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  A Foreign Shore

  The Tsar’s Dragons: Book Five

  Catrin Collier

  The Cossacks have always been cavalier with safety in their mines, believing it manly to take risks. But when a score of Cossack miners are trapped underground, it falls to the Welsh miners to save them – at a cost. The Tsar rewards the bravery of the rescuers with gold medals, but when John, Glyn, Richard, Alexei, and the women travel to St Petersburg, both Sarah and Glyn’s Cossack mistress Praskovia remain in Hughesovka to help nurse the victims of an epidemic of typhoid that began in the pit houses.

  But Sarah has another reason for remaining.

  While the men are away, Sarah leaves Hughesovka forever, carrying a secret that has driven her from the first real home she has ever known and the only friends she has.

  Meanwhile, unbeknown to the immigrants, Richard’s first love, Alice, and Glyn’s estranged wife, Betty, are travelling the long miles to Hughesovka, along with Richard and Anna’s younger brothers. But what will chapel-going Betty, who has a surprise of her own for Glyn, make of Glyn’s exotic, Titian-haired housekeeper who is soon to become the mother of his child?

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Hospital Complex, Hughesovka

  April 1871

  Nathan glanced out of the window of his private quarters at midnight to see Vlad sharing a flask with Alexei and Richard. All three were standing at the back of the hospital a few feet from his front door. He put on his coat and joined them.

  ‘How’s Ruth?’ Alexei asked.

  ‘Sleeping in her room with Anna and Mrs Edwards.’

  ‘No, I’m not, Nathan.’ Barefoot, a wool shawl draped around her nightgown, Ruth stepped on to the veranda. Alexei went to her. She wrapped her arms around him, buried her face in his shoulder, and hugged him.

  Embarrassed at witnessing such an intimate scene, Richard and Vlad moved into the shadows.

  ‘You all right?’ Alexei asked Ruth.

  ‘Thanks to Anna. She and Sarah are staying with me.’

  ‘Nathan told me.’

  ‘Tell your grandmother I received her letter, Alexei, and Ruth and I would be pleased to accept her invitation to drink tea with her the first Sunday of next month.’

  Ruth lifted her head and looked at her brother. ‘You mean it, Nathan?’

  ‘I mean it. Go back to bed before you catch pneumonia.’

  Ruth hugged him before disappearing inside.

  ‘I will look after Ruth, Nathan,’ Alexei promised.

  ‘I don’t doubt it, Alexei. After today, I’ve had to accept she needs more looking after than I have time to give her.’

  ‘I have a spare revolver. I can teach you how to use it.’

  ‘No. Thank you, but no, Alexei. That’s Vlad’s job. I’ll see you on Sunday. Goodnight, Richard, Vlad.’ Nathan followed Ruth into the house.

  Glyn Edwards’ house, Hughesovka

  Russian Easter Day 1871

  Richard left the breakfast table when he saw Anna walk in. He took her bag from her. ‘Let me carry that upstairs for you.’ He ran up, opened her bedroom door, and dropped it inside.

  ‘Thank you.’ She walked up behind him.

  ‘How’s Ruth and how are you?’

  ‘Ruth’s recovering and I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?’

  ‘Because you shot a man yesterday.’

  ‘I killed a man yesterday,’ she corrected. ‘And I’d do it again. No man has the right to put his hand up a woman’s skirt.’

  He was struck by her vehemence. His suspicions as to what exactly the Paskey brothers had done to her surfaced – again. ‘Look, Anna …’

  ‘What?’ She confronted him.

  ‘I’m your brother. I love you. I’m proud of you. Everyone is. That brute could have killed Ruth.’

  Tight-lipped, she nodded.

  ‘We’re so busy, me with Mr Edwards, you in the hospital, we never have time to talk. I want you to know I’m here if you should need me for anything. Anything at all.’

  ‘I know, Richard, and I’m grateful, but I don’t want to go over what happened yesterday again. That’s all I’ve done since I fired the gun.’ Her eyes were bright, burning.

  ‘Love you,’ he repeated impotently.

  ‘Love you too.’ She went into her room and closed the door.

