“Mitya! Am I mistaken, or are you here in Moscow because Tatiana Ivanova is in Moscow?”
“Damn!” Dimitri slumped back in his chair again.
“That’s what I thought. So shouldn’t you get a firm commitment from the Princess before you are seen adoring someone else? After all, it is expected that you will have your mistresses, but not while you are pursuing your future bride. I don’t think Tatiana would take too kindly to that. What are you doing home, anyway, when she is at the Andreyev party tonight, and with your old friend Lysenko? For that matter, what is she doing with him, when you are back?”
“I haven’t gone to see her yet,” Dimitri admitted.
“How long have you been here?”
“Eight days.”
Vasili’s eyes shot to the ceiling. “He’s counting the days. For God’s sake, Mitya, if you miss your Katherine that much, send for her, keep her here under wraps until you have Tatiana’s answer.”
Dimitri shook his head. “No, when Katherine is around, she’s all I can think about.”
“It seems to me she’s all you can think about whether she’s here or not. You’ve been procrastinating, Mitya.”
“What I have been, Vasya, is miserable, and no fit company for anyone. But you have made your point. I need to get this marriage business out of the way first before I can resolve anything with Katya.”
Chapter Thirty-three
“Grigori, isn’t that Prince Dimitri just coming in?” Tatiana asked as they waltzed across the dance floor.
Grigori Lysenko stiffened, turning Tatiana around so that he could face the entryway. “So it is,” he replied tightly. “I suppose you will no longer be available, now that Alexandrov is back?”
“Whyever would you say that?” She smiled up at him innocently.
“You haven’t accepted my proposal, my dear. It is the general consensus that you have only been waiting for Alexandrov to return.”
“Is it?” Tatiana frowned, unaware of this.
“But it is too bad of him not to have sought you out until now, when everyone knows he has been in Moscow for a week,” Grigori added deliberately.
Tatiana set her teeth. She didn’t need to be reminded of that, which shewasaware of. Her own sister had pointed out that Dimitri’s obvious lack of eagerness to see her was rather insulting. Tatiana had been furious. And now Grigori said much the same thing.
“It has been wondered if he hasn’t changed his mind about offering for you.”
“So what if he has? Do you think I really care?”
But she did care. She cared too much. All she had wanted was to have Dimitri exclusively to herself for a while, and she could count on that only during their courtship. Once they were married, he was bound to lose interest, bound to go his own way, as every other husband did. There would be other women who would claim more of her husband’s time than she would, for she would be the woman he had already won, safely stored away at home to visit or not as he chose, while the excitement of the chase would be elsewhere.
It didn’t occur to her that she could make his life so interesting at home that he wouldn’t think to wander. Tatiana was of the opinion that all men were alike, a general misconception shared by most women. She was also quite selfish when it came to her own needs, and had thought nothing of Dimitri’s frustration while she had played him along.
Now she wasn’t so sure her strategy had been at all wise. Was it too much to ask to have Dimitri’s complete attention for a few months? Had she made him wait too long? If he was no longer interested, she would be made to look a fool, whereas before she had been the envy of every woman in Russia.
It couldn’t be borne. To have people whispering behind her back, pitying her, or worse, thinking she had got no more than she deserved. Everyone knew Dimitri had asked her to marry him, she had made sure of that. Everyone knew she had made him wait for her answer. They wouldn’t blame him for withdrawing his proposal. She had kept him dangling for months. It would be her fault, all her fault.
Of course she had Grigori here, and half a dozen other admirers to fall back on, all of whom professed to love her madly. But that wouldn’t be any consolation if Dimitri no longer wanted her.
Tatiana waited, waited for Dimitri to notice her, waited for him to cut in on her dance with Grigori. He didn’t come forward. He did notice her and nodded in her direction, but went right on conversing with Prince Dashkov and several other men who had greeted him when he came in.
As soon as the dance ended, Tatiana leaned closer to her partner to whisper, “Grigori, would you take me over to him?”
“You ask too much, Princess.” Grigori could no longer conceal his disappointment. “I am not a graceful loser.”
“Please, Grigori. I think you will be pleased with what I have to say to him.”
He stared at her for a moment, noting her anxiety, her heightened color, and also the determined gleam in her eyes. She was so ethereal in her loveliness. He had set out to win her in order to steal her from Alexandrov, but had made the mistake of falling in love with her in the bargain. What could she tell his rival that would please him? Or was she just using him? He had to know one way or the other.
