Yelena and Praskovia pushed ahead, forging a path for her through the crowd. Alexei snatched Praskovia’s hand and pulled her into the shadows when they reached outside. ‘If you need anything before the funeral, send a message through one of our maids or footmen.’
Praskovia returned his hug.
‘Will you, your mother, and Pyotr stay in Alexandrovka?’
‘My mother has been nagging me to accept Efim Litvin again.’
‘For pity’s sake, Praskovia. He’s sixty if he’s a day.’
‘Sixty-eight, but he has money. He suggested she keep house for us. It would mean she’d be able give up carting coal from the mine. It’s not that she minds the work but she hates me working in Efim’s potato fields. She keeps saying it’s filthy heavy work but it’s no worse than what she’s doing.’
Father Grigor overheard Praskovia. ‘You must send for Misha, Praskovia. He can apply for exemption from military service as he is now the family’s sole breadwinner. When he returns from St Petersburg he can take your father’s place in the mine …’
‘Over my dead body, Father,’ Yelena retorted. ‘Misha is already a lieutenant in the regiment. The last thing I want for my eldest son is the slow death that took his father. My Pavlo died years ago. The mine sucked the life out of him. All that was killed was a walking corpse.’
‘But how will you, Praskovia, and Pyotr manage, Yelena?’ the priest enquired.
‘We may not have the strength to dig out the coal but I have the ox and cart and can load as well as any man. Pyotr can drive the cart and Praskovia will continue to work in Efim’s fields until she finds a husband. God will provide.’
‘The ox is old, Yelena.’
Catherine interrupted. ‘Yelena, Praskovia, Pyotr. You will visit me at the Dower House the day after Pavlo’s funeral?’
‘If you wish us to call on you, Madam, we will be happy to.’ Yelena lifted her head. ‘But we want no charity and my Misha stays in St Petersburg.’
‘That decision is yours and Misha’s to make, Yelena. No one else’s.’ Catherine inclined her head. ‘We have disturbed you long enough. God bless you, Yelena, Praskovia, Pyotr, and all in this house of mourning.’
Sonya climbed in beside Catherine. Alexei closed the door and signalled to the coachman. As the vehicle moved away, he walked into the back yard to fetch Agripin. Praskovia was stroking his horse’s nose.
He said. ‘You’re as fond of Agripin as I am.’
‘I was the one who chose him for your mount out of all the foals born on your father’s estate that year. Do you remember?’
‘I remember.’
She glanced over her shoulder to make certain no one was close. ‘Hide it.’
He took the doctor’s bag she lifted out from behind the wood pile, fastened it to his saddlebag, and covered it with a blanket.
‘Thank you again for coming, Alexei.’ She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.
‘Remember if you need anything …’
‘You’ll be the first to know. Take care, especially with your father. And …’
‘I’ll see the bag and him safe.’ He gripped his horse’s mane and hauled himself into the saddle. ‘Changes are coming, Praskovia. Changes that will improve all our lives.’
‘Since Ivan died, I’ve had no life.’
Alexei didn’t contradict her, but grasped her hand again. ‘Be strong for your mother and Pyotr. Mr Hughes has great plans for this place. You’ll visit my grandmother?’
‘My mother has promised. But what can your grandmother do for us in the face of your father’s disapproval?’
‘You’ll be surprised.’ He bent his head to hers and kissed the top of her head before spurring Agripin and racing after the carriage.
Dower House, Beletsky Estate
April 1869
‘How did you know Nathan Kharber tried to treat Pavlo Razin?’ Alexei asked his grandmother when he helped her from her carriage.
‘His sister called on me this afternoon. She told me he’d been sent for. She was afraid the Cossacks would hurt him if Pavlo died.’
‘They would have if Praskovia hadn’t helped Nathan get away.’
‘He’s back in the shtetl?’
‘He will be by morning,’ Alexei promised.
‘Be careful …’
‘I always am, Grandmother.’
‘You coming inside?’
‘Not tonight, I have things to do before I face my father. Goodnight, and bless you for saving not just Nathan but the shtetl.’
