A Foreign Shore

by Catrin Collier

  ‘Please say something, even if it’s “How could you seduce a girl fifteen years younger than you?”’

  She sank down on to the nearest chair.

  ‘I’ve written to Betty and asked her for a divorce. As soon as I’m free, I’ll marry Praskovia. When we return from St Petersburg, she’ll join us at the table and live with me, as my wife. In effect, she’ll be mistress of this house even more than she already is. I’m sorry, Sarah. I can see that I’ve shocked you.’

  ‘No, you haven’t,’ she smiled when she regained her composure. ‘This is marvellous news, Glyn. For you and Praskovia. I’ve been worried about you, living for work, having no one closer to you than Mr Hughes, me, Richard, and Anna. You’re a man who needs a wife. And a baby as well. It’s wonderful, I’m so pleased for you – all three of you.’ Sarah had no idea why she was crying at such good news but her cheeks were wet with tears.

  ‘You’ll stay on in this house?’

  ‘Where else would I go? Where’s Praskovia? I must give her my love.’

  ‘You’ll look after her when I’m in St Petersburg?’

  ‘Not that she needs me to look after her,’ she avoided his question.

  They heard Pyotr opening the front door.

  ‘Our breakfast guests,’ Glyn said as voices resounded in the hall. ‘You’ll let me tell everyone in my own time. It’s not that I’m ashamed or …’

  ‘An early breakfast before a journey isn’t the best time to make an important announcement.’

  ‘No it isn’t.’ Glyn kissed her cheek. ‘My brother was a lucky man.’

  ‘I was a lucky woman.’ Sarah dried her tears, opened the door and went out to greet John, Alf, Ruth, and Catherine.

  ‘Sonya will be with us in a moment,’ Catherine explained when they entered the dining room. ‘She left her journal in her desk in the hospital office.’

  Sarah glanced through the window. The blinds were open in the hospital office and she could see Sonya and Nathan facing one another across the room. Even if Sonya had left her journal in her desk she doubted Sonya wanted it as much as she’d wanted than a private word with Nathan Kharber.

  Hospital, Hughesovka

  1871

  ‘… So, as I’ve taken a position in Mr Hughes’s offices as his personal assistant, I won’t be resuming my duties here when we return from St Petersburg.’ Unable to face Nathan’s penetrating gaze, Sonya lowered her eyes.

  ‘Thank you for telling me in person.’

  Feeling the need to elaborate, Sonya continued, ‘Mr Hughes has letters that need to be translated into several languages.’

  ‘You’re an expert linguist I’m sure he’ll find your skills invaluable.’ Nathan couldn’t stop looking at her.

  ‘It’s not as though I’m leaving you without anyone to run the office. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks training Rivka and Ruth to take over the ordering and updating of the files. Sarah has an overview of everyone’s job …’

  He couldn’t bear to listen to any more of her excuses when they both knew exactly why she was leaving. ‘You’ll still be living in Hughesovka, won’t you? What am I saying? If you’re working for Mr Hughes, you’ll have to live here. So we’ll still see one another.’

  ‘Probably.’ Anxious to end the conversation, she held out her hand. ‘I wish you and your wife my very best wishes, Nathan. If you’ll excuse me, I must go.’

  He took her hand but instead of shaking it as she’d intended, he clasped it. ‘Good luck with your new position, not that you need it, and tell Mr Hughes from me he’s a lucky man.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  He breathed in her scent, an intoxicating mixture of vanilla and orange, entwined her fingers into his and gripped them tightly.

  She looked into his eyes and kissed him lightly on the cheek before walking away. Vasya was standing in the hall, holding a tray. Sonya nodded to her and carried on walking.

  Hotel Angleterre, St Petersburg

  September 1871

  Richard answered John’s knock at the suite he was sharing with Alexei.

  ‘Is the accommodation to your liking?’ John asked.

  ‘Very much, Mr Hughes, thank you for arranging it and paying the bill.’

  ‘Least I could do for the New Russia Company’s hero.’

  ‘I had no idea a city could look this this. Golden, like something out of a picture book. The buildings are so large and yet they seem to float on the water when you look at them. This hotel is even bigger and more comfortable than Mr Edwards’ house. Do you know we have two bedrooms? Alexei is unpacking in his. Do you want to see him?’

