There was an outcry, first of all, from the half dozen servants in the great hall.

They crowded forward curiously to look at him.

And as for Ivan, he stared blankly for a moment, and then plumped down on one knee and, to Fred's unspeakable embarrassment, seized his hand and kissed it.
"He and all of them are old, old retainers of our house," Boris explained swiftly.

"To them one of our blood ranks second only to the Czar himself.

My father saw to it always that here we were surrounded only by such faithful ones.