Catherine the Great
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7 “The ceremony lasted four hours”: Ibid., 78
8 “Our situation is the same”: Ibid. 64 “one was almost suffocated”: Memoirs, 71
9 “My daughter conducts herself”: Oldenbourg, 79
10 “There was not a day”: Memoirs, 72
11 “I know that Your Highness has sent my brother”: Kaus, 65
12 “use my influence”: Memoirs, 72
10. A PILGRIMAGE TO KIEV AND TRANSVESTITE BALLS
1 “pedagogues”: Memoirs, 73
2 “got into ours”: Ibid., 74
3 “We allowed only the most amusing”: Ibid.
4 “While we were enjoying ourselves”: Ibid.
5 “Knowing how easily excited”: Ibid., 75
6 “When my mother was in a temper”: Ibid.
7 “In truth, at that time”: Ibid.
8 “Never in my whole life”: Ibid., 76
9 “I was afraid of not being liked”: Ibid., 77
10 “My respect for the empress”: Ibid.
11 “I must say”: Ibid., 78
12 “The very tall Monsieur Sievers”: Ibid.
13 “washed her hands”: Ibid., 79
11. SMALLPOX
1 “uncontrollable in his whims”: Ibid., 82
2 “he confided his childish pranks”: Ibid.
3 “and was on such bad terms”: Ibid., 84
4 “was very much to my liking”: Ibid.
5 “she ordered me to go”: Ibid., 91
6 “Your Highness, my very dear niece”: Troyat, 39
7 “He was a man of great intelligence”: Memoirs, 85
8 “I read his remarks again”: Ibid., 86
9 “What a pity”: Ibid., 86, footnote
10 “semi-darkness”: Ibid.
11 “almost with terror”: Ibid.
12 “he came up to me”: Kaus, 79
12. MARRIAGE
1 “About as discreet as a cannon ball”: Memoirs, 88
2 “All the attention”: Ibid., 92
3 “We spent our time walking”: Ibid. 93
4 “As my wedding day came nearer”: Ibid., 97
5 “severely scolded”: Ibid.
6 “We had a long, friendly talk”: Ibid., 97
7 “Her silver brocade wedding gown”: Oldenbourg, 95
8 “The procession infinitely surpasses”: Kaus, 85
9 “horribly heavy”: Memoirs, 98
10 “I begged the Princess of Hesse”: Ibid., 99
11 “I remained alone”: Ibid.
12 “How it would amuse my servants”: Ibid.
13 “And matters remained in this state”: Kaus, 86
14 “There was not a single man” Memoirs, 100
15 “The following day”: Ibid.
16 “My dear husband”: Ibid., 100
17 “I would have been ready”: Ibid., 101
18 “was the gayest marriage”: Kaus, 85
13. JOHANNA GOES HOME
1 “Since my marriage”: Memoirs, 101
2 “At that time I would have given much”: Ibid., 102
3 “Our farewell was very loving”: Kaus, 89
4 “When the princess took leave”: Ibid.
5 “not to make me any sadder”: Anthony, 102
6 “I consider it necessary”: Kaus, 90
14. THE ZHUKOVA AFFAIR
1 “From that moment on”: Herzen, 46
2 “I thought I would faint”: Memoirs, 10
3 “feared that I had grown”: Ibid.
4 “My mother did not know Russian”: Ibid., 104
5 “Through my servants”: Ibid., 105
6 “It is difficult to find an explanation”: Ibid.
7 “As for the previous dress”: Ibid., 149
15. PEEPHOLES
1 “on the empress’s behalf”: Ibid., 106
2 “It seemed strange to us”: Ibid.,
3 “satisfied and pleased with me”: Ibid., 107
4 “I fear he may fall in love”: Ibid., 104
5 “At last my wish is fulfilled”: Kaus, 84
6 “this might serve his purposes”: Memoirs, 112
7 “He did not tell us what it was”: Ibid., 109
8 “a disrespectful little boy”: Ibid., 110
9 “let fly at him”: Ibid.
10 “We were dumfounded”: Ibid.
11 “She was like a Fury”: Ibid., 111
12 “One must admit”: Ibid
13 “We beg your pardon, Mama”: Ibid.
14 “had a great liking for the bottle”: Ibid., 112
15 “Your Highness should bear in mind”: Ibid., 116
16 “You talk and think of nothing”: Ibid.
17 “I cannot speak to you like this”: Ibid., 117
18 “The grand duke is asking for you”: Ibid.