‘I will pray the Cossacks stay in Alexandrovka tonight.’ Catherine watched Alexei mount his horse.
‘After what you said, they will.’ Alexei swung low in the saddle, kissed his grandmother and Sonya, and galloped off.
Dower House, Beletsky Estate
April 1869
After a late supper Glyn went straight to his room. He was pushing his collar studs from his shirt when he was disturbed by a knock at his bedroom door. John Hughes was outside, two brandy balloons in one hand and a bottle of French cognac in the other. Many of the New Russia Company’s most important decisions had been mulled over and refined during nightcap sessions with his boss.
John pulled a chair up to the desk and poured the cognac. He raised his glass. ‘To Hughesovka.’
‘Hughesovka.’ Glyn drank before taking a chair and waited. He knew there was no point in trying to prompt John Hughes into speaking before he was ready to talk, no matter how long a day they’d shared.
‘What do you think of Alexei Beletsky?’ John topped up their balloons.
‘Keen, intelligent, a linguist. He could be an asset to the company if his father allowed him to join us.’
‘Given the boy’s enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge, as more than an interpreter?’ John questioned.
‘He has no experience of engineering or industry.’
‘But he wants to learn and there’s nothing like training while you work. We’ve plenty of people who’d be glad to teach the boy.’ John took two cigars from his pocket and handed one to Glyn. ‘We have to return in Moscow to check the contracts before they’re signed, but I’m thinking of leaving Huw here to oversee the building and offering Alexei a post as his assistant. The architect and builders will be arriving from Germany next month; they and Huw, if he agrees to stay, will need help from the locals. Not just in recruiting and communicating with workers but in coping with the climate, the natives, and their customs. Given the different communities I’ve a feeling it’s going to be easy to annoy some of them, and that’s before we import the Welsh.’
‘I’m sure the boy will prove invaluable to Huw, but what about Count Beletsky? He’s not going to be pleased at the idea of his aristocratic son working for industrialists.’
‘The count has invested in the company. Not as much as Catherine Ignatova. You wouldn’t call it substantial but I thought I’d suggest his son work with Huw to safeguard the Beletsky family interests.’
‘Nicholas might swallow that, sir, and Huw will be grateful for a willing helper who can speak the language.’
‘Willing and brave to the point of recklessness.’
‘Brave?’ Glyn eyed John quizzically.
‘If the count was your father, would you cross him by nagging to be allowed to forge a career in industry?’
‘Possibly, if I had a grandmother like Mrs Ignatova prepared to fight my corner.’
‘She has more imagination, foresight, and common sense than her son-in-law.’ John sipped his brandy. ‘You’re sure about the boy?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Good. And Mr Levsky?’
‘Too thick with Count Beletsky. I don’t trust him.’
‘Pastukov?’
‘Knows what he’s talking about and seems sound.’
John stroked his beard. ‘Strange how your opinions invariably coincide with mine.’
‘Not really, sir, you’ve taught me to be as wise and astute a judge of character as yourself.’ Glyn wasn
’t entirely joking.
‘As soon as the contracts are signed, I’ll return to Greenwich with the information you’ve compiled on weather conditions so we can begin manufacturing furnace components able to withstand the Russian extremes of temperature. If we haven’t found a Moscow-based accountant conversant with the Russian tax system by then you’ll have to carry on interviewing after I’ve left. Downe in the Moscow office can help you. We want an honest firm with a spotless reputation that will ensure all the New Russian Company affairs will be open, and above suspicion.’
‘Between us, Downe and I will find a competent firm, sir.’
‘Can you stop off in Paris, Warsaw, and Berlin on your return journey to interview the metallurgists we’ve been corresponding with? The laboratory needs to be up and running before the furnaces so it can test the quality of our first output.’
‘Of course, sir.’
‘Hire the most likely experts and tell them to get here by next spring. I’m sorry, Glyn, between the contracts and the interviews I doubt you’ll be able to return to Merthyr and your wife much before Christmas. I’ll need you back in Greenwich and Southampton early in January to oversee the assembling of equipment.’
