RUSSIA AND POLAND - Chapter XIX
My Stay at Riga--Campioni St. Heleine--D'Asagon--Arrival of the
Empress--I Leave Riga and Go to St. Petersburg--I See Society--
I Buy Zaira
Prince Charles de Biron, the younger son of the Duke of Courland,
Major-General in the Russian service, Knight of the Order of St.
Alexander Newski, gave me a distinguished reception after reading his
father's letter. He was thirty-six years of age, pleasant-looking
without being handsome, and polite and well-mannered, and he spoke
French extremely well. In a few sentences he let me know what he
could do for me if I intended to spend some time at Riga. His table,
his friends, his pleasures, his horses, his advice, and his purse,
all these were at my service, and he offered them with the frankness
of the soldier and the geniality of the prince.
"I cannot offer you a lodging," he said, "because I have hardly
enough room for myself, but I will see that you get a comfortable
apartment somewhere."
The apartment was soon found, and I was taken to it by one of the
prince's aides-de-camp. I was scarcely established when the prince
came to see me, and made me dine with him just as I was. It was an
unceremonious dinner, and I was pleased to meet Campioni, of whom I
have spoken several times in these Memoirs. He was a dancer, but
very superior to his fellows, and fit for the best company polite,
witty, intelligent, and a libertine in a gentlemanly way. He was
devoid of prejudices, and fond of women, good cheer, and heavy play,
and knew how to keep an even mind both in good and evil fortune. We
were mutually pleased to see each other again.
Another guest, a certain Baron de St. Heleine from Savoy, had a
pretty but very insignificant wife. The baron, a fat man, was a
gamester, a gourmand, and a lover of wine; add that he was a past
master in the art of getting into debt and lulling his creditors into
a state of false security, and you have all his capacities, for in
all other respects he was a fool in the fullest sense of the word.
An aide-decamp and the prince's mistress also dined with us. This
mistress, who was pale, thin, and dreamy-looking, but also pretty,
might be twenty years old. She hardly ate anything, saying that she
was ill and did not like anything on the table. Discontent shewed
itself on her every feature. The prince endeavoured, but all in
vain, to make her eat and drink, she refused everything disdainfully.
The prince laughed good-humouredly at her in such a manner as not to
wound her feelings.
We spent two hours pleasantly enough at table, and after coffee had
been served, the prince, who had business, shook me by the hand and
left me with Campioni, telling me always to regard his table as my
last resource.
This old friend and fellow-countryman took me to his house to
introduce me to his wife and family. I did not know that he had
married a second time. I found the so-called wife to be an
Englishwoman, thin, but full of intelligence. She had a daughter of
eleven, who might easily have been taken for fifteen; she, too, was
marvellously intelligent, and danced, sang, and played on the piano
and gave such glances that shewed that nature had been swifter than
her years. She made a conquest of me, and her father congratulated
me to my delight, but her mother offended her dreadfully by calling
her baby.
I went for a walk with Campioni, who gave me a good deal of
information, beginning with himself.
"I have lived for ten years," he said, "with that woman. Betty, whom
you admired so much, is not my daughter, the others are my children
by my Englishwoman. I have left St. Petersburg for two years, and I
live here well enough, and have pupils who do me credit. I play with
the prince, sometimes winning and sometimes losing, but I never win
enough to enable me to satisfy a wretched creditor I left at St.
Petersburg, who persecutes me on account of a bill of exchange. He
may put me in prison any day, and I am always expecting him to do
so."
"Is the bill for a large sum?"
"Five hundred roubles."
"That is only two thousand francs."
"Yes, but unfortunately I have not got it."
"You ought to annul the debt by paying small sums on account."
"The rascal won't let me."
"Then what do you propose doing?"
"Win a heavy sum, if I can, and escape into Poland.
"The Baron de St. Heleine will run away, too if he can, for he only
lives on credit. The prince is very useful to us, as we are able to
play at his house; but if we get into difficulty he could not
extricate us, as he is heavily in debt himself. He always loses at
play. His mistress is expensive, and gives him a great deal of
trouble by her ill-humour."
"Why is she so sour?"
"She wants him to keep his word, for he promised to get her married
at the end of two years; and on the strength of this promise she let
him give her two children. The two years have passed by and the
children are there, and she will no longer allow him to have anything
to do with her for fear of having a third child."
"Can't the prince find her a husband?"
"He did find her a lieutenant, but she won't hear of anybody under
the rank of major."
The prince gave a state dinner to General Woyakoff (for whom I had a
letter), Baroness Korf, Madame Ittinoff, and to a young lady who was
going to marry Baron Budberg, whom I had known at Florence, Turin,
and Augsburg, and whom I may possibly have forgotten to mention.
