And so he was disposed to ignore, or at least to evade, the
persistent reminders that reached him from the Papal Nuncio, to
whom he had promised the introduction into Russia of the Roman
faith.
But presently came a letter from Sigismund couched in different
terms. The King of Poland wrote to Demetrius that word had
reached him that Boris Godunov was still alive, and that he had
taken refuge in England, adding that he might be tempted to
restore the fugitive to the throne of Muscovy.
The threat contained in that bitter piece of sarcasm aroused
Demetrius to a sense of the responsibilities he had undertaken,
which were precisely as Boris Godunov had surmised. As a
beginning he granted the Jesuits permission to build a church
within the sacred walls of the Kremlin, whereby he gave great
scandal. Soon followed other signs that he was not a true son of
the Orthodox Greek Church; he gave offence by his indifference to
public worship, by his neglect of Russian customs, and by
surrounding himself with Roman Catholic Poles, upon whom he
conferred high offices and dignities.
And there were those at hand ready to stir up public feeling
against him, resentful boyars quick to suspect that perhaps they
had been swindled.
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