Bound by Love (2 page)

“No.” Nadia shrugged, as always unrepentant at her intimate connection to the Emperor. “Our…relationship was a source of endless gossip, but our private conversations were never intended to be shared. Not even with a dear friend whose loyalty to the Romanovs could never be questioned.”

Leonida stiffened. “You revealed Alexander Pavlovich’s private conversations to the Duchess of Huntley?”

Nadia’s expression became defensive. “I knew she could be trusted and it was not as if I could share my most intimate thoughts with anyone else. There was not a woman in society who was not consumed with jealousy by my relationship with Czar Alexander.”

“As they still are.” Leonida hastily soothed the older woman. She would get nothing out of Nadia if she were pouting. And Leonida had a terrible foreboding she needed to know precisely what was happening. “But you are rarely so indiscreet.”

Nadia was far from appeased. “How could I possibly suspect that anyone beyond the Duchess would ever see them?”

Leonida’s heart stuttered. “Someone else has seen them?”

“I do not need you to point out that I was a reckless idiot. I am painfully aware of my mistakes.”

“Very well.” Leonida sucked in a calming breath. “I presume that these letters hold information that might prove uncomfortable for the Czar?”

“It is much worse than that. In the hands of his enemies they might very well destroy him.”

“Destroy him?” Leonida blinked in shock. “Surely you must be exaggerating?”

“I only wish I were.”

“Mother?”

With a graceful motion, Nadia sat on the brocade window seat, the morning sunlight revealing the shadows beneath her eyes and lines that bracketed her full lips.

It was the first occasion that Leonida could recall her mother actually appearing her age.

That was more frightening than all the melodramatic insinuations of imminent danger.

“Being the leader of the Russian empire is never a simple task,” she said in low tones. “Unrest is always brewing among the citizens, while treachery is a mandatory game for the nobility, but matters have become even more perilous over the past few years. Alexander spends too much time away from his throne as he travels about the world. It gives his enemies encouragement to plot against him.”

“They hardly need encouragement.”

“Perhaps not, but they grow more bold with every passing day.”

Leonida licked her dry lips. “And there is something in the letters that would offer Alexander Pavlovich’s enemies the means to harm him?”

“Yes.”

“What…”

Her mother held up an imperious hand. “Do not ask me, Leonida.”

Leonida’s first instinct was to demand an answer. If she were to be involved in whatever mess her mother had created, she deserved the truth.

Then she wisely swallowed the words hovering on her lips.

She held a great love and respect for Alexander Pavlovich, but she of all people understood he was just a man, with all the failings and frailties of any other. And, in truth, there had always been a melancholy air that shrouded the Emperor, as if he carried with him a deep and painful secret.

Did she truly wish to know what caused him such sorrow?

“Then you must write to the Emperor and warn him of the dangers,” she said briskly. “He will surely wish to return to St. Petersburg.”

“No,” her mother denied sharply.

“You cannot hide the truth, Mother.”

“That is exactly what I must do.”

Leonida frowned, unable to believe her mother could be so selfish.

“You will put Alexander Pavlovich at risk because you do not wish to confess your indiscretion?”

The dark eyes flashed with annoyance.
“Mon Dieu
. Have you not been paying attention over the past months?”

“You mean the uprising?”

“Alexander is devastated.” Nadia paced across the polished wood floor, her expression tight with unmistakable concern. “He considered the Semyonoffski Regiment the most faithful of all his soldiers and their betrayal has been like a knife in his heart. I fear for him, Leonida. He is so fragile. I am not certain he could bear what he is certain to believe is yet another betrayal.”

“We are all concerned for his welfare, but he is the Emperor,” Leonida pointed out softly. “He must know of any threat to his throne.”

Coming to a halt, Nadia turned to meet Leonida’s gaze with a tilt of her chin.

“I intend to ensure that any threat is brought to an end before Alexander returns.”

“How? If someone has managed to get their hands on the letters you wrote…”

“I am not convinced that anyone has actually seen the letters.”

Leonida lifted her hands to rub her throbbing temples. “You are giving me a headache, Mother. Perhaps you should start at the beginning.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Nadia pressed her hands to her stomach as she sought to gain command of her composure.

“Last week a masked man calling himself the Voice of Truth approached me at Count Bernaski’s masquerade. The ridiculous man claimed that he possessed the letters I had written to Mira and that he would make them public unless I agreed to pay him one hundred thousand rubles.”

“One hundred thousand,” Leonida whispered in shock. It was worse, much worse, than she had dreamed possible. “Good lord. We could not possibly pay such a sum.”

“I have no intention of paying so much as a ruble,” Nadia snapped. “Not until I am convinced the bastard truly possesses the letters, which I assure you I am not.”

“Why not?”

“Because as soon as the man turned to leave I motioned for Herrick Gerhardt to have him followed.”

Leonida grimaced. Herrick Gerhardt was Alexander Pavlovich’s closest advisor and the most alarming man she had ever encountered. Nothing escaped his dark, penetrating gaze. And his fierce devotion to the Emperor meant he would willingly destroy any threat without a hint of remorse.

It was impossible to be in his company without fearing you might be hauled to the nearest dungeon.

“Of course,” she muttered.

Nadia shrugged, not nearly so frightened of Gerhardt as she should be.

“This is not the first threat I have endured. My position often attracts those who would hope to use me to influence Alexander Pavlovich.”

Well, her mother was not alone. Leonida was shocked at the many occasions the members of society would approach her in hopes she could sway the Emperor.

