After perseverance and different approaches, Marie was able to meet with Kerensky. She was to meet him at 11pm and took a cab to meet him at the Winter Palace. The palace’s once carpeted flooring had been removed and the floor laid bare. An aide-de-camp met Marie and escorted her to the Alexander III apartments. They had first gone through a ballroom where the talking stopped while she passed through.
The aide-de-camp proceeded alone through large mahogany doors to let Kerensky know Marie was outside the doors. Marie described Kerensky in detail. “He was of a medium height, with a face broadening towards the cheek bones and a large, narrow mouth; his hair was cut en brosse. He wore riding breeches, high boots, and a dark brown coat of military cut without shoulder straps. He held his left hand, somewhat unnaturally, within his coat, in a Napoleonic position, while he extended his right hand to me. Having greeted me, he indicated an arm-chair standing beside a massive mahogany desk.” (Page 324)
The large study was rather dark and only a few lamps were lit in the center of the room and desk. There seemed to be damp, musty smell, as the room may have been closed off for an extended periods of time. Kerensky asked Marie would he could do for her. Marie felt her voice shaking was asking as to why was her father and family on house arrest. Kerensky spoke saying, “Your stepmother and her son have spoken disrespectfully of the Provisional Government.” (Page 325) Marie was thinking to herself that Volodia had “anonymously written satirical verses about Kerensky.” Due to the the description being so clearly Kerensky, that even someone had left a copy on Kerensky’s desk there. Kerensky also said there were other reasons he could not disclose to her. So Marie realized she needed to change the direction of this conversation. Marie said, “In a few days, I am to marry. My fiancé is Prince Putiatin.” Kerensky spoke, saying the following. “Yes. I am informed. He is an officer of the Fourth Regiment of Sharpshooters.” Kerensky’s tone expressed “contempt” writing “the name of that crack regiment of the Guards that I understood how widely my tactics had miscarried.” (Page 326) Marie continued feeling some uncomfortableness. In essence, Marie pursued having her father, her stepmother, their family at her wedding. Kerensky said he would try but could not promise her. She had mentioned her father’s health and that he was not a young man. Marie realized after the meeting that he needed the Soviet approval to have her request granted. Marie felt she had failed at this meeting with her performance. On her way back home, she thought of an indirect approach. She wanted to meet and speak with Kuzmin, Kerensky’s new assistant. Kerensky’s new assistant held the confidences of Kerensky and of the Soviet. “A socialist and former political exile, he was acting at that time as a mediator between the Kerensky government and the Bolsheviks.” (Page 327) Through Marie’s connections, a dinner was arranged.
“Kuzmin was among the guests awaiting my arrival. He was in uniform but here was nothing military in his carriage. He was thin and pale with narrow shoulders and a narrow head. His hair was thin and of an indefinite color; it was impossible to guess his age. He stood embarrassed among the guests and seemed throughout the dinner hardly more at ease. But there were enough people to permit the conversation to flow easily, and I could see in his attitude nothing hostile.” (Pages 327-328) After dinner, in preparation for the orchestra to play, the host brought Kuzmin over into conversation with Marie, then, the host left the two to speak alone. From there Marie was able to establish a connection. It was slow at first but when she asked for a cigarette, they both began smoking, and the conversation between them became easier. He spoke of his convict days in Siberia. Marie brought insight into the humanity of her family and he was shocked based on all the propaganda he had been hearing. He asked for clarification and details of her life, and was truly shocked. He asked her, “Is it possible that the Romanovs love Russia?” She spoke. “Yes, they do; they have loved and will continue to love her always, no matter what happens.” (Page 329) Many times later, she had reflected on that last sentence!
Now she felt she created a way for her father. Marie wrote, “My father was not set free by the day of my wedding, but I now felt less anxious about his fate. And I was not mistaken; a few days later the guards were removed from his home.” (Page 329)