Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 7 007 Miss Amy du Buc de Riveri will be the stepmother (Part 2)

Mikhail was still quite concerned about his stepmother. She seemed to be very kind to his sister Yulia, and she was also a French lady. However, during the conversation, she did not speak Russian, but she was also trying to learn it. After all, the Solovyov Baron's family was not like Count Tolstoy or Duke Volkonsky, which had been passed down for many generations. Their family was only the third generation to Mikhail's generation, and the fourth of the four brothers, Fyodor, was the trusted butler of Prince Menshikov, but he did not get the title. In the eyes of the old nobles, he always felt like a nouveau riche and a flatterer.

The one who could send the invitation was Prince Saltykov (in fact, his family was still a count at that time, and was later promoted by Alexander I. In order to distinguish the other branches of his family, this statement was made). I still remember that there was such a family, which might also be related to the family of Lieutenant General Grushetsky. The Lieutenant General introduced his own adjutant who retired early to social occasions, but they were more often in the countryside of Ryazan. After all, being a "manager" for more senior masters is their family's traditional skill.

The guests attending the banquet were naturally a family of four. It was also normal to bring children to Prince Saltykov's official residence at No. 33 Bolshaya Moskaya Street. Some noble lords, like the Dolgorukov family, had at least three children at home. If they just left their children at home, especially those young children, it would inevitably remind people of the strange accident in which General Kutuzov's only son was suffocated by the chest of a reckless young nanny-of course, this one-eyed general also had five daughters, and the older ones were already at the age of marriage.

What was not so coincidental about this day was that when the Solovyov family arrived at the Prince's residence, General Kutuzov and his family's women came here together.

"General, long time no see."

"Is it Sergei, Vasily Vladimirovich's adjutant? You were injured in the Crimea. How are you now?"

"Thanks to the Emperor, it has been more than 20 years. Although this leg is a little lame, it does not affect my social activities, let alone hunting. This is my fiancée, Miss de Riveri, and this is my son Mikhail, and my daughter Yulia."

Kutuzov actually knew what this introduction was about. After all, the lieutenant general's adjutant Baron Sergei's wife died once. This was a trivial matter for a person like him who served as the governor and the principal of the military academy, but he could also remember it. Some soldiers said that he could even see the foot wraps hidden in the boots of the big-headed soldiers, so he could naturally notice Mikhail's regimental emblem and officer logo.

"Well, young man, please introduce yourself."

"Yes, General, I am the adjutant of His Excellency Duke Dmitri Volkonsky, the commander of the Moscow Grenadiers. I used to be in the Suzdal Regiment and came to St. Petersburg with His Excellency the Duke."

"Well, kid, this introduction is very brief, but when you are an adjutant, you have to pay attention to many things. If your superior is a hardworking person, you have to assist him in doing his job. If it is someone like me, well, you may have to work harder and help me think of many things."

Speaking of which, if Kutuzov is second in pretending to be confused in all of Russia, no one should be able to claim to be the first. And he also has a lot of problems with gluttony and sleepiness, but these are minor problems. His remaining eye is not blind.

"Yes, General."

"Well, that's right, Sergei, your son is very energetic, and his eyes reveal a sense of intelligence. You can say what you should say, but don't say too much about some things. This is what an adjutant should do. However, he is only an adjutant to a regiment commander and a brigade commander. If Volkonsky doesn't take into account his injuries, he will still have a bright future. That's it. While you are young, you have to work hard. Children of seventeen or eighteen years old will still have a bright future."

"Yes, General."

After Baron Sergei replied, Kutuzov's carriage continued to move forward. After all, they had to find a suitable place to get off on the street. The Solovyov family, who could reach the residence by foot from Laundry Lane, went directly into the official residence of His Royal Highness.

The various people who have arrived also show the bizarre side of the late 18th century. All the nobles and ladies are wearing gorgeous and exaggerated clothes. The "Rococo" trend of Madame Pompadour at that time has not completely passed. The interior decoration also shows the characteristics of the era of ostentation and complexity, which may also be in line with the taste of the owner of this official residence.

Even if it is the Rococo style, it is too vulgar to be decorated like this. Mikhail is also looking for a place where people can sit quietly. There is a briefcase under his arm. It is not a map or document, but something he and his old servant and carpenter Sergey have launched in cooperation.

That is, handmade pencils and makeup pencils, each of which is packed in a paper box. In fact, even if there is no order to liberate serfs, craftsmen like old Sergey should have been restored to freedom long ago. Maybe going out to start a business and become a carpenter has a better future.

And today, Mikhail brought these things, in fact, he meant to promote them to these ladies.

