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CHAPTER ONE
Russia, 1820
Tzarskoye Selo
THE JOURNEY FROM St Petersburg to Tzarskoye Selo was hardly an arduous one during the short summer months when the roads were fair and the brisk breeze held a pleasant scent of wildflowers and rich earth
Which was precisely why the E that such fine weather was too fleeting not to enjoy a few days away from the pressures of Court
Lately Alexander Pavlovich would use any excuse to flee his heavy duties, but so far as Lord Edmond Summerville was concerned, it was an Imperial pain in the ass
Coht swell in the road, he turned his black charger on the path to Ekaterinsky, the larger of the two palaces that spraith a majestic beauty across the Russian countryside
Catherine the Great’swith narroings, it was three stories high and painted a bright blue that contrasted pleasantly with the five golden do the front was a line of draped feht
Edmond did not allow his hard pace to slow as he entered the courtyard through the gilded gateway to halt directly before the entrance
His arrival brought a dozen foot coer son of a duke, Edmond was accustomed to the pomp and cere servants as he made his way up the marble stairs and stepped into the vast vestibule
There he was met by one of Alexander’s old coat and striped waistcoat that would have been perfectly suitable in any London drawing roo Russian aristocracy
Herrick Gerhardt was of Prussian descent and had arrived in St Petersburg when he was barely seventeen He possessed a gaunt countenance, a thick crop of silver hair, and piercing brown eyes that held a cold, ruthless intelligence
This was a ladly and hadthe Russian court for his brutal ability to see through their treacherous deceits
His love of his Emperor was unquestionable, but his talent at diplo
“Edmond, this is a most unexpected surprise,” he said in the perfect French spoken by all the Russian nobles, his gaze searching Edmond’s starkly chiseled features, the vivid blue eyes that were such a stunning contrast to his thick raven hair and arched brows, and the widesmile