Terrible Tsarinas

thought she had skillfully removed from the picture by marrying

Anna to the insipid Anthony Ulrich. As soon as the coast was

clear, the count of Lynar returned, ready for the most exciting ad-

ventures. Casting her eyes upon him once again, she fell under his

spell instantly. He hadn’t changed a bit in the months of separa-

tion. At the age of 40, he looked barely 30. Tall and slender, with

a fine complexion and sparkling eyes, he always wore clothes in

soft colors — sky blue, apricot or lilac — and used plenty of

French perfumes and a pomade to keep his hands soft. They said

he was an Adonis in his prime, or a Narcissus who never aged.

There is no doubt that Anna Leopoldovna made her bed available

to him again immediately; and there is no doubt either that An-

thony Ulrich accepted this sharing arrangement without blinking

an eye. No one at the court was surprised by this eternal triangle,

which they had immediately suspected would be reconstituted.

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Terrible Tsarinas

Besides, Russian and foreign observers alike noted that the re-

gent’s renewed passion for Lynar by no means diminished the ar-

dor that she continued to feel for her close friend Julie Mengden.

That she was able to appreciate the traditional pleasure of the re-

lationship between an woman and a man as much as the ambigu-

ous savor of a relationship with a partner of her own sex was all to

her honor, in the opinion of the libertines, for such eclecticism is

evidence of both broadmindedness and a generous temperament.

An indolent daydreamer, she would spend long hours lying

in bed. She would get up late, trail around in her private cham-

bers, scantily dressed and hair barely done, reading novels that she

would drop halfway through, and making the sign of the cross

twenty times over before the many icons that she had placed on

her walls — the zeal of a convert. She insisted that love and rec-

reation were the only raisons d’etre of a woman of her age.

This casual behavior did not bother her entourage, neither

her husband nor his ministers. A regent who was more concerned

about the goings on in her bedroom than in her State suited them

very well. Admittedly, from time to time, in his wounded pride

Anthony Ulrich would make a show of being the indignant hus-

band, but his tantrums were so artificial and so brief that Anna

Leopoldovna only laughed at him. These fake marital scenes even

encouraged her to intensify her dissipation, as a way of teasing

him.

However, while continuing his assiduous attentions to her,

Lynar was not indifferent to the remonstrances of the Marquis of

Botta, Austrian ambassador to St. Petersburg. According to that

diplomat, a fine specialist in public and private affairs, the regent’s

lover was making a mistake to persevere in an adulterous liaison

that was likely to turn against him several of the high-ranking

persons in Russia and in his own government in Saxony. He sug-

gested a cynical and adroit solution that would satisfy everyone.

< 100 >

One Anna after Another

Being widowed, unencumbered and pleasant-looking, why

shouldn’t Lynar ask for the hand of Julie Mengden, Anna Leo-

poldovna’s beloved? Satisfying the two of them (one legitimately,

the second clandestinely), he would make them both happy and

nobody could reproach him for leading the regent to sin. Lynar

found the idea appealing; he promised to consider it. What en-

couraged him to go ahead was that, contrary to what he might

have feared, Anna Leopoldovna — duly consulted — did not see

any harm in this charming combination. She even thought that,

by becoming Lynar’s wife, Julie Mengden would strengthen the

loving union between three beings that God, in his subtle clair-

voyance, had chosen to make inseparable.

However, the practical application of the arrangement was

delayed to enable Lynar to go to Germany, where he intended to

settle some urgent family matters. Actually, he took out a large

quantity of precious stones in his baggage, the sale of which

would be used to build up a “war chest” in case the regent should

think of having herself proclaimed empress. During his absence,

Anna Leopoldovna exchanged an encrypted correspondence with

him, using the pretext to swear their reciprocal love and to deter-

mine what role the future countess of Lynar would play in the

trio. Above each line, the regent’s letters contain various annota-

tions indicating the true meaning of the message, duly transcribed

by a secretary. “As regards Juliette [Julie Mengden], how can you

doubt her [my] love and her [my] fondness, after all the signs that

I have given you. If you like her [me], do not go on with such re-

proaches, if her [my] health is of any concern to you. . . . Let me

know when you are coming back, and enjoy the certainty that you

have all of my affection, [I kiss you and I am very much yours]

Anna.”1

Separated from Lynar, Anna Leopoldovna found it more and

more difficult to put up with her husband’s reproaches. Never-

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Terrible Tsarinas