The first to enter were the owner of this salon, Nikolai Ivanovich, the prince, and his wife Natalia Vladimirovna. Mikhail was attracted by the sharp expression of this lady and her eyes that were always staring at others. Although she was old, such a "witch" appearance gave people an uncomfortable feeling, even a little... At least this lady was famous for her sarcastic words in social occasions. She looked like this now, and it was hard to associate her with a famous beauty in Petersburg when she was young.

As for Miss de Rivery, she was directed at the Soloviev family as soon as she opened her mouth. After all, she was French and was not the person to entertain this salon. She was subjected to the sharp words of this lady just because of her typical French dress: "Baron, est-ce votre fiancée?" (Baron, this is your fiancée, right?)

"Oui, Madame le Prince." (Yes, the princess's wife.)

Baron Sergei and his son Mikhail both felt uncomfortable. Mikhail was accompanied by his sister Yulia. He could clearly feel that his sister's little hand was grabbing his tights. It was indeed a bit uncomfortable to be stared at by such a "witch".

"You look young and are about the same age as your son. Does that make you feel young?" (She looks young and is about the same age as your son. Does that make you feel young?)

This made Sergei feel embarrassed. Although Miss de Rivery did not retort out of respect for her master, her eyes also revealed a desire to eat people. This girl is a French girl from Guadeloupe and Martinique in the West Indies. Unlike the noble ladies in the local area who can't carry anything, she is more or less wild. The old baron should have proposed to her for this reason, and because he saw that she was brought to Russia alone, it was pitiful, and some factors that we all knew. On the premise of mutual affection, Mikhail couldn't control what his father did, no matter whether it was the original or the current one, it was the same.

"Madame the Prince, I think everyone is a young captive, but as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, only snakes can live forever, and humans cannot do this, even Queen Zoe of Constantinople, who looked young all her life, will eventually die."

This statement was made with quotations from classics and without any bends. Mikhail really couldn't stand this lady, who spoke harshly at the beginning, so he retorted.

In contrast, the smooth prince was very popular at court, although everyone knew his true nature, while the lady, who had been unpopular since the time of Empress Catherine, was disliked by everyone around her, including her son Alexander Nikolayevich, now a senior Russian civil servant, who stood aside and felt that his mother's words to the guests were rather impolite.

"Mother, I think at this time, we should follow the general rules of entertaining guests, invite our guests to sit in the area they want, and on such a lovely occasion, we should find some fun for the guests." (Mother, I think at this time, we should follow the general rules of entertaining guests, invite our guests to sit in the area they want, and on such a lovely occasion, we should find some fun for the guests.)

If you don't take into account that Mikhail likes to quote scriptures when he speaks, this should be the longest conversation between the guests and hosts in today's salon. If he talks too much, he is obviously worried about the culture of everyone here. The level should be very difficult to understand long and difficult sentences in French.

Mikhail felt that the face of this master who came to smooth things over was easily reminiscent of a permanent secretary, the famous Sir Humphry Appleby. There was a slight resemblance in profile, but in 1797 , he is only 24 years old, and even now single, he has the opportunity to become a member of the Privy Council of Tsar Paul.

Of course, he himself is very polite, elegant and easy-going. It can be said that the embarrassment has been resolved after Nai Mu's extreme bad breath. His Highness also found that the young baron in front of him seemed to be articulate and not easy to mess with, so he thought The servant who went to No. 4 Laundry Lane a few days ago was astonished, "That 'groom boy' speaks French pretty well."

As for Mademoiselle de Rivery, she should also know that some of the minor problems she was originally worried about, such as the terrible situation that the baron's son would not accept her, should not exist. This man is only 5 years younger than her. The "stepson" came out directly to save the situation, but it was not easy for her to understand some of the quotations. She only knew that Mikhail directly mocked the hostess as an old woman who was about to die. Fortunately, most of the guests had not arrived yet. Otherwise, the trouble will be huge.

Prince Saltykov smiled helplessly at his wife's behavior. He actually hadn't said a word until now, but he also knew that the old baron was the former adjutant of Lieutenant General Grushetsky, even though he was just He is a local squire with a low status, but he has some relationship with their family. After all, his venomous and annoying wife is also a member of the Dolgorukov family, and the meaning of their family may have a little bit of " The extended meaning of "mean, poisonous tongue".

Of course, in order to avoid embarrassment, he looked at the young baron and found that he was a neatly dressed grenadier lieutenant. Although his size did not meet the requirements of a grenadier, he should be the adjutant of the nobleman. The two Dukes of Andre enter , and then after Duke Dmitry Volkonsky and his nephew Peter entered the room, they saw Mikhail saluting Dmitri and returning his bag. They should have known that Emperor Paul had issued an order A general serving in Petersburg, this guy was his adjutant.