All these friends made me spend three weeks very pleasantly, and I
was especially pleased with old General Woyakoff. This worthy man
had been at Venice fifty years before, when the Russians were still
called Muscovites, and the founder of St. Petersburg was still alive.
He had grown old like an oak, without changing his horizons. He
thought the world was just the same as it had been when he was young,
and was eloquent in his praise of the Venetian Government, imagining
it to be still the same as he had left it.
At Riga an English merchant named Collins told me that the so-called
Baron de Stenau, who had given me the forged bill of exchange, had
been hanged in Portugal. This "baron" was a poor clerk, and the son
of a small tradesman, and had left his desk in search of adventure,
and thus he had ended. May God have mercy upon his soul!
One evening a Russian, on his way from Poland, where he had been
executing some commission for the Russian Court, called on the
prince, played, and lost twenty thousand roubles on his word of
honour. Campioni was the dealer. The Russian gave bills of exchange
in payment of his debts; but as soon as he got to St. Petersburg he
dishonoured his own bills, and declared them worthless, not caring
for his honour or good faith. The result of this piece of knavery
was not only that his creditors were defrauded, but gaming was
henceforth strictly forbidden in the officers' quarters.
This Russian was the same that betrayed the secrets of Elizabeth
Petrovna, when she was at war with Prussia. He communicated to
Peter, the empress's nephew and heir-presumptive, all the orders she
sent to her generals, and Peter in his turn passed on the information
to the Prussian king whom he worshipped.
On the death of Elizabeth, Peter put this traitor at the head of the
department for commerce, and the fellow actually made known, with the
Czar's sanction, the service for which he had received such a reward,
and thus, instead of looking upon his conduct as disgraceful, he
gloried over it. Peter could not have been aware of the fact that,
though it is sometimes necessary to reward treachery, the traitor
himself is always abhorred and despised.
I have remarked that it was Campioni who dealt, but he dealt for the
prince who held the bank. I had certain claims, but as I remarked
that I expected nothing and would gladly sell my expectations for a
hundred roubles, the prince took me at my word and gave me the amount
immediately. Thus I was the only person who made any money by our
night's play.
Catherine II, wishing to shew herself to her new subjects, over whom
she was in reality supreme, though she had put the ghost of a king in
the person of Stanislas Poniatowski, her former favourite, on the
throne of Poland, came to Riga, and it was then I saw this great
sovereign for the first time. I was a witness of the kindness and
affability with which she treated the Livonian nobility, and of the
way in which she kissed the young ladies, who had come to kiss her
hand, upon the mouth. She was surrounded by the Orloffs and by other
nobles who had assisted in placing her on the throne. For the
comfort and pleasure of her loyal subjects the empress graciously
expressed her intention of holding a bank at faro of ten thousand
roubles.
Instantly the table and the cards were brought forward, and the piles
of gold placed in order. She took the cards, pretended to shuffle
them, and gave them to the first comer to cut. She had the pleasure
of seeing her bank broken at the first deal, and indeed this result
was to be expected, as anybody not an absolute idiot could see how
the cards were going. The next day the empress set out for Mitau,
where triumphal arches were erected in her honour. They were made of
wood, as stone is scarce in Poland, and indeed there would not have
been time to build stone arches.
The day after her arrival great alarm prevailed, for news came that a
revolution was ready to burst out at St. Petersburg, and some even
said that it had begun. The rebels wished to have forth from his
prison the hapless Ivan Ivanovitz, who had been proclaimed emperor in
his cradle, and dethroned by Elizabeth Petrovna. Two officers to
whom the guardianship of the prince had been confided had killed the
poor innocent monarch when they saw that they would be overpowered.
The assassination of the innocent prince created such a sensation
that the wary Panin, fearing for the results, sent courier after
courier to the empress urging her to return to St. Petersburg and
shew herself to the people.
Catherine was thus obliged to leave Mitau twenty-four hours after she
had entered it, and after hastening back to the capital she arrived
only to find that the excitement had entirely subsided. For politic
reasons the assassins of the wretched Ivan were rewarded, and the
bold man who had endeavoured to rise by her fall was beheaded.
The report ran that Catherine had concerted the whole affair with the
assassins, but this was speedily set down as a calumny. The czarina
was strong-minded, but neither cruel nor perfidious. When I saw her
at Riga she was thirty-five, and had reigned two years. She was not
precisely handsome, but nevertheless her appearance was pleasing, her
expression kindly, and there was about her an air of calm and
tranquillity which never left her.