  ‘No, I came to see you, Richard.’ John noticed Richard’s empty Gladstone bag. ‘You’ve finished your unpacking already?’

  ‘I didn’t have that much to put away, sir. Alexei’s taking me to his tailor’s so I can buy new clothes for the Tsar’s reception.’

  ‘You may find this useful.’ John handed Richard an envelope. ‘Mr Edwards told me you’re thinking of buying a new winter coat. Make it fur, preferably sable, and it will last a lifetime. I know Mrs Ignatova gave your sister furs so you don’t have to buy her any, and don’t go buying her any new gowns. As a thank you for the way all three girls worked in the hospital after the mine disaster I’m paying for their court clothes. Needless to say, Mrs Ignatova, not me, will be helping the girls to choose them. There should be enough there,’ he indicated the envelope, ‘for a new outfit for you to wear to the palace, as well as a fur coat and a few other things besides.’

  Richard took the envelope John handed him and opened it. ‘Mr Hughes …’

  ‘It’s a bonus, Richard. If those trapped miners had been killed the New Russia Company would have been finished before it started. I’ve never witnessed bravery like yours before. Forging a path through a fall with no thought whatsoever to your own safety, only the predicament of the men entombed behind it.’

  ‘But, sir, this is a fortune.’

  ‘No more than you deserve. You’ve earned it.’ John opened the door. ‘Enjoy your trip out with Alexei but don’t lose track of time. We’ll have to leave here at seven to dine with Mrs Ignatova and the girls.’

  After John left Richard counted the notes inside the envelope three times, because he couldn’t believe how many were there. Alexei emerged from his room.

  ‘Who were you talking to?’

  ‘Mr Hughes. He called in to remind us we have to leave here at seven to dine with Mrs Ignatova.’

  ‘Ready to go to my tailor’s?’

  ‘I’m with you.’ Richard reached for his suit jacket and buttoned the envelope securely into an inner pocket.

  ‘Do you mind if we go to my jeweller’s first? I wrote ahead and asked them to prepare two trays of rings. I have to buy Ruth a wedding and engagement ring and perhaps Christmas and birthday presents for the next few years because we may be too busy to leave Hughesovka again for some time.’

  ‘I’ve never been in a jeweller’s shop,’ Richard confessed as they left their suite and walked down a staircase large enough to accommodate a marching band.

  ‘You may find a Christmas or birthday present for Anna.’

  ‘I may.’ Richard thought of the money in his pocket and smiled. He had enough money to buy something really special – and not just for Anna.

  St Petersburg

  September 1871

  Alexei asked the doorman to hail a cab to take them to the fashionable shopping street of Bolshaia Morskaia. Just like Taganrog, Richard spent most of the short journey hanging out of the window absorbing the sights before the driver halted in front of the imposing marble façade of a four-storey building studded with stained-glass windows.

  Alexei opened the door, left the cab, paid and tipped the driver.

  ‘The shop’s in the basement?’ Richard asked in surprise as Alexei ran down a flight of steps.

  ‘I’ve heard the proprietor intends to move into larger premises soon.’

  The door opened before they reached
it. An assistant in white shirt, tie, and black frock coat bowed before ushering them into a lustrous wonderland of gleaming glass and mirror-backed cases. The display shelves held jewellery and ornaments fashioned from glistening gold and silver, set with precious and semi-precious stones of every shape, size, and hue.

  ‘Mr Beletsky, we have prepared the trays you asked to see. If you’d care to follow me?’ A dark-haired salesman glided over the thick carpet to greet them.

  They were shown to an alcove that held a round table inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The salesman clicked his fingers and two assistants produced comfortable chairs.

  ‘Can I get your and your friend …’

  ‘Mr Parry,’ Alexei supplied.

  ‘Mr Parry,’ the salesman bowed to Richard, ‘refreshments, coffee? Cognac perhaps?’

  ‘Cognac might loosen my purse strings,’ Alexei answered.

  An ornate glass, silver, and enamelled decanter and two tumblers appeared, cognac was poured and handed out. Richard looked back into the main area as he sat down. The décor was impressive: gilt and white furniture and walls, green flooring with a pile so deep it almost covered his boots, and a mass of electric lights, their reflections glistening and glittering, dazzlingly bright against the proliferation of glass and mirrors.

