From Governess To Countess

‘No one would dare sit in the presence of the Emperor—or his deputy.’

‘Arakcheev.’ Allison couldn’t repress a shudder. ‘I most sincerely hope that was my first and only encounter with that odious man, if you don’t mind me being so blunt.’

‘I don’t, it’s what I much prefer, and you’re the only person in this city who’s likely to indulge me.’ Aleksei drained his tea in one gulp, a soldier’s habit, Allison assumed, and set the cup on the tray before leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees. ‘So! I promised you last night that I’d come clean with you, and I’m a man of my word. But before I do, I must stress that everything I’m about to tell you is in the strictest confidence.’

‘As I said last night, you can trust me, Count—Aleksei.’

‘And as I said last night, you can have no idea how much trust I’m about to place in you. The Derevenko name is a venerable one. My brother was one of the wealthiest men in Russia. He was also the figurehead of one of the most powerful dynasties in the country, with the ear and the protection of the Tsar himself. If anyone in this city got wind of my suspicions, all hell would break loose, whether I’m right or wrong.’

Allison stared at him, quite confounded. ‘I am not sure—what is it you suspect?’

‘Assassination.’

Her jaw dropped. ‘I think perhaps I misheard you. Or perhaps your English—though it is most excellent. But you can’t have meant...’

‘I suspect my brother Michael was murdered,’ Aleksei informed her matter of factly, ‘and I need you to help me to discover whether or not I am correct.’

Utterly thrown, Allison ran her fingers through her hair, forgetting that it was not tied simply back but in a tight chignon, disrupting several pins in the process. ‘How on earth can I help? I am no Bow Street Runner, I’m a herbalist.’

‘Precisely! As far as the world is concerned, my brother died of natural causes, and that is what the world must continue to think until we can prove otherwise. I suspect he was poisoned, which is where you come in.’

‘Couldn’t you have consulted a local expert? Why send halfway around the world for me.’

‘I thought I’d made that clear,’ Aleksei replied with a hint of impatience. ‘You had a glimpse of what St Petersburg is like last night. Gossip is a way of life here, everyone’s life is an open book. I need an outsider with no ties here. No one knows you. Though the reality is that my wards require neither English lessons nor nursing, no one will question your notional title of governess.’

And all would assume that her duties extended from the schoolroom to Aleksei’s bed. Allison rubbed at her temples, distractedly pulling out several more hairpins. ‘Did The Procurer know your real requirements?’

‘She did. I heard of her from a fellow officer. He did not tell me the particulars of his own case, only that he had been obliged to be scrupulously honest in his dealings with her. He’d tried to pull the wool over her eyes, and she almost refused the commission. I decided I couldn’t take that risk, and so I was brutally honest.’

‘She was not quite so truthful with me.’

‘Clearly.’ Aleksei eyed her quizzically. ‘Would you be here, if she had been?’

Her hand instinctively clutched her locket, concealed beneath the neckline of her day gown. The Procurer had given her the opportunity, but it had been her grandmother’s belief in her which had given her the strength to take it. Now it was up to Allison to make the most of it. ‘I can’t tell you how glad I am that I did.’

Aleksei smiled at her, and she could have sworn that his smile tugged at something, an almost tangible connection between them. ‘I’ve no idea if I can help you,’ Allison said, ‘but I can promise, hand on heart, that I will do my utmost to do so. Tell me, in plain and simple terms exactly what it is that you suspect and why.’

* * *

‘Plain talking.’ Aleksei automatically made for the samovar, in need of another cup of tea, that panacea for all ills and aid to clear thinking. ‘What I have always preferred, though it is anathema here in Machiavellian St Petersburg. The starting point,’ he said, resuming his seat, ‘was when I received a letter from Michael’s man of business informing me that my brother and his wife had died within a few days of each other. I was shocked of course, and deeply saddened, but our imminent encounter with Napoleon at Waterloo was my priority, and so I gave little thought to the circumstances beyond assuming there must have been some sort of carriage accident. The matter of my guardianship was, as I’ve already told you, a most unwelcome surprise, but not one that I had much time to consider in the bloody aftermath of Waterloo, and the urgent need to look after the welfare my troops. It was only when I finally arrived here in St Petersburg that I began to worry that all was not what it seemed.’

Allison was listening intently, her teacup clutched, still full, in her lap. Aleksei set his own aside. ‘The first thing I discovered was that there had been no accident. Michael appeared to have died of an apoplexy, a violent heart seizure which killed him before the doctor could be summoned. Elizaveta then fell ill shortly thereafter, but her symptoms were quite different. A flux, breathlessness followed by palpitations, caused by a severe intolerance, the doctor confirmed. Here is a copy of his report.’

He handed over several pages of notes, which Allison quickly scanned. ‘The cause of the Duchess’s death is very clear. What is a coulibiac?’

‘A sort of fish pie, peasant food which my sister-in-law consumed on impulse at the market. She had been advised to avoid eating fish following previous adverse reactions as a child, as it says in the notes. It’s clear her death was nothing more than a tragic coincidence. Her reaction, as the doctor states, was severe, but not in the least bit suspicious.’

