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Chapter Five<br />
St. Petersburg – The Winter Palace<br />
June 14, 1889<br />
4:45 PM<br />
There were those who considered dance to be the greatest art of Russia, far outstripping any<br />
national accomplishments in music or literature. The supremacy of Russian ballet, of course, went<br />
uncontested – so much so that it was rumored that in the academies of Paris, French girls had begun<br />
adding an “-ova” to the end of their last names in a misguided effort to imply they had been born in<br />
the east. But while ballet was the pinnacle of the form, all Russians considered it their patriotic duty<br />
to know at least a few steps of a folk dance, and it would have been unthinkable for any lady at the<br />
tsarina’s court to be unskilled in the waltz.<br />
This was how Tatiana met Konstantin. He served as one of a cadre of imperial dance masters,<br />
and if Tatiana’s position within the palace required an odd balancing act, Konstantin’s was even more<br />
demanding. For to dance with someone is an extraordinarily intimate act. More intimate than<br />
lovemaking in many ways, and it was Konstantin’s professional duty to take a variety of women one<br />
by one into his arms, to push his thigh between their knees and slip his palm into the small hollow<br />
beneath their shoulder blades. He was required to transform them into larks and gypsies and tigers in<br />
turn, as they moved throughout the nuances of a dozen different tempos. And, most challenging of all,<br />
he must perform these transformations before the watchful eyes of their husbands, fathers, brothers,<br />
and sons.<br />
It was not a task for the faint of heart.<br />
In the stratified world of the Winter Palace, Konstantin was one of the anomalies, a man who<br />
belonged neither here nor there. On the dance floor he was the undisputed master of his realm; even<br />
the tsarina must follow his lead. He moved among the numerous court parties as an honored guest,<br />
one invited specifically to pay attention to the ladies at dinner. Otherwise, they were often ignored by<br />
the men, especially when the talk drifted to hunting or war, and in this role Konstantin quickly became<br />
as adept at navigating a flirtatious conversation as he was at navigating a crowded dance floor. But at
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