Page 39 of The Unseen
“I love you too, Alyosha.”
He kissed her and let himself out the door, disappearing into the twilight of the September evening.
Valentina spent the next few days planning her getaway wardrobe. What would she need? What should she take? She’d pack her coat and boots, as Alexei had suggested, a change of undergarments, and a blue woolen gown with white piping. It was demure and serviceable, the type of garment that could be worn by a governess or even a shop girl. She considered sewing pockets into the skirt, but changed her mind. They would be too visible beneath the fabric, especially once she sat down. Instead, she unpicked the hem of her coat and added two pockets, one of each side. Valentina inserted the pearl choker her parents had given her for her eighteenth birthday, a pair of diamond earrings, and a diamond-and-emerald bracelet that had belonged to her grandmother. Grandmother had left the bracelet to Valentina, and she valued it greatly, not only because it was truly stunning, butbecause it reminded her of a grandmother she’d loved. She continued to wear Alexei’s engagement necklace, but instead of displaying it proudly, she wore it inside her dress, close to her heart. She did manage to talk Tanya into making preparations, but neither her mother nor her father would listen to reason.
“We’re not going to desert our home like rats fleeing a sinking ship,” Ivan raged. “We are going to stay and defend what’s ours. We’re going to survive. I don’t ever want to hear you talking such defeatist propaganda again, Valya.”
“But Alexei said we should do it. His family is ready, should anything happen,” she argued in vain.
“Nothing is going to happen. There will be a period of uncertainty—a long period—but in time, things will begin to settle down. We must keep our heads down and our spirits up. By this time next year, you’ll be married, and hopefully expecting your first child. All will be well.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Don’t you dare second-guess me, Valentina. I won’t have it. I’m your father and I know best, and until such time as you have a husband and must defer to his judgement, you will listen to me. Don’t ever bring this up again. You hear?”
“Yes, Papa. I hear and I understand.”
That night, Valentina sewed another bracelet and ring into her spare corset. She’d taken them from her mother’s jewelry box. If her parents weren’t going to listen to reason, she’d do it for them. She only hoped her mother wouldn’t blame one of the servants for stealing the trinkets, but given that she hardly wore jewelry these days, she had little reason to go through her box. Besides, she had so many pieces of jewelry, she probably wouldn’t notice if an item or two had gone missing.
Valentina hid the packed valise at the back of her wardrobe, behind several hat boxes. She hoped she’d never have need of it, but knowing it was there eased her anxiety somewhat.Currency could be devalued, but gold and diamonds would always be worth something and were a form of security against whatever was to come.
The rest of September and the first half of October passed in melancholy gloom. It was a rainy autumn with cool, damp days that turned into cold, rainy nights. Soon, she’d have to take her coat out of her valise and begin wearing it. Winter didn’t officially arrive until the first of December, but the temperature began to plummet by the end of October and the first snow of the year usually fell by the beginning of November. The Neva would be frozen solid by mid-November, but there’d be no skating this year. She felt too fearful to walk to the river and draw attention to herself. She’d become a frightened little mouse, hiding behind the walls of her house and waiting for something to happen to put an end to the political stalemate that had the country in its grip.
Every day she hoped Alexei would stop by, and every day he didn’t. He sent a note whenever he could, but the regiment was permanently on alert, all furloughs canceled until further notice. At night, Valentina lay in bed, imagining their wedding ceremony. She focused on every detail, losing herself in the minutiae of planning an event that might never take place. But it was a beautiful fantasy, and the only thing that lifted her spirits at a time when nothing was lighthearted or gay. She would be happy enough with an intimate wedding, with only a few dozen guests in attendance. The grandiose affairs of the past now seemed incongruous and pretentious, the lavish parties meant to showcase the wealth and influence of the families and show up their social rivals. She had no desire to impress anyone or be the talk of the town. She only wanted to marry her love and try to snatch that small bit of certainty from an uncertain situation.
Valentina hoped to get married at the Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, where her own parents had been married twenty years ago. A May wedding would be lovely, when everything was in bloom. Spring was a time of rebirth and renewal, and starting her life with Alexei would be a form of rebirth. There were those that said marrying in May was bad luck,and preached doom for the newly married couple. “Budesh mayetza,” they said. What nonsense. Why would they suffer just because they married in May? Valentina was a modern woman who didn’t subscribe to these old-fashioned superstitions, but her mother and Aunt Vera might object. No matter, she’d be just as happy to marry in April or June.
