listen to sense from someone, Alicky. Rasputin isn’t a man of God. He is the opposite. He is a charlatan who possesses the evil power to make you and Nicky believe anything – and, in doing so, he is even more of a threat to the country than the Marxist revolutionaries.’

‘I want you to leave.’ Alicky’s hands balled into fists. ‘I want you to leave now! Immediately! And until you can make apologies for the wicked words you have just said about a holy man of God, I don’t want to see you again.’

Ella walked towards the door. On reaching it, she turned and said, so distraught and despairing she could hardly breathe, ‘I love you, Alicky. All I want is your safety – and your family’s safety – and in continuing to receive Rasputin as openly as you do, you are putting that safety in the most terrible jeopardy.’

In a moment that Ella was never to forget, Alicky turned her back on her.

‘You did the right thing in speaking to Ella as you did, sweetheart.’ Nicky held Alicky so close it was as if their two hearts were beating as one, ‘but she may be right in that we should put some distance between ourselves and Our Friend.’

She sucked in her breath, pressing her hands against his chest so that their eyes could meet.

He said reluctantly, ‘I received a deputation of ministers today. The newspapers have accused you of being Our Friend’s mistress, and they have done so in the grossest and most degrading way. It was the deputation’s view that the only way to stop such hideous lies being printed is if we are seen to disassociate ourselves from him. The suggestion was made that I banish him to his home village in Siberia.’

‘But you cannot give in to such demands!’ The horror in her eyes nearly undid him. ‘What if Alexei has a fall and needs him? How can Father Grigory put an end to any bleeding if he is in Siberia?’

‘Alexei hasn’t had a devastating bleed for some time now. The doctors think he could be growing out of them. And the banishment would only be for a few months; just until these appalling accusations about you and Our Friend are a thing of the past.’

Vehemently she shook her head. ‘No, Nicky. It would be giving in to the demands of people who know nothing of the true situation.’