Allison frowned over the report. ‘But there is no suggestion that your brother’s death was attributable to any sort of poison. The doctor is quite clear, as you said, that he thinks it was due to an apoplexy.’

‘Thinks. But he is not certain,’ Aleksei said. ‘In fact, he told me that he was most surprised, because not only was my brother in rude health, Michael had just turned forty, a notoriously abstemious man and most unfashionably fond of taking exercise. What do you make of it?’

She spread her hands helplessly. ‘In my experience, apoplexies are more common in older men, or those who indulge in excessive consumption of food or wine, but it could simply be that your brother had a weak heart. Isn’t the more obvious conclusion what the doctor has described in his notes—a seizure of the heart?’

‘An obvious conclusion in London perhaps, but not in St Petersburg where poison and power are often bedfellows. And if it was not an apoplexy, it must have been poison, don’t you think?’

Allison scanned the report again. ‘No lesions or rashes. No signs of blunt force or trauma. Clear signs of stress of the heart but none to any other vital organs. I would have to study it more carefully, but—’

‘I know, it is not much to go on,’ Aleksei interrupted her, ‘but the manner of Michael’s death is not the only factor which aroused my suspicions. There is also the sudden disappearance of Anna Orlova, the children’s governess, which I mentioned yesterday.’

‘You can’t mean that you suspect the governess capable of murder?’

‘I know, it sounds far-fetched, but it is even more far-fetched, when you take account of the circumstances, to conclude she was not complicit in some way. Why else would she abandon her charges, whom she is purported to be devoted to, so suddenly and the day before Michael died? And if she has nothing to hide, why is she, paradoxically, in hiding?’

‘I assumed that you wanted to find her for the children’s sake,’ Allison said, sounding quite dazed. ‘I agree, in the context you have described that it looks suspicious, but she was not even present when he died. Not that that means—for there are poisons which are slow acting or have a delayed effect, but—what had she to gain from killing her employer? And such an illustrious one—a duke, for heaven’s sake.’

‘The Orlova woman was due a small bequest, but it has not been paid, since her whereabouts are unknown, and as a motive for murder, where the punishment would not only be death but torture—no, it beggars belief.’

‘What of the other beneficiaries of your brother’s will?’

‘Aside from the legacy to myself, there are no other significant beneficiaries. Michael left everything to his children, as indeed, did Elizaveta, which leaves my nieces and nephew extremely wealthy indeed, but I think we can rule them out.’

‘Aleksei!’

‘A poor joke,’ he said with an apologetic smile. ‘The children’s guardian has the most to gain, for he has their vast assets and their malleable minds entirely at his disposal.’

‘But you are their guardian.’

‘Which brings me to the root cause of my suspicions. Michael changed his will about a week before he died. According to his man of business, the change was to be kept under wraps until such time as Michael chose to inform the relevant parties. I’ve no idea if he informed Elizaveta, but as you know, I was in the dark, as was my first cousin, Felix Golitsyn, who until the change was the nominee of long standing.’

Aleksei drummed his fingers on his thigh, frowning off into the distance. ‘Felix was the first person to call on me to pay his condolences, though he was so grief-stricken himself, it was I who consoled him in the end. Michael’s man of business had fetched him from Peterhof Palace, some distance down river of here, where he had been staying when my brother died. It fell to my cousin, as Michael’s nearest male relative, to take charge of the funeral arrangements in my absence. Felix fully expected to take custody of the children too, and when he was informed of the change of guardianship it came as quite a shock.’

‘But if your logic is correct,’ Allison said, clearly struggling to keep track, ‘if this cousin did not know your brother had changed his will, then surely that makes him the prime suspect?’

‘Aside from the Orlova woman, you mean? Yes, I’m afraid that it does,’ he agreed heavily. ‘I find it very hard to believe, but as you point out, the logic is inescapable. I would give almost anything to prove his innocence, however.’

‘You must care a great deal for your cousin.’

‘The truth is I care more for what my cousin can do for me,’ Aleksei replied, ‘which is take my wards off my hands. Felix understands the workings of the palace and the court, and he’s much more familiar with the family estates than I am.’

‘Yet your brother clearly thought he was no longer suitable.’

‘I know, dammit. But until I find out why he changed his mind I cannot discount the possibility that it is somehow connected with his death.’

Allison was toying with one of her hairpins, absentmindedly bending it to form a circle. ‘Do you suspect anyone else?’

‘No one.’ Aleksei grimaced. ‘And everyone. I have gone through Michael’s accounts with a fine toothcomb and found no evidence of extortion, of shady dealings, property transactions or unusual payments or deposits. The political posts he held were much coveted but they now lie within Nikki’s gift—or mine, at the moment. No, if it was murder, and if it was not committed by either the Orlova woman or Felix, then the field is wide open. Assuming that we rule out a crime of passion which, believe me, knowing my brother, we can, the motive could be anything—revenge, a personal vendetta. Michael would have been privy to any number of potentially explosive secrets. Was he killed to silence him? Who knows?’