On the red staircase

by Mary Imlay Taylor

In a moment I caught the reason of their amusement, but was at loss to understand their readiness to apply it to me. I feigned astonishment, and looked inquiringly in the direction of Ramodanofsky and his companion, only to encounter a black look from the former.

“What is the story?” I asked carelessly, meeting Miloslavsky’s quizzical glance with one of calm interrogation.

“It appears that the old boyar, who is, as you may have divined, of an amiable disposition, intended to marry his beautiful niece to Viatscheslav Naryshkin this morning,” replied Miloslavsky. “He had the sanction of the czarina; but it transpires that he forgot to consider the feelings of Zénaïde Feodorovna, and lo and behold, this morning her apartments are vacant, and she and her French governess have flown! The priest and Viatscheslav were ready, but the bride had vanished, and there is the sound of lamentation in the gentle boyar’s palace; it is even rumored that he has murdered a lackey or two and roasted a maid, because of their failure to detect and report the movements of his ward. The bridegroom is, of course, inconsolable; and, a word with you, M. le Vicomte, it will not be wise to irritate his gentle temperament to-day.”

This last was addressed to me in an aside. I glanced at Larion keenly, but could not read his meaning in his face; I was sure of only one thing,—that they knew more than they would divulge, and that, in some mysterious way, my connection with the affair had been whispered about. I was not surprised at Miloslavsky’s tone in speaking of Ramodanofsky, for I knew that all that faction detested him.

I endeavored to turn the conversation away from myself. “I can scarcely fancy Viatscheslav as a forlorn lover,” I said lightly; “I imagine he can easily console himself.”

“It is not the loss of his lady-love which troubles him,” replied Miloslavsky, “but the mortification of such a defeat, and at the hands of an inexperienced girl.”

“Picture to yourself his feelings, M. de Brousson,” said one of the other young nobles; “he has fancied himself an irresistible gallant, and here is a young bride running from him as from the plague. It is the rarest joke upon him, and he takes it ill enough. Look at his scowl; it has been gathering like a thunderstorm all the morning.”

Following the young fellow’s glance, I beheld Viatscheslav standing in his former position, and lowering at us as if he knew that he was the subject of our discussion. The man’s surly face struck me with a new horror, and I understood Zénaïde’s desperation.

When I passed on to make my obeisance to the czarina, I noticed at once a change in her manner; it was even more marked than on previous occasions, and I felt not a little chagrin at her decided coldness. Natalia’s manner could be haughty in the extreme. She had tasted the vicissitudes of fortune herself, and they had probably left a permanent impression upon her character. She was neither as subtle nor as diplomatic as her great rival, Sophia, and showed her feelings with more openness. She undoubtedly valued the men about her only as she could estimate their devotion to her son, and she resented at once any friendship for the cause of the Miloslavskys. Matveief, on the other hand, was anxious to conciliate; willing, too, to make a favorable impression upon a foreigner, his courtesy to me being as marked as the czarina’s coldness. My chief annoyance, however, was to find myself the center of observation, and there was a continuous murmur of talk, which was suggestive that I was the object of remark. Before finding an opportunity to depart, I came in immediate contact with the group about Ramodanofsky and Viatscheslav, and they watched me in silence as I approached, intending to pass them on my way out. But I was not destined to escape so easily; Viatscheslav, by a sudden movement, placed himself directly in my path. I made an attempt to turn aside to avoid him; but he checked me by a gesture.

“You have doubtless heard the tattle of the court to-day, M. le Vicomte,” he said in a loud voice, which drew general attention; “the Boyar Ramodanofsky has suffered an affront; some one has assisted his niece in her flight from his house.”