Russian series 03 - The Eagle's Fate (16 page)

He obviously saw her wince and misunderstood it. ‘They’re not exactly presentable,’ he said bitterly. ‘I suppose most females wouldn’t care to be touched by them.’

Nadya was uncertain what to say. Certainly they were ugly, and it would be dishonest to claim that most of the ladies in Petersburg Society would be able to look on them without feeling revulsion, but she could only speak for herself, and she loved him too much to be revolted by them. She wondered about Tatya’s reaction, and thought she would have the presence of mind and the kindness to hide her feelings. She hesitated too long, and Andrei sighed.

‘Precisely!’ he said. ‘I dare say someone as kind and charitable as you might manage to pretend for the length of a waltz, but can you imagine being caressed by them?’

‘P-presumably,’ Nadya managed at last, ‘you’d not be thinking of c-caressing anyone unless—I mean, if someone loved you, she’d rather you—you caressed her than—than not . . ‘ She raised her gaze from his hands to his face and found that he was staring intently at her, every muscle in his face tensed.

‘Do you really think so?’ he asked in a curiously choked voice, then suddenly stood up and cupped her face in his hands. She tensed in surprise, then deliberately made herself relax, meeting his eyes unflinchingly as he stared into them for what seemed a very long time.

‘I don’t know how you can…’ he began, then broke off, took her in his arms and crushed her so tightly against his body that she could hardly breathe. She could feel him shaking, and thought he might be crying, so she put one hand to his head and stroked his hair gently, longing to comfort him, yet afraid that he would guess how much she loved him. Presently the shaking stopped and he was quite still. He, eventually, he released her and turned away.

‘I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you,’ he said gruffly.

‘No,’ Nadya replied, and as that seemed inadequate, added, ‘I dare say that some foolish females might think it matters, but I suppose you would only be interested in someone intelligent, who would have more sense.’

‘Yes, I’m a demanding fellow—I want intelligence as well as beauty,’ he replied, with what sounded like an attempt at amusement. ‘But do you think intelligence would really make any difference in the face of these?’ He faced her, thrusting his hands out again.

‘Of course,’ Nadya replied, then, as no further words occurred to her, she took both his hands in her own, lifted them to her lips and kissed the, first the left, then the right.

‘There was no need to mortify yourself to that extent!’ he exclaimed, snatching them away. ‘You could just have said that they’re not as bad as I think!’

‘You might not have believed me.’

He looked at her blankly for a moment, then gave a faint smile. ‘No, I’m not very good at believing you, am I? You’re right to remind me! You can see why I keep them covered though, can’t you? Very few females are as kind and considerate as you and Tatya! Do you think you could bandage them for me, or shall I send for my valet?’

‘I think I can manage,’ Nadya replied, half-flattered that he should have mentioned her in the same complimentary sentence as Tatya, half-rueful that he should have assumed Tatya’s kindness but needed proof of her own. She put the bandages on again very carefully, concentrating hard, and managed to make a neat job of it.

‘Don’t pity me,’ Andrei said suddenly.

She glanced up at his face and firmly replied, ‘I don’t.’

He stared at her for a moment, then nodded as if he believed her and deliberately changed the subject.

‘I suppose you’ll be going back to Moscow at the end of the Season,’ he said. ‘The city’s rebuilding already, I hear, and most of the lower classes are back in residence.’

‘I don’t expect I shall go back,’ Nadya replied. ‘I don’t know what I shall do. There’s nothing there, you see. The house I lived in was burned, and everything in it.’

He looked at her face, frowning, ‘You mean you’ve lost everything? All you have left is what was in that little valise?’

‘Yes. Tatya sent some of her people to find the house and bring my things away, but all they could find was an old iron box of my father’s.’

‘There was something in it, surely?’

‘Just a few family papers and some worthless share certificates, that’s all.’

Andrei was silent for a few moments, and then said gently, ‘I’m sorry. I’ve been so wrapped up in myself since I came here that I’ve never even thought to ask. I’m really very sorry. What shall you do?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Tatya invited me here for the Season, so I’m settled until Lent. Perhaps I’ll have thought of something by then.’

She was very near to tears, so she turned away and sat down on the other side of the table and idly picked up some of the spills. Andrei took the hint and did not pursue the subject, but asked if she would care to play spillikens, so when Tatya and Irina returned they were half-way through their fourth game, closely watched by the kitten, which sat on the table and put in a paw from time to time.

