Burnes then added: “I never again saw Mr. Vitkevitch, although we exchanged sundry messages of ‘high consideration,’ for I regret to say I found it impossible to follow the dictates of my personal feelings of friendship towards him, as the public service required the strictest watch.”89 This was no understatement: Burnes had already begun to intercept his dining companion’s letters back to Teheran and St. Petersburg, and vice versa.
