amusement, to read the History of Germany, by le Père Barre, canon of
Ste. Geneviève, in nine volumes quarto. Every week I finished one, after
which I read the works of Plato. My rooms faced the street; the
corresponding ones were occupied by the Duke, whose windows opened upon
a small yard. When reading in my room, one of my maids usually came in,
and remained there standing as long as she wished; she then retired, and
another took her place when she thought it suitable. I made Madame
Vladislava see that this routine could serve no useful purpose, but was
merely an inconvenience; that, besides, I already had much to suffer
from the proximity of my apartments to those of the Grand Duke, by which
she, too, was equally discommoded, as she occupied a small cabinet at
the end of my rooms. She consented, therefore, to relieve my maids from
this species of etiquette. This is the kind of annoyance we had to put
up with, morning, noon and night, even to a late hour: The Grand Duke,
with rare perseverance, trained a pack of dogs, and with heavy blows of
his whip, and cries like those of the huntsmen, made them fly from one
end to the other of his two rooms, which were all he had. Such of the
dogs as became tired, or got out of rank, were severely punished, which
made them howl still more. When he got tired of this detestable
exercise, so painful to the ears and destructive to the repose of his
neighbours, he seized his violin, on which he rasped away with
extraordinary violence, and very badly, all the time walking up and
down his rooms. Then he recommenced the education and punishment of his
dogs, which to me seemed very cruel. On one occasion, hearing one of
these animals howl piteously and for a long time, I opened the door of
my bed-room, where I was seated, and which adjoined the apartment in
which this scene was enacted, and saw him holding this dog by the
collar, suspended in the air, while a boy who was in his service, a
Kalmuck by birth, held the animal by the tail. It was a poor little King
Charles's dog of English breed, and the Duke was beating him with all
his might with the heavy handle of a whip. I interceded for the poor
beast, but this only made him redouble his blows. Unable to bear so
cruel a scene, I returned to my room with tears in my eyes. In general,
tears and cries, instead of moving the Duke to pity, put him in a
passion. Pity was a feeling that was painful, and even insupportable in
his mind.
About this time, my valet Timothy Yevreinoff transmitted to me a letter
from his old comrade Andrew Czernicheff, who had at last been set at
liberty, and was passing near Moscow, to join the regiment in which he
had been placed as lieutenant. I managed with this letter as with the
former one, sent him all he asked for, and never mentioned a word about
the matter either to the Grand Duke or any one else.
In the spring, the Empress took us to Perova, where we spent some days
with her at the residence of Count Razoumowsky. The Grand Duke and M.
Tchoglokoff scoured the woods almost daily, accompanied by the master of
the house. I read in my room, or else Madame Tchoglokoff, when she was
not at cards, came and kept me company to dissipate her ennui. She
complained bitterly of the amusements of this place, and especially of
the constant indulgence of her husband in the sports of the chase, for
he had become a passionate sportsman since he had received at Moscow the
present of a beautiful English greyhound. I learned from others that he
was the laughing-stock of all the sportsmen, and that he fancied, and
was made to believe that his Circe (the name of his dog) caught all the
hares that were taken. In general, M. Tchoglokoff was very apt to
believe that everything belonging to him was of rare beauty and
excellence; his wife, his children, his servants, his house, his table,
his horses, his dogs--everything that was his, although in reality very
mediocre, participated in his self love, and, as belonging to him,
became in his eyes of incomparable value.
One day, while at Perova, I was seized with a headache so violent that I
do not remember ever having had anything like it in my life. The
excessive pain brought on violent sickness. I threw up repeatedly, and
every movement in my room made me worse. I remained in this state for
nearly four-and-twenty hours, and then fell asleep. The next day I felt
nothing but weakness. Madame Tchoglokoff took all possible care of me
during this severe attack. Generally speaking, all the persons who had
been placed about me by an ill-will the most unequivocal, began in a
short time to take an involuntary interest in me; and, when they were
not interfered with or stimulated anew, they used to act against the
principles of their employers, and yield to the impulse which attracted
them towards me, or rather to the interest with which I inspired them.