At about the same time a friend of Baron de St. Heleine arrived from
St. Petersburg on his way to Warsaw. His name was Marquis Dragon,
but he called himself d'Aragon. He came from Naples, was a great
gamester, a skilled swordsman, and was always ready to extract
himself from a difficulty by a duel. He had left St. Petersburg
because the Orloffs had persuaded the empress to prohibit games of
chance. It was thought strange that the prohibition should come from
the Orloffs, as gaming had been their principal means of gaining a
livelihood before they entered on the more dangerous and certainly
not more honourable profession of conspiracy. However, this measure
was really a sensible one. Having been gamesters themselves they
knew that gamesters are mostly knaves, and always ready to enter into
any intrigue or conspiracy provided it assures them some small gain;
there could not have been better judges of gaming and its
consequences than they were.
But though a gamester may be a rogue he may still have a good heart,
and it is only just to say that this was the case with the Orloffs.
Alexis gained the slash which adorns his face in a tavern, and the
man who gave the blow had just lost to him a large sum of money, and
considered his opponent's success to be rather the result of
dexterity than fortune. When Alexis became rich and powerful,
instead of revenging himself, he hastened to make his enemy's
fortune. This was nobly done.
Dragon, whose first principle was always to turn up the best card,
and whose second principle was never to shirk a duel, had gone to St.
Petersburg in 1759 with the Baron de St. Heleine. Elizabeth was
still on the throne, but Peter, Duke of Holstein, the heir-
presumptive, had already begun to loom large on the horizon. Dragon
used to frequent the fencing school where the prince was a frequent
visitor, and there encountered all comers successfully. The duke got
angry, and one day he took up a foil and defied the Neapolitan
marquis to a combat. Dragon accepted and was thoroughly beaten,
while the duke went off in triumph, for he might say from henceforth
that he was the best fencer in St. Petersburg.
When the prince had gone, Dragon could not withstand the temptation
of saying that he had only let himself be beaten for fear of
offending his antagonist; and this boast soon got to the grand-duke's
ears. The great man was terribly enraged, and swore he would have
him banished from St. Petersburg if he did not use all his skill, and
at the same time he sent an order to Dragon to be at the fencing
school the next day.
The impatient duke was the first to arrive, and d'Aragon was not long
in coming. The prince began reproaching him for what he had said the
day before, but the Neapolitan, far from denying the fact, expressed
himself that he had felt himself obliged to shew his respect for his
prince by letting him rap him about for upwards of two hours.
"Very good," said the duke, "but now it is your turn; and if you
don't do your best I will drive you from St. Petersburg."
"My lord, your highness shall be obeyed. I shall not allow you to
touch me once, but I hope you will deign to take me under your
protection."
The two champions passed the whole morning with the foils, and the
duke was hit a hundred times without being able to touch his
antagonist. At last, convinced of Dragon's superiority, he threw
down his foil and shook him by the hand, and made him his fencer-in-
ordinary, with the rank of major in his regiment of Holsteiners.
Shortly after, D'Aragon having won the good graces of the duke
obtained leave to hold a bank at faro in his court, and in three or
four years he amassed a fortune of a hundred thousand roubles, which
he took with him to the Court of King Stanislas, where games of all
sorts were allowed. When he passed through Riga, St. Heleine
introduced him to Prince Charles, who begged him to call on him the
next day, and to shew his skill with the foils against himself and
some of his friends. I had the honour to be of the number; and
thoroughly well he beat us, for his skill was that of a demon. I was
vain enough to become angry at being hit at every pass, and told him
that I should not be afraid to meet him at a game of sharps. He was
calmer, and replied by taking my hand, and saying,--
"With the naked sword I fence in quite another style, and you are
quite right not to fear anyone, for you fence very well."
D'Aragon set out for Warsaw the next day, but he unfortunately found
the place occupied by more cunning Greeks than himself. In six
months they had relieved him of his hundred thousand roubles, but
such is the lot of gamesters; no craft can be more wretched than
theirs.
A week before I left Riga (where I stayed two months) Campioni fled
by favour of the good Prince Charles, and in a few days the Baron de
St. Heleine followed him without taking leave of a noble army of
creditors. He only wrote a letter to the Englishman Collins, to whom
he owed a thousand crowns, telling him that like an honest man he had
left his debts where he had contracted them. We shall hear more of
these three persons in the course of two years.
Campioni left me his travelling carriage, which obliged me to use six
horses on my journey to St. Petersburg. I was sorry to leave Betty,
and I kept up an epistolary correspondence with her mother throughout
the whole of my stay at St. Petersburg.
I left Riga with the thermometer indicating fifteen degrees of frost,
but though I travelled day and night, not leaving the carriage for
the sixty hours for which my journey lasted, I did not feel the cold
in the least. I had taken care to pay all the stages in advance, and
Marshal Braun, Governor of Livonia, had given me the proper passport.
