I froze, staring at him, unable to think why he’d be standing in our entry hall. Surely he hadn’t really wanted to speak to me so badly he’d come to the house.
Archer cleared his throat. I glanced over at him. He was looking at me with a puzzled expression on his face, probably because I’d been standing there like a statue.
I managed to choke out a few words. “Good morning,”
The young man nodded at me without smiling.
“Lieutenant Dmitri Antonovich Sokolov to see General Cherkassky,” Archer announced. “I was just about to show him into the library.”
“No need. I’m right here.” My stepfather came into the hall. He sounded perfectly alert, and he was walking just fine. Maybe the spell he’d had the night before had just been from tiredness. “Welcome, welcome, Dmitri Antonovich!” he said. “I’m so pleased to meet you. And there you are too, Lottie. Perfect timing. This young man is to be your brothers’ new temporary tutor.” My stepfather beamed as if he’d just given me a present.
“Tutor?” I said. “What happened to Monsieur Girard?” Girard had only been hired the week before. I’d been so pleased to find him, convinced he’d be the perfect fit since he’d spent his whole career as a teacher.
“I thought I told you. He quit yesterday.” Papa shook his head. “Just packed his bags and walked out. Some nonsense about his nerves and about the house being cursed. I’ve never heard such foolishness from an educated man.”
It took all my self-control not to yell for my brothers to appear that instant. A cursed house? I was sure the boys had pulled a devious prank on Monsieur Girard, and I was also sure I knew the identity of the ringleader. Miles.
“Very glad you are here, Dmitri Antonovich,” Papa said. “Tutoring the boys while you recover will help us all out. We’ll make sure you get plenty of rest so you can get back to your unit as soon as possible. I know the Horse Guard needs every man they can get. At some point, I do want to hear your impressions of conditions at the front.”
“Yes, Excellency,” Dmitri replied. He made the same motion he’d done the night before, shifting his weight, which caused another shudder to his whole body. I could see the pain on his face.
Papa beamed again. “No need to be so formal here, young man. I’ve been retired a long time now, and I promise I won’t report you to your commanding officer. I told the boys yesterday I’d find someone right away and gave them quite a stern lecture that they need to settle down and concentrate on their studies. They should be ready and willing to work at your direction.”
Which meant my stepfather had said a few words about studying and then one of the boys had asked a geography question, Papa’s passion, so the talk would turn to that. The boys were experts at deflecting attention from discussions of their own behavior.
I didn’t understand why a member of the Horse Guard would even want to be a tutor. They would consider such a job beneath them. Even before the war, being in the Horse Guard was a full-time occupation for those men who were meant to bring honor and glory to their families. Only the sons of the wealthy were allowed to join, and their families supplied the money to purchase horses and all the elaborate dress uniforms. It wasn’t for those in need of funds, who had to take extra jobs to make ends meet.
The baron’s words came back to me. You never know who is spying on you. Don’t trust anyone. The man I’d seen outside watching the house was an obvious danger, but I was sure the Okhrana had more devious methods, such as sending in a stranger who was not really a tutor.
Or was I just being foolish? Would a member of the Horse Guard lower himself to spy for the secret police? Pavel would never have done anything like that. Even those who thought the Okhrana were necessary still held them in contempt for the way they turned on ordinary citizens. There had to be another explanation for his presence.
“My boy Stepan will be joining the Horse Guard when he’s old enough,” I heard Papa say. “He’ll be delighted to meet you. Charlotte, perhaps you can introduce Dmitri Antonovich to your brothers. I have to go out or I’d do it myself. Dmitri, Charlotte will help you with anything you need. I don’t know what we’d do without her. She’s the eldest, you know, so she takes care of everything.”
She takes care of everything. A voice in my head wanted to yell, No! She doesn’t want to take care of everything! but I gritted my teeth instead. I’d always be Charlotte, the eldest, never just Charlotte.
I scrambled to think of another way to forestall bringing this person into our house. Whatever reason he had for being here, he wasn’t what we needed. We needed someone older who would be able to get some work out of my brothers and who wouldn’t be run off by them. “Papa, perhaps we should talk before you hire a new tutor. I’m sure Dmitri Antonovich is very qualified, but the boys need help in specific subjects.” The young man didn’t appear to be much older than me, so he didn’t actually look all that qualified.
“Mathematics, I know, Lottie dear,” my stepfather replied. “I’m told Dmitri Antonovich had the highest marks in mathematics on his university entrance exam, which he took three years early. It’s a shame the war interfered with the young man’s studies, but it’s lucky for us.”
I’d clearly lost that round. Time to try something else. “Their Greek is very poor too,” I said. “And their Latin only marginally better.”
Papa chuckled. “Lottie, I’m surprised. You aren’t thinking very clearly this morning. You know Dmitri Antonovich would have had to pass both Latin and Greek to get into the university. I’m sure he’s quite capable of teaching those subjects too. Aren’t you trying to improve in those yourself? Perhaps you could sit in on their lessons.” He turned to Dmitri. “Charlotte left school early when my wife was ill.”
“I’d be happy for you to join us,” the young man said to me as a flicker of a smile crossed his face.
