Rivals for Love (11 page)

“But it is a genuine one, Cousin Varin.”

Because he was amused by her strong feelings, the Duke deliberately provoked an argument when they dined together later.

Soon they were sparring with words at every meal and Elva found everything he said not only controversial but stimulating.

By this time they were moving slowly up the Gulf of Finland.

The voyage was coming to an end and there would be no further chance for Elva to duel with the Duke with words.

It was on the fifteenth day of their voyage that the Duke said when it was time to retire to bed,

“We will arrive tomorrow. I have told the Captain not to tie up alongside until midday and I would hope that there will be someone from the Embassy to meet us on the dock and will inform us as to where we are to stay in St Petersburg.”

“And if no one appears,” enquired Elva, “what do we do then?”

“We shall have to go to the British Embassy to find out what has been arranged, but I think we will find there will be someone to meet us.”

“I feel sure there should be,” commented Elva. “I do not believe that the Russians have many such important visitors as the Duke and Duchess of Sparkbrook arriving here every day.”

“They have been fighting violently with Sweden for the last few months, Elva, and your aunt told me that the Empress could even hear guns when she was in residence at her Palace.”

“I would have thought it could have been very dangerous for her,”

“Apparently she was extremely brave and refused to move away from St. Petersburg. She may have faults, but she is a very courageous woman.”

Elva smiled.

“I think it was Voltaire who addressed her as, ‘
the great man whose name is Catherine'
.”

The Duke's eyes twinkled.

It always amused him when Elva came up with a quick witty remark in response to anything he said.

“I expect they are now preparing the terms of the Treaty with Sweden, but where you and I are concerned, Elva, it is a case of ‘let the battle begin'.”

Elva looked at him.

“We shall win,” she mused. “I feel it in my bones, as my Nanny used to say.”

“I shall feel it will be true when we rejoin the
Sea Horse
and sail home with all our flags flying, hopefully not at half-mast!”

“Danton tells me,” added Elva confidentially, “that you are always a winner and however difficult the task you undertake, you always pull it off.”

“Danton or no Danton,” the Duke insisted, “this is a somewhat different task from anything I have yet to undertake. Quite frankly, Elva, we will have to use our brains with every breath we breathe.”

“I know that,” replied Elva quietly. “But I am sure once a winner always a winner, which particularly applies to
you
.”

The Duke smiled but he did not answer.

She sensed that he was inwardly a little nervous of whatever they were going to encounter when they reached St. Petersburg.

*

The next morning Elva stood on deck and watched as the
Sea Horse
moved slowly along the river Neva. As they had sailed up the Gulf of Finland she had seen the Kronstadt in the distance seeming to rise out of the sea.

Ahead there was an enormous grand harbour and a range of tall ships with the sun shining on the smooth blue sea covered with vessels, which Elva was sure were now at sea as for the first time for months they had not been confined to port while the armies of Sweden and Russia fought it out on the battlefield.

There were guard ships, frigates and small vessels of all sizes moving over the calm sea.

It was all very colourful and beautiful and Elva felt that they were entering an enchanted land.

Equally Russia was an Empire that was puzzling and alarming to everyone in Europe.

The
Sea Horse
came alongside a pier and almost immediately a smartly dressed Englishman obviously from the British Embassy came aboard.

The Duke was waiting for him and he bowed very politely as he introduced himself,

“I am Harold Barnier, Your Grace, First Secretary in charge of the British Embassy in St. Petersburg as Mr. William Falkner, our Ambassador, has left for Turkey.”

“It is most kind of you to meet us at the quay. I must admit I had no idea that Mr Falkner would not be in residence.”

“He has only just departed, Your Grace, with Mr. Whitworth, the Envoy Extraordinary and British Minister Plenipotentiary on a special mission, so I am now in charge.”

“I hope you will not find your duties too arduous,” observed the Duke. “Allow me to present my wife.”