They never found me sulky or peevish, but always ready to meet the
slightest advance on their part. In all this my natural gaiety was of
great service to me, for all these Arguses were often amused with my
conversation, and relaxed in spite of themselves.
Her Majesty had a new attack of cholic at Perova. She was carried to
Moscow, and we went slowly to the palace, which is only four verstes
from there. This attack had no ill consequence, and shortly afterwards
she made a pilgrimage to the convent of Troïtza. She wished to make
these sixty verstes on foot, and for this purpose went to Pokrovskoe
House. We were ordered to take the Troïtza road, and we took up our
quarters on this road about eleven verstes from Moscow, at a very small
country-house called Rajova, belonging to Madame Tchoglokoff. The only
accommodations were a small saloon in the centre of the house, and two
very small rooms on each side of it. Tents were placed round the house
for the use of our suite. The Grand Duke had one; I occupied one of the
little rooms, Madame Vladislava another, the Tchoglokoffs the remainder.
We dined in the saloon. The Empress walked three or four verstes, then
rested some days. This journey lasted nearly the whole summer. We hunted
every day after dinner.
When her Majesty reached Taïninskoe, which is nearly opposite Rajova, on
the other side of the high road leading to the convent of Troïtza, the
Hetman, Count Razoumowsky, younger brother of the favourite--who was
residing at his country seat of Pokrovskoe, on the road to St.
Petersburg, on the other side of Moscow--took it into his head to come
and see us every day at Rajova. He was very gay, and nearly of our own
age. We liked him very much. As brother of the favourite, M. and Madame
Tchoglokoff willingly received him into their house. His assiduity
continued all the summer, and we were always pleased to see him. He
dined and supped with us, and after supper returned again to his estate;
he consequently travelled forty or fifty verstes a-day. Some twenty
years later, it occurred to me to ask him what it was that could then
induce him to come and share the dulness and insipidity of our life at
Rajova, while his own house was daily crowded with the best company at
Moscow. He replied, unhesitatingly, "Love." "But what on earth could you
have found to love at our house?" "What!" he said, "why, you." I burst
into a loud laugh, for the idea had never once crossed my mind; besides
he had been married for some years to a rich heiress of the house of
Narichkine, whom the Empress had made him marry, a little against his
will it is true, but with whom he seemed to live on good terms. Added to
this, it was well known that the handsomest women of the court and city
contended for his notice; and, indeed, he was a fine man, of an original
turn, very agreeable, and with far more intelligence than his brother,
who however equalled him in beauty, while surpassing him in generosity
and kindness. These two brothers were the most generally liked
favourites I have ever known.
About the Feast of St. Peter, the Empress sent us word to join her at
Bratovchina. We repaired thither immediately. As during the spring and a
part of the summer I had either been engaged in sporting, or otherwise
constantly in the open air, Rajova House being so small that we spent
the greater part of the day in the neighbouring woods, I arrived at
Bratovchina with my face very red and tanned. When the Empress saw me,
she exclaimed against this redness, and said she would send me a wash to
remove it, and she did so; she immediately sent a phial containing a
liquid composed of lemon-juice, white of egg, and French brandy, and
ordered that my maids should learn its composition, and the proper
proportions of its ingredients. At the end of a few days my sun-burns
had disappeared, and I have since used this composition, and recommended
it to others for similar purposes. When the skin is heated, I do not
know of a better remedy. It is also good for what they call in Russia
Tetters, and which is nothing but a heating of the skin, which causes it
to crack. I cannot at the moment recall the French term for this
complaint.[9]
We spent the Feast of St. Peter at the convent of Troïtza, and as the
Grand Duke could find nothing to do after dinner, he took it into his
head to have a ball in his own room, where, however, his only company
were his two valets and my two maids, one of whom was over fifty. From
the convent her Majesty went to Taïninskoe, while we returned to Rajova,
and resumed our former mode of life. We remained there till the middle
of August, when the Empress made a journey to Sophino, a place situated
at sixty or seventy verstes from Moscow. Here we encamped. On the
morning after our arrival we went to her Majesty's tent, and found her
scolding the person who had the management of this estate. She had come
here to hunt, and found no hares. The man was pale and trembling, and
there was nothing that she did not say to him; she was really furious.
