Terrible Tsarinas

Paris or Versailles to give him the go-ahead. Pressured, pushed,

and with Lestocq twisting his arm, the ambassador went to the

tsarevna and, painting a darker than necessary picture, asserted

that according to the latest information the regent was preparing

to have her thrown into a convent. Lestocq, who was there to

back him up, confirmed without so much as raising a brow that

she might be taken away and imprisoned any day. Such an even-

tuality was, indeed, precisely the nightmare that tormented Eliza-

beth. To convince her fully, Lestocq (who had some artistic tal-

ent) took a scrap of paper and made two sketches: in one, a sover-

eign was taking her throne, acclaimed by all the people, and in the

other the same woman was taking the veil and walking, head

bowed, toward a convent. He placed the two drawings under

Elizabeth’s nose and barked:

“Choose, Madam!”

“Very well,” the tsarevna answered; “I leave it to you to de-

termine the moment!”9

She did not say anything, but one could read her fear in her

eyes. Without regard for her pallor and her quaking nerves,

Lestocq and La Chétardie drew up a detailed list of all her adver-

< 109 >

Terrible Tsarinas

saries who would have to be arrested as soon as the victory was

hers; at the top of the list, of course, was Ostermann. But there

was also Ernst Münnich, son of the field marshal; Baron Mengden,

father of Julie, so dear to the heart of the regent; Count Golovkin,

Loewenwolde and some of their associates. However, they did

not yet pronounce themselves on the fate that awaited, in the final

analysis, the regent, her husband, her lover and her baby. Every-

thing in its own time! To urge on the tsarevna, who was too timid

for his liking, Lestocq affirmed that the soldiers of the Guard were

ready to defend, through her, “the blood of Peter the Great.” At

these words, she suddenly took heart and, galvanized, dazed, de-

clared: “I will not betray that blood!”

This secret, decisive meeting took place in great secrecy on

November 22, 1741. The following day, a reception was held at the

palace. Hiding her anxiety, Elizabeth presented herself at the

court wearing a ceremonial gown calculated to pique all her rivals

and a smile calculated to disarm the most malevolent spirits.

Greeting the regent, she was apprehensive that she might hear

some affront or an allusion to her friendships with gentlemen of

not very suitable opinions, but Anna Leopoldovna seemed even

more gracious than usual. She must have been too preoccupied

with her love for the count of Lynar (who was away on a journey),

and her fondness for Julie Mengden (whose wedding trousseau

she was preparing), and the health of her son (whom she was cod-

dling “like a good German mother,” as they said), to let herself get

carried away with the endless rumors that were circulating about

an alleged plot.

However, taking another look at her aunt, the tsarevna, so

beautiful and so serene, she recalled that in his last letter Lynar

had warned her that La Chétardie and Lestocq were playing a

double game and that, impelled by France and perhaps even by

Sweden, they seemed to have in mind overthrowing her in favor of

< 110 >

One Anna after Another

Elizabeth Petrovna. Suddenly shaken, Anna Leopoldovna decided

to clear the air. Seeing that her aunt was seated nearby, playing

cards with some of the courtiers, she walked over, drew her aside,

and asked her to follow her to a private room. Once alone with

her, she spelled out the accusation that she had so recently heard.

Elizabeth was thunderstruck — she blenched, panicked, pro-

tested her innocence, swore that Anna had been misinformed, odi-

ously misled — and threw herself at her niece’s feet, in tears.

Anna, upset by Elizabeth’s apparent sincerity, burst into tears,

herself. Thus, instead of clashing, the two women embraced each

other in a mingling of sighs and promises of good feelings. By the

end of the evening, they parted like two sisters who had been

brought closer by a shared danger.

But, as soon as the incident became known among their sup-

porters, it took on the significance of a call to action. A few hours

later, dining in a famous restaurant where oysters from Holland

were sold as well as wigs from Paris, and which was moreover a

meeting place for some of the best-informed men in the capital,

Lestocq learned, via well-placed informers, that Ostermann had

given orders for the Preobrazhensky Regiment (which was en-

tirely behind the tsarevna) to move away from St. Petersburg. The

pretext for this abrupt troop movement was the unexpected out-

break of war between Sweden and Russia; actually, it was as good

a means as any other to deprive Elizabeth Petrovna of her surest

allies in the event of a coup d’état.

The die was cast. They had better move quickly. Ignoring

protocol, an impromptu meeting was held clandestinely, right in

the palace, in the tsarevna’s apartments. The principal conspira-

tors were all there, surrounding Elizabeth Petrovna, who was

more dead than alive. At her side, Alexis Razumovsky gave his