horse came to mind. Instead, I said, “It is a beautiful day. I greatly admire the grand duchess and your sister is very kind. I never met Princess Alix before, but she seems kind as well.”
“You don’t find her enigmatic?”
“What do you mean?”
“In some ways, she is much like you. Her aura is also tainted with dark secrets.”
“Do you think my aura is really so dark?” I gave a little laugh, even though there was nothing amusing about his words. “And have you discovered what it is that I conceal?”
“I will discover your secret one day, Duchess.”
Something in me snapped. I pulled my arm away from his and skidded to a stop. “May I enlighten you, Your Imperial Highness?” I hissed, hoping no one could overhear us. “The princess Alix and I are witches from hell. We have come to collect the souls of both you and your brother to give to the devil himself.” The sad thing was that it didn’t sound quite as ridiculous as I had intended.
I stared at him, horrified that I could have said something so stupid to the tsar’s son. Why did I always seem to lose all sense of reason when I was around him?
Fortunately, he looked amused. “You are such an odd girl,” he said, taking my arm again and coaxing me to skate forward. I relaxed a little, knowing he was not taking my inappropriate jest seriously. “Be careful, though, Duchess.” His voice was hushed, but icy in my ear. “They still burn witches in Russia.”
I couldn’t keep myself from shuddering, though whether it was from his threat or just from the closeness of him I couldn’t be sure.
I tried to steer our conversation away from witches. “Anyway, I do not believe the Hessian princess conceals anything, except her own shyness,” I said. “Her infatuation for your brother shines on her face.” I saw nothing unusual in her cold light. It was the same intensity as the tsarevitch’s.
“Perhaps,” George said as we made one last turn around the pond. Alix and Nicholas had already returned to the pavilion, and they waved to us. “But I see a soul in despair when I look at the princess.”
“She lost her mother when she was eight, did she not? As well as her younger siblings? Surely that would cause a lasting despair.”
“Perhaps.”
“Your sister likes her,” I pointed out as Xenia and her aunt skated toward us.
George frowned. “Xenia is a hopeless romantic.” His sister’s eyes flashed again as she broke free from Elizabeth and sped past us in a silver blur. “And extremely irresponsible,” he added with a sigh.
The grand duke led me gracefully back to the pavilion, one of his hands barely touching the small of my back. “That was most enjoyable, Your Highness,” he said, lying beautifully.
“My pleasure,” I answered with a quick curtsy. I could sense his relief that our skating had come to an end. His rigid posture seemed to relax as he sat down close to his brother and the German princess.
I felt the same relief as I sat near his sister. Xenia was pouting at the table, holding a cup of cocoa.
“I wish I could have skated longer, but Aunt Ella thought I was getting too cold. You two looked lovely together. Did you see Nicky and Alix?”
“They skate together beautifully,” I said wistfully. They did make a handsome couple. I envied the German princess just a little, because she belonged here so much more than I did. I would never be accepted by the Light Court. Not with the darkness inside me.
The servants were gathering up our things as we took off our skates. Grand Duchess Elizabeth was already in her fashionable footwear and was speaking with Alix by the park gate, where Elizabeth’s imperial carriage waited beside the impressive black imperial carriage, with its golden crest of a double-headed eagle on the door.
“Thank you so much for coming!” Xenia said to me. “We shall see you next week!”
I made one last quick curtsy to her and her brothers before following Elizabeth and Alix into Elizabeth’s carriage.
Alix seemed to relax on our drive back to Smolny. Her smile came a little easier when I asked if she’d had a pleasant time. “I love being outdoors, especially in the winter,” she said.
“Will I see you at the Anichkov Ball next week?”
“Of course, my dear,” the grand duchess said, though I could have sworn I saw Princess Alix frown.
And then it was gone and she smiled again. “I am looking forward to it. I have only attended a few balls in Darmstadt.”
“Au revoir, Your Imperial Highness,” I said to the grand duchess, as I got out of the carriage at the Smolny gate. “Auf Wiedersehen, Your Highness,” I said with a final wave to Princess Alix.
Elena pounced on me as soon as I returned to our room. “Did the tsarevitch ask after me? What did you tell him? What did he wear? Did he skate with you?”
I ignored her until I could hear from Augusta that there had been no further word from the hospital on Dariya’s condition. Augusta pointed out that that was a good sign. We’d have heard instantly if Dariya had taken a turn for the worse.
She was right. Reassured, I patiently told my friends everything about the outing and everything I knew about Princess Alix of Hesse. Except for the grand duke’s suspicions. The girls immediately seized on my description of how well Alix and the tsarevitch had gotten on together. Elena’s dance with him at the Smolny Ball was long forgotten.
Elena was not happy. She threw her hairbrush across the room, and it hit the wall with a loud thud. “No!” she cried. “He belongs to me!” She flung herself down on her bed and sobbed.
I looked at Elena, then at the other girls, who quickly left our room. I hoped Elena would not make a scene at the Anichkov Ball. Or cast another spell on the tsarevitch.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Several mornings later, the Smolny dining room was buzzing over breakfast with alarming news. Crown Prince Rudolfe of Austria had killed his lover and himself! Although no one knew the whole story, rumors were flying throughout the school.
The Bavarian princesses sobbed as they packed their trunks and were hastily dispatched back to Austria- Hungary for their uncle’s funeral. Erzsebet was upset she would miss the ball. “I didn’t even like the crown prince,” she sobbed as she and her sister, Augusta, climbed into the carriage to take them to the train station. “Please write and tell me all about it,” she called out the window. Elena and I both promised.
“There may not be a ball, girls,” Madame Orbellani said as we all walked back inside after seeing them off. “St. Petersburg should go into mourning out of respect for the Austrian emperor and his wife.”
“No ball?” Elena cried. “That would be horrible!”
Madame Orbellani shrugged. “What if it was your own brother who had died in such a tragedy?”
“He would never do anything so dishonorable,” Elena said, stomping off to the dance hall.
Madame Orbellani sighed as we followed her. The servants had already draped the front parlor with black crepe.
“Does anyone know why he did it?” I asked her. I couldn’t imagine killing someone you supposedly loved, then killing yourself.
Madame Orbellani shook her head. “No one knows. I am certain we will hear many stories, though, in the weeks to come, before anyone ever discovers the real truth. It is not your concern. You have other responsibilities. Now hurry along, or you’ll be late for dance lessons.”
“But if there’s not going to be a ball, why do I need lessons?” I protested. I had a new medical journal from Papa that I was eager to read. An article about the circulatory system looked particularly interesting.
“There will always be balls, Katerina Alexandrovna. Perhaps not this month, or even the next, but soon St. Petersburg will dance again. And my girls will be the best dancers there.”
Mon Dieu, she spoke as if it were our patriotic duty to dance. I thought about it and sighed. Perhaps it was. It was certainly one of the things most expected of us.
Madame Metcherskey handed everyone a black armband. Then she played a waltz by Strauss in honor of
