“Gladly, my lord.”
The Minister poured two glass of what turned out to be a very good claret and they sat across from each other in comfortable chairs. Giles outlined the terms of the agreement he was authorized to offer and then went into various details, with Count Smirnov asking many questions. He seemed to be particularly interested in the pledge that the Skagerrak would be kept open no matter what France, Denmark or Sweden did. Luckily, Giles had been given all the information needed to answer the Minister’s questions.
After an hour of intense discussion, the Minister was satisfied. “Thank you, Captain Giles. I will, of course, have to present this to the Tsar, but I hope to give you his response shortly. Lord Malthampton is handling the land side of things, but that is really only a confirmation of what already exists. I do hope the special envoy you brought is up to his task. It would be nice to fool the French completely.
“There is the reception at the British Embassy this evening. I will be there, but we must pretend not to have met already. Lieutenant Pirov will take you back to your ship – what is she called again?”
“Glaucus, my lord.”
“Strange name. Anyway, the lieutenant will make sure that it appears that you are concluding your sight-seeing trip around St. Petersburg.”
Lieutenant Pirov was summoned. He and Giles returned to the boat by the same unobtrusive route, with the lieutenant making sure that the coast was clear before they snuck away from the building by the same door. Giles was then treated to an extensive trip through St. Petersburg’s canals, finishing in the river where they returned to Glaucus, passing on the way a magnificent, green, baroque palace that the lieutenant identified as the Tsar’s Winter Palace. Giles was quite overwhelmed by the baroque building. He idly wondered what Dipton Hall would look like if it were stuccoed over in a robin’s egg blue with its main features and decorations outlined in white. He shook his head at this speculation. Dipton Hall was the wrong shape and built with the wrong type of material to be treated successfully in this way, and such a residence would look ridiculously out of place in the English countryside. He would just have to enjoy the architecture here fully, not then try to imitate it at home. However, he must see if he could find some colored etchings of St. Petersburg to take home to remind him of this unique city and show to Daphne.
Before leaving the ship for the Embassy, Giles issued firm orders that none of the crew was to venture off the ship. He also assembled his seamen and pointed out that their host had requested that shore leave not be granted until they had returned to Kronstadt. This was to be taken seriously. Punishment for venturing ashore would be severe.
Giles took his barge to travel to the British Embassy by the canals. The Embassy was another fine palace on one of the canals. It was ablaze with light, as Lord Malthouse was sparing no expense to emphasize the importance of the special ambassador and to give the appearance that he still regarded himself as the number one representative of his King. The reception rooms were crowded with men in their best court clothes and ladies dressed in the height of fashion, clothes which undoubtedly came directly from France, even though none of them, Giles was sure, would endorse the subversive French ideas that had given rise to the new, looser styles.
The conversations were all in French, though most of the men spoke some sort of English when they were introduced to Giles. Lord Malthouse must have selected his guest list with that qualification in mind. Giles was chatting with a couple of men who had been introduced to him as merchants when he found himself somewhat isolated as everyone turned to observe the ruckus that Sir Walcott was creating. The special ambassador had been the center of a rather loud circle, and as other conversations developed, he kept raising his voice in an attempt to dominate the room. In this he succeeded, as everyone stopped talking wondering what the noise was all about. The baronet was exquisitely dressed, and his face had ‘benefitted’, Giles thought, by the application of rouge and powder. He was now almost shouting in French. Giles was sure that he caught the phrase ‘le Prince de Galles’ many times. Sir Walcott must be boasting about his important connections.
“Your countryman seems to be very much in awe of himself, Captain,” a light voice remarked behind him.
Giles turned to see a lady seated behind where he had been standing. “My apologies, madam, I didn’t notice that I was blocking your view. You are?”
“Countess Maria Nicholaevna Donskaya. Lord Malthampton neglected to introduce us. I hope you are enjoying St. Petersburg.”
