At last the physical exertion of the walk began to wear Mariana down. Shortly before they reached the Winter Palace, she was too exhausted to continue. Daniel hailed a droshky to take them the rest of the way. After a few moments of rest in the carriage, with several blankets pulled up over them for warmth, Mariana was able to resume a more intense conversation.
“Daniel, I’m so happy now, I can hardly describe it. But there are two things troubling me.”
“Only two?” He winked and chuckled. “The path of true love never runs smoothly, you know.”
“These are serious, I think.”
“I’m sorry for making light of it. Please tell me.”
“Well, I feel foolish for the first problem—I just need to have this out in the open and hear your reassurance.” She shifted nervously and looked down for a moment. “It’s just this, Daniel: Have you thought about how marriage might interfere with your work?”
Relieved, Daniel grinned. He had no trouble with the answer to that. “I’ve thought about it a lot. At first it scared me to death. I thought I’d have to give up everything for marriage. I wanted you, but I couldn’t give up my work. But I meant what I said before. My priorities are different now.”
“I don’t want you to give up your work for me. I don’t think I’d like you to travel as much after we’re married, but then, I can go with you sometimes.”
“Of course! That would be great. But while we’re on the subject, what about your work? I’m not one of these men who would require you to subjugate yourself entirely to me, you know.”
“I enjoy nursing, but it’s not my lifeblood. I only know I want to continue to do something meaningful with my life. It doesn’t have to be nursing.” She glanced up coyly at him. “It might be very meaningful to raise our children, Daniel.”
He paled perceptibly. “Our children?”
“You like the notion?”
“It’s exciting, yet a little frightening. But I’ll definitely get used to it. That raises another question. Where will we raise these children—America or Russia?”
“I think our children will be citizens of the world, Daniel, and they should be familiar with both their homelands.”
“We certainly should be able to afford to keep two homes. You realize that, don’t you, Mariana?” He paused, and spoke as if offering an apology. “The Trent name comes with a bit of money.”
“It’s an awesome notion, but I’ll try to get used to it.” She gave a mocking, long-suffering sigh.
They laughed together, then Mariana turned serious once more. “Daniel, I need to say one more thing. There is something you should be prepared for when you speak to my parents. Countess Eugenia has hinted at it already, and I think Dmitri will probably feel the same as his mother. I’m not sure how Papa Sergei will feel. It’s about our different faiths.”
“We are both Christians.”
“But in the Orthodox Church, that isn’t enough. The Church has strong taboos about marrying outside the faith.”
“Yes, I suppose I knew that; I just didn’t want to consider it.”
“I’d like to know how you feel about it, but let me tell you what I think. The Orthodox Church in Russia, as I’m sure you know, is a major part of just about everything and everyone. My parents have known nothing else. And part of the subtle teaching of the Church is that other so-called sects, even Christian ones like Protestantism, are almost as close to evil as you can get. Other Christian ‘sects’ have even been persecuted in the past. I know Anna and Sergei don’t believe all that. They taught me that all Christians are brothers and sisters—the church they attend isn’t as important as their faith in Christ. But I doubt even Mama and Papa have ever thought about going to any other church. I don’t care what church we belong to, Daniel. I know our spirits are one in Christ. But they may expect you to convert. That’s a serious step, and I don’t want to ask—”
“Mariana, say no more. If that’s what I must do, then I’ll do it. But I’d like to think about it all first, before I—or we—make any rash decisions. I’ve never really considered any of this before, and I want to make the right move. But I feel certain this won’t keep us apart.”
“It worries me a bit.” Mariana’s brow creased and some of the joy of the day faltered. “You don’t know my grandmother Eugenia. She can’t even accept the fact that you are an American, much less a Protestant.”
“Thank God, then, that I won’t have to approach her!”
Mariana grinned. “I didn’t think about that. For once male dominance shall be welcomed.”
“Oh, my liberated woman!” chuckled Daniel. “What have I gotten myself into?”
“You didn’t think marriage would be simple, did you, Daniel?”
“No. That’s why I’ve avoided it for so long. But a complicated life with you, my love, will be far better than the lonely simplicity of the past.”
They rode in silence for a while until the droshky neared the street where Raisa’s flat was located. “Daniel,” Mariana asked, “when will you speak with my father and my uncle?”
“As soon as Sergei gets out of prison. That should give me plenty of time to give some thought to this matter of the Church.”
“My mama has already said we will have a big family gathering to celebrate Papa’s homecoming.”
“That will also give me time to get up my nerve. Most suitors only have one father to face—I’ll have two!”
Daniel walked Mariana to the door, and when Anna answered it, she insisted they both stay for dinner. They accepted immediately; they didn’t want such a special day to end—the most wonderful day of their lives. Soon enough they must confront practical realities, but for now they wanted to bask in the joy of their hearts finally united in committed love.
63
Even Yuri and Andrei, who were home for the weekend, could feel the charged excitement around the dinner table that night. Yuri watched Daniel and Mariana with interest, but Andrei was more stoic—to him, romance was more an embarrassment than a blessing.