On the box seat was a French servant who had begged me to allow him
to wait on me for the journey in return for a seat beside the
coachman. He kept his word and served me well, and though he was but
ill clad he bore the horrible cold for two days and three nights
without appearing to feel it. It is only a Frenchman who can bear
such trials; a Russian in similar attire would have been frozen to
death in twenty-four hours, despite plentiful doses of corn brandy.
I lost sight of this individual when I arrived at St. Petersburg,
but I met him again three months after, richly dressed, and occupying
a seat beside mine at the table of M. de Czernitscheff. He was the
uchitel of the young count, who sat beside him. But I shall have
occasion to speak more at length of the office of uchitel, or tutor,
in Russia.
As for Lambert, who was beside me in the carriage, he did nothing but
eat, drink, and sleep the whole way; seldom speaking, for he
stammered, and could only talk about mathematical problems, on which
I was not always in the humour to converse. He was never amusing,
never had any sensible observation to make on the varied scenes
through which we passed; in short, he was a fool, and wearisome to
all save himself.
I was only stopped once, and that was at Nawa, where the authorities
demanded a passport, which I did not possess. I told the governor
that as I was a Venetian, and only travelled for pleasure, I did not
conceive a passport would be necessary, my Republic not being at war
with any other power, and Russia having no embassy at Venice.
"Nevertheless," I added, "if your excellency wills it I will turn
back; but I shall complain to Marshal Braun, who gave me the passport
for posting, knowing that I had not the political passport."
After rubbing his forehead for a minute, the governor gave me a pass,
which I still possess, and which brought me into St. Petersburg,
without my having to allow the custom-house officers to inspect my
trunks.
Between Koporie and St. Petersburg there is only a wretched hut for
the accommodation of travellers. The country is a wilderness, and
the inhabitants do not even speak Russian. The district is called
Ingria, and I believe the jargon spoken has no affinity with any
other language. The principal occupation of the peasants is robbery,
and the traveller does well not to leave any of his effects alone for
a moment.
I got to St. Petersburg just as the first rays of the sun began to
gild the horizon. It was in the winter solstice, and the sun rose at
the extremity of an immense plain at twenty-four minutes past nine,
so I am able to state that the longest night in Russia consists of
eighteen hours and three quarters.
I got down in a fine street called the Millione. I found a couple of
empty rooms, which the people of the house furnished with two beds,
four chairs, and two small tables, and rented to me very cheaply.
Seeing the enormous stoves, I concluded they must consume a vast
amount of wood, but I was mistaken. Russia is the land of stoves as
Venice is that of cisterns. I have inspected the interior of these
stoves in summer-time as minutely as if I wished to find out the
secret of making them; they are twelve feet high by six broad, and
are capable of warming a vast room. They are only refuelled once in
twenty-four hours, for as soon as the wood is reduced to the state of
charcoal a valve is shut in the upper part of the stove.
It is only in the houses of noblemen that the stoves are refuelled
twice a day, because servants are strictly forbidden to close the
valve, and for a very good reason.
If a gentleman chance to come home and order his servants to warm his
room before he goes to bed, and if the servant is careless enough to
close the valve before the wood is reduced to charcoal, then the
master sleeps his last sleep, being suffocated in three or four
hours. When the door is opened in the morning he is found dead, and
the poor devil of a servant is immediately hanged, whatever he may
say. This sounds severe, and even cruel; but it is a necessary
regulation, or else a servant would be able to get rid of his master
on the smallest provocation.
After I had made an agreement for my board and lodging, both of which
were very cheap (now St. Petersburg, is as dear as London), I brought
some pieces of furniture which were necessaries for me, but which
were not as yet much in use in Russia, such as a commode, a bureau, &c.
German is the language principally spoken in St. Petersburg, and I
did not speak German much better then than I do now, so I had a good
deal of difficulty in making myself understood, and usually excited
my auditors to laughter.
After dinner my landlord told me that the Court was giving a masked
ball to five thousand persons to last sixty hours. He gave me a
ticket, and told me I only needed to shew it at the entrance of the
imperial palace.
I decided to use the ticket, for I felt that I should like to be
present at so numerous an assembly, and as I had my domino still by
me a mask was all I wanted. I went to the palace in a sedan-chair,
and found an immense crowd assembled, and dancing going on in several
halls in each of which an orchestra was stationed. There were long
counters loaded with eatables and drinkables at which those who were
hungry or thirsty ate or drank as much as they liked. Gaiety and
freedom reigned everywhere, and the light of a thousand wax candles
illuminated the hall. Everything was wonderful, and all the more so
from its contrast with the cold and darkness that were without. All
at once I heard a masquer beside me say to another,--
"There's the czarina."
We soon saw Gregory Orloff, for his orders were to follow the empress
at a distance.