“Immensely, my lady. I was taken on a most fascinating tour of the city today, not only through the streets, but mostly through the canals.”
“Then you may have passed our palace. You must come and visit it. It is quite distinctive and I would very much enjoy having your company.”
“You speak remarkably good English, my lady. Have you visited England?”
“No. However, my father was of the opinion that England would become a more important country than France would and the future lay in learning your language perfectly. My governess was English and he encouraged her to make sure that I talked correctly. She was very strict, I must tell you, but it succeeded. Lord Malthampton says I speak perfect English though with somewhat of a Dorset accent.”
“Does the Count share your excellent ability to speak English? I don’t believe that I have been introduced to him either.”
“No, he does not speak it at all, just French. He is not here tonight. In fact, he is away visiting his estates before the winter closes in. His holdings lie beyond Moscow, quite out in the country. Very boring. Very isolated. Very far away. He will be gone for several weeks and I just rattle around in our palace as best I can.
“You may think my way of dressing is peculiar, Captain Giles,” the Countess continued. “When I heard of the shocking murder of the Queen Marie Antoinette, I resolved never to dress in French fashions again, or at least not until the proper monarchy was restored. And I have kept to my resolve, despite the fact that most of the other ladies in St. Petersburg have succumbed to the revolutionary French fashions.”
Giles for the first time examined the Countess closely. He had not been astonished by the way she was dressed, partly because he usually paid no attention to fashion and, he suddenly realized, his general impression was that she was just like he remembered his aunt having been as he was growing up. Now examining her, he became aware that she was only about his own age, certainly no older. She sat very stiffly on the edge of her chair, and he guessed that this must be the result of a tight corset, a garment that had passed almost completely from fashion, at least among younger women. In his opinion, it was a ridiculous garment, and he had been delighted with Daphne from the start because of her casual way of dressing. The top of the Countess’s gown was cut to emphasize her plump breasts that were forced unnaturally up by her undergarment. Below her narrow waist, her skirts billowed out in what he realized was some sort of hoop skirt. Her face was very heavily rouged and powdered, giving no hint of what her skin might really be like and he noticed that this continued down through her neck and her cleavage. However, this striking, but now that he examined it, very old-fashioned style was quite outdone by her headdress. It was formed by weaving her hair so that it stood straight up, elaborate, beribboned and bejeweled. In the midshipmen’s birth of his first ship, such arrangements had been the subject of intense conversation, as was every aspect of female dress, and how it was to be dealt with in amorous situations. He knew that such a complicated arrangement was meant to stay in place for weeks and would make sleeping awkward, not to mention many other activities in which his peers had been interested. The same was presumably true here.
His thoughts had slightly diverted him from the Countess’s words, but he gathered that she had been discussing the contrasts between English houses and the palaces of St. Petersburg. She was waxing eloquent about their differences, claiming that, though she had never seen the English ones, she was sure that the Russian ones in St. Pete
rsburg, though not in the rest of Russia, were far superior. Giles diplomatically replied that it was very difficult to really evaluate the differences when they could never be placed side by side. He was asserting that probably each should be considered well suited to their location. This the Countess disputed and argued that they could compare them directly.
“Lord Malthampton has a display of engravings illustrating the contrast between Russian and English mansions. Let’s go look at them to enlighten our discussion of the differences”
She rose gracefully to her feet and clamped her hand on Giles’s arm. “It’s this way,” she announced, guiding them towards a passageway that appeared to be leading to a secluded part of the mansion.
“Is this wise, my lady? Won’t it hurt your reputation?”
“Oh, puff to that! We won’t be noticed,” she replied, using her grip on his arm to draw Giles out of the room and down a hallway leading farther into the Embassy. Giles complied, not knowing what else to do and not wanting to protest in a way that would draw attention to his dilemma. After a short distance, the Countess opened a door and directed him into a small sitting room that was unoccupied. Along one wall there were indeed pictures of various buildings, but instead of drawing Giles to them, the Countess spun him around so that he faced her.