I couldn’t swear out loud, though I really wanted to. I hadn’t expected my attempt to get rid of the tutor to be foiled so easily, and I did need help in Latin and Greek. Did I really want to accept it from this person, though?
I tried to picture myself sitting next to him reviewing Latin declensions while he watched me trying to come up with the right answer. He would be too distracting. I couldn’t do it. The word formosus, “finely formed and beautiful,” popped into my head for some reason. I hadn’t even realized I knew that word, but suddenly I could remember all the cases: formosi, formoso, formosum, formoso, formose. Finely formed.
Dmitri Antonovich’s smile disappeared and I noticed beads of perspiration forming on his forehead as he bit his lip. He was clearly in a great deal of pain. He’d never be able to tutor my brothers. They could wear down a healthy man in a few days. I realized I might not have to intervene at all. Dmitri Antonovich would be gone by nightfall.
The housekeeper came into the hall, and when Archer saw her, he made his common noise of disapproval, a sound between a cough and a snort. I knew he didn’t like it when Zarja appeared in front of guests.
Zarja ignored him, as she so often did. “Lottie, there is someone to see you at the kitchen door.” She emphasized the word someone. I knew who she meant. Ivan had arrived with the delivery.
“I’ll be there soon,” I said to her.
I didn’t want my stepfather to ask any questions about who had come to see me, so I decided I’d do what he asked and show Dmitri Antonovich upstairs and then escape to the kitchen.
“This way,” I said.
Dmitri followed me up, though he took each step slowly. I could tell his leg hurt him by the way he grimaced. At the second landing, he stopped, his breath coming in short gasps. “Just a moment, please,” he said. We’d been speaking in Russian, but he switched to English. “I forgot to ask the general which language he prefers I use to teach your brothers,” he added.
Dmitri’s command of English didn’t surprise me, because most educated Russians spoke some, but I was surprised that he’d feel comfortable enough with the language to teach in it. As if he
read my mind, he said, “My brother and I had an English nursemaid when we were children, and my parents spoke the language as well.”
“Either Russian or English is fine,” I said. “The older boys’ Russian is very good, and Stepan is fluent in English because he’s been hearing it for years, but his French needs work.” I didn’t tell Dmitri my brothers had tried to fool previous tutors by making up words and claiming they were obscure English ones the tutors should learn.
He nodded, his breath slowing a bit. While we stood there, I felt I should say something about the previous night. “I’m sorry I was so rude to you at the grand duke’s party.” I felt a twinge of embarrassment that I’d actually thought he was interested in me.
“Don’t mention it. I wanted to meet you before I came to the house this morning. I’m sorry I said what I did about the baron. It’s not my business to intrude in strangers’ friendships.”
He said the word friendship with a little too much emphasis, as if implying that the baron and I were more than friends.
I certainly wasn’t going to explain why I’d been talking to the baron. “Let me know when you’re ready to continue.”
He nodded and took the next step. As we moved on, he began to hum under his breath. I thought I recognized the tune, a Russian folk song. “Isn’t that the sleigh song about the galloping horses?” I said.
“What?” he asked, stopping again.
“The song you were humming. It’s a sleigh song, isn’t it? The one that goes ‘Fly, my horses, at the gallop / to my dear, you know the way! / Fly, my horses, fly at the gallop / to my dear one’s house, you know the way.’”
Dmitri’s face turned red. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realize I was humming. A nurse suggested that in the hospital as a way to forget the pain. I’ve been doing it so much I don’t even think about it. It’s one I used to sing with my family when I was a child.” He looked away from me, twisting the cane in his hand.
“Don’t apologize. It’s a good idea.” I wished I had thought of it. It might help our patients too. “I like that song. We’ve sung it at my stepfather’s dacha.” Or rather, we had sung the song, when my mother was alive.
“Shall we go on?” I asked.
He nodded. By the time we reached the third floor, his face was wet with perspiration. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped it.
I wished I knew the extent of his injury. It felt wrong to be forcing him to do something that caused him such pain. “I’m sorry,” I said. “My brothers are very … lively. This may not be the best post for you. Please don’t think you have to stay if it’s too difficult. I’m sure my stepfather would understand.”
“I’m fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “I just need another moment.” He took a few breaths. “Perhaps in the meantime you can tell me about your brothers before I meet them. I wasn’t told anything about them except that…” His voice trailed off.
“Let me guess. You were told they were wild and undisciplined.”
He didn’t respond, as if weighing what to say.
“I’m afraid it’s true,” I said. “Now would be a good time to change your mind.”
“I’m not going to change my mind,” he said. “Tell me about them.”
We’d see how long his stubbornness would last once he spent a few hours with my brothers. “Well, there’s Miles, who is seventeen. He’s interested in history and politics and books and is determined to be a writer. He’s quite brilliant but will only work on what he wants.” I didn’t go into detail about Miles’s health. That would be obvious soon enough.
“Then there’s Hap, which is what we call Harold. He’s fifteen. He’s not the best student, because he concentrates on his music and his art. He draws beautifully. And there’s Stepan. He’s eight and obsessed with animals, especially horses, but not much interested in other subjects.”