‘What an ordeal!’ Tatya exclaimed, ‘Be thankful you weren’t invited! Ah—tea please, Mischa!’ to the footman who was hovering in the doorway. ‘Aunt Xenia was always difficult, but now she’s downright
horrid
! She questioned poor Irina interminably about her family, her fortune, her education, and then finally said “He’s not marrying you for your beauty, your fortune or your connections, so one must suppose that you have
hidden qualities
and the poor fool’s in love with you! You do, however, have patience and good manners, and show some signs of intelligence, so no doubt you’ll learn the rest well enough!’ Weren’t you furious, Irina?’

‘Not particularly,’ Irina replied placidly. ‘My own aunt was very much like her, only a little more acid-tongued. One gets used to it.’

Tatya gave her an affectionate smile and went over to kiss her cheek as she sat sedately in one of the gold-covered chairs, then turned to the others and enquired, ‘Have you spent a pleasant afternoon?’

Nadya had no idea what to reply, but Andrei said lightly, ‘Very pleasant. We’ve been entertaining our young friend’, indicating the kitten, which looked at Tatya, jumped off the table, and went to ground under Irina’s chair.

‘Not on the table, sir!’ Tatya admonished it, pointing a finger at the little triangular face peering at her round the chairleg. The kitten closed its eyes in a beguiling smile.

Over tea, Tatya remarked that it wanted only ten days to Christmas, and she had not even begun to think about gifts. ‘I really must go to the Gostinny Dvor tomorrow, to order things for the servants, and we must decide which invitation to accept for Christmas Day—we’ve cards for five balls so far! It’s a great mistake to keep putting things off—they all crowd in on one so at the last minute!’

‘There’s something I have to see to, as well,’ Nadya said hesitantly. ‘Two things, actually. I wonder if you can advise me about them?’ Then, as Tatya smiled her willingness to do whatever she could, ‘The quarter’s payment of my annuity is overdue, and I’ve done nothing about it. I don’t even know how I may draw it in Petersburg. I suppose I’d best go to the Treasury and enquire…’

‘Good heavens, no! They’ll keep you waiting about for ever! You’ll be old and grey and dead of starvation before you get any sense out of them!’ Andre exclaimed. ‘Who is your man of business?’

‘I haven’t one,’ Nadya admitted wretchedly. It was a luxury she could not afford—besides, she really had no need of one, having no property.

‘Ours will deal with it,’ Tatya offered at once. ‘I’ll send for him in the morning, and you can tell him about it and leave it in his hands.’

‘But I thought he was in Ryazan,’ Nadya said.

‘Yes, but we have another here—at least Lev employs him really, but he deals with any matters which arise in the family that need the services of someone in Petersburg.’

‘Will—will he charge very much?’ Nadya asked in a low, nervous voice, ashamed that she had to make such an enquiry in front of other people, particularly Andrei. She glanced sidelong in his direction, but he was concentrating on picking up his half-empty cup in his left hand and holding it steadily.

‘Lev pays him an annual salary which covers everything—he won’t charge you,’ Tatya assured her. ‘What was the other thing—you said there were two?’

‘Luda has—had a brother who works in Petersburg. I should really find him and tell him about—about what happened.’

‘I thought Luda came from your father’s estates. Was she from Petersburg, then?’ Tatya asked.

‘No. She was from our Tula property, which father—sold—to the State.’ Nadya hesitated over ‘sold’, because in fact the estate had been confiscated by the Lombard—the State money-lender. ‘Luda was a house-serf, so Father freed her and we kept her, but her brother went with the estate and he’s now a Crown serf. Luda told me that he works in the Winter Palace.’

‘Heavens! Goodness knows how many serfs there are there!’ Tatya exclaimed. ‘Did she say which part, by any chance?’

‘Yes—on the roof! I can’t imagine what she meant!’

Tatya raised her elegantly-arched eyebrows and murmured, ‘Now, what on earth could a serf do on the roof?’

‘Sweep the snow off the leads, repair weather damage, put out chimney fires and clean the chimneys, look after the water-tanks–-even live there, probably!’ Andrei replied, almost dropping the cup, which clattered in its dish, making him frown impatiently. ‘There’s a village up there!’

‘On the roof?’ Irina exclaimed. She had been listening intently to everything that was said, having decided that the only way she could cope with being Lev’s wife was to learn everything she could as quickly as possible.