“This is so much more private, isn’t it?” she breathed and planted a kiss on his lips. Giles sprang back, horrified at what had happened, even though it fulfilled the start of many a fantasy he had had as a young officer. Those dreams had never included the foul odor that came from the Countess’s lip as she kissed him. His revulsion was increased when he looked down to avoid her eyes and spotted a flea on her breast. He wondered if the heavy paint prevented it from biting her. Directing his gaze above her eyes, he spotted a mouse peek out from her elaborate headdress. Now totally flummoxed, he could only stammer, “My lady, we must not! Not here! Your reputation and my standing as a representative of my country are at peril! We must return to Lord Malthampton’s reception.”
Giles could hardly wait to flee from the room, but good manners intervened and he again offered his arm to his companion. When she grabbed it once more, he sealed his link with her by placing his right hand over hers and dragged her back into the hallway.
“You are right of course, Captain,” the lady murmured. “But being near you quite overcame me. We must be discreet, but you can certainly visit me tomorrow at my palace. My servants are the height of discretion.”
Giles was still afraid of causing a scene if he openly rejected her advances, but also was determined to avoid having anything to do with Countess Donskaya. “I shall look forward to visiting, my lady,” he said. “Very much so provided that my duties on board my ship, or connected with her, will allow me the opportunity. Now that we are back in the reception hall, I find myself very thirsty. I must look for drinks.”
Though he had seemed to imply that he was seeking refreshments for both of them, he was only concerned with being able to avoid the Countess completely. Sir Walcott must have spent the time during which Giles had been absent imbibing some of Lord Malthampton’s brandy, for his voice had become still louder even though the group around him had shrunk. Giles also noted that some of the officers from Glaucus had been drinking enthusiastically, while Midshipman Stewart seemed to be becoming enmeshed in the web of a young, matronly lady who seemed to be quite taken with the young man. Giles gathered his party together, and approached Lord Malthampton to take his leave.
“Good of you to come, Captain Giles,” said the Ambassador. “I trust you enjoyed yourself. I see you somehow avoided Maria Nicholaevna’s clutches. Not many do.”
The irony of this remark did not escape Giles, but he said nothing. He was simply glad to be returning to the safety of his ship after a very busy day and tortuous evening.
Chapter XVII
Captain Giles had the rare pleasure of sleeping beyond dawn the following morning. He arose at one bell of the forenoon watch to find that there had been a couple of developments while he slept. First, and pleasantly, there were invitations to a ball that the Tsar was holding that evening. Not so pleasantly, eight of his crew members had been forcibly returned to the ship with complaints that they had been involved in a fight in a tavern. The brawl had resulted in some damage to the establishment. The offenders had been escorted to the frigate in the early hours of the morning by some sort of municipal watch force. They were left there with strong requests that the perpetrators be punished and that such conduct not occur again. To emphasize the latter request, Giles saw that a group of soldiers were strung out along the quay. Mr. Stewart suspected that they were there to make sure that more members of his crew did not slip ashore and repeat the offense.
Giles was angry at this turn of events, for he had already told the crew that there would be no leave in St. Petersburg until he knew more about their plans. He had stressed that, when permission to go ashore was granted, each one of them would be expected to conduct himself in an orderly fashion, showing respect for the country in which they were visitors. He even reminded them that they were themselves representatives of their king and country and should make sure that they would continue to be welcome guests. Obviously, the offenders had not been impressed by his address. He should not have been surprised, however. It would usually take more than a lecture to keep sailors in port away from the grog shops. Still, he had hoped his crew was an exception. He did take comfort in the fact that the number of offenders who had been caught and returned to the ship was small. He wondered how many others had also gone ashore, but had been more discreet in their peccadillos.