Dmitri’s face took on a puzzled expression. “Why isn’t Miles going into the Horse Guard if he’s the eldest? I thought General Cherkassky said Stepan had been put down for a place.”
I’d practiced the explanation about us many times. People were always puzzled that Stepan didn’t resemble any of us and that he and the twins didn’t have the red hair of me, Miles, and Hap. “We have a very complicated family,” I said. “Miles, Hap, and I are stepchildren to our stepfather. Our father was an American named Daniel Mason. Stepan is the son of our stepfather and his second wife, so he’s our stepbrother and the actual eldest son of our stepfather. That’s why he’ll go into the Horse Guard instead of Miles. Our mother was Papa’s third wife, and they had two children, my little sisters, or, to be precise, my half sisters, Sophie and Nika. They are five years old.”
Dmitri wiped his forehead again. “Complicated is an understatement,” he said. “I’m ready to move again. Please, let’s continue.”
I hoped he’d remember I’d given him a way out but that he’d chosen not to take it.
“This way to the lion’s den,” I said.
Chapter Five
AS WE APPROACHED the schoolroom, I could hear Miles’s laughter, which quickly turned into a bout of coughing. I counted the seconds until he stopped. Only six. Not too concerning. If it went past fifteen seconds, it was a bad sign.
When I opened the door, warm air flowed out, because Hap was good at keeping the stove going. He knew it helped Miles feel better. Hap and Miles were standing in front of their worktable as we came in, but our entrance startled them so much that Miles stumbled backward and Hap spun around. I got a good look at the table.
What appeared to be Stepan’s head was sitting on top of it. Dmitri made an odd sound in his throat, like he was trying to suppress a scream.
In my younger days, I would have played along with the boys and pretended to be horror-struck, maybe even screamed myself to see how Dmitri responded. But since I was supposed to be the responsible one, I refrained.
“Hi, Lottie!” Stepan’s head called. “Look! I don’t have a body anymore.”
“Excellent new magic trick,” I said as I went over to figure out how they’d done it.
It was actually a simple mirror trick. The rectangular mirror was under the table, facing the intended audience at a diagonal running from a back leg on one side to a front leg on the other, and Stepan’s body was hidden behind it. The mirror reflected the table’s front legs, giving the audience the illusion that they were seeing all four legs, through to the back.
Stepan ducked out of his spot, revealing the hole that had been cut in the center of the table. “How did you manage the hole?” I asked. Most of the tools the boys used to build their magic-trick contraptions were in the country.
“Yermak did it for us,” Hap said. “We thought Archer was going to catch us, but Stepan provided a distraction.” He punched at Stepan, who ducked and grinned. Stepan loved it when the older boys let him be part of their plans.
I heard Dmitri clearing his throat. When I glanced back at him, I thought his eyes were showing a bit more white than they had before, and he was a little paler.
“This is Dmitri Antonovich Sokolov, your new tutor,” I said.
I turned to Dmitri. “I forgot to mention that my brothers like magic tricks.”
Looks of suppressed glee passed among the three boys. I knew exactly what they were thinking. A new victim.
I introduced them one by one. “This is Miles,” I said. I didn’t want to point out that it was easy to tell Miles and Hap apart because Miles was so much smaller, even though he was older. I think his illnesses over the years had affected his appetite even before he’d been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and so he’d never grown very tall. “Miles is a wielder of a vicious pen if he doesn’t like you. His limericks can be quite rude, and he’s always running his hands through his hair, which is why it’s a mess all the time.”
“Very eloquent description,” Miles said, messing up his hair even more. “Do I get to describe you, too? No, never mind. I have a good limerick in mind.” He grinn
ed, and I realized I shouldn’t have added in the bit about the limericks. I held up my hand to stop him. It didn’t work.
“I don’t have the rhythm of the last line right, but I’m working on it,” he said. He cleared his throat like he was about to give a speech.
Our Charlotte is prone to shriek and to yell
We’re surprised the house hasn’t yet fell
Every day is a new rant
It’s always, “You can’t, can’t, can’t.”
We hope one day her voice will say farewell.
If Dmitri hadn’t been there, I would have thrown something at Miles. Of course I shrieked and yelled when I had a good reason to, and with the boys I had a good reason nearly every day.
I forced myself to smile. I’d pay Miles back later. “You’re right. The last line needs work. Let’s move on to Hap.” At least Hap wouldn’t have a limerick on hand to torment me. “Hap was really a happy little baby, hence the nickname. And still mostly happy as long as he has something to draw with and on.”
The nickname fit his face, too. Even when he wasn’t smiling, he looked content. The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, and that, combined with the broadness of his face, made his looks a sharp contrast to Miles, whose features had sharpened and become more drawn with each bout of illness.
“Last but not least is Stepan, the serious one who knows many, many facts about animals. He’d be glad to answer any questions about them.”
Stepan moved forward and held out his hand, standing very straight. “How do you do? I am Stepan Feodorovich Cherkassky.”
Dmitri shook his hand. “How do you do,” he said, matching Stepan’s serious tone. He glanced between me and Miles and Hap. “I didn’t know Americans had such red hair. I thought it was more a Scottish trait. Interesting.”
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