They made no charge.

They seemed to take a real pleasure in it.
We spent half an hour idling through the palace, admiring the cosy apartments and the rich but eminently home-like appointments of the place, and then the Imperial family bade our party a kind good-bye, and proceeded to count the spoons.
An invitation was extended to us to visit the palace of the eldest son, the Crown Prince of Russia, which was near at hand.

The young man was absent, but the Dukes and Countesses and Princes went over the premises with us as leisurely as was the case at the Emperor's, and conversation continued as lively as ever.
It was a little after one o'clock, now.

We drove to the Grand Duke Michael's, a mile away, in response to his invitation, previously given.
We arrived in twenty minutes from the Emperor's.

It is a lovely place.
The beautiful palace nestles among the grand old groves of the park, the park sits in the lap of the picturesque crags and hills, and both look out upon the breezy ocean.