Valentina closed her eyes and pictured her wedding dress. It would be a delicious confection of silk and lace, with a magnificent train that would trail behind her as she made her way down the aisle toward Alexei, who would be dashing in his uniform, his golden head uncovered, as he prepared to take his vows. The priest would invite them to stand in the middle of the church on a square of rose-colored fabric that symbolized their new life together, and ask them if they were entering into the union willingly and had not promised themselves to anyone else. That part always made Valentina smile. They’d been promised to each other since they were children, and neither one had ever questioned the decision of their parents. They were meant for each other, their union written in the stars. No, they weren’t promised to anyone else, and yes, they would enter into their marriage of their own free will, to live together as husband and wife until death tore them asunder.
After the priest recited theekteniaand several other prayers blessing the couple, the members of the wedding party would hold gold crowns over the heads of the bride and groom while the priest wrapped his stole around their intertwined hands to symbolize their joining as man and wife. He would then lead them three times around the analogian on which the Book of Gospel had been placed. After the crowning, they would finally be pronounced man and wife, and Alexei would lift her veil and kiss her for the first time as her husband. The wedding party would then be dismissed by the priest with his blessings, free to return home and start celebrating in earnest.
Customarily, the wedding celebration lasted for at least two days. Dish after dish of heavenly food was brought out, starting with hot and cold appetizers and moving on to pies, roasted meats,baked fish, and all manner of potatoes and pickled vegetables. There was music and dancing throughout. When Alexei had visited them over the summer, he’d said he’d like to have a band of Gypsies perform at their wedding feast. No one got the guests going like the Gypsies, whose colorful costumes and exquisite music roused even the oldest and most decrepit guests, their feet tapping in time to the tune as the violinists played louder and louder, the tempo increasing until the dancers were breathless, laughing and clutching their sides, blood pounding in their ears.
Ivan didn’t think having Gypsies at the feast would be appropriate, but Count Petrov dismissed his old friend’s stodgy ideas with a wave of the hand. “Calm down, Vanya. The Gypsies are all the rage. They can come on for an hour or so, once the party starts to die down. Nothing like a bit of wild Gypsy music to get the inebriated masses going again.”
“All right, but only if the wives don’t object.” Ivan looked at his wife, who pretended not to notice. She never argued in public, even when she vehemently disagreed. She’d share her views with Ivan later, once they were alone in their bedroom.
“Once the children are married, the wives will object to nothing. Their part in the planning will be over and done with, and as long as Elena did a competent job of explaining to Valya what’s expected of her after the celebration, all will go according to plan, and you and I might become grandfathers in nine months. Nothing like a wedding night baby, eh?”
Valentina blushed scarlet, surprised that her future father-in-law would be so indelicate in mixed company. Her mother looked uncomfortable, and Vera Konstantinovna’s gaze slid toward the window. She was clearly displeased by her husband’s reference to the wedding night, but no one said anything and the conversation naturally flowed into other aspects of the wedding planning.
The talk came to nothing, of course. The date was never set, the celebration was never planned, and the dress was never ordered. But Valentina could dream, and hope. No matter whathappened, they would still marry. Perhaps there’d be no glorious gown and no band of Gypsies, but there would be a marriage, and a wedding night, and hopefully, a baby.
TWENTY-ONE
DECEMBER 2014
London, England
“Tell me what you see when you hold the necklace,” Gabe asked as he paced the bedroom, Alex in his arms. The baby had been fussing all evening, kicking his legs and crying pitifully. He’d quieted down when Gabe finally picked him up and began to walk, lulling the baby into drowsiness that had yet to translate into sleep. “The sound of your voice will help him sleep. Tell him a story.”
“I don’t think he wants to hear about the Russian Revolution,” Quinn replied. She was tired after hours of trying to comfort the fretting child and had no desire to revisit what she’d seen. “It doesn’t have a happy ending.”
“Go on. Try.”
Quinn pitched her voice low and began to speak, filling Gabe in on everything she’d seen to date. She described Valentina’s dreams of her wedding to Alexei and the preparations for a hasty departure despite them.
“So she was open to leaving?” Gabe continued to walk from one end of the room to the other, rocking Alex gently.
