Page 83 of A Queen's Match
“Maximilian, dear,” the tsarina pleaded. “Would you mind fetching us more water? I would so love to catch up with Alix in private. Just some family matters about her sister.”
Maximilian glanced to Alix for confirmation; when she nodded, he went to do as they asked.
The moment he’d gone, Alix rounded on Minnie. “Is everything all right with Ella?”
“What? Oh, yes.” The tsarina waved a hand dismissively. “I just wanted to get you alone. Sasha and I are actually glad we ran into you. There are some things we’d like to discuss.”
“I’m not sure what business we could possibly have together,” Alix replied, with a touch of impertinence.
Minnie glanced at her husband. She was fidgeting, playing with a strand of blue-gray pearls around her neck. When she realized Alix was watching her, she let out a little breath. “These were a wedding gift from Sasha, if you can believe it.”
“It took five years for the jeweler to assemble the pearls. They’re from the Nile,” the tsar explained. “I told him to match Minnie’s eyes.”
The pearls were an exceedingly rare color, a deep azure that reminded Alix of a summer storm. And they were exquisitely matched. Each was the exact same as the others, each perfectly round. They were not diamonds, yet she suspected they cost nearly as much.
The tsar and tsarina stared at each other for a moment, their gazes full of love. It was disorienting and a bit disarming, seeing this side of them—knowing that they were more than judgmental parents who’d made her miserable. That they loved each other, too.
Then Minnie seemed to recall where they were, and stepped back. “Sasha, since we found her, you can go ahead and make the offer in person.”
The offer?
The tsar grunted, turning to Alix. “I was going to approach your father, but it’s quite convenient, actually, that we ran into you. What would you say to a hundred thousand rubles?”
It was such a blunt, unprecedented question, Alix just stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t know what that would be in German marks.” He shrugged carelessly. “Suffice it to say, it’s a small fortune.”
“You could add it to your dowry,” the tsarina offered. “Or think of it as a wedding gift!”
“What?” Alix asked, bewildered.
“Marie told me that you are courting that German fellow,” the tsar explained, as if he couldn’t be bothered to recall Maximilian’s name.
“You and Maximilian could use the money to build a new home,” the tsarina said, evidently striving to sound reasonable.
The tsar snorted. “Or save it for your daughters’ dowries. Perhaps one of them might make a grand marriage—to an English prince, as you failed to do.”
Alix stared at them as comprehension sank in. “You’re trying tobribeme to marry Maximilian?”
“Of course this isn’t a bribe,” the tsarina said smoothly. “As I said, it’s a gift.”
Alix still felt dizzy with the strangeness of it all. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Maximilian and I only just started courting.”
“Perhaps, in that case, you wouldn’t mind writing Nicholas a quick note?” the tsarina insisted. “You could tell him that you have moved on, and that he should too?”
“We will send the money directly to you once Nicholas receives your letter,” the tsar chimed in. “You have my word.”
Shock, and outrage, snapped through her like a whip.
“I am afraid that I’m no longer corresponding with His Imperial Highness,” Alix said coolly.
“We know! He won’t stop talking about it!” the tsar bellowed, then lowered his voice. “We had so many options for him. Hélène of France, Alexandra of Greece, Marie Louise of Hanover—”
“He says that he will not marry,” Minnie cut in, perhaps sensing how utterly rude it was to list all the women whose worth they ranked above Alix’s. “He insists that he will rule alone, let Misha be his heir, and then Misha’s children can carry on the throne after him.”
“I’m sorry for your troubles, but I don’t see what this has to do with me,” Alix said stiffly.
The tsarina hesitated, then seemed to decide that there was no other way to say this. “We fear that he is refusing to marry because he is still pining for you, Alix.”