Seeing that we had come to kiss her hand, she embraced us as usual, and
then went on with her scolding, bringing within the sphere of her
remarks every one she felt disposed to find fault with. This was done
gradually, and while speaking with extreme volubility. She said, among
other things, that she perfectly understood the management of land; that
the reign of the Empress Anne had taught her this; that having but
little, she took care to avoid extravagance; that had she gone in debt,
she would have been afraid of being damned: for if she had died in such
a condition no one would have paid her debts, and then her soul would
have gone to hell, and that she had no fancy for; that therefore, when
she was in the house, or not otherwise obliged to make an appearance,
she dressed very simply, her outside dress being of white taffeta and
the under of dark gray, and in this manner she economized, taking good
care not to wear expensive clothes in the country or when travelling.
This, of course, had reference to me, for I wore a dress of silvered
lilac. I took the hint. This dissertation--for such it was, no one
venturing to speak, seeing her flushed with passion--lasted more than
three-quarters of an hour. At last, a fool she had, named Aksakoff, put
a stop to it. He came in carrying a little porcupine, which he presented
to her, in his hat. She advanced to look at it, but the instant she saw
it she uttered a piercing cry, saying that it looked like a mouse, and
ran precipitately into the interior of the tent, for she had a mortal
antipathy to mice. We saw no more of her: she dined alone. After dinner
she went to the chase, took the Grand Duke with her, and ordered me to
return with Madame Tchoglokoff to Moscow, where the Grand Duke arrived
some hours afterwards, the chase having been but brief, in consequence
of the high wind that prevailed that day.
One Sunday the Empress sent for us to join her at Taïninskoe--we were
then at Rajova, whither we had returned--and we had the honour of dining
with her Majesty. She sat alone at the head of the table, the Grand Duke
at her right, I at her left, opposite to him. Near the Grand Duke was
Marshal Boutourline, near me the Countess Schouvaloff. The table was
very long and narrow. Thus seated between the Empress and the Marshal,
the Grand Duke, not a little aided by the Marshal, who was by no means
an enemy to wine himself, managed to get exceedingly intoxicated. He
neither knew what he said or did, stuttered in his speech, and made
himself so very disagreeable, that tears came into my eyes; for at that
time I concealed and palliated as much as possible all that was
reprehensible in him. The Empress was pleased with my sensibility, and
left the table earlier than usual. His Imperial Highness was to have
gone hunting in the afternoon with Count Razoumowsky, but he remained at
Taïninskoe, while I returned to Rajova. On the way I was seized with a
violent toothache. The weather began to be cold and wet, and we were but
badly sheltered at Rajova. The brother of Madame Tchoglokoff, Count
Hendrikoff, who was the chamberlain on duty with me, proposed to his
sister to cure me instantly. She spoke to me on the subject, and I
consented to try his remedy, which seemed to be nothing at all, or
rather a mere charlatanism. He went immediately into the other room, and
brought out a very small roll of paper, which he desired me to chew with
the aching tooth. Hardly had I done so when the pain became so extremely
violent that I was obliged to go to bed. I got into such a burning
fever, that I began to be delirious. Madame Tchoglokoff, terrified at my
condition, and attributing it to her brother's remedy, got very angry
and abused him. She remained at my bedside all the night, sent word to
the Empress that her house at Rajova was in no way fit for a person so
seriously ill as I appeared to be, and in fact made such a stir, that
the next day I was removed to Moscow very ill. I was ten or twelve days
in bed, and the toothache returned every afternoon at the same hour.
