Terrible Tsarinas

around Peter was dismayed. He alone expressed no regret at her

passing. Some wondered whether he was still capable of human

feeling. Was it the excessive indulgence in forbidden pleasures

that had desiccated his heart?

When the body of his aunt, of whom he used to be so fond,

was brought back to St. Petersburg, he didn’t bother to go to the

burial. And he didn’t even cancel the ball that was habitually

given at the palace at that time. A few months later, in November

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1728, it was his sister Natalya’s turn — her consumption, which

had been thought to be under control, abruptly took a turn for the

worse. Although Peter was, as it happened, off hunting and fool-

ing around in the countryside, he resigned himself to a return to

St. Petersburg in order to be at the patient’s bedside for her final

moments. He impatiently listened to Ostermann’s and Natalya’s

friends lamentations, and their praise of the virtues of this prin-

cess “who was an angel.” As soon as she died, December 3, 1728,

he rushed off again for the domain of Gorenky, where the Dol-

gorukys were preparing another of their formidable shooting par-

ties for him. This time, he did invite Elizabeth to accompany him.

Without exactly being tired of the young woman’s attentions and

coquetry, he felt the need for a change in personnel among his

playmates. To justify his fickleness, people said that it was nor-

mal for a healthy man to enjoy a succession of relationships more

than dreary fidelity.

At the palace, at Gorenky, a happy surprise awaited him.

Alexis, the head of the Dolgoruky clan and a skilful organizer of

hunts for his guest, introduced Peter to a new breed of game: the

prince’s three daughters, all fresh, available and tempting, with an

air of provocative virginity. The eldest, Catherine (Katya to close

friends), was breathtakingly beautiful, with ebony hair, eyes of

black flame and a soft, matte skin that flushed pink with the least

emotion. Bold of temperament, she was a full participant in every-

thing from stag hunt to banquet and toasts; she was clever at par-

lor games and graceful at the impromptu dances that were put on

after hours of riding through the countryside. Observers agreed in

predicting that Ivan would soon be supplanted by his sister, the

delightful Katya, in the heart of the inconstant tsar. Either way,

the Dolgoruky family was ahead.

However, in St. Petersburg, the rivals of the Dolgoruky coali-

tion feared that this passing fancy, the reverberations of which

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Machinations around the Throne

were already being heard, might lead to marriage. Such a union

would end up making the tsar totally subservient to his in-laws

and would close the door on the other members of the Supreme

Privy Council. Peter seemed to be so smitten by his Katya that he

had hardly returned to St. Petersburg when he decided to leave

again. If he bothered to stop in the capital at all, it was only to

round out his hunting gear. Having bought 200 hunting hounds

and 400 greyhounds, he headed back to Gorenky. But, back

where he’d enjoyed such great exploits in the field, he no longer

seemed very sure how much fun he was having. He was bored,

counting the hares, foxes and wolves that he had killed in the

course of the day. One evening, citing the three bears listed in his

hunting record, somebody complimented him for this latest prow-

ess. With a sarcastic smile, he replied: “I did better than take

three bears; I’m taking with me four two-footed animals.” His in-

terlocutor recognized that as an unkind allusion to prince Alexis

Dolgoruky and his three daughters. Such mockery, in public,

made people suppose that, after the initial combustion, perhaps

the tsar no longer burned so intensely for Katya and that he might

be on the verge of abandoning her.

Ostermann, an astute strategist, followed the ups and downs

of this unpredictable couple from afar, through the gossip and ru-

mor mills of the court. Now he set about preparing a counter-

offensive. Her grief at the death of her sister Anna having run its

course, Elizabeth was again available. Admittedly, her thoughts

often turned toward that baby, her nephew, deprived of tender-

ness and growing up at a distance, practically becoming a

stranger. She wondered, from time to time, whether she should

not draw him back in, nearer to her. And then the events of the

day would distract her from these thoughts, so worthy of a guard-

ian. It was even said that after a mystical crisis, she was experi-

encing such a new zest for life that she had fallen under the spell

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of the charming heir of a great family, the very seductive Count

Simon Naryshkin. This magnificent and refined gentleman was of

the same age as she, and his assiduous pursuit, over hill and dale,

like an indefatigable barbet spaniel, showed how much they both

enjoyed their tête-à-têtes. When she withdrew to her estate at

Ismailovo, she invited him over. There, they enjoyed the healthy