‘Yes, madam.’
Catherine went into the library and sat in her accustomed chair, which had been moved comfortably close to the hearth in preparation for winter. She couldn’t imagine why her son-in-law had chosen to pay her a visit. She had sent him an invitation to Alexei’s wedding, although Nicholas had disowned and disinherited his eldest son when Alexei had refused to give up his position with the New Russian Company. Loathing industry, Nicholas could neither understand nor countenance Alexei’s determination to support the Tsar’s drive to modernise Russia. When her daughter Olga and all her granddaughters except Kira, the youngest, had died in a cholera outbreak, Nicholas had remained in the town only as long as it had taken to bury them.
Since then he’d based himself in his St Petersburg residence, but Catherine had instructed her lawyer Dmitri to monitor Nicholas’s affairs and she was aware that her son-in-law’s penchant for high living and gambling had brought him to the brink of financial ruin. He’d not only been forced to put the Beletsky House in Hughesovka on the market, but also his houses in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as his country dachas outside the cities.
She’d made an offer on the Beletsky house in Hughesovka for Alexei, but the house had been suddenly withdrawn from the market. As she’d heard that Nicholas had returned there, she presumed it was because his lawyer had found buyers for one or more of his other houses.
Marat brought in the tea trolley complete with samovar and glasses. ‘You can take away the cake and sandwiches please, Marat, tell Lyudmila I’ll eat them after the count has taken his leave,’ she ordered. ‘Then you can show Count Beletsky in. Boris, you will stay at a discreet distance, but within sight and earshot.’
The butler retired to the opposite side of the hearth.
Marat returned a few moments later. He opened the door, and announced, ‘Count Beletsky, madam.’
‘Thank you, Marat.’
Nicholas entered.
‘Excuse me for not rising, Nicholas. I am tired after helping Father Grigor dispense charity to the poor.’
‘I trust you aren’t carrying any contagious diseases as a result of your philanthropic whims, Catherine.’
‘I hope so too, for both our sakes. You are aware that Alexei married Ruth last month?’
‘What Alexei does or doesn’t do is of no interest to me, Catherine. When he chose a path that directly contravened all my wishes, I lost all interest in the boy. Nothing has occurred for me to change my view. I did however hear that he’d married a Jewess. Frankly, Catherine, I’m surprised you allowed it.’
‘If you’ve come to berate me for allowing Alexei’s marriage…’
‘I have not come here to see you, Catherine.’
‘Then you wish to see Kira. She will soon celebrate her second birthday. She is a delightful child…’
‘Babies have never interested me,’ he cut in ruthlessly.
‘Even your own. All those babies you forced my daughter to bear for you.’
‘Not that again, Catherine. Why do you refuse to understand that it is a wife’s duty to bear as many children for her husband as God chooses to send.’
‘Thirteen live births, two stillbirths, and two miscarriages in eighteen years are more than any woman can bear. Little wonder Olga had no strength left to fight the cholera that took her.’
‘I am not here to listen to your unfounded complaints about my behaviour towards Olga, Catherine. I wish to see Sonya.’
‘What possible business could you have with Sonya?’ Catherine demanded.
‘Private business that is no concern of yours.’
‘As I am Sonya’s legal guardian, Sonya’s business is my business. Boris, tell Marat to go to Mr Dmitri’s room and study. If my lawyer is in the house ask him to be kind enough to join us here.’
‘Yes, madam.’
‘There is no need for you to send for Dmitri …’ Nicholas stopped talking when the noise of the front door closing echoed into the room. The sound of conversation drifted in from the hall. The door opened and Roman, Sonya, and Maria walked in.
‘Roman, Sonya, I trust you had a good day at the office of the New Russia Company?’
‘Yes, thank you, Aunt Catherine,’ Sonya replied.
Catherine continued before Roman had the opportunity to answer her. ‘Sonya, Roman, as you see we have a visitor.’ Catherine indicated Nicholas who was standing to the right of the door, as she hadn’t invited him to sit down.
Sonya had always been wary of the count, although she couldn’t have provided a reason for her distrust. She curtsied. ‘Count Beletsky.’