At the beginning of September, the Empress went to the convent of
Voskressensky, whither we were ordered to go for the feast of her name.
On that day M. Ivan Ivanovitch Schouvaloff was declared a Gentleman of
the Bedchamber. This was an event at court. Every one whispered that a
new favourite had appeared. I was rejoiced at his promotion, for, while
he was a page, I had marked him out as a person of promise, on account
of his studiousness; he was always to be seen with a book in his hand.
Having returned from this excursion, I was seized with a sore throat
accompanied with much fever. The Empress came to see me during this
illness. When barely convalescent, and while still very weak, her
Majesty ordered me, through Madame Tchoglokoff, to assist at the wedding
and dress the hair of the niece of the Countess Roumianzoff, who was
about to be married to M. Alexander Narichkine, subsequently created
chief cupbearer. Madame Tchoglokoff, who saw that I was scarcely
convalescent, was a little pained in announcing to me this compliment, a
compliment which gave me but little pleasure, as it plainly showed how
little was cared for my health, perhaps even for my life. I spoke in
this view to Madame Vladislava, who seemed, like myself, but little
pleased with this order, an order evidently given without care or
consideration. I exerted myself, however, and on the day fixed the bride
was led to my room. I adorned her head with my diamonds, and she was
then conducted to the court church to be married. As for me, I had to go
to Narichkine House, accompanied by Madame Tchoglokoff and my own court.
Now, we were living at Moscow, in the palace at the end of the German
Sloboda. To reach the residence of the Narichkines it was necessary to
go right through Moscow, and travel at least seven verstes. It was in
the month of October, about nine o'clock at night. It froze excessively
hard, and the ground was so slippery that we had to travel very slowly.
We were at least two hours and a-half in going, and the same in
returning, and there was not a man or horse in my suite that had not one
or more falls. At last having reached the church of Kasansky, which was
near the gate called Troïtzkaja, we met with another impediment, for in
this church was married, at the very same hour, the sister of Ivan
Ivanovitch Schouvaloff. Her hair had been dressed by the Empress
herself, while I dressed that of Mademoiselle Roumianzoff. A great
crowding of carriages occurred at this gate. We had to stop at every
step; then the falls recommenced; not one of the horses had been rough
shod. At last we reached the house, and not in the best humour in the
world. We waited a long time for the bride and bridegroom, who had met
with the same impediments as ourselves. The Grand Duke accompanied the
bride. Then we waited for the Empress. At last we sat down to supper.
After supper, there were a few rounds of dancing in the ante-chamber as
a matter of ceremony, and then we were told to lead the bride and
bridegroom to their apartments. For this purpose we had to pass along
several cold corridors, mount staircases equally cold, and then traverse
long galleries hastily constructed of damp boards, from which the water
oozed in all directions. At last, having reached the apartments, we sat
down to a table spread with a dessert, remaining only long enough to
drink the health of the newly married. Then the bride was led to her
chamber, and we returned home. The next evening we had to repeat our
visit. Would any one have believed it? This turmoil, instead of injuring
my health, did not in the least retard my convalescence. The following
day I was better than the previous one.
At the beginning of winter, I saw that the Grand Duke was very much
disturbed. I did not know what was the matter. He no longer trained his
dogs. He came into my room twenty times a-day, looked anxious,
thoughtful, and absent. He bought German books, and such books! One
portion consisted of Lutheran prayer-books, the other of the history and
trial of some highway robbers who had been hung or broken on the wheel.
These he read by turns when not playing the violin. As he could not long
keep on his mind anything which tormented him, and as he had no one to
speak to but me, I waited patiently for his revelation.
At last he told me what it was that disturbed him, and I found the
matter far more serious than I had anticipated. During the whole summer
pretty nearly, at all events during our stay at Rajova, on the road to
the convent of Troïtza, I scarcely ever saw him, except at table or in
bed. He came to bed after I was asleep, and rose before I was awake. The
rest of his time was passed in hunting or in preparations for it.