  ‘Wedding bands, Mr Beletsky.’ The salesman donned white gloves to handle the tray he set down on the table before Alexei.

  ‘These are in the right size?’ Alexei checked.

  ‘The size you stated in your letter, sir.’

  Alexei studied the tray for a few minutes. ‘A plain platinum band, I think.’ He picked one up and examined it before handing it to the salesman. ‘I’d like it engraved.’

  ‘Of course, sir, and if I might say, an excellent choice.’

  Taking advantage of Alexei’s preoccupation with the salesman, Richard picked up a Russian three-banded wedding ring. He slipped it on to the little finger of his left hand. It would go no further than the top of his knuckle.

  ‘You would like that ring, sir?’ one of the junior assistants hovering behind his chair asked.

  Richard checked Alexei was still busy with the senior salesman. ‘How much is it?’

  The salesman mentioned a price considerably less than Richard had expected and, after his unexpected windfall from John Hughes, one he could well afford. ‘I would like to buy other things as well. Could you set it aside without my friend seeing it?’

  ‘We offer discretion above all else, in Gustav Faberge, sir.’

  The tray of wedding rings was whisked away and replaced with an array of engagement rings. Richard was bedazzled by the variation in stones and settings.

  Alexei took more time selecting an engagement ring than he had done the wedding ring. As he had done with the wedding bands, Richard waited until Alexei was busy talking to the salesman before lifting a ring from its velvet bed. It was larger than any of the others, a knotted two-headed serpent with an intricately woven body. One head was set with a diamond ‘eye’, the other, a sapphire.

  He slipped it on to his little finger. It was the same size as the Russian wedding ring – the right size for Sarah. There was nothing else that remotely resembled the design but it was so different from Sarah’s rings he wondered if she would like it.

  ‘A very unusual ring, Mr Parry; it would serve either as a wedding or an engagement ring.’

  Richard asked the price of the snake ring. The assistant named a figure that would take a quarter of what John Hughes had given him. ‘I’ll take it,’ he said without hesitation. ‘I’d also like to see a locket and earrings, something suitable for a young girl.’

  ‘Our enamelled daisy range might suit your requirements, sir.’

  Alexei saw Richard talking to the assistant. ‘Are you thinking of buying something for Anna, or one of the girls?’

  ‘Something for Anna that she can wear with her new dress to the Winter Palace.’

  ‘Just Anna?’ Alexei fished, as the assistant brought a tray of enamelled lockets, pendants, and earrings to the table. ‘Are you sure you’re not thinking of one of the others. Yulia, Rivka, Miriam or … Praskovia …’

  ‘You see to your shopping, Alexei, I’ll see to mine.’

  ‘Just asking.’ Alexei turned back to the salesman.

  Richard picked out a pretty enamelled locket and earrings in blue and white. He checked the price before handing them to the assistant to add to his other purchases.

  Alexei finally settled on a platinum ring set with a bar that lay upright along the length of the finger. Set with three large diamonds and surrounded by sapphires, it was elegant, beautiful, and showy; an aristocrat’s ring, not a nurse’s.

  Richard hadn’t spent as much money as Alexei, but he didn’t have a generous independent allowance like the one Alexei’s grandmother had bestowed on him. Only the hope that the gifts he’d chosen for Anna and Sarah would be accepted in the loving spirit he tendered them.

  Tsar’s reception, Winter Palace

  September 1871

  Richard stood to attention alongside Glyn and Alf in front of John, Catherine Ignatova, and the girls. He felt like a tailor’s dummy in his stiff, high-necked collar, black bow tie and long-tailed frock coat. But that was hardly surprising. All he seemed to have done since they’d reached St Petersburg was stand tall and erect to be measured, first in Alexei’s tailor’s, then for the furrier John Hughes had recommended he visit to buy his sable coat and hat.

  The first thing Mrs Ignatova did after their arrival was summon her dressmaker for a consultation. The result was simple white silk gowns with long sleeves and trains for the three girls, and a white embroidered green velvet gown, cut to the same elegant pattern for herself.