I followed the masquer, and I was soon persuaded that it was really
the empress, for everybody was repeating it, though no one openly
recognized her. Those who really did not know her jostled her in the
crowd, and I imagined that she would be delighted at being treated
thus, as it was a proof of the success of her disguise. Several
times I saw her speaking in Russian to one masquer and another. No
doubt she exposed her vanity to some rude shocks, but she had also
the inestimable advantage of hearing truths which her courtiers would
certainly not tell her. The masquer who was pronounced to be Orloff
followed her everywhere, and did not let her out of his sight for a
moment. He could not be mistaken, as he was an exceptionally tall
man and had a peculiar carriage of the head.
I arrested my progress in a hall where the French square dance was
being performed, and suddenly there appeared a masquer disguised in
the Venetian style. The costume was so complete that I at once set
him down as a fellow-countryman, for very few strangers can imitate
us so as to escape detection. As it happened, he came and stood next
to me.
"One would think you were a Venetian," I said to him in French.
"So I am."
"Like myself."
"I am not jesting."
"No more am I."
"Then let us speak in Venetian."
"Do you begin, and I will reply."
We began our conversation, but when he came to the word Sabato,
Saturday, which is a Sabo in Venetian, I discovered that he was a
real Venetian, but not from Venice itself. He said I was right, and
that he judged from my accent that I came from Venice.
"Quite so," said I.
"I thought Bernadi was the only Venetian besides myself in St.
Petersburg."
"You see you are mistaken."
"My name is Count Volpati di Treviso."
"Give me your address, and I will come and tell you who I am, for I
cannot do so here."
"Here it is."
After leaving the count I continued my progress through this
wonderful hall, and two or three hours after I was attracted by the
voice of a female masquer speaking Parisian French in a high
falsetto, such as is common at an opera ball.
I did not recognize the voice but I knew the style, and felt quite
certain that the masquer must be one of my old friends, for she spoke
with the intonations and phraseology which I had rendered popular in
my chief places of resort at Paris.
I was curious to see who it could be, and not wishing to speak before
I knew her, I had the patience to wait till she lifted her mask, and
this occurred at the end of an hour. What was my surprise to see
Madame Baret, the stocking-seller of the Rue St. Honor& My love awoke
from its long sleep, and coming up to her I said, in a falsetto
voice,--
"I am your friend of the 'Hotel d'Elbeuf.'"
She was puzzled, and looked the picture of bewilderment. I whispered
in her ear, "Gilbert Baret, Rue des Prouveres," and certain other
facts which could only be known to herself and a fortunate lover.
She saw I knew her inmost secrets, and drawing me away she begged me
to tell her who I was.
"I was your lover, and a fortunate one, too," I replied; "but before
I tell you my name, with whom are you, and how are you?"
"Very well; but pray do not divulge what I tell you. I left Paris
with M. d'Anglade, counsellor in the Court of Rouen. I lived happily
enough for some time with him, and then left him to go with a
theatrical manager, who brought me here as an actress under the name
of de l'Anglade, and now I am kept by Count Rzewuski, the Polish
ambassador. And now tell me who you are?"
Feeling sure of enjoying her again, I lifted my mask. She gave a cry
of joy, and exclaimed,--
"My good angel has brought you to St. Petersburg."
"How do you mean?"
"Rzewuski is obliged to go back to Poland, and now I count on you to
get me out of the country, for I can no longer continue in a station
for which I was not intended, since I can neither sing nor act."
She gave me her address, and I left her delighted with my discovery.
After having passed half an hour at the counter, eating and drinking
of the best, I returned to the crowd and saw my fair stocking-seller
talking to Count Volpati. He had seen her with me, and hastened to
enquire my name of her. However, she was faithful to our mutual
promise, and told him I was her husband, though the Venetian did not
seem to give the least credence to this piece of information.
At last I was tired and left the ball, and went to bed intending to
go to mass in the morning. I slept for some time and woke, but as it
was still dark I turned on the other side and went to sleep again.
At last I awoke again, and seeing the daylight stealing through my
double windows, I sent for a hairdresser, telling my man to make
haste as I wanted to hear mass on the first Sunday after my arrival
in St. Petersburg.
"But sir," said he, "the first Sunday was yesterday; we are at Monday
now."
"What! Monday?"
"Yes, sir."
I had spent twenty-seven hours in bed, and after laughing at the
mishap I felt as if I could easily believe it, for my hunger was like
that of a cannibal.
This is the only day which I really lost in my life; but I do not
weep like the Roman emperor, I laugh. But this is not the only
difference between Titus and Casanova.