19 “No, my father”: Ibid., 123
16. A WATCHDOG
1 “Her Highness has been selected”: Oldenbourg, 110
2 “In the two years I had been in Russia”: Memoirs, 113
3 “Now, as I was married”: Herzen, 66
4 “I know quite well”: Memoirs, 114
5 “I could not save myself by flight”: Ibid.
6 “such talk would displease the empress”: Ibid., 119
7 “In those days”: Ibid., 123
8 “Never did two minds resemble each other less”: Ibid., 129
17. “HE WAS NOT A KING”
1 “your father was not a king”: Ibid., 130
2 “Apparently, my words carried conviction”: Ibid.
3 “This was a dreadful blow for us”: Ibid., 127
4 “Within a few days”: Ibid., 128
5 “a gentle, reasonable man”: Ibid.
6 “The grand duke and I”: Ibid., 133
7 “In his distress, the grand duke”: Ibid., 128
8 “There were moments”: Ibid., 129
18. IN THE BEDROOM
1 “It seems to me that I was good for something else”: Kaus, 101
2 “The least rabbi of Petersburg”: Kaus, 94
19. A HOUSE COLLAPSES
1 “Get up and get out”: Memoirs, 141
2 “like the waves of the sea”: Ibid., 142
3 “Immediately afterward”: Herzen, 89
4 “That, as to my stupidity”: Memoirs, 136
5 “To show how useless this kind of order is”: Herzen, 84
6 “often slipped me useful … information”: Ibid.
7 “This is from your mother”: Memoirs, 144
20. SUMMER PLEASURES
1 “a large, stupid, clumsy girl”: Memoirs (Anthony), 132
2 “I had the greatest freedom imaginable”: Ibid., 147
3 “dominant passion”: Herzen, 78
4 “On a woman’s saddle”: Ibid., 131
5 “To tell the truth”: Memoirs, 183
6 “She was tall”: Ibid., 181
7 “We bit our lips”: Ibid., 182
21. DISMISSALS AT COURT
1 “She was a living archive”: Memoirs, 164
2 “Do not come near me!”: Ibid., 150
3 “Last night, Count Lestocq and his wife”: Ibid.
4 “The empress did not have the courage”: Ibid., 151
5 “This son of a bitch”: Ibid., 140
6 “Do you remember the time”: Ibid., 141
7 “This is the effect”: Ibid.
8 “So, in order not to spoil his pleasure”: Ibid., 133
9 “only two occupations”: Ibid., 154
10 “From seven in the morning”: Ibid.
11 “One day, hear a poor dog cry”: Ibid., 159
22. MOSCOW AND THE COUNTRY
1 “Countess Shuvalova told the empress”: Memoirs, 156
2 “I know that. We will not speak of it”: Ibid., 157
3 “It was the worst I have ever had”: Ibid., 160
4 “She was mortally afraid of mice”: Ibid., 163
5 “I rode constantly all day”: Ibid., 161
6 “himself no enemy of wine”: Ibid.,
163
7 “He did not know what he was saying”: Ibid.
8 “He was very cheerful”: Ibid., 161
9 “She sat by my bed”: Ibid., 164
23. CHOGLOKOV MAKES AN ENEMY
1 “one would have thought”: Herzen, 101
2 “Choglokov is a conceited fool with a swollen head”: Memoirs, 165
3 “As he could never keep”: Ibid., 167
4 “I have never in my life felt anything like the pain”: Ibid., 170
24. A BATH BEFORE EASTER AND A COACHMAN’S WHIP
1 “beautiful eyes”: Memoirs, 173
2 “her wit made one forget”: Herzen, 118
3 “seeing myself slighted”: Ibid., 120
4 “everyone was shocked and disgusted”: Ibid.
5 “I would like to see what she can do”: Memoirs, 174
6 “both took leave of their senses”: Ibid.
7 “My God!, what happened?”: Ibid., 177
8 “Wipe your cheek”: Ibid.
9 “You see how these women treat us”: Ibid.
