He was accused of having endeavoured to hinder his
father's work in the civilisation of Russia, and was suspected of
having taken part in plots of rebellion. The Czar's first
divorced wife Eudoxia was confined in the convent of Suzdal.
Katharina naturally did not love Alexis, since he stood in the way
of her children, and she would have been glad of his death, but did
not wish to incur the guilt of it. Since Peter also did not wish to
take the responsibility for it, he had appointed a court of a
hundred and twenty-seven persons to try his son.
The topic therefore was an unwelcome one, and, with his
extraordinary facility for quick changes of thought and feeling,
Peter broke the silence with the prosaic question, "Where is the
brandy?"
"You will get no brandy so early, my boy."
"Kathrina!" said Peter in a peculiar tone, while his face began to
twitch.
"Be quiet, Lion!" answered his wife, and stroked his black mane,
which had begun to bristle. She took a bottle and a glass out of a
basket.
The Lion cheered up, swallowed the strong drink, smiled, and stroked
his spouse's expansive bust.
"Will you see the children?" asked Katherine, in order to bring him
into a milder mood.
"No, not to-day! Yesterday I beat them, and they would think I was
running after them.
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