But Tikhon had scrambled to his feet while I held his assailant; and although the fellow’s face was white with fury, he had felt the strength of the Frenchman’s arm, and had no taste for more. Perhaps, too, he saw the malicious delight on Touchet’s countenance, for my man stood regarding the performance with unmitigated approval.
“Be off!” I exclaimed harshly; “and let this be a lesson to you to quit the office of a common spy upon French gentlemen.”
He lowered at us with open resentment, but nevertheless retreated slowly, as if half ashamed to yield to my command. It was plain that only the number of his enemies discomfited him. When he was out of sight, I read my fiery lover a lesson, although I knew it was to little purpose, for he was at the white heat of anger; nor did I greatly blame him for his righteous indignation; nevertheless, it was my duty to warn him.
“You forget mademoiselle,” I said significantly; “it does her no good to have this knave’s ill-will. It is easy to see that she is watched at every step—watched by a party at court. Prince Dolgoruky would not stoop to set a spy upon her unless grave interests were involved.”
But I might as well have talked to the wind. He would brook no interference in any matter touching mademoiselle, and I saw that he took my cautions with a poor grace, almost resenting my timely interference.
CHAPTER VI.
CATHERINE AND THE CZAR.
It was not until the day after the meeting with mademoiselle at the Kremlin that M. de Lambert confided to me something of her talk with him. It appeared that Zotof was straining every nerve to bring about her union with the czar, with or without her consent; Dolgoruky, the Marshal Sheremetief, and a dozen more of the nobility supporting him in his desire for an alliance that would destroy rather than strengthen the influence of Mentchikof. The old jealousy of the favorite, “the man of the hour,” was glowing in the bosoms of Mentchikof’s associates, and it was probable that they would go to any length to defeat his attempt to establish Catherine Shavronsky in the czar’s favor, and the fact that Peter had openly expressed his admiration for Najine supplied a weapon ready to their hands.
There was an old custom that the czar should send the bridal robes to the maiden whom he had selected, as a sign that his choice was made. Mademoiselle told her lover that Madame Zotof was already making preparations for some such event. Najine herself was determined to resist any coercion, and she had a fine spirit. Peter had declared against the old compulsory marriages, and he would scarcely care to be the first to violate his own regulations; so there was the better opportunity for mademoiselle to assert her independence. The czar had probably not foreseen the possibility of any woman being indifferent to his advances; his success in affairs of the heart having been already but too conspicuous. But, after all, I fancied that mademoiselle’s resistance could scarcely endure under the pressure that would be brought to bear. Peter’s temperament was not one to brook disappointment, and there was the force of his powerful will which it would be hard for one young girl to resist. I saw that even M. de Lambert was much cast down, and I felt more anxiety than he did, for I had also the responsibility of steering him clear of the quicksands of trouble that were spreading about his feet. I staked my chief hopes on Mentchikof, on his ambition, diplomacy, and influence, and I determined to keep him informed of the Dolgoruky intrigue by a delicate hint now and then which would serve as a guide for his ready wit. He was not slow to divine my friendliness to his scheme, and I saw that he was inclined to extend every favor in his power to Guillaume de Lambert; his kindness to him somewhat reassuring me, for I was convinced that he would not willingly injure Mademoiselle Zotof, if she could be removed from his path without violence.
It was at Mentchikof’s palace that I saw the czar bestow some marked notice upon the Livonian girl, but at the same time he did not forget to be cold to M. de Lambert. It was a week after the meeting by the Tower of Ivan Veliki that we were bidden to a ball by Mentchikof. Madame de Brousson had no love for these fêtes where the czar presided; there was frequently too much liquor and too much violence, so she pleaded indisposition, and M. de Lambert and I went alone. If the truth must be told, I think that madame my wife looked with disapproval upon both Mademoiselle Arsenief and Catherine, and therefore avoided their presence. She had always preferred to live a retired life, and the sins and the follies of a court were little to her taste. As a young girl, she had seemed to me a model of purity, and she was no less so as a matron.
M. Guillaume and I were late in arriving at the palace of Mentchikof, and found it already crowded by the suite of the czar. When Peter went to dine, it was not unusual for him to take with him eighty or ninety guests and a hundred servants. With some difficulty we pushed our way through the throng and entered the salon, at the end of which a stage had been erected, and a German play was in progress. This was a form of entertainment much favored by Peter and his court, where the German influence predominated, German clothes were worn, and the German language was more frequently spoken than any other, for the German suburb of Moscow had been a potent influence in Peter’s early life; his German friends and favorites having excited the jealousy of the Russian people. To the end of the czar’s life, his favor for foreigners and his constantly enforced foreign innovations were causes of bitterness and rebellion.