4/17 August 1914
Moscow

The crowds that welcomed us here were even bigger and noisier than the ones in St Petersburg. At least a million people jammed the streets and hung from balconies and tree branches for a look at us as our procession slowly moved along. Every church bell in the entire city was ringing and making a terrific din.

Poor Alexei is terribly upset, because he wants to appear beside Papa before the crowds, but he can’t walk even a single step. Papa is determined that he’ll appear tomorrow anyway.