‘I don’t mind, sir. I like being busy and we’ll have plenty of time to put down roots when we return here for good.’
‘For good?’ John repeated the colloquialism. ‘We have to ensure it will be “for good”, Glyn. Not just for us but all the company workers.’
‘It will be, sir.’
‘With you and Huw to help me, I think it will.’ John opened his pocket watch. ‘It’s late. See you at breakfast.’
Glyn smiled but only after he closed his door. He suspected his boss’s opinion on Levsky and the decision to offer Alexei a position had been formed before they’d shared a nightcap. But he found it flattering to be used as a sounding board.
Abandoned monastery on the banks of the Kalmius River
April 1869
Alexei rode slowly, stopping every few yards to check he wasn’t being followed. When he heard the river, he reined in Agripin and listened intently. An owl hooted before swooping low in search of prey. Something splashed close to the bank – a freshwater turtle, river rat, or insomniac duck? A lone wolf howled, but aware how sound echoed over the steppe, he knew from hunting trips the animal was probably half a day’s journey away.
When he was certain the only noises were of the land and the night, he cupped his hands around his mouth and mimicked birdsong. Before he’d finished, an answering call came from within the broken walls of the old chapel. He made the sign of the cross and blessed Pavlo for teaching him and the local children, animal and bird cries. He dug in his heels and Agripin picked a way over the stone walls into what remained of the monastery. He slid from the saddle. The moon was bright, but he knew every inch of the ruins and could have found his way around them blindfolded.
‘Nathan?’
‘Alexei?’ The voice came from a carved stone sacristy screen to the side of the altar. Behind it, a broken slab and a conifer partially covered the entrance to a cave that had been enlarged to make a cellar. Nathan’s head and shoulders were in silhouette as he peered above ground. ‘My doctor’s bag …’
‘Is safe. Praskovia gave it to me.’ Alexei made his way to the spot, crouched down, and handed Nathan a metal flask.
Nathan unscrewed the top, drank, and coughed. ‘It’s brandy.’
‘What did you expect?’
‘Water. I’m not used to spirits.’
‘Thought you’d need courage as well as warmth. What insanity possessed you to go to the Razin house?’
‘Yelena Razin sent for me. Pavlo was hurt. I’m a doctor.’
‘You’re a Jew. Have you forgotten the Cossacks still blame your people for bringing the Black Death to the steppe five hundred years ago and that’s without the more recent outbreaks of cholera and scarlet fever?’
‘No, but …’ Nathan faltered.
‘Ten years in Paris made you forget how the Cossacks feel about your race?’
‘I heard Pavlo was alive. I thought I could keep him that way.’
‘You realise you’ve given the Cossacks an excuse to kill everyone in the shtetl, including your sister?’
‘Is Ruth the only Jew you care about, Alexei?’ Nathan didn’t wait for Alexei to answer. ‘They said Pavlo was conscious and talking when they brought him out of the mine. I took an oath, Alexei, a Hippocratic oath to save life whenever I could.’
‘Save lives by all means, but not at the risk of your own, your sister’s, and everyone in your shtetl.’
Despite his insistence that he wasn’t used to spirits, Nathan took another draught before returning the flask. ‘It’s not just saving lives. It took me over a year to walk to Paris, eight years of working nights in a mortuary and studying by day to qualify as a doctor, and a full year to walk back. I’m a good doctor, Alexei. All my patients and everyone I’ve worked with have said so.’
‘I believe you.’
‘I returned to set up a practice so I could pay my uncle and aunt for caring for my sister while I studied. But no one will consult me.’
‘Surely the people in the shtetl do?’ Alexei said in surprise.
‘They have no money to pay for medicine, let alone a fee. The largest payment I received this week was a pail of milk and five eggs.’
‘How are you surviving?’
‘As my father did, by working as a carpenter.’
‘Pavlo used to say you weren’t just a carpenter but the best.’