I called on Demetrio Papanelopulo, the Greek merchant, who was to pay
me a hundred roubles a month. I was also commended to him by M. da
Loglio, and I had an excellent reception. He begged me to come and
dine with him every day, paid me the roubles for the month due, and
assured me that he had honoured my bill drawn at Mitau. He also
found me a reliable servant, and a carriage at eighteen roubles, or
six ducats per month. Such cheapness has, alas! departed for ever.
The next day, as I was dining with the worthy Greek and young
Bernardi, who was afterwards poisoned, Count Volpati came in with the
dessert, and told us how he had met a Venetian at the ball who had
promised to come and see him.
"The Venetian would have kept his promise," said I, "if he had not
had a long sleep of twenty-seven hours. I am the Venetian, and am
delighted to continue our acquaintance."
The count was about to leave, and his departure had already been
announced in the St. Petersburg Gazette. The Russian custom is not
to give a traveller his passports till a fortnight has elapsed after
the appearance of his name in the paper. This regulation is for the
advantage of tradesmen, while it makes foreigners think twice before
they contract any debts.
The next day I took a letter of introduction to M. Pietro Ivanovitch
Melissino, colonel and afterwards general of artillery. The letter
was written by Madame da Loglio, who was very intimate with
Melissino. I was most politely welcomed, and after presenting me to
his pleasant wife, he asked me once for all to sup with him every
night. The house was managed in the French style, and both play and
supper were conducted without any ceremony. I met there Melissino's
elder brother, the procurator of the Holy Synod and husband of the
Princess Dolgorouki. Faro went on, and the company was composed of
trustworthy persons who neither boasted of their gains nor bewailed
their losses to anyone, and so there was no fear of the Government
discovering this infrigement of the law against gaming. The bank was
held by Baron Lefort, son of the celebrated admiral of Peter the
Great. Lefort was an example of the inconstancy of fortune; he was
then in disgrace on account of a lottery which he had held at Moscow
to celebrate the coronation of the empress, who had furnished him
with the necessary funds. The lottery had been broken and the fact
was attributed to the baron's supposed dishonesty.
I played for small stakes and won a few roubles. I made friends with
Baron Lefort at supper, and he afterwards told me of the vicissitudes
he had experienced.
As I was praising the noble calmness with which a certain prince had
lost a thousand roubles to him, he laughed and said that the fine
gamester I had mentioned played upon credit but never paid.
"How about his honour?"
"It is not affected by the non-payment of gaming debts. It is an
understood thing in Russia that one who plays on credit and loses may
pay or not pay as he wishes, and the winner only makes himself
ridiculous by reminding the loser of his debt."
"Then the holder of the bank has the right to refuse to accept bets
which are not backed by ready money."
"Certainly; and nobody has a right to be offended with him for doing
so. Gaming is in a very bad state in Russia. I know young men of
the highest rank whose chief boast is that they know how to conquer
fortune; that is, to cheat. One of the Matuschkins goes so far as to
challenge all foreign cheats to master him. He has just received
permission to travel for three years, and it is an open secret that
he wishes to travel that he may exercise his skill. He intends
returning to Russia laden with the spoils of the dupes he has made."
A young officer of the guards named Zinowieff, a relation of the
Orloffs, whom I had met at Melissino's, introduced me to Macartney,
the English ambassador, a young man of parts and fond of pleasure.
He had fallen in love with a young lady of the Chitroff family, and
maid of honour to the empress, and finding his affection reciprocated
a baby was the result. The empress disapproved strongly of this
piece of English freedom, and had the ambassador recalled, though she
forgave her maid of honour. This forgiveness was attributed to the
young lady's skill in dancing. I knew the brother of this lady, a
fine and intelligent young officer. I had the good fortune to be
admitted to the Court, and there I had the pleasure of seeing Mdlle.
Chitroff dancing, and also Mdlle. Sievers, now Princesss, whom I saw
again at Dresden four years ago with her daughter, an extremely
genteel young princess. I was enchanted with Mdlle. Sievers, and
felt quite in love with her; but as we were never introduced I had no
opportunity of declaring my passion. Putini, the castrato, was high
in her favour, as indeed he deserved to be, both for his talents and
the beauties of his person.
The worthy Papanelopulo introduced me to Alsuwieff, one of the
ministers, a man of wit and letters, and only one of the kind whom I
met in Russia. He had been an industrious student at the University
of Upsala, and loved wine, women, and good cheer. He asked me to
dine with Locatelli at Catherinhoff, one of the imperial mansions,
which the empress had assigned to the old theatrical manager for the
remainder of his days. He was astonished to see me, and I was more
astonished still to find that he had turned taverner, for he gave an
excellent dinner every day to all who cared to pay a rouble,
exclusive of wine. M. d'Alsuwieff introduced me to his colleague in
the ministry, Teploff, whose vice was that he loved boys, and his
virtue that he had strangled Peter III.