There was no point in delaying the punishment of the men whose behavior had caused the problem. Dealing with them promptly would allow the tension that he had felt on coming on deck to subside. The whole crew would be waiting to discover what would happen to the miscreants. He summoned them with their divisional officers to his cabin. They were, in fact, all in Mr. Correll’s division. A fact that surprised him, since Mr. Correll had spent his time as a midshipman on Giles’s vessels with mostly the same crew, and was well liked and trusted. He did note that two of the offenders were Sir Walcott’s former servants, and they could not have been expected to have developed much loyalty to Glaucus.
Mr. Correll stated the offenses that had been committed: leaving the ship without permission, getting drunk in some tavern and getting into a fight with Russian sailors in the same dive. That had led to the watch being summoned and the culprits being delivered unceremoniously to the boat. The miscreants had been unresponsive about what caused the fight though they claimed that they were the innocent victims of Russian aggression.
Giles had no choice but to punish all the defaulters. He was not a flogging captain and he had a discouraging feeling that he himself should have foreseen the problem better and that he should have tried to forestall it be stationing marine sentries along the quay. Not doing so had been a mistake even though he suspected that, if his sailors had wanted to defy him, they would have found a way past the sentries.
He did impose a punishment that he knew was likely be the most effective in preventing a recurrence of the offence. He stopped their rum ration for the next three weeks. For most of the crew, the issuing of a tot of rum was the highlight of their day and every one of the offenders would be reminded of how they had disappointed their commander and blemished the good name of their ship each time they had to watch the rest of their mates getting tots in the normal fashion while they could only look on with no solace.
Next, Giles ordered that the whole crew be assembled on deck. Speaking from the quarterdeck railing, he reminded them again that they were their country’s representatives, but the meat of his lecture came when he announced what the penalties were for those who had ignored his first command. He forcefully promised that in future any man who left the ship without permission would have his rum suspended for one month and also would be flogged. His crew knew that he only resorted to the lash when offences
involved stealing from shipmates. This departure from the norm should indicate how very seriously he considered the matter. Giles, they knew, did not issue idle threats so that all of them should now be fully aware of how very seriously he regarded the matter.
The ball that evening was held in the Tsar’s Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva River. It was not in honor of the British visitors, but had some other reason for being held that Giles did not understand. They arrived at the water gate to the palace and were directed to the main staircase, a magnificent doubled structure that led to the ball room, a vast hall brightly illuminated by elaborate chandeliers and featuring a most intricate parquet floor. Lieutenant Pirov gave their names to a richly liveried servant who in turn shouted them out. Lord Malthampton immediately came over to introduce them to many of the important dignitaries who were present, most of whom had not been at his own reception. Many of the men who had been introduced on the previous evening bowed to Giles politely even before he could acknowledge them while the women responded with curtsies to his bows. The one exception was Countess Maria Nicholaevna Donskaya, still wearing her outdated clothes and with the same elaborate headdress. She pointedly turned away, ignoring his bow. He was quite happy to be cut by her and wondered naughtily whether her mouse had given birth to more little rodents.
With Giles and his officers well supplied with people to talk with, Lord Malthampton drifted off towards a group where Sir Walcott was holding forth. Soon the orchestra was heard tuning up before launching into a stately minuet. Giles at the time had been talking with a lady to whom he had been introduced although he had not quite caught her name. He had heard that she was a princess so he could use her honorific title in polite conversation. She spoke impeccable, though highly accented, English.
Giles loved to dance and seeing that the first place on the Princess’s card had yet to be taken, he took the opportunity to ask her to join him in the stately dance. Unlike the Countess, the Princess was wearing a gown in the latest French style, in a light fabric, tied beneath her bust, but otherwise free flowing. It left little to the imagination about what the dress concealed and Giles noted that the Princess had a very attractive figure. She seemed to be flirting with him and brushing against him more than the dance required. Her conversation revealed that her husband was away and that her palace was magnificent. He would undoubtedly find it fascinating. When the minuet finished, Giles escorted the Princess back to her group, but secured another place on her dance card.
A War by Diplomacy_At Home and At Sea, 1804 Page 19