  ‘Don’t try and make her talk before she’s ready, Richard.’ Sarah was on the top stair behind him. ‘Anna will talk to you when the time’s right for her. She knows you love her.’

  He nodded. She took his hand. He squeezed it gently before running back down the stairs.

  Dower House, Beletsky Estate

  Russian Easter Day, April 1871,

  Boris opened the door to Alexei, who’d been invited to join Catherine and Sonya at the family lunch Catherine had asked Lyudmila to prepare.

  ‘Good wishes on Christ Arisen to you and all the servants, Boris. For the servants.’ Alexei handed him a selection of the chocolate eggs John had ordered from Moscow.

  ‘Thank you, sir. Greetings on Christ Arisen to you.’ Boris showed him into the drawing room. Sonya was sitting on the rug in front of the hearth playing with his baby sister. Kira smiled and clapped her hands when she saw him.

  ‘She recognises her big brother,’ Sonya moved to make room for Alexei. ‘You can take over building brick towers for her to knock down.’

  ‘I have something better than wooden bricks.’ Alexei took a parcel from his pocket and gave it to Kira. She dropped it. He unwrapped it.

  ‘Alexei, that’s beautiful.’ Sonya examined the jointed wooden doll. ‘The clothes are exquisitely made and the face beautifully painted. If I didn’t know better I’d say it was made by Papa Pavlo.’

  ‘Yelena made the clothes. Praskovia painted the face, Pyotr carved the doll.’

  ‘Looks like Mr Edwards doesn’t keep his servants too busy. Thank you for coming, Alexei,’ Catherine poured coffee. ‘How are Ruth and Anna?’

  ‘Shocked, shaken but recovering. Neither is hurt but you must have heard that.’

  ‘Mrs Edwards sent a note in reply to mine enquiring after the girls. She said Anna will need time to come to terms with killing a man.’

  ‘She has the consolation that the brute deserved it.’

  ‘Amen to that,’ Catherine agreed. ‘I also see you didn’t waste any time giving Nathan and Ruth the invitation we discussed.’

  ‘You’ve had a reply?’

  ‘This morning. Nathan said he’d be happy to bring his sister here the first Sunday afternoon in May.’

  ‘Our Sabbath is not the Jewish day of prayer.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘You will be here when they come won’t you, Sonya?’ Alexei checked.

  ‘I promised Anna and Richard I’d visit that day.’

  ‘When did you promise?’ Alexei challenged.

  ‘It was a promise made in advance.’

  ‘In other words you’ve just made it up.’

  ‘Alexei, I love you like a brother and Ruth is a wonderful friend. I hope it works out for both of you, but I’d rather not be around during the working out.’ What Sonya didn’t say was she didn’t want to hear Nathan outline all the arguments against inter-religious marriage.

  ‘I’m a grown-up; I can stand a tongue-lashing from Grandmother and Nathan without your support.’ Alexei picked up the coffee his grandmother had poured him.

  ‘Thinking ahead, Alexei, if you marry Ruth …’

  ‘When I marry Ruth,’ Alexei contradicted his grandmother.

  ‘When you marry Rut
h,’ she corrected to appease him. ‘It might be as well you do so with as little fuss as possible. No formal engagement, no announcement, just a simple wedding that takes everyone by surprise. How many people have you told already?’

  ‘You, Sonya, Nathan, and Ruth, and none of them is likely to broadcast the news.’

  ‘I told Mr Hughes and Mr Edwards when they came for lunch two weeks ago,’ Catherine confessed.

  ‘How did they react?’

  ‘They toasted you and Ruth and wished you well. As you said, Mr Hughes and Mr Edwards pay no credence to differences of race or religion. Will Ruth move into Glyn Edwards’ house with you after you’re married?’

  ‘She could.’ Alexei considered his grandmother’s suggestion. ‘I was hoping to buy or rent a house of our own but there’s plenty of room in Mr Edwards’. My bedroom is enormous, and has a sitting and study area. Should Ruth want to carry on working in the hospital it’s only across the road and with Anna, Mrs Edwards, Richard, and Mr Edwards in the house she’d be living among friends. Thank you for the suggestion, Grandmother.’