Madame Mecour, the dancer, introduced me to her lover, Ghelaghin,
also a minister. He had spent twenty years of his life in Siberia.
A letter from Da Loglio got me a warm welcome from the castrato
Luini, a delightful man, who kept a splendid table. He was the lover
of Colonna, the singer, but their affection seemed to me a torment,
for they could scarce live together in peace for a single day. At
Luini's house I met another castrato, Millico, a great friend of the
chief huntsman, Narischkin, who also became one of my friends. This
Narischkin, a pleasant and a well-informed man, was the husband of
the famous Maria Paulovna. It was at the chief huntsman's splendid
table that I met Calogeso Plato, now archbishop of Novgorod, and then
chaplain to the empress. This monk was a Russian, and a master of
ruses, understood Greek, and spoke Latin and French, and was what
would be called a fine man. It was no wonder that he rose to such a
height, as in Russia the nobility never lower themselves by accepting
church dignities.
Da Loglio had given me a letter for the Princess Daschkoff, and I
took it to her country house, at the distance of three versts from
St. Petersburg. She had been exiled from the capital, because,
having assisted Catherine to ascend the throne, she claimed to share
it with her.
I found the princess mourning for the loss of her husband. She
welcomed me kindly, and promised to speak to M. Panin on my behalf;
and three days later she wrote to me that I could call on that
nobleman as soon as I liked. This was a specimen of the empress's
magnanimity; she had disgraced the princess, but she allowed her
favourite minister to pay his court to her every evening. I have
heard, on good authority, that Panin was not the princess's lover,
but her father. She is now the President of the Academy of Science,
and I suppose the literati must look upon her as another Minerva, or
else they would be ashamed to have a woman at their head. For
completeness' sake the Russians should get a woman to command their
armies, but Joan d'Arcs are scarce.
Melissino and I were present at an extraordinary ceremony on the Day
of the Epiphany, namely the blessing of the Neva, then covered with
five feet of ice.
After the benediction of the waters children were baptized by being
plunged into a large hole which had been made in the ice. On the day
on which I was present the priest happened to let one of the children
slip through his hands.
"Drugoi!" he cried.
That is, "Give me another." But my surprise may be imagined when I
saw that the father and mother of the child were in an ecstasy of
joy; they were certain that the babe had been carried straight to
heaven. Happy ignorance!
I had a letter from the Florentine Madame Bregonci for her friend the
Venetian Roccolini, who had left Venice to go and sing at the St.
Petersburg Theatre, though she did not know a note of music, and had
never appeared on the stage. The empress laughed at her, and said
she feared there was no opening in St. Petersburg for her peculiar
talents, but the Roccolini, who was known as La Vicenza, was not the
woman to lose heart for so small a check. She became an intimate
friend of a Frenchwoman named Prote, the wife of a merchant who lived
with the chief huntsman. She was at the same time his mistress and
the confidante of his wife Maria Petrovna, who did not like her
husband, and was very much obliged to the Frenchwoman for delivering
her from the conjugal importunities.
This Prote was one of the handsomest women I have ever seen, and
undoubtedly the handsomest in St. Petersburg at that time. She was
in the flower of her age. She had at once a wonderful taste for
gallantry and for all the mysteries of the toilette. In dress she
surpassed everyone, and as she was witty and amusing she captivated
all hearts. Such was the woman whose friend and procuress La Vicenza
had become. She received the applications of those who were in love
with Madame Prote, and passed them on, while, whether a lover's suit
was accepted or not, the procuress got something out of him.
I recognized Signora Roccolini as soon as I saw her, but as twenty
years had elapsed since our last meeting she did not wonder at my
appearing not to know her, and made no efforts to refresh my memory.
Her brother was called Montellato, and he it was who tried to
assassinate me one night in St. Mark's Square, as I was leaving the
Ridotto. The plot that would have cost me my life, if I had not made
my escape from the window, was laid in the Roccolini's house.
She welcomed me as a fellow-countryman in a strange land, told me of
her struggles, and added that now she had an easy life of it, and
associated with the pleasantest ladies in St. Petersburg.
"I am astonished that you have not met the fair Madame Prote at the
chief huntsman's, for she is the darling of his heart. Come and take
coffee with me to-morrow, and you shall see a wonder."
I kept the appointment, and I found the lady even more beautiful than
the Venetian's praises of her had led me to expect. I was dazzled by
her beauty, but not being a rich man I felt that I must set my wits
to work if I wanted to enjoy her. I asked her name, though I knew it
quite well, and she replied, "Prote."
"I am glad to hear it, madam," said I, "for you thereby promise to be
mine."