As if she had any power. It was ludicrous.

“I assume Herrick managed to follow the man?”

“Yes. His name is Nikolas Babevich. His father is a Russian officer and his mother is—” Nadia gave a delicate shudder “—French. Disgusting people. They are never to be trusted.”

Leonida ignored her mother’s prejudice. Nadia possessed a vivid memory of Napoleon’s invasion and the costly war.

“Was he captured?”

“Herrick decided it would be better not to allow the fiend to realize we had discovered his identity.”

Leonida shook her head. Had her mother taken leave of her senses?

“I will be the first to admit that I know very little of government affairs, but if you know who and where this villain is to be discovered then why on earth would you not have him arrested?” Leonida demanded in confusion.

“Because we cannot be certain he is acting alone.”

“Did Herrick at least retrieve your letters?”

“He searched the man’s house, but could find no letters.”

Leonida made a sound of frustration. “They could be anywhere.”

“He is being constantly watched so if he does have them hidden he will eventually lead the guards to the location.”

Leonida realized there was no use in pressing to have the horrid blackmailer arrested. If Herrick had decided to allow the man to remain free, then nothing she said would alter the situation.

Instead she concentrated on her more pressing questions. “Why do you suspect he is lying about having the letters?”

Nadia returned to her pacing, her fingers toying with the large drop diamonds of her necklace. A sure sign she was not nearly so composed as she would have Leonida believe.

“When he first approached me, I demanded that he show them to me. He claimed that he did not have them on his person, so I requested that he reveal precisely what they said. Again he refused, saying that he would offer no proof until I had paid his outrageous sum.”

“That does seem odd. Surely he must realize that anyone with the least amount of sense would demand evidence before paying?”

“Most gentlemen underestimate women. No doubt he assumed I would be so panicked that I would give in to his demands without thinking.” Nadia’s voice revealed her contempt for such stupidity. “And there is something else.”

“What?”

“Mira and I quite often traded secrets, so we devised our own code when we wrote to one another in the event our letters fell into the wrong hands. It was silly and no doubt childishly easy to decipher, but the man said nothing of having managed to translate the words.”

Leonida had to agree that it did sound suspicious. Even assuming the man thought a woman could be so easily culled out of such a large sum of money, he surely would have felt compelled to brag at his cleverness of deciphering the code.

In her experience, gentlemen never lost the opportunity to reveal their utter superiority to women.

“So, if he does not have the letters, how did he discover they exist? And how did he know they might be damaging to Alexander Pavlovich?”

“That is why Herrick allowed him to remain unaware we know his identity,” Nadia explained. “He believes that Nikolas Babevich is merely a pawn being used by others.”

Leonida shuddered, knowing it was more from apprehension rather than the chill of standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing more than her shift and corset.

The thought that there were more enemies seeking to harm her mother was not precisely reassuring.

“Then it seems there is nothing to do but wait until the man leads you to his associates.”

There was a tense silence before her mother halted to stab her with a narrowed gaze.

“Actually, there is a very important task that must be done.”

Leonida took an instinctive step backward. She knew that tone of voice. And it never boded well.

At least not for her.

“I am not certain I wish to know.”

“Someone must travel to England and search the Duke of Huntley’s estate for the letters,” Nadia said, ignoring Leonida’s words of reluctance. Typical. “If they are still there then we can be certain Nikolas Babevich is nothing more than a fraud.”

The shimmering unease in the pit of her stomach became outright panic.

Good lord. She had not seen this coming. Stupid, really. Nadia thought nothing of making the most outrageous demands of her only child.

“But…” She struggled to capture her elusive breath. “If the letters are still hidden in England, how could anyone know of them?”

Nadia shrugged. “Perhaps the current Duke or his brother, Lord Summerville, mentioned seeing them to someone. Edmond was here in St. Petersburg, after all, only a few months ago.”

Leonida seized on the words as if they were her salvation. “Then why not simply write to them and demand the letters back? The Duchess has been dead for years—they could have no interest in your correspondence.”

Nadia gave an impatient wave of her hand. “Because
they are first and foremost Englishmen with loyalty to the Prince Regent…. Oh, I suppose the hideous man has now become King.” She grimaced. “In any event, it is well known that the portly monarch was not at all pleased by Alexander Pavlovich’s last visit to celebrate the end of the war. If the King knew that those letters contained information that could harm the Emperor, I do not doubt he would demand they be given to him.”

Leonida wanted to argue, but she had heard the rumors of King George’s lingering resentment toward Alexander Pavlovich’s distant manner during his brief visit. Hardly surprising. The two rulers could not be more different.

The Emperor detested gaudy displays and false bravado.

She swiftly sought another excuse to avoid the appalling mission to England.

“One can hardly search the Huntley estate without permission. An English duke must possess an entire battalion of servants. I would not get past the door without being caught.”

Nadia smiled. “You could if you were a welcomed guest.”

“Mother…”

“The arrangements for your journey are being made as we speak,” Nadia interrupted, her tone resolute. “You will leave by the end of the week.”

It was Leonida’s turn to pace the floor, the rising panic making it difficult to think clearly.

“Even if I were willing to agree to this absurd scheme, which I assure you I am not, I could not possibly intrude upon the Duke of Huntley. Not only would it be extremely rude, but he is a bachelor.”

“I have already written to Lord Summerville and his new bride to inform them that Alexander Pavlovich has decided you are in need of a proper introduction to English society. They could not possibly turn you away.”