  Richard had been astounded by the transformation of his sister from child to poised, elegant young woman. He barely recognised her when they gathered in the reception hall of the palace before entering St George’s Hall,. the throne room where the ceremony was to take place. At John’s prompting he offered Anna his arm, and they walked in procession, John escorting Mrs Ignatova, then Glyn and Sonya, followed by himself and Anna, Alexei with Ruth, and Alf bringing up the rear like an overgrown pageboy.

  He and Anna had never seen such an elegant well-dressed throng, or so many women dressed in silks, lace, velvet, and satin. Most of the stares aimed in their direction were for Sonya, Ruth, and Anna, and the majority came from men who weren’t admiring the girls’ gowns but the girls.

  They were shown where to stand, and when the master of ceremonies called ‘Richard Parry’ it was as well John was able to nudge him in the back as he hadn’t recognised the Russian pronunciation of his name.

  He stepped forward walked up to the Tsar, bowed deeply the way Mr Hughes and Glyn had coached him, and waited until the Tsar hung the medal around his neck before stepping to one side and waiting for the ceremony to be repeated with Alf, then Glyn. The MC continued to describe their heroic feats throughout the bestowing of the medals and afterwards the court applauded.

  They returned to the position they’d been given and continued to watch further ceremonies for a further numbing two hours.

  A slight but detectable murmur of relief rippled through the hall when the Tsar and Tsarina rose from their thrones and left the hall. After an interval of several minutes the courtiers began to disperse.

  ‘You looked as though you were having teeth pulled, Richard,’ Sonya commented as Anna and Ruth examined his gold medal.

  ‘I was terrified.’ Richard glanced around. ‘What happens now?’

  ‘Mr Edwards and I have been invited to dine with the Tsar’s brother, Grand Duke Konstantin, before the ball this evening. We’re hoping he’ll give his continued support to our ventures,’ John said.

  ‘I’m sure he will,’ Catherine reassured.

  ‘Another ball? We’ve been to three this week,’ Richard complained.

  ‘Anyone would think you want to rush back to work in Hughesovka,’ John smiled.

  ‘T
o be honest, Mr Hughes, I wouldn’t mind. This standing around dressed in fine clothes is all right once in a while but it doesn’t result in anything you can be proud of.’

  ‘It doesn’t.’ Alexei spotted his father across the hall. Alexei stepped forward but Nicholas passed him as if he was invisible and went directly to Catherine. Nicholas inclined his head and Catherine curtsied.

  Nicholas opened the conversation. ‘I’ve heard Sonya’s good news. I was amazed to discover that your brother hadn’t squandered his entire inheritance.

  ‘Who told you about Sonya?’ Catherine enquired. There was the ice in her voice.

  ‘People talk.’ Nicholas gazed at Sonya and the girls for so long all three inched closer to Richard, Glyn, John, and Alexei. Realising he’d been staring, Nicholas continued. ‘Have you brought Sonya here for the season, Catherine?’

  ‘No, we’re returning to Hughesovka tomorrow. Mr Edwards, Mr Mahoney, and Mr Parry were summoned to receive medals from Tsar.’

  ‘So I saw. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you, Count Beletsky,’ Glyn replied.

  ‘Aren’t you going to acknowledge your son?’ Catherine asked.

  Nicholas Beletsky walked away without another word.

  Alexei watched him leave. ‘So much for trying to build bridges with my father.’

  ‘As we all look so splendid, I insist on buying everyone ices at the Hotel Angleterre, before we leave for the ball where I expect you young people to dance the night away,’ John said.

  ‘And tomorrow, at first light, we go home,’ Richard suggested hopefully.

  ‘Good!’ Anna hooked her arm into her brother’s and took another look at his medal.

  ‘You don’t like St Petersburg, Anna?’ John asked.

  ‘This city and this life is all very splendid, Mr Hughes, but …’

  ‘But?’ he prompted when she didn’t continue.

  ‘It’s not real. As Richard said, all this dressing up in fine clothes and visiting palaces and eating in restaurants achieves nothing. It’s like a perfect dream. And nothing real or interesting ever happens in perfect dreams.’

  ‘I’ve never considered life in a city that way, but you’re right, Anna.’ Glyn thought of Praskovia and realised just how much he was missing her. ‘St Petersburg is all very wonderful but it’s simply not real.’