  ‘I’m not sure I meant to give it to you.’

  ‘But you’re right; we should marry sooner rather than later.’

  ‘Don’t make too many plans, Alexei,’ Catherine warned. ‘Your father may have washed his hands of you but Nathan and his Uncle Asher are still Ruth’s guardians. Don’t do anything to annoy them.’

  ‘As if I would, but do you have any reason in particular for saying that?’ Alexei sat next to Kira and lifted her on to his lap.

  ‘I won’t say more than Mr Hughes is considering making a few changes.’

  ‘Ones that will affect the Cossacks and the Jews?’

  ‘He told me that after what happened with Isay and Kirill, he’s anxious to ensure there’s no more trouble.’

  ‘There won’t be if Colonel Zonov succeeds in controlling his troops in general, and one officer in particular.’

  ‘You don’t know for certain Misha ordered Isay and Kirill to attack Mr Hughes and Ruth,’ Sonya protested.

  ‘I’m certain he didn’t, but I’m quite sure he ordered them to attack Mr Hughes and Nathan. I think the assault on Ruth was a spontaneous decision on the part of Isay when he saw her alone in the kitchen.’

  ‘Has Kirill implicated Misha?’

  ‘Kirill’s refusing to say a word. Colonel Zonov believes the passes Kirill and Isay used to leave the garrison were forged. The officer who signed them has no memory of doing so, but like most of the garrison he was drunk when they left. No knows how Kirill and Isay acquired them, as all unsigned passes are kept locked in a cupboard that only officers have access to.’

  ‘Have you heard what’s going to happen to Kirill?’ Sonya asked.

  ‘Colonel Zonov met Mr Edwards and Mr Hughes in the Hotel this morning to discuss the matter.’

  ‘You were there?’

  ‘Richard and I were present. Kirill will be posted to a punishment battalion in Siberia as soon as he’s well enough to travel. Until then, he’ll remain under guard in the hospital and, when he can be moved, the garrison. Isay’s body is being returned to his family.’

  ‘Yulia?’ Sonya questioned.

  ‘Wants to carry on working in the hospital and Nathan and Sarah are happy for her to continue her training.’

  ‘There’s no reason why she should be punished for what her brother did,’ Catherine observed. ‘So, the guilty have been killed and punished and the incident is history?’

  ‘And Misha free to drip his anti-Semitic poison into the head of any idiot prepared to listen.’

  ‘You have no proof …’ Sonya began.

  ‘I don’t need it, Sonya, and if you were honest with yourself, you wouldn’t either,’ Alexei cut in.

  Sonya fell silent. She didn’t want to believe Misha capable of instigating murder but Alexei’s anger was understandable in the face of what Ruth and Anna had suffered.

  Glyn Edwards’ house, Hughesovka

  May 1871

  Glyn lay on the bedcover, watching the flames lick around the logs Pyotr had piled on the fire. His head was on a feather pillow, his arm wrapped around Praskovia. The firelight danced over both of them, painting gold highlights in her red hair.

  ‘I’d love a photograph of you like this.’ Half-asleep, he’d spoken his thoughts aloud.

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Naked like one of Titian’s Venuses.’

  ‘What would you do with such a photograph?’

  ‘Lock it away from prying eyes, bring it out, study it – and remember you when you weren’t around.’

  ‘You can take one if you promise not to show it anyone.’

  He opened his eyes. ‘Do you mean that?’

  ‘We’re lovers, I’d enjoy the time before – and after – the posing. But there is a condition.’

  Wary of her smile, he asked, ‘What?’

  ‘I want a photograph of you naked.’

  ‘No one wants a photograph of a naked man.’

  She rolled on to her stomach and looked up at him. ‘I do.’

  ‘Then I’ll take one of me naked too.’

  ‘With an enormous erection.’ She slid her hand downwards.

  ‘Give me five minutes. You’re wearing me out.’

  ‘It’s a man’s job to satisfy a woman.’

  ‘I will, in five minutes. Do you realise I know hardly anything about you?’

  ‘There’s nothing to know.’ Mischief glittered in her green eyes.

  ‘There’s a great deal to know. Let’s start at the beginning, what were you like as a child?’