‘That’s no consolation. If I could get some Cossack, Mujik, or aristocrat patients …’
‘You can forget about the Cossacks after today. And you know how superstitious Mujiks are. They regard Jews as demons. As for my father, if he was dying he’d crawl to Taganrog or St Petersburg on his hands and knees rather than consult you. Unfortunately for you, my grandmother, Sonya, and I are bursting with health. If I thought my grandmother could persuade her servants to consult you I’d ask the cook to poison their soup, but after Pavlo’s death I doubt they would allow her to send for you.’
Nathan sank his head in his hands. ‘Perhaps I should return to Paris or Vienna. I worked in hospitals in both cities. I was offered a good position in Vienna …’
‘Vienna’s a beautiful city.’
‘You want me to leave?’
‘No.’ Alexei protested.
‘No?’ Nathan mocked. ‘Alexei … you and my sister … for the first time since I returned home her behaviour makes sense. Abraham Goldberg wants to marry her. She’s refused him. She sneaks out in the early morning, says she’s going to the cemetery to put flowers on our parents’ grave. Praskovia sent me to your place – this place. Ten minutes’ walk from the cemetery. I should have put a stop to the friendship between you and Ruth when you were inseparable as children.’
Seeing denial was futile Alexei said, ‘You couldn’t have parted us then or now, Nathan. We’re meant to be together.’
‘You might think so. I don’t.’ There was anger in Nathan’s voice.
‘Ruth wanted to tell you about us when you returned.’
‘Us! There can be no us when it comes to you and Ruth, Alexei. Miriam told me what you and Praskovia are doing. Trying to make everyone believe you are in love to give Praskovia an excuse to refuse Efim Litvin’s offer of marriage. Now I see the pretence not only serves Praskovia’s purpose but also distracts attention from you and Ruth.’
Alexei decided Praskovia’s dislike of Efim was a safer topic of conversation than Ruth. ‘Praskovia doesn’t love Efim.’
‘I doubt any girl of eighteen would consider an old man a good catch, even a wealthy one. But what happens when Praskovia gets over losing Ivan Kalmykov, falls in love, and wants to marry?’
‘I’ll ask another Cossack girl to pretend to be in love with me.’
‘So you can continue to keep your love for Ruth a secret from your family?’
‘Until I’m
old enough to marry without my father’s consent. My father hates me enough without me giving him more reason to lock me up or send me away.’
‘What about Ruth’s family, Alexei? Have you thought of consulting them?’
‘I wanted to call on your aunt and uncle and formally ask their permission to court your sister, but Ruth warned me they are as prejudiced, bigoted, and blinkered as my father. Please don’t tell me you are too.’
‘I won’t allow you to marry my sister, Alexei. That’s my final word on the subject. You’re not of our faith.’
‘We worship the same God, don’t we?’ Alexei demanded.
‘I’ve no intention of debating scripture with you.’
‘There’s more to life than faith.’
‘A Jew without religion is a candle without a flame.’ Nathan had no idea why he’d repeated the hackneyed phrase other than it had come easily.
‘What about love?’
‘You and Ruth are children.’
‘We’re not.’ Alexei struggled to keep his temper in check. ‘I love her and I know she loves me. I’ll take care of her.’
‘How?’
‘I’m ambitious.’
‘You can’t eat ambition, Alexei, as you’ll discover when your father disinherits you when he finds out about Ruth.’
Alexei sat back on his heels. He and Ruth needed all the friends, Russian, Jew, Mujik, and Cossack they could make. He couldn’t afford to make an enemy of Ruth’s brother. ‘I admired you when you left here after your father died. You seemed so grown-up, so determined to make something of yourself. Yet you couldn’t have been much older than I am now.’
‘I was sixteen. Two years younger.’ Nathan hoisted himself out of the cave.
‘You were like a knight going on a quest. You insisted nothing and no one was going to stop you from studying medicine in Paris. Everyone said you were mad except Papa Pavlo. Ruth told me the rabbi warned you that you’d end up starving and sleeping on the streets.’
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