Soon after Daniel and Mariana departed, the rest of the family retired for the night. The lamps were out, and the house was dark, but Andrei’s stomach was growling—it was three whole hours past dinner, after all! He couldn’t get the sweet rolls Daniel had brought from a bakery out of his mind. There had been several left over, and when Daniel left for the evening he said with a wink at Andrei, “I’ll bet they won’t go to waste if I leave them.”
Andrei crept from his bed and tried to open the door quietly, but he forgot about the creak in the hinges. His brother stirred.
“Where’re you going?” Yuri asked sleepily.
“I’m hungry.”
“Don’t be so noisy.” Yuri rolled over again.
But a few minutes later, when Andrei was in the kitchen slicing some cheese to have with a roll, Yuri appeared.
“Couldn’t go back to sleep,” he said. “Then my stomach started talking. What’ve you got?”
“Just a roll. Want one?”
“Sure.”
Andrei tossed his brother a roll and Yuri reacted quick enough to catch it before it landed on the floor.
“That cheese looks good, too, but don’t throw it at me, okay?”
Andrei plopped a few slices of cheese on the table. He was cutting more cheese when the kitchen door opened again. It was Talia.
“I thought I heard a noise in the hall,” she said.
“You’re brave,” said Yuri. “What if we had been burglars?”
“What would burglars be wanting to steal here? Mama says that’s the blessing of being poor—the robbers don’t bother us.” She glanced at Andrei. “Some tea would be good with that—and some plates.”
“Too much trouble,” said Andrei.
“Well, at least some tea. The samovar’s still hot. Just a minute.”
In five minutes the three were seated around the table in the light of a single oil lamp with sweet rolls, cheese, and tea sitting before them.
/> “It’s been a long time since we’ve talked like this,” said Talia. “Seems when you come home from school you always have assignments to do.”
“The work is hard,” said Yuri. “You’ll find out when you go.”
“I don’t think I’m going to go,” she said.
“What?” Yuri was surprised and just a little affronted. “Has my mama been spending all this time teaching you so you could quit your education before it even gets started? Only to marry and have babies? I thought you wanted more out of life.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a wife and mother, Yuri. I mean, someday.” Talia was a romantic, perhaps too much so. She had been completely enthralled watching the two young lovers earlier that evening.
“Yeah, Yuri,” put in Andrei, “that’s what girls do best.”
Yuri groaned. “Where do you get these archaic ideas, Andrei? Not at home, that’s for sure. This is the twentieth century, and enlightened people know women have more to offer than that.”
“That’s true,” said Talia, who wanted to be enlightened especially if Yuri thought it was important. “But I think marriage is wonderful, too. Look at how happy Mariana and Daniel are.”
“They’re not married,” said Andrei.
“But they’re going to get married.”
“How do you know that?”
“Couldn’t you tell? They are so much in love. It’s wonderful.”
“Wonderful?” sneered Andrei. “I’d die if someone gave me all those cow-eyed looks they were giving each other.” Andrei shook his head with disgust. “I remember Daniel from before, and he used to be a sensible fellow. I liked him. But since he’s been back, he kind of reminds me of gooey sweet candy—always staring at Mariana with a silly look on his face. He hardly notices anyone else. ‘Oh, Mariana, can I help you?’ ‘Mariana, you say the cleverest things.’ ‘Did you make the cake, Mariana? Oh, it’s heavenly.’”
Yuri and Talia laughed as Andrei perfectly mimicked a love-struck Daniel.
“I still think it’s wonderful,” Talia said. “Don’t you want to fall in love like that someday?”
“Ugh!” Andrei said emphatically.
Yuri thought for a minute before he responded. “I guess we all will someday. But do you know what that’ll mean?”
Andrei nodded. He knew very well what it meant, and he didn’t like the whole idea.
Talia shook her head. “What, Yuri?”
“We’ll all probably have to go our separate ways. Of course, Andrei and I will always be brothers. But, Talia, your husband might mind your best friends being boys—and our wives might mind the same about you.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Talia said with more passion in her tone than usual. “We’ll always be friends. I wouldn’t marry anyone who’d be that narrow-minded.”
“I guess you never know who you might fall in love with,” said Yuri.
“No you don’t,” said Talia dreamily.
“Talia, you’re starting to sound like Daniel and Mariana,” said Andrei. “And if there’s any more of this silly talk, I’m going to lose my appetite.”
“Ha! That’ll be the day,” taunted Yuri.
“Yuri,” said Talia, “do you remember last summer, when you found out about your father’s noble background, and we decided then that we’d always be friends?”
“Yes.” Yuri would never forget that day. And he’d never forget the secret he’d made Talia swear never to reveal.
“That still goes—no matter what,” Talia said with simple confidence.
Andrei turned serious and practical. “We ought to do something that seals our friendship. I’ve read where friends will become blood brothers by cutting themselves and mixing their blood.”
“I don’t like that,” said Yuri.
“Are you squeamish? And I thought you wanted to be a doctor.”
“It . . . It’s just that, well, it wouldn’t be right to cut Talia.”
“Why not?” Talia asked.