Elva who was standing a little way from him came forward.

She shook Mr. Barnier's hand and he bowed to her very politely saying,

“The Prime Minister informed us, Your Grace, that you have just been married. May I therefore offer you our warmest congratulations on behalf of the British Embassy in St. Petersburg?”

“Thank you so much,” replied Elva, but the Duke quickly intervened in the conversation.

“I am sure the Prime Minister will have informed you that our marriage is to remain a complete secret until my wife is out of mourning. There is no need at all for the Russians to know that she has been recently bereaved, but in England they would think it very unfeeling of her if she had come on our honeymoon when she was still in deep mourning.”

“I fully understand, Your Grace, and I can assure you that we will be very discreet in the matter.”

“I hope you have found us somewhere comfortable to stay – I expect St. Petersburg is very busy at present.”

“It is indeed,” replied Mr. Barnier, “and that is why when I received my instructions from the Prime Minister, I consulted the Palace.”

There was a pause before the Duke quizzed him,

“What was the reply?”

“The Empress sent special instructions that you are to be accommodated at the Winter Palace.”

As Mr. Barnier spoke, Elva realised that the Duke had stiffened before he answered,

“This is a very great honour. But I have no wish to be an encumbrance on Her Majesty.”

“I am sure she will not feel so, Your Grace. But as you have just intimated, the City is indeed overcrowded at present owing to the many festivities Prince Potemkin is arranging in honour of the Empress.”

“Prince Potemkin!” exclaimed the Duke. “Can he be here in the Capital?”

“He has returned to St. Petersburg unexpectedly.”

“But I thought he was dealing with the troubles in the South?”

Mr. Barnier threw up his hands.

“We are all aware that the war against the Turks has reached a critical phase,” he said, “and they are in fact weakening.”

“But the Prince has come here?” the Duke queried him again as if he could hardly believe the news.

“I understand,” resumed Mr. Barnier, lowering his voice, “that Prince Potemkin left his head-quarters at Jassy in Moldavia, where he has been holding his own Court in what we are told is great Oriental pomp. He arrived ten days ago in St. Petersburg.”

“Was the Empress pleased to see him?”

“We are made to understand that she greeted him with every honour and tribute. In fact – ”

He looked over his shoulder to make sure there was no one near them before he went on,

“ – the Empress told an intimate at the Court who repeated it to me that ‘he glows in the splendour of his victories. He is as bright as a constellation of stars and wittier than ever'.”

“It sounds as if they are very happy together.”

Mr. Barnier moved even closer to the Duke before adding,

“It is rumoured that the Prince has demanded that the Empress dismiss Lieutenant Platon Zubov, but she has refused!”

The Duke was about to ask a further question, but Mr. Barnier, as if afraid he had said far too much, stepped back.

“The carriage is waiting, Your Grace,” he intoned, “and there is a second carriage as well for your luggage and your manservant.”

The Duke turned towards Elva and said in a voice he had begun to assume in front of others,

“Are you ready, my darling? I am longing to show you the beauty of St. Petersburg, and of course you are as deeply honoured as I am at being invited to be the guest of the Empress.”

“I am sure it will be very thrilling,” she murmured.

As she realised that Mr. Barnier was watching, she ran to the Duke and slipped her arm though his.

“You know how exciting it is,” she purred in a soft voice, “to be here with –
you
.”

She looked up at him with what she hoped was a loving expression in her eyes.

She was aware that Mr. Barnier had noticed.

‘I am really doing my best,' she thought. ‘Aunt Violet would be proud of me.'

Mr. Barnier had arranged a large and comfortable carriage emblazoned with the British Embassy insignia on both doors and the coachman and the footman on the box were in very smart uniforms.

The four horses were exquisitely matched stallions.

Elva was handed into the carriage and the Duke sat down beside her.

Mr. Barnier sat opposite them with his back to the horses and when they finally set off, he said with a sigh of relief,

“Now, Your Grace, we can at last converse without being afraid of being overheard. Is there anything you need to know?”