‘Yes. It’s one of the unknown sights of the Palace. When one first goes on duty there, it’s included in one’s tour of the place. There’s so much for them to do that most of them live up there,’ Andrei replied, smiling at her startled expression.

‘I don’t suppose it would be any use writing to him,’ Nadya pondered, ‘ for it’s very unlikely that he can read, but I wondered if it would be possible to go and see him. I don’t suppose it would.’

‘It should be,’ Tatya said thoughtfully. ‘You’d have to apply to the Court Chamberlain, of course, and it’s best to do that through someone who has entree to the Palace. Now, whom do I know…?’

She pressed one knuckle to her teeth in thought, but before anything occurred to her Andrei said drily, ‘One Andrei Ivanovich Valyev, I should think.’

‘You?’ Tatya exclaimed. ‘Have you? I didn’t realise.’

‘I don’t know that it’s ever been made official,’ Andrei admitted, ‘but it’s generally accepted that this gives one the right.’ He tapped his officer’s gorget. ‘And the uniform, of course.’

‘Any Army officer?’ asked Irina, still seeking information.

‘No. Only those in the regiments of the Life Guard, I think.’

‘Would you arrange something for Nadya, then?’ Tatya asked, tilting her head and smiling. It was a charming, slightly coquettish gesture of appeal, yet wholly without artifice, for as Nadya had long ago realised, Tatya’ charm and grace were completely natural and unaffected.

‘For you, my dear Tatya, I would climb to the stars, let alone to the roof of the Winter Palace!’ Andrei replied, standing up and making her a bow, one hand on his heart. Nadya’s eyes misted with tears for a second as she tried not to wish that he would do it for her, not Tatya. Then she pulled herself together and thanked him, but he had resumed his seat and his usual rather dry manner and merely replied, ‘I haven’t done anything yes, so you’d better see what I achieve before you thank me!’ But at least he didn’t reject her gratitude this time.

That night, after they retired, Nadya was sitting at her dressing-table while Marfa brushed her hair, when Tatya tapped at the door and came in. She was ready for bed, wearing a Chinese brocade wrapper, her lustrous hair loose about her shoulders, and looking, Nadya thought, even more lovely than she did when she was dressed in her finery, with her curls arranged in the latest style. She wandered about the room, looking out of the window, holding her hand to the stove as if to check that it was giving enough heat, until Nadya said, ‘Thank you, Marfa. You may go now. Good night.’

‘Good night, Princess,’ Marfa replied, bobbing a curtsey. At the door, she turned as usual and said, ‘The Lord send his angels to watch over you through the night and give you sweet sleep.’

‘And to you, Marfa,’ replied Nadya, and all three crossed themselves.

When Marfa had gone, Tatya said, “I wanted to have a private word with you, dear. About Christmas gifts. I think it best if we only give little things among ourselves, for I know it’s difficult for both you and Irina. Lev has arrange for her to draw on him for whatever she needs, but she’s reluctant to do so, as she feels that she shouldn’t be spending his money. Of course, there’s no need for either of you to do anything about the servants, as we’ve always had the custom of giving each of them just one good thing from the family as a whole, rather than something small from each of us. If you feel that you’d like to give a little token to Marfa, pray do, but she won’t expect it.’

‘Thank you.’ Nadya replied. ‘I was rather worried.’

‘You don’t mind me mentioning it?’

‘Of course not.’

Tatya smiles, paused a moment, and then went on, ‘Tell me—what do you think of Andrei?’

‘How do you mean?’ Nadya asked, cringing inwardly for fear that she had somehow betrayed herself.

‘Well—generally. Do you think he seems well in himself?’

‘I—I can’t tell. I hardly knew him before—I mean, I met him for the first time on the road from Moscow, and we didn’t exchange more than a few words.’

Tatya sighed. ‘I can’t imagine why he behaved like that…Things are better now, aren’t they?’

‘Yes. He’s quite—well, almost friendly. I think his injuries have upset him a great deal, and he’s glad of acceptance by almost anyone. I found out today that he doesn’t need to wear those bandages on his hands any more, because they’re healed, but he feels that they’re so ugly that he doesn’t want anyone to see them.’ Nadya wondered if she was betraying a confidence in telling of her discovery, but it seemed likely that Tatya could be of more help to Andrei than she could.