‘Prince Roman Nadolny, this is my son-in-law.’
‘Count Beletsky and I have met at the card tables in St Petersburg.’ Roman didn’t extend his hand. Neither did Nicholas.
‘As I just informed your aunt, I would like a private interview with you, Sonya, to discuss family business. Perhaps we can retire to the drawing room.’
‘I can’t imagine any business you could have with me, Count Beletsky, that cannot be discussed in front of Aunt Catherine.’
Nicholas looked from Sonya to Catherine, to Roman, and finally, Boris. There was a knock at the door. Catherine called out, ‘Enter.’
Mr Dmitri walked in and Maria took the opportunity to move unobtrusively behind Boris.
‘Marat said you wanted to see me, Mrs Ignatova.’
‘Thank you for coming so quickly, Dmitri. As you see, my son-in-law is paying a visit. Apparently he has urgent private business to discuss with my niece. We are waiting for him to explain the nature of his “business”.’
‘Very well, Catherine, as you insist on conducting private matters in public. I am here to invite Sonya to become the next Countess Beletsky.’
Sonya sank down on the nearest chair. The room spun headily around here. ‘You’re asking me …’ Unable to get the words out she simply stared at Nicholas.
‘I am doing you the honour of asking you to become my wife,’ Nicholas elaborated. ‘I realise my proposal must be overwhelming as well as surprising, but to reassure you, I am fully aware of the disparity between our respective ranks. However, I am prepared to overlook your illegitimacy and antecedents, the fact that your father was a drunkard and your mother a whore –’
‘Enough, Nicholas!’ Catherine snapped sharply. ‘Leave my house now. Boris, call two footmen to escort the count to the door.’
‘Not until I receive my answer. Your niece will never receive a better offer.’ Nicholas stepped in front of Sonya. ‘I am waiting for your reply.’
Sonya found her voice. ‘You were married to my cousin, a cousin I regarded as an older sister. I thought of you as a relative.’
‘Precisely. I watched you grow up. You are almost family, but not family enough to prevent us from marrying. You are familiar with my house…’
‘The house that belonged to my husband’s family and was part of Olga’s dowry,’ Catherine interceded.
Nicholas ignored Catherine and continued as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘You know how I like my domestic life organised. This is a perfect match for both of us.’
‘Apart from the twenty-five-year age gap between you,’ Catherine snapped.
‘That would be to Sonya’s advantage. Every young girl needs an experienced older man to protect and guide her.’
‘And this sudden and unexpected proposal has nothing whatsoever to do with the fortune Sonya has inherited?’ Catherine didn’t attempt to conceal her contempt.
‘A man of my status can hardly marry a penniless nobody.’
Sonya looked from Nicholas to Catherine. She knew they were speaking but she failed to absorb or comprehend a single word they were saying. She watched Nicholas’s colour rise, saw Catherine grow pale.
Nicholas drew close to her. He set his hand on her shoulders. She felt the warmth of his fingers burn through the woollen cloth of her jacket. She reached up and removed it.
She looked at Roman and saw that he was watching her.
&n
bsp; ‘Prince Roman?’
‘Miss Tsetovna?’
‘Thank you for your proposal of marriage, and thank you for giving me the time to consider your offer. You honour me. I would like to accept and I would like our marriage to take place as soon as possible.’
Silence, heavy and oppressive, fell over the room.
Nicholas was the first to break it. ‘Now I understand. You have the same taste for low life as your father, Nadolny. He consorted with whores so you want to marry the daughter of a whore.’
Boris opened the door to the footmen. Both were larger and heavier than Nicholas.
‘Do not allow Count Beletsky into this house again, Boris.’ Catherine rose from her chair and went to the window. She watched the footmen bundle Nicholas out of the front door and into his carriage. She didn’t avert her eyes until she saw it drive through her gates.
‘Aunt Catherine?’ She turned to see Sonya standing pale and trembling next to Roman.
‘Those things the count said about my father and mother. That my father was a drunkard and my mother a whore –’
‘Gossip and lies, Sonya,’ Catherine cut in. ‘Pay no attention. My brother drank because of his illness and your mother was labelled a whore by some in society simply because she left a husband who beat her for a man who loved her. Any woman with sense would have done the same.’ She gripped both of Sonya’s hands in her own and looked into her eyes. ‘That is the absolute truth. You believe me?’
