"No, madame, alone. I have neither father nor mother."

"You are very young to travel by yourself. You have come on business?"

"Yes, madame. I have come to present a petition to the tzarina."

"You are an orphan. It is some injustice or wrong you complain of? What
is your name?"

"I am the daughter of Captain Mironoff, and it is for mercy I have come
to ask."

"Captain Mironoff? He commanded one of the forts in the Orenburg
district?"

"Yes, madame."

The lady seemed moved.

"Forgive me," she said, speaking even more gently, "if I meddle in your
affairs; but I am going to court. Perhaps if you explain to me what it
is you want, I may be able to help you."

Marya rose and curtsied; then she took from her pocket a folded paper,
and handed it to her protectress, who read it over. Suddenly the
gentleness turned to hardness in the face of the unknown lady.

"You plead for Peter Grineff!" she said coldly. "The tzarina cannot
grant him mercy. He passed over to this rebel not in ignorance, but