"How so?" said she, with a charming smile. I explained the pun, and
made her laugh. I told her amusing stories, and let her know the
effect that her beauty had produced on me, and that I hoped time
would soften her heart to me. The acquaintance was made, and
thenceforth I never went to Narischkin's without calling on her,
either before or after dinner.
The Polish ambassador returned about that time, and I had to forego
my enjoyment of the fair Anglade, who accepted a very advantegeous
proposal which was made her by Count Brawn. This charming
Frenchwoman died of the small-pox a few months later, and there can
be no doubt that her death was a blessing, as she would have fallen
into misery and poverty after her beauty had once decayed.
I desired to succeed with Madame Prote, and with that idea I asked
her to dinner at Locatelli's with Luini, Colonna, Zinowieff, Signora
Vicenza, and a violinist, her lover. We had an excellent dinner
washed down with plenty of wine, and the spirits of the company were
wound up to the pitch I desired. After the repast each gentleman
went apart with his lady, and I was on the point of success when an
untoward accident interrupted us. We were summoned to see the proofs
of Luini's prowess; he had gone out shooting with his dogs and guns.
As I was walking away from Catherinhoff with Zinowieff I noticed a
young country-woman whose beauty astonished me. I pointed her out to
the young officer, and we made for her; but she fled away with great
activity to a little cottage, where we followed her. We went in and
saw the father, mother, and some children, and in a corner the timid
form of the fair maiden.
Zinowieff (who, by the way, was for twenty years Russian ambassador
at Madrid) had a long conversation in Russian with the father. I did
not understand what was said, but I guessed it referred to the girl
because, when her father called her, she advanced submissively, and
stood modestly before us.
The conversation over, Zinowieff went out, and I followed him after
giving the master of the house a rouble. Zinowieff told me what had
passed, saying that he had asked the father if he would let him have
the daughter as a maid-servant, and the father had replied that it
should be so with all his heart, but that he must have a hundred
roubles for her, as she was still a virgin. "So you see," added
Zinowieff, "the matter is quite simple."
"How simple?"
"Why, yes; only a hundred roubles."
"And supposing me to be inclined to give that sum?"
"Then she would be your servant, and you could do anything you liked
with her, except kill her."
"And supposing she is not willing?"
"That never happens, but if it did you could have beaten her."
"Well, if she is satisfied and I enjoy her, can I still continue to
keep her?"
"You will be her master, I tell you, and can have her arrested if she
attempts to escape, unless she can return the hundred roubles you
gave for her."
"What must I give her per month?"
"Nothing, except enough to eat and drink. You must also let her go
to the baths on Saturday and to the church on Sunday."
"Can I make her come with me when I leave St. Petersburg?"
"No, unless you obtain permission and find a surety, for though the
girl would be your slave she would still be a slave to the empress."
"Very good; then will you arrange this matter for me? I will give
the hundred roubles, and I promise you I will not treat her as a
slave. But I hope you will care for my interests, as I do not wish
to be duped."
"I promise you you shall not be duped; I will see to everything.
Would you like her now?"
"No, to-morrow."
"Very good; then to-morrow it shall be."
We returned to St. Petersburg in a phaeton, and the next day at nine
o'clock I called on Zinowieff, who said he was delighted to do me
this small service. On the way he said that if I liked he could get
me a perfect seraglio of pretty girls in a few days.
"No," said I, "one is enough." And I gave him the hundred roubles.
We arrived at the cottage, where we found the father, mother, and
daughter. Zinowieff explained his business crudely enough, after the
custom of the country, and the father thanked St. Nicholas for the
good luck he had sent him. He spoke to his daughter, who looked at
me and softly uttered the necessary yes.
Zinowieff then told me that I ought to ascertain that matters were
intact, as I was going to pay for a virgin. I was afraid of
offending her, and would have nothing to do with it; but Zinowieff
said the girl would be mortified if I did not examine her, and that
she would be delighted if I place her in a position to prove before
her father and mother that her conduct had always been virtuous. I
therefore made the examination as modestly as I could, and I found
her to be intact. To tell the truth, I should not have said anything
if things had been otherwise.
Zinowieff then gave the hundred roubles to the father, who handed
them to his daughter, and she only took them to return them to her
mother. My servant and coachman were then called in to witness as
arrangement of which they knew nothing.
I called her Zaira, and she got into the carriage and returned with
me to St. Petersburg in her coarse clothes, without a chemise of any
kind. After I had dropped Zinowieff at his lodging I went home, and
for four days I was engaged in collecting and arranging my slave's
toilet, not resting till I had dressed her modestly in the French
style. In less than three months she had learnt enough Italian to
tell me what she wanted and to understand me. She soon loved me, and
afterwards she got jealous. But we shall hear more of her in the
following chapter.