  ‘Happy.’ She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. ‘It was fun growing up in Alexandrovka. There were horses to ride and dogs and cats to play with. My father was a wonderful storyteller. He used to entertain all the children, not just me and my brothers. He also used to take us all hunting. At the time I thought my life would never change and my father would always be there. When he started drinking and stopped hunting we had no food so Mrs Ignatova found my mother a job as a wet nurse to her granddaughter. That’s when our family’s problems began and my childhood ended.’

  She told him how her father had changed after the count had raped Yelena, and blackmailed her into having sex with him whenever he wanted, in return for refraining to prosecute her father for poaching.

  Glyn was horrified. ‘I knew the count was a vain and worthless man but I never thought he’d do something so low. Your poor mother. I’m so sorry.’

  ‘As my mother says, everyone has to carry the crosses God sends them. My father hated knowing it was my mother, not him who put bread on our table. But when my mother could stand the count’s pawing no longer, she left the mansion. It was then that my father stopped drinking and began to work in the mine. The rest you know.’

  ‘Your name, Praskovia, it’s beautiful.’

  ‘Praskovia is a popular name among the poor in Russia because of Praskovia Kovalyov. She was born a serf in Yaroslavl. Her master, Count Sheremetev, was the richest man in Russia. He had her schooled as a singer, actress, and dancer, and when she grew up, he fell in love with her. In the days of serfs and masters, as now in the days of peasants and aristocrats, it wasn’t done for a count to marry beneath him, but he married her in secret. When she bore him a son, Dmitri, he petitioned the Tsar to recognize their marriage. The Tsar granted his request, but pregnancy and childbirth had destroyed Praskovia’s health and she died a few weeks later in the Sheremetev palace in St Petersburg. When news of their marriage became known, society was scandalized. Devastated by grief, Nikolai Sheremetev built an almshouse for the sick, poor, and orphaned in Moscow in Praskovia’s memory. Ever since, almost every peasant family has named one of their daughters Praskovia in the hope she will lift her entire family out of poverty as Praskovia did when she married her count.’

  ‘Girls no longer have to make their fortunes through marriage. They can work as you, Mrs Edwards, Ruth, Anna, and the others are doing.’

/>   ‘Things haven’t changed that much, Glyn. You only have to look at Alexei and Ruth to see women are still enslaved by their families, who tell them who they can and can’t marry.’

  ‘Ruth and Alexei have religious as well as social inequality to contend with. Believe me, the days of arranged marriages, princes, and peasants are over.’

  ‘There is more to Praskovia’s story which has become part of the history of Russia. Her son, Dmitri, inherited his father’s wealth. In 1861 when he was walking with the Tsar, he told him the story of his mother. Affected by Praskovia’s story, the Tsar freed all the serfs. Now they can travel wherever they want in Mother Russia, but it seems to me that most are travelling here to Hughesovka.’

  ‘Thankfully for Mr Hughes, me, and the New Russia Company. We need all the labour we can get. Speaking of freedom, if I were free I would marry you tomorrow.’

  ‘All I want from you, Glyn, is what you’ve already given me. If we can spend our nights together it’s enough.’ Careful to avoid touching the wound in his shoulder she moved on top of him and there was no more time for thought.

  Afterwards, when they lay quietly in the firelight again, he thought of Betty and considered talking over his dilemma with John. There was always divorce but he’d heard enough gossip over the years to know that the first thing a wife loses after divorce is her reputation. If her husband strayed into another woman’s bed, it was “because she didn’t look after him.” If she was the one to stray she was a “whore”. On those grounds he doubted Betty would agree to formalize their separation.

  As for talking over the problem with John, hadn’t his boss solved his own domestic problems by leaving them in Greenwich while he travelled a thousand miles across inhospitable country to build a town where he could finally be himself?

  Dower House, Beletsky Estate

  May 1871

  ‘My uncle and I are Ruth’s joint guardians, Mrs Ignatova,’ Nathan said. ‘So any decisions will have to be made as much by him as me. The only firm promise I can give is that I will return and discuss this matter with you, Ruth, and Alexei again after Ruth’s eighteenth birthday in six months’ time.’