‘Yes, Aunt Catherine.’
‘I’ll see you at dinner. Roman, engaged or not, you cannot remain in the same room as Sonya unless she is chaperoned. If Maria leaves, call one of the maids to sit with you.’
‘I will, Catherine.’
‘We will speak further at dinner. For the moment, I need to sit alone and think.’
‘Please, Catherine, don’t waste any of your thoughts on Nicholas Beletsky,’ Roman advised. ‘The man simply isn’t worth it.’
‘He isn’t, Roman,’ Catherine went to the door, ‘but that won’t prevent me from dreaming up tortures I’d like to subject him to.’
Chapter Fifteen
Glyn Edwards’s house
December 1871
‘There is just so much to be done in the Two Firs Colliery, I simply don’t know where to start, Glyn.’ Edward took the brandy Glyn had poured for him. ‘We need to strengthen the shoring on all the shafts before we can think of installing the steam engines, and that’s going to take weeks if not months in this cold weather. I’m not even sure if it’s worth it with all the other work we have going on in our other pits at the moment…’
‘Forget the pits for tonight, Edward, it’s Christmas, and for once we don’t have to get up before dawn,’ Glyn poured out three brandies and handed his brother one. ‘What you need is a men’s night out. You’re welcome to join us, Richard,’ he offered when Richard set aside his dessert bowl and reached for his coffee cup.
‘Thank you for the invitation, but no, Mr Edwards, and if you don’t mind I’ll leave the brandy until after I’ve finished this coffee. Alexei and I spent the whole day crawling around the Four Bears pit. It was uncomfortably close down there and I haven’t stopped shivering since I hit the surface. Not even the steam in the banya could warm me up. All I want to do now is sit in the upstairs living room with my wife, in front of, if not on top of, the stove.’
‘Are you and Alexei buying the Four Bears?’ Glyn asked.
‘We’re thinking of it but we won’t make a final decision until we’ve spoken to the geologist in the New Year. There’s certainly some good seams of coal down there but not all appear to be easily accessible, and just like the Two Firs, the Four Bears needs a lot of work to make it viable.’ Richard yawned. He’d arrived home late after a long day, lingered in the bath house in an effort to get warm, and hadn’t started his meal until after everyone else had finished.
‘How are your brothers getting on in the metallurgy laboratory?’ Glyn picked up his glass.
‘Reasonably well, I think. They don’t say much but I talked to their tutor and he seems to be fairly pleased with them.’
‘They’ll receive excellent training there. The Frenchman Mr Hughes has put in charge of the place knows what he’s doing. If Owen and Morgan stay the course that Mr Hughes has arranged, they’ll both walk into well-paid jobs at the end of it. Metallurgists can expect better working conditions than colliers, not least a lifetime of mostly working indoors in clean conditions above ground.’
‘So I constantly remind them. Have a good evening, sirs.’ Richard said when Glyn and Edward finished their drinks and left their chairs.
‘Sure you won’t change your mind?’ Glyn checked.
Richard shook his head. ‘I’m enjoying getting to know my brothers again, and Anna has a rare night off. So I have a lot waiting for me upstairs.’
‘You weren’t joking about your ready-made family,’ Glyn smiled.
Pyotr brought Glyn and Edward’s coats and hats to the door of the dining room without prompting.
‘I finally managed to find the time to look in on Mr and Mrs Parry’s sitting room earlier, Pyotr. Mrs Parry and Praskovia did a good job of arranging the furniture. It looks comfortable, and from what I heard they couldn’t have managed without your muscle. You not only moved the sofas and tables into the room, you polished up the scarred floorboards so well you’d never think they’d been damaged. Thank you,’ Glyn said when Praskovia’s brother handed him his furs.
‘I’m strong, Mr Glyn.’ Pyotr unashamedly basked in the praise.
‘You are, and Praskovia, and I, and everyone in this house couldn’t manage without you.’