25. OYSTERS AND AN ACTOR
1 “an extraordinary passion”: Memoirs, 148
2 “I listened to talk”: Herzen, 126
3 “If this man or someone like him”: Ibid., 124
4 “As ambassador, I have no instructions”: Memoirs, 192
26. READING, DANCING, AND A BETRAYAL
1 “of a dullness that I have never seen equaled”: Herzen, 148
2 “He was blond and foppish”: Ibid., 132
3 “Good God, what modesty!”: Memoirs, 190
4 “I was very glad to see him”: Ibid., 189
5 “And so, things went no further”: Herzen, 149
6 “The truth”: Memoirs, 181
7 “How is this, Madame Choglokova?”: Herzen, 151
27. SALTYKOV
1 “He was a born clown”: Memoirs, 194
2 “a fool in every sense”: Herzen, 132
3 “As these people”: Memoirs, 199
4 “And your wife”: Ibid., 200
5 “All that glitters”: Ibid.
6 “He was twenty-six years old”: Ibid.
7 “handsome as the dawn”: Ibid. 153 “How do you know”: Ibid., 201
8 “his favorite subject”: Herzen, 155
9 “I had to admit”: Memoirs, 201
10 “Yes, yes, but go away”: Ibid.
11 “He already believed himself”: Ibid., 202
12 “Sergei Saltykov and my wife”: Ibid.
13 “without something happening first”: Herzen, 158
14 “I must speak to you”: Memoirs, 208
15 “Madame Choglokova began”: Ibid.
16 “You will see”: Ibid.
17 “As soon as I had seen”: Ibid., 207
18 “a few words that would allow him”: Ibid.
19 “I know that you can see through them”: Ibid.
20 “He gave him”: Ibid., 208
21 “I must have been pregnant”: Herzen, 168
22 “When this happened”: Ibid., 169
23 “No one had ever seen”: Alexander, 45
24 “There was no furniture”: Herzen, 173
25 “He was dying just at a time”: Memoirs, 220
26 “I am certain that my husband”: Herzen, 184
28. THE BIRTH OF THE HEIR
1 “a pillar of salt”: Memoirs, 248
2 “Countess Shuvalova’s petticoats”: Herzen, 174
3 “a depression”: Memoirs, 223
4 “my troubles followed me”: Ibid.
5 “isolated, with no company”: Herzen, 187
6 “I had not the strength to crawl”: Ibid., 189
7 “through excess of care”: Ibid., 192
8 “I did not have a kopeck”: Memoirs, 228
9 “whatever came from the empress”: Ibid.
10 “This meant that I was”: Ibid., 229
11 “I thought him beautiful”: Ibid.
12 “until I felt strong enough”: Ibid.
13 “a singular revolution in my brain”: Herzen, 196
14 “ought to be the Breviary”: Durant, 10:435
15 “all day and part of the night”: Memoirs, 230
16 “constantly smoked”: Ibid.
17 “I underwent agonies”: Herzen, 197
18 “I saw as clear as day”: Memoirs, 231
19 “He knew how to conceal his faults”: Ibid., 200
20 “Has he not committed”: Alexander, 63
29. RETALIATION
1 “I had a superb dress made”: Memoirs, 232
2 “I treated them with profound contempt”: Herzen, 198
3 “One day, His Imperial Highness”: Memoirs, 233
4 “he could have saved himself”: Herzen, 201
5 “he got nothing”: Memoirs, 234
6 “shuddered to think”: Herzen, 203
7 “Those accursed Germans”: Memoirs, 235
8 “a freakish prank”: Ibid., 236
9 “We have become the servants”: Ibid.
10 “as far away as I could”: Ibid
30. THE ENGLISH AMBASSADOR
1 “It was not difficult to talk”: Memoirs, 239
2 “a stumbling block”: Ibid.
3 “nowhere are people quicker”: Ibid., 240
4 “The empress’s health”: Kaus, 138
5 “A man at my age”: Cronin, 105
6 “I have some hesitation”: Troyat, 87
7 “Whatever may be further given”: Kaus, 143
31. A DIPLOMATIC EARTHQUAKE
1 “I have heard with pleasure”: Kaus, 144–45
32. PONIATOWSKI
1 “An excellent education”: Haslip, 71
2 “A severe education”: Poniatowski, 157
3 “She was twenty-five”: Madariaga, Russia in the Age, 48
4 “I cannot deny myself the pleasure”: Oldenbourg, 178
33. A DEAD RAT
1 “You ought to go and see her”: Memoirs, 242
2 “The evening passed”: Ibid., 243
3 “Sometimes at the theater”: Ibid., 244,
4 “like a servant girl”: Haslip, 76
5 “Tell me how much you know”: Memoirs, 252
6 “there is no worse traitor”: Ibid., 249
7 “in the present critical and delicate”: Haslip, 82
8 “I pressed her strongly”: Anthony, 137
34. CATHERINE CHALLENGES BROCKDORFF
1 “They tell me he is suspected”: Memoirs, 254
2 “If such things are done: Ibid., 249
3 “Come to my apartment”: Ibid., 255.
