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“You do not have to lie,” Ella said, with an impatient shake of her head. “I will tell her about
the baby myself. And we shall all leave soon. Just after the ball. Due to the untimely death of my
former lady in waiting, I have asked my sister-in-law if she can spare Tatiana from her own court to
enter my service and she has most kindly agreed. And so we are an expectant imperial mother and
her loyal attendant traveling to a safe place for the duration of her confinement. No one shall find
anything odd in it at all.”
“Who is this ‘we’ who will leave soon?” Tom asked. Dear God, she didn’t expect him to travel
with them, did she?
“Tatiana and I to the coast…” Ella said.
“And Konstantin to Paris,” Tatiana said simply.
And with that Tom saw the whole of the situation. In giving Ella her child, Tatiana had bought
the safe passage of her lover. Once he was ensconced in France, Konstantin would be far beyond the
reach of Filip Orlov, or anyone else inclined to frame him for a triple murder.
“Konstantin Antonovich is a lucky man,” Tom said. “He seems to enjoy the most intense loyalty
of all the women in his life. You are certain that you’re prepared to do this?”
“He must never know,” Ella interrupted. “He doesn’t like for women to lead him. Just ask
your red-haired friend what he’s like.” She crossed her arms across her chest and gave a slight,
definitive shudder. “Russian men are proud, Siberian men even more so. He leaves us no choice but
to dissemble, for he would never accept the risks that two women are undertaking to guarantee his
safety.”
Tatiana had resumed packing. It was impossible to see her face.
“I need a baby,” Ella said defiantly, as if Tom had uttered some word of protest. “Tatiana needs
to not have a baby. Konstantin needs to leave Russia. But all three of these problems are easy to
rectify if we work together. We can be, in a sense, each other’s saviors. Why do you hesitate?” she
added, when Tom did not answer, but rather continued to watch Tatiana struggling to push an armful of
dresses into the small valise. “Surely you can see that this child will be given every privilege in life,
will have every sort of comfort.”
“Are you quite certain you want to stay in Russia?” Tom asked, a question that was directed
toward Ella even though his eyes never left Tatiana.
The question seemed to pull Ella up short. “This is where my destiny lies,” she finally said.