Terrible Tsarinas

sor had just repeated, no child could be born if the husband failed

to “have some input.” Thus it was on Peter that and not on Cath-

erine that they should be concentrating. Elizabeth summoned

Alexis Bestuzhev and went over with him the best ways of solving

the problem. The facts were simple: after five years of marriage,

the grand duchess had not been deflowered by her husband.

However, according to the latest news, she had a lover, a “normal”

man, Sergei Saltykov. Consequently, it was essential, to avoid an

annoying intrigue, to beat Saltykov to the prize and make it possi-

ble for Peter to fertilize his wife. According to Boerhaave, the

court doctor, a minor surgical procedure would relieve His High-

ness of the phimosis that made him unable to satisfy his august

bride. Of course, if the operation did not succeed, Sergei Saltykov

would be on hand to fulfill the role of sire, incognito. Thus they

would have a double guarantee of insemination. In other words,

to ensure the future lineage of Peter the Great, they had better bet

on both horses: by allowing Catherine to enjoy herself with her

lover and, at the same time, by preparing her husband to have ef-

fective relations with her. Concern for the dynasty and family

feeling combined to persuade the tsarina to use every arrow in her

quiver. And anyway, not having had a child herself in spite of her

many love affairs, she could not imagine why any woman whose

physical constitution did not preclude maternity might hesitate to

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seek with another man the happiness that her husband refused

her. Little by little, in her mind, the grand duchess’s adultery

(which at first seemed only a futile and aberrant idea) became an

obsession approaching a holy conviction, the equivalent of a patri-

otic duty.

Thus at Elizabeth’s instigation Mrs. Choglokov, now trans-

formed into a very intimate confidante, was to explain to Cath-

erine that there are situations in which the honor of a woman re-

quires that she agree to lose that honor for the good of the coun-

try. She swore to her that nobody — not even the empress —

would blame her for transgressing the rules of marital fidelity.

And so it was with the blessing of Her Majesty, Bestuzhev and

Choglokov that she now found it possible to meet Sergei Saltykov

for pleasures that went far beyond flirtatious conversation.

Meanwhile, the minor surgical procedure that those on high

had decided should be visited upon the person of the grand duke

was effected painlessly. To make sure that this flourish of the

scalpel had made her nephew “operational,” Her Majesty sent the

pretty young widow of the painter Groot to visit him; she was

said to very apt at assessing a man’s capabilities. The lady’s report

was conclusive: everything was in working order! The grand

duchess would be able to judge for herself the (finally) normal

capacities of her husband. Sergei Saltykov was relieved to hear

this news; and Catherine was even more so. Indeed, it was high

time that Peter should make an appearance, at least once, in her

bed so that she could have him endorse the paternity of the child

whom she had already been carrying for a few weeks.

Alas! on December 1750, during a shooting party, Catherine

was racked with violent pains. A miscarriage. In spite of their

disappointment, the tsarina and the Choglokovs redoubled their

attentions; one way or another, they invited her to try again —

with Saltykov or any other stand-in. At this point, it hardly mat-

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Her Majesty and Their Imperial Highnesses

tered who the true father might be — it was the putative father

that counted! In March 1753, Catherine found herself pregnant

again; and suffered a second miscarriage, after a ball. Fortunately,

the tsarina was obstinate: instead of despairing, she encouraged

Saltykov in his role as stud, so that in February 1754, seven

months after her last miscarriage, Catherine noted that she was

again showing the hoped-for signs. The tsarina was notified im-

mediately. The pregnancy appeared to be proceeding correctly,

and she reckoned that it would be wise to remove Saltykov,

whose services were no longer necessary. However, out of regard

for her daughter-in-law’s morale, the empress decided to keep the

lover in reserve, at least until the child was born.

Certainly, looking forward to this birth, Elizabeth regretted

that the result would be a bastard who, although titular heir to

the crown, would no longer have a single drop of Romanov blood

in his veins. But this genealogical fraud (about which no one, of

course, would be informed) was better than leaving the throne to

the poor Tsarevich Ivan, now 12 years old and imprisoned at Rya-

zan (and due to be transferred to Schlüsselburg). Pretending to

believe that the expected child was the legitimate offspring of Pe-

ter, she smothered with attentions the adulterous mother who

was now so indispensable. Torn between remorse for pulling off

this epic hoax and pride for thus ensuring the continuity of the