4 “Speak to the grand duchess”: Ibid.
5 “Baba Ptitsa”: Ibid., 256
6 “He took money from everyone”: Ibid.
7 “Look at this devil of a fellow”: Ibid., 257
8 “The great problem lay in the fact”: Ibid., 258
9 “Well, you began very young”: Ibid., 259
10 “You seem to be well-informed”: Ibid., 264
11 “The weather was superb”: Ibid., 276
12 “The Grand Duchess is kindness”: Ibid., 277
13 “please the empress”: Kaus, 147
14 “The grand duke is as completely a Prussian”: Ibid., 148
15 “I love you as my father”: Cronin, 110
35. APRAKSIN’S RETREAT
1 “a very corpulent man”: Cronin, 109
2 “If the empress should die”:Haslip, 89
3 “And there now remains”: Kaus, 171
36. CATHERINE’S DAUGHTER
1 “I have no idea”: Memoirs, 280
2 “You fool! Go back”: Ibid.
3 “Go to the devil!”: Ibid.
4 “It is said that the public celebrations”: Ibid., 283
5 “only just awakened”: Ibid., 284
6 “You should not die of hunger”: Ibid.
7 “the grand duke’s musicians”: Ibid., 285
8 “except for Alexander Shuvalov”: Ibid.
/> 37. THE FALL OF BESTUZHEV
1 “Count, I have just received a message”: Memoirs, 286
2 “Thank God, we are going to arrest”: Ibid., 287
3 “a loyal, honest man”: Ibid.
4 “With a dagger in my heart”: Ibid., 288
5 “What do all these wonderful things mean?”: Ibid.
6 “attempting to sow discord”: Ibid., 292
7 “You are a witness to the fact”: Ibid., 294
38. A GAMBLE
1 “in a fearful passion”: Memoirs, 297
2 “What will you say to her?”: Ibid.
3 “Today, my damned nephew”: Ibid., 299
4 “I felt myself possessed”: Ibid
5 “My natural pride”: Ibid., 300
6 “I have just said”: Ibid., 301
7 “We are all afraid”: Ibid., 302
39. CONFRONTATION
1 “Why do you wish me”: Memoirs, 305
2 “My children are in your hands”: Ibid.
3 “Your Imperial Majesty will tell them”: Ibid.
4 “God is my witness”: Ibid.
5 “You are dreadfully haughty”: Ibid., 306
6 “She is dreadfully spiteful”: Ibid.
7 “You meddle in many things”: Herzen, 288
8 “And why did you write”: Ibid., 289
9 “The grand duke showed much bitterness”: Ibid.
10 “I have many more things to say”: Ibid., 290
11 “He told me that the empress had spoken”: Ibid., 291
12 “I expect you to answer truthfully”: Ibid., 296
40. A MÉNAGE À QUATRE
1 The quotations appearing in this chapter are taken from Poniatowski’s Memoires, translated by R. Massie
41. PANIN, ORLOV, AND ELIZABETH’S DEATH
1 “Let the boy remain”: Kaus, 176
2 “I had rather be the mother”: Ibid., 177
3 “the terror which the enemy”: Duffy, Frederick, 171
4 “If I were emperor”: Alexander, 55
5 “I must make room here”: Kaus, 183
6 “the head of an angel”: Ibid.
7 “a man of pleasure”: Dashkova, 1:3
8 “We spoke French fluently”: Ibid., 4
9 “I may venture to assert”: Ibid., 13
10 “She captured my heart”: Ibid., 29
11 “My child, you would do well”: Ibid., 27
12 “You are a mere child”: Ibid., 29
13 “gained me a high degree of notoriety”: Ibid., 30
14 “I saw how little”: Ibid., 31
15 “He must be mad”: Oldenbourg, 230
16 “Of an army of forty-eight thousand”: Asprey, 520
17 “What is wrong with me”: Duffy, Frederick, 192
18 “I intend to continue the war”: Oldenbourg, 222
19 The account of Dashkova’s nocturnal visit and conversation with Catherine is from Dashkova, 1:32–35
20 “Her Imperial Majesty, Elizabeth Petrovna”: Haslip, 108