what you’re doing.”
Livia laughed slightly. “Do I? I wonder.”
“I’m not about to preach morality, Liv,” her friend said with a smile. “Neither of us turned a hair when Harry played Casanova at Nell’s window, and if you want to have a liaison with a Russian prince under the trees of Richmond, then I’ll merely warn you to be careful of damp grass.”
Livia smiled with unconcealed relief. “I don’t think it’s going to come to that, but a little dalliance is very appealing.”
Chapter Six
T HE CZAR’S SEAL EMBLAZONED THE message awaiting Alex as he returned to his lodgings. He took up his paper knife and slit the seal, opening the sheet that was covered in the emperor’s elegant script.
My dear friend. Alex winced a little at the salutation. The czar had always embraced him as an elder brother…except on those occasions when his dignity demanded a degree of reserve…those occasions when he considered Alex had overstepped the boundaries of friendship with advice or faintly concealed criticism. Then he was icily imperial and not at all afraid of reminding his friends of the precariousness of their position, which depended solely on the degree to which they pleased their emperor. Unlike his grandmother, Alexander I was not a listener and did not choose to heed advice that went counter to his own convictions…convictions that once held were fixed in stone.
Alex sighed a little and returned to the missive. The czar’s enthusiasm for his new alliance with Napoleon filled the page, overflowed in superlatives. The promise of this alliance had no limits, it was to lift Russia into the position of world supremacy, side by side with her dearest friend, France. Together they would subjugate Europe and bring England to her knees. They would divide the known world between them. And Prince Prokov, the czar’s most trusted and loyal friend, was to help in this worthy aim and he would reap rewards beyond his dreams.
Send us information soon, my dear Alex, about the mood in the English court. Are they disheartened at our new alliance? How will they react when Russia joins Napoleon’s continental blockade? What will they do when they can no longer trade with Russia?
And just what will Russia do when England no longer receives her exports? Alex thought, his lip curling. England was Russia’s biggest export market for its raw materials. The merchants of St. Petersburg and Moscow would be in a frenzy of rebellion when English ships no longer anchored in their harbors and the warehouses bulged with the goods they could no longer sell. And all because of the orders of that Corsican parvenu, as the Dowager Empress described the Emperor Napoleon.
He turned his eyes back to the czar’s fluent script. What plans do the English intend making with Austria? You will discover this in your clever way, my friend. And as to your fears that there may be disaffection among the émi grés in London, have no fear, I have it well under control. I have my spies. Be careful yourself, my friend. No one can be trusted.
Alex read the last sentences carefully, a deep frown corrugating his brow. It sounded like a warning, but why should the czar warn him ? Was he afraid Alex would run afoul of the disaffected? Or was he afraid of something quite different?
He remembered his visit from Prince Michael Michaelovitch. The old man was certainly devoted to his emperor, but he was not the brightest candle in the chandelier. If the secret police had indeed sent Michael to watch Alex, they had sent a rabbit to watch a fox.
“Will you be dining in tonight, Your Highness?” Boris, his arrival soundless, spoke softly from the door.
Alex shook his head. “No, I’m engaged with a party to the opera.” He glanced at the ormolu clock on the mantel. “In fact I’m going to be late as it is. Bring sherry to my chamber while I change, if you please, Boris.” He hurried through the door into his inner sanctum and from there into his
Livia laughed slightly. “Do I? I wonder.”
“I’m not about to preach morality, Liv,” her friend said with a smile. “Neither of us turned a hair when Harry played Casanova at Nell’s window, and if you want to have a liaison with a Russian prince under the trees of Richmond, then I’ll merely warn you to be careful of damp grass.”
Livia smiled with unconcealed relief. “I don’t think it’s going to come to that, but a little dalliance is very appealing.”
Chapter Six
T HE CZAR’S SEAL EMBLAZONED THE message awaiting Alex as he returned to his lodgings. He took up his paper knife and slit the seal, opening the sheet that was covered in the emperor’s elegant script.
My dear friend. Alex winced a little at the salutation. The czar had always embraced him as an elder brother…except on those occasions when his dignity demanded a degree of reserve…those occasions when he considered Alex had overstepped the boundaries of friendship with advice or faintly concealed criticism. Then he was icily imperial and not at all afraid of reminding his friends of the precariousness of their position, which depended solely on the degree to which they pleased their emperor. Unlike his grandmother, Alexander I was not a listener and did not choose to heed advice that went counter to his own convictions…convictions that once held were fixed in stone.
Alex sighed a little and returned to the missive. The czar’s enthusiasm for his new alliance with Napoleon filled the page, overflowed in superlatives. The promise of this alliance had no limits, it was to lift Russia into the position of world supremacy, side by side with her dearest friend, France. Together they would subjugate Europe and bring England to her knees. They would divide the known world between them. And Prince Prokov, the czar’s most trusted and loyal friend, was to help in this worthy aim and he would reap rewards beyond his dreams.
Send us information soon, my dear Alex, about the mood in the English court. Are they disheartened at our new alliance? How will they react when Russia joins Napoleon’s continental blockade? What will they do when they can no longer trade with Russia?
And just what will Russia do when England no longer receives her exports? Alex thought, his lip curling. England was Russia’s biggest export market for its raw materials. The merchants of St. Petersburg and Moscow would be in a frenzy of rebellion when English ships no longer anchored in their harbors and the warehouses bulged with the goods they could no longer sell. And all because of the orders of that Corsican parvenu, as the Dowager Empress described the Emperor Napoleon.
He turned his eyes back to the czar’s fluent script. What plans do the English intend making with Austria? You will discover this in your clever way, my friend. And as to your fears that there may be disaffection among the émi grés in London, have no fear, I have it well under control. I have my spies. Be careful yourself, my friend. No one can be trusted.
Alex read the last sentences carefully, a deep frown corrugating his brow. It sounded like a warning, but why should the czar warn him ? Was he afraid Alex would run afoul of the disaffected? Or was he afraid of something quite different?
He remembered his visit from Prince Michael Michaelovitch. The old man was certainly devoted to his emperor, but he was not the brightest candle in the chandelier. If the secret police had indeed sent Michael to watch Alex, they had sent a rabbit to watch a fox.
“Will you be dining in tonight, Your Highness?” Boris, his arrival soundless, spoke softly from the door.
Alex shook his head. “No, I’m engaged with a party to the opera.” He glanced at the ormolu clock on the mantel. “In fact I’m going to be late as it is. Bring sherry to my chamber while I change, if you please, Boris.” He hurried through the door into his inner sanctum and from there into his
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