Although this Duke cannot be said to be popular, he can be regarded as one of the nobles who will be promoted in the future. What's more, his nephew is still close to Crown Prince Alexander. Although according to the inheritance law, the nephew will inherit his uncle's property and part of his status, but from now on In terms of the role of their family, the nephew may have more weight in the future.

Moreover, his capable second son, the only one who can be regarded as outstanding, does not have a good relationship with Prince Peter Volkonsky. This relationship was forged very early, and he had to eat some at the Crown Prince's place. suffering. Moreover, this count (who inherited the original title of his father's family) has always been cautious and likes to use those beautiful and defining words in French to talk in circles. Alexander does not like him very much, like the other people present today. Several handsome young soldiers Officials, the two sons of General Dolgorukov, are young, handsome and full of vigor, and are even more popular with the crown prince himself - obviously he pays attention to the appearance of a face, and at the same time is willing to use his Only his ears, deafened by the cannon, listened to what he wanted to hear.

This is a common practice in the Russian court, and Baron Mikhail, because of an unpleasant conversation with the hostess, was thrown at the children's table with his sister Yulia. According to age, Solovy My husband happens to be about the same as young officers. He is 1 year younger than Mikhail, the younger of the Dolgorukov brothers, and his birthday is on the same day, so there is some topic.

"Votre Altesse, êtes-vous vraiment allée dans le Caucase pour combattre ces Perses?" (Your Highness, did you really go to the Caucasus to fight those Persians?)

“It’s a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great place to be, a great mission to be done” légions." (It was just a small battle, the Persians only caused us a little trouble in Derbent, and then they retreated, and the Emperor terminated the mission of our legions.)

Then came the conclusion of the peace treaty. This handsome officer still felt that this time was not enough for him to make achievements. He was a young man of only 17 years old, but he was very ambitious. It seemed that every battle could give him opportunities for military exploits and promotion. I wish him good luck.

At this time, the two Mikhails were clearly divided. On one side were children and servants brought by the old men, and on the other side was the world of adults, just like two young officers of sixteen or seventeen years old. They were chatting happily, and the young light cavalry officer also noticed the briefcase of the Grenadier Lieutenant.

"Votre commandant estégalement là. Avez-vous des affaires officielles aujourd'hui?" (Your commander is also here, is there still official business today?)

"Non, il continuous des crayons, des crayons de couleur, des crayons à sourcils et des eye-liners." (No, there are pencils, crayons, eyebrow pencils and eyeliners.)

Then he opened the briefcase, which indeed contained these things, and pointed at Mademoiselle de Rivery.

"Regardez, cette dame, Mademoiselle de Rivery, que mon père vaépouser, s'est maquillée avec ce genre d'eye-liner aujourd'hui, vous ne trouvez pas que c'est beau ?” (Look, that lady, Mademoiselle de Rivieri, my father is going to marry her, she used this kind of eyeliner for her makeup today, don’t you think she’s beautiful?)

Mikhail Dolgorukov was also surprised that when this man said it, he seemed to have no pressure at all. You must know that the second marriage also involves some issues of property division, but this Mikhail El seemed unfazed and used the stepmother as a display stand.

Of course, this lady looks good. She learned social etiquette and some common sense at home in school in Nantes, and suffered hardships among the Barbary pirates in Algiers, but she doesn't look very old, more like He was a child, who seemed to be about the same age as these officers. Even though he was already 21 years old, his smile still had a youthful cuteness, and the ladies seemed to be discussing how well she painted her eyebrows.

"C'est magnifique. Ton père, le baron Sergey, a vraiment de la chance. J'en ai entendu parler par mes amis de la marineà mon retour." (It's beautiful, your father, Baron Sergey is really good. Lucky me, I heard about this from my friends in the Navy when I came back.)

"Oui." Mikhail only replied with one word to express his affirmation of Dolgorukov's words, but he did not expect that many places should know that the baron was going to marry a young French woman. Considering that Ushako Given the discipline of Admiral Husband's Black Sea Fleet and the traditions of this fleet, it is not surprising that something happened.

"It's the perfect place to fill your eyes, it's the best choice, it's the best choice. It's the best noir. It's the perfect petite fillet, it's Julia, it's cheveux bruns, it's the best parfait." .Numéro de couleur." (If you have a girl you like, you can choose to give her one, this one is black. If she is like... the little girl next to my sister Yulia, with brown hair, she will be very suitable for this color .)

Some people are born to be in the business of young ladies and children, and they have to put some thought into dressing up a 6-year-old girl.