Tchoglokoff had obtained, under pretext of amusing the Grand Duke, two
packs of dogs from the Master of the Hounds, the one of Russian dogs and
huntsmen, the other of French or German dogs. To the latter were
attached an old French whipper-in, a lad from Courland, and a German. As
M. Tchoglokoff took the direction of the Russian pack, the Grand Duke
undertook that of the foreign one, about which Tchoglokoff did not in
the least trouble himself. Each entered into the minutest details of his
own charge, and the Grand Duke therefore was constantly going to the
kennel of his pack, or the huntsmen were coming to him to inform him of
its condition, and of the wants and deeds of the dogs. In a word, if I
must speak plainly, he made himself the companion of these men, drinking
with them in the chase, and being constantly among them. The regiment
of Boutirsky was then at Moscow. In this regiment was a lieutenant named
Yakoff Batourine, a man overwhelmed with debt, a gambler, and well known
to be a worthless fellow, but a very determined one. I know not how this
man happened to get acquainted with the Grand Duke's huntsmen, but I
believe both had their quarters in or near the village of Moutistcha or
Alexeewsky. At last matters went on so far, that the huntsmen told the
Duke there was a lieutenant in the regiment of Boutirsky who manifested
a great attachment to his Imperial Highness, and who said, besides, that
the entire regiment entertained the same feelings as himself. The Grand
Duke listened to this recital with complacency, and made inquiries of
the huntsmen relative to this regiment. They spoke very disparagingly of
the superior officers, and very highly of the subalterns. At last
Batourine, still through the huntsmen, asked to be presented to the
Grand Duke, at the chase. To this the Duke was not altogether favourable
at first, but at last he consented. By little and little it was so
managed that the Duke, while hunting one day, met Batourine in a retired
spot. Batourine on seeing him, fell on his knees, and swore to
acknowledge no other master but him, and to do whatever he commanded.
The Grand Duke told me that on hearing this oath he became very much
alarmed, gave both spurs to his horse, and left Batourine on his knees
in the wood. The huntsmen, he said, were in advance, and did not hear
what had been said. He pretended that this was all the connection he had
had with the man, and that he had even advised the huntsmen to take care
that he did not get them into mischief. His present anxiety was
occasioned by his learning from the huntsmen that Batourine had been
arrested and transferred to Preobrajenskoe, where the Secret Chancery,
which took cognizance of crimes against the state, was established. His
Imperial Highness trembled for the huntsmen, and was very much afraid of
being himself compromised. As far as the former were concerned, his
fears were realized; for, a few days afterwards, they were arrested and
conducted to Preobrajenskoe. I endeavoured to diminish his distress by
representing to him, that if he really had not entered into any parley
beyond what he had mentioned, it appeared to me that, at the worst, he
had only been guilty of an imprudence, in mixing himself up with such
bad company. I cannot say whether he told me the truth. I have reason to
believe that he attenuated what there might be of parleying in the
affair, for even to me he spoke about the matter in broken sentences,
and as if unwillingly. However, the excessive fear he was in might also
have produced this same effect upon him. A short time afterwards he came
to tell me that some huntsmen had been set at liberty, but with an order
to be conveyed beyond the frontier, and that they had sent him word that
they had not mentioned his name. This information delighted him beyond
measure; his mind became at ease, and no more was heard of the matter.
As for Batourine, he was found very culpable. I have not since read or
seen the account of his examination, but I have learned that he
meditated nothing less than to kill the Empress, to set fire to the
palace, and in the horror and confusion to place the Grand Duke on the
throne. He was condemned, after being subjected to the torture, to pass
the remainder of his days shut up in the fortress of Schlusselburg.
Having, during my reign, endeavoured to make his escape from this
prison, he was sent to Kamtchatka, whence he fled with Benjousky, and
was killed while pillaging _en passant_ the island of Formosa, in the
Pacific Ocean.