Vladimir Kirov
Monday
My Lord Prince,
I am sorry to inform you that my wife had the misguided notion that the young miss would be pleased to know about the daily reports you requested. That was not the case. She has let me know in no uncertain terms what she thinks of my spying, as she calls it. Furthermore, since she knows that I won’t end the reports at her request, she said that when I write tonight, I should tell you that although she hasn’t tallied any exact figures yet, in glancing through your account books, she has already surmised that four of your investments are worthless, a steady drain on your capital that you can’t hope to see a profit from in the near future, if ever. These are her words, my lord, not mine. If you ask me, it is impossible for her to have drawn these conclusions in such a short time, if she even knows what she’s talking about.
Your servant,
Vladimir Kirov
Dimitri gave a short bark of laughter after finishing this letter. Two of those bad investments Katherine had found were no doubt the factories he considered his charities, for each year they fell just short of breaking even. Yet they each employed a large work force, and he couldn’t see himself closing them down and putting all those people out of work. He had planned to make the necessary changes eventually, to make the factories self-supporting as well as profitable, even if he had to change the goods manufactured. He had just never found the time to devote to such an undertaking.
He had known Katherine would discover the loss from those factories easily if she was as good as she claimed to be at figures. But the other two? He wondered if he should write her to discuss them? Would she even read a letter from him? Just because she had deigned to go over the account books when she had said she wouldn’t touch them, did not necessarily mean she was ready to forgive him. She had made it quite clear before he left that she would be most happy if she never laid eyes on him again.
“So I have finally tracked you down. I tried every club, every restaurant, every party currently in progress. Never would I have thought to find you at home—”
“Vasya!”
“And attending to correspondence, no less,” Vasili finished with a grin, coming forward to clasp Dimitri in a powerful bear hug.
Dimitri was delighted by the surprise. He hadn’t seen his friend since early March. Before he had left for England, he had been so tied up in his courtship of Tatiana that he had found little time for Vasili, a mistake he wouldn’t let happen again. Of all his friends this one was the most dear, the one who most understood him. Not quite as tall as Dimitri, with coal black hair and light blue eyes, a devilish combination according to the ladies, Vasili Dashkov was the charmer, the carefree soul, exactly the opposite of Dimitri. Yet they were so attuned, they could read each other’s minds more often than not.
“So what took you so long? I have been back for nearly a month.”
“Your man had a little trouble finding me, since I was with a certain countess on her estate and didn’t want to be found. Couldn’t have it getting back to the husband that she was entertaining without his knowledge, now, could I?”
“Of course not,” Dimitri said in all seriousness as he resumed his seat.
Vasili chuckled, plopping himself down on the corner of Dimitri’s desk. “At any rate, I stopped by Novii Domik first, thinking to find you there. And what the devil is wrong with that bear Vladimir? He wouldn’t even let me in your house, just told me I’d find you here and sent me on my way. And what’s he doing there anyway, when you’re here? I’ve never known him to be out of shouting distance from you.”
“He’s keeping an eye on something for me that I couldn’t trust being left unguarded.”
“Ah, now my curiosity is whetted. Who is she?”
“No one you know, Vasya.”
“Yet a treasure that must be guarded, and by your most dependable man?” Vasili’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve stolen someone’s wife.”
“That’s your department, I believe.”
“So it is. All right, talk. You know I won’t let up till you do.”
Dimitri wasn’t being evasive. He wanted to talk to Vasili about Katherine. He just didn’t know how to go about it, how much actually to explain.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, Vasya… Well, it is, but… No, this situation has got to be unique.”
“Let me know when you make up your mind.”
Dimitri sat back, giving his friend a quelling look. “I am utterly obsessed with this woman, yet she wants nothing to do with me. She actually hates me.”
“Thatisunique, and not to be believed either,” Vasili scoffed. “The ladies don’t hate you, Mitya. They might become annoyed with you, but they don’t hate you. So what did you do to get on the wrong side of this one?”
“You’re not listening, not that I haven’t done everything conceivable to earn her enmity, but she wanted nothing to do with me from the beginning.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“You could say we met under the worst circumstances,” Dimitri replied.
