and simple joys of the countryside. What could be pleasanter
than playing in the country with palaces and flocks of servants in
the background? Every day they went to collect nuts, pick flow-
ers, and hunt for mushrooms, speaking with a paternal kindness
to the serfs on the estate, taking an interest in the health of the
animals grazing in the meadows or ruminating in the cattle sheds.
While Ostermann quizzed the spies whom he had sent to Is-
mailovo, keeping tabs on the progress of Simon Naryshkin and
Elizabeth’s bucolic love affair, the Dolgorukys in Gorenky contin-
ued to cherish, in spite of some alarms, the idea of a marriage be-
tween Katya and the tsar.
To cover all the bases, they thought it would be appropriate
not only to wed Tsar Peter II to Catherine Dolgoruky, but for
good measure to marry his aunt Elizabeth to Ivan Dolgoruky, as
well. However, now the latest tidings held that the idiotic Eliza-
beth was infatuated with Naryshkin. Such an unexpected crush
was liable to upset the entire plan. This would have to be
stamped out at once! Going for broke, the Dolgorukys threatened
to have Elizabeth locked up in a convent for misconduct if she
insisted on preferring Naryshkin over Dolgoruky. But the young
woman had the blood of Peter the Great in her veins, and in a flash
of pride, she refused to obey. The Dolgorukys, however, had all
the connections. The principal apparatuses of the State did their
bidding, and Naryshkin received an order from the Supreme Privy
Council to set out immediately on a foreign mission. He would be
kept abroad for as long as necessary for Elizabeth to forget about
< 54 >
him.
Frustrated once more in love, she wept, raged and pondered
how to take her revenge. However, she quickly recognized that
she was impotent to fight against the machinations of the High
Council. And she could not even count on Peter to defend her in-
terests anymore: he was far too absorbed by his own sentimental
problems to deal with those of his aunt. According to the gossip,
he had almost repudiated Katya when he learned that she had had
clandestine meetings with another aspirant, a certain Count
Millesimo, an attaché at the German embassy in Russia. Fright-
ened by the consequences of such a break-up, and under pressure
to keep the tsar from balking, the Dolgorukys arranged for a dis-
creet tête-à-tête between Katya and Peter, in a hunting lodge,
hoping for a reconciliation. And that very evening, showing up
just at the moment of the first caresses, the girl’s father declared
the family’s honor to have been outraged and he demanded formal
reparations. The strangest thing is that this crude subterfuge bore
fruit. It is impossible to know whether the “culprit” thus sur-
prised
to his feelings for Katya, to fear of scandal, or simply to laziness.
In any event, on Catherine’s birthday, October 22, 1729, the
Dolgorukys revealed to their guests that the girl had just been
promised in marriage to the Tsar. On November 19, the Supreme
Privy Council received the official announcement of the engage-
ment and, on the 30th, a religious ceremony was held in Moscow
at Lefortovo Palace, where Peter generally stayed during his brief
stops in that city. The old tsarina Eudoxia agreed to come out of
retirement to bless the young couple. All the dignitaries of the
empire, all the foreign ambassadors were present in the room,
awaiting the arrival of the bride-elect. Her brother Ivan, Peter’s
former favorite, went to escort her from Golovin Palace, where she
was staying with her mother. The procession traversed the city,
< 55 >
cheered by a crowd of good people who, looking on such youth
and such magnificence, thought they beheld the happy conclusion
of a fairytale. At the entrance to the Lefortovo Palace, the crown
surmounting the roof of the coach in which the bride was riding
struck the lintel of the gateway and crashed resoundingly to the
pavement. Superstitious onlookers saw this incident as a bad
omen.
But Katya did not stumble. Crossing the threshold of the
ceremonial hall, she stood perfectly straight. Bishop Feofan Pro-
kopovich invited her to come forward with Peter. The couple
took their places under a silver and gold canopy held aloft by two
generals. After the rings were exchanged, artillery salutes and
pealing bells preceded a long stream of congratulations. Accord-
ing to protocol, the Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna stepped forward
and, trying to forget that she was the daughter of Peter the Great,
kissed the hand of a “subject” named Catherine Dolgoruky. A bit
later, it was Peter II’s turn to swallow his spite, for the Count de
Millesimo, having approached Catherine, was bowing down be-
fore her. She was just about to extend her hand to him. Peter
would have liked to prevent that gesture of courtesy, which he
considered out of place. But she moved too quickly, and sponta-