Edward started shivering even before Pyotr closed the door on them. He turned up the collar on his woollen overcoat. ‘What is wrong with Pyotr?’ he asked Glyn.
‘Sarah and Peter thought he might have been brain-damaged at birth. He’s a willing worker and invaluable around the house. He does all the heavy lifting and cleaning.’
‘He’s certainly willing. He cleans my boots every night although I’ve never asked him to.’
‘Praskovia may have prompted him. She insists her brother’s happiest when he’s busy.’ Glyn turned out of his gate and led the way.
Edward flexed his hands inside his gloves in an effort to keep his circulation going. ‘I never thought the day would come when I’d envy a man his coat, especially a fur, but I could rip that one from your back, Glyn.’
‘I’ll write to the furrier in St Petersburg again and tell him to hurry up with that coat and hat I ordered for you. I hoped it would be here in time for Christmas, but he warned me that he had a run on orders. You’re going to need it soon as the cold weather’s almost here…’
‘It gets colder?’ Edward interrupted. ‘How can it when the snow drifts beside the roads tower above us?’
‘January and February will be worse than this.’
‘You trying to persuade me to run back to Wales?’
‘On the contrary.’
‘I think the coldest bit of me is my head.’
‘That’s because you’re bald under your trilby. If you had hair you wouldn’t lose so much heat.’
‘The day will come when you lose your hair too,’ Edward warned.
‘Not yet,’ Glyn crowed.
‘I’ve asked but you’ve never told me, how much will this coat and hat of mine cost?’
‘To you, nothing. They’re my Christmas present to you.’
‘I’m not short of money,’ Edward protested.
‘I know you’re not, but I can give my big brother a Christmas present if I want to, can’t I? Call it a thank you for me dumping the day-to-day management of the Edwards Brothers collieries on to you. You are managing them – apart from the Two Firs, aren’t you?’
‘And if I said I wasn’t?’
‘I’d look around for someone to help you, but I know that I wouldn’t have much choice or luck. Mr Hughes has conscripted as many workers as he can lay his hands on
to help in the ironworks until we go into full production. Even before I went to St Petersburg I more or less handed over the running of the collieries I’d taken leases on to Richard, Alf, and Alexei, but now with Alexei and Richard in the throes of setting up their own collieries I realise you must be even more stretched.’
‘I spoke to Alexei yesterday in the office about leasing more of his grandmother’s land so we can build rail heads and storage yards at the Edwards Brothers collieries. Hopefully the track John Hughes is proposing to lay will reach that far.’
‘What did Alexei say?’
‘That his grandmother has no other plans for that land and he’d talk to her about offering us the same terms for a new lease that she extends to Mr Hughes.’
‘I don’t think Mr Hughes could have made the progress he has, without Catherine Ignatova’s help. I’m glad she and Alexei are extending their largesse to the Edwards Brothers collieries. Roughly fifty per cent of the New Russia Company leases have been negotiated with Catherine. The largest slice of the other fifty per cent are with absent landowners, leaving a small percentage with the Cossacks, and as you’ve discovered, they mined their holdings with horse drawn winches. We – that is the Edwards Brothers collieries –’
‘You did say that you’ve legalised the formation of the company?’ Edward interrupted.
‘I have and I talked to Sarah earlier this evening about redistributing the shares now you’re here. Initially Peter and I planned to split the company. He’d take forty per cent, as would I, and we intended to give the remaining twenty per cent of the shares to some of our senior workers.’
‘Anyone in particular?’
‘We discussed giving five per cent to Alf and ten to Richard and keeping the other five in reserve for future employees we felt deserved a stake.’
‘Alf I can understand, but Richard? I can’t help thinking he’s still a boy.’
‘No longer, Edward. When we had a seam collapse in a pit we bought from the Cossacks, Richard went down, studied the situation, formulated a plan, implemented it, and hauled men out with no thought to his own safety. His cool head saved dozens of lives that day. He knows all there is to know about both deep seam and open cast mining, which is why Alexei offered him a partnership in Beletsky Collieries. Richard and Alexei are the perfect team. Alexei has the land, Richard the knowledge, and with Catherine investing in their company it’s bound to be successful.’
Princes and Peasants Page 14