“You’re more delicate. I—”
“I can do it,” she said, trying to be convincing, and her determination was evident in her soft voice. “But first I have something to tell you both. I’ve told you a little about my papa, how he came from a good family—not anything like yours, but his father had some money from a partnership in a textile factory, and a country estate. But he disowned my father when he married my mother—she was the daughter of a peasant near the estate. If you remember, a year or so ago my grandfather died. He left everything to my father’s brother, so I haven’t suddenly become an heiress. I hardly know my father’s relatives because my grandfather forbid any of them to associate with my father after his marriage. Well, I’ve told you also about the relative who is wardrober to the grand duchess Zenia. I met her recently—not the grand duchess, of course, but the wardrober, and she’s a very nice lady. She never liked what my grandfather did, but out of respect for him she heeded his wish. Now that he’s gone, she wants to make up for that injustice. I guess she wants to take me under her wing, sort of improve my lot in life—” Talia paused and giggled lightly. “She couldn’t understand that I’m pretty happy with my life. But I do like what she wants to do—Mama said it was my choice. She wants to sponsor me at the ballet school! She thinks I’d be good at it, though girls usually start a couple years earlier than this. I want to give it a try, anyway. What do you think?”
“I think we better hurry and be blood brothers and sister,” said Andrei, “before you become a prima donna and forget all about us.”
“I think it’s great, Talia,” added Yuri. “You’d be perfect for it; you look just the part.”
Talia blushed. “Okay, how do we do this blood thing?”
Andrei jumped up, found a sharp kitchen knife and a dishcloth, then returned to the table. Without a moment’s hesitation he sliced his finger with the knife.
“Who’s next?” he said, biting his lip in order to hide the pain.
Yuri took the knife and did the same, hesitating only slightly as he passed it to Talia. She tried to be as bold as Andrei but her first cut didn’t draw blood. Her face went pale.
“We don’t have to do this,” Yuri said.
“Hurry, our blood is drying,” Andrei said.
Talia pressed the knife harder, wincing as it dug deep. Tears welled up in her eyes, but there was a lopsided smile on her face as a drop of blood appeared in the cut.
“Now!” said Andrei.
They held their fingers together for a long moment, struck silent by the profound solemnity of the childish rite. They had been friends for years, but now they had a single moment in time to remember, no matter where life took them, when they knew the bonds between them were real and strong.
“We should say something,” suggested Talia.
There was a moment of silence as they tried to think of something that matched their reverent mood.
Finally, Yuri said, “‘A threefold cord is not quickly broken.’”
They all solemnly repeated it together. It was like a hope and a desire and a prayer all in one.
64
Epiphany was a high holy day. Some believed it to be even more important than Christmas, because it celebrated the manifestation of Christ’s divine power through three important biblical events: the appearance of the Wise Men at His birth, His baptism, and the miracle of turning water into wine at Cana. In Russia few such days passed without proper recognition.
Besides the usual services, this day was traditionally set aside for the blessing of waters. In St. Petersburg, the Neva would be blessed and the tsar and his family would be present.
The crowd that gathered on the bank of the river near the Winter Palace was not unusually large, and it was kept in very strict order by the cordons of Cossacks. The additional presence of several military regiments also gave the occasion an appearance of security. Misha, nonetheless, kept a sharp lookout.
The tsar and tsaritsa and their four daughters stood at the forefront, bundled to
their royal chins so that it was hard even to recognize them. The tsar appeared particularly at ease, seemingly untroubled by the rising turmoil in the city. But isolated as he was at Tsarskoe Selo, it was impossible that he truly could be oblivious to the problems in St. Petersburg.
The trouble had begun at the end of December with the fall of Port Arthur. Rumor had it that Stoessel had simply handed over the fort to the Japanese against the wishes of his officers who desired to continue the fight; they had argued that there was still enough food and ammunition in the fortress to carry them for quite a while.
More than likely, the strike at the St. Petersburg Putilov Works which followed had nothing directly to do with the national humiliation over the fall of the fort. Its direct cause was the unfair treatment of several Assembly members. But the Putilov Steel Works was the largest industrial operation in St. Petersburg, and the walkout of twelve thousand workers was no small matter. Within days thousands of other workers in the city went on strike to support the Putilov workers. In less than a week eighty-two thousand St. Petersburg workers were on strike, all but paralyzing the city.
In view of the strike, the relative quiet of today’s ceremony was eerie. Rumors hinted that the workers were gearing up for a rally, or perhaps they were simply biding their time to confront the tsar. But Misha was less concerned about workers’ rallies than he was about a lone assassin who could sneak into such a gathering armed with a bomb.
That possibility seemed remote, however, as the high Metropolitan of the Church delivered his Mass, then, sprinkling holy water over the river, blessed the Neva. The final raising of an impressive cross carved of ice drew applause from the royal family. The ceremony concluded with an artillery salute from the Peter and Paul Fortress.
Then suddenly the ceremonial cannon fire turned deadly. A round of live ammunition ripped over the heads of the crowd, shattering windows in the Winter Palace. Screams and pandemonium broke out. The sensible people flattened to the ground, but others panicked and ran in all directions. Misha and several other Cossacks threw themselves toward the royal family, who had already ducked to the ground.
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