“A great deal,” replied the Duke. “First of all tell me just what is the position at the Palace?”

Mr. Barnier hesitated for a moment.

“It is in reality, as I am certain Your Grace will appreciate, a very complex situation. We have learnt from our spies – ”

Elva gave a cry of astonishment.

“Did you say spies? Do you really have spies in the Palace?”

Mr. Barnier smiled.

“We try our best to, Your Grace, and naturally the Palace attempts to place spies in our Embassy. But I think on the whole that we have been more successful than they have.”

Elva looked at the Duke.

“I think it is all rather frightening.”

“I agree with you,” replied the Duke, “but I have always heard that this is the situation in Russia and there is nothing we can do about it.”

“Nothing at all,” concurred Mr. Barnier. “Here we can speak openly, but I beg Your Grace to be
very
careful in the Palace.”

“We will take extra special care – now do tell me the position as far as the Empress and Prince Potemkin are concerned.”

“As I mentioned, the Prince arrived back unexpectedly when the Army was in, we all thought, a difficult position.”

“What was his reason for coming back?” the Duke asked.

Mr. Barnier hesitated for a moment as if he found the question embarrassing.

Then he said,

“We understand that he is extremely worried about Lieutenant Platon Zubov.”

“Worried?”

“He is the only Adjutant-General to the Empress who has not been chosen by the Prince personally and we have been told that he has never liked the young man. He thinks that he gives himself airs and may be advising the Empress in wrong directions.”

“We always understood in England,” persisted the Duke, “that the Empress is deeply in love with the Prince and that she valued his advice in very possible way.”

“That was indeed true in the past, Your Grace, but recently several important initiatives have been introduced without the Empress consulting the Prince at all.”

“I can understand that has perturbed him and I can appreciate his anxiety.”

There was silence.

As they journeyed on Elva was looking out of the window and she kept gaining glimpses of blue and green domes all decorated with golden gilded spires and immense Palaces.

She admired enormous squares with wide streets that made the pedestrians look like pygmies and even the carriages seemed to shrink to tiny nutshells.

As they drove through the City, Mr. Barnier said,

“As we were uncertain about the exact time you would arrive, Your Grace, I have arranged for luncheon today at the British Embassy. And afterwards the Empress will receive you as soon as you arrive at the Palace.”

The British Embassy appeared a most impressive building and Elva thought it looked exactly as an Embassy should.

The Second Secretary, Mr. Stephen Sharp, greeted them at the entrance and both he and Mr. Barnier enjoyed luncheon with the Duke and Elva in a large and imposing dining room.

The gentlemen talked about the war with the Turks and Elva said very little.

As soon as luncheon was finished they drove off in the same carriage. Their luggage, together with Danton, had been taken straight on to the Palace.

When they arrived Elva felt that the Winter Palace was even more wonderful than she had anticipated and as they entered under a huge portico she was almost blinded by visions of gilt everywhere.

There appeared to be a whole army of servants to welcome them and they were led through a succession of enormous salons all opening one out of another.

They were escorted up a magnificent staircase by a Major-domo in a brilliantly coloured uniform.

On their way Mr. Barnier had been describing the grand proportions and magnificence of the Winter Palace and how it boasted one thousand five hundred bedrooms.

When Elva exclaimed in surprise, he added,

“The Empress has considerably increased the size of the Palace since she began her reign and is continually adding to her fabulous collection of pictures and treasures, which I know Your Grace will appreciate.”

The Major-domo next pompously handed them on to a housekeeper and they then followed her along endless passages before she opened a door.

She said in Russian,

“This one is your bedroom, Your Grace,” and Elva answered her in the same language.

She looked around her and considered that they were certainly being treated like Royalty.

The room was just enormous, containing a colossal gold canopied bed which was much larger than any bed Elva had ever seen.