A visit to Russia – cannot remember the date – I think it was the same as Venice. Anyhow, we spent a day in Venice. This we spent at a small hotel on The Lido, which then had only two hotels and a natural beach of wonderful sand (and occasional lovely shells), which was usually a little way from the Hotels and quite empty. The bathing was despised by us, for you had to wade knee or waist deep to come to enough water to swim. After the rough waves and strong beach of Suffolk, I did not think much of it, but an occasional dead seahorse made up a good deal. There was a good steamer service onto Venice.
Of the journey to Smolensk, I remember – how could one forget – the inhabitants of the sleeping cars. Ugh! We were met at Smolensk by a carriage and pair with a driver in uniform – a white coat with a green sash twisted round his waist and a black hat with a fringe of standing-up feathers from a peacock's tail. Driving along an unmade country road, we were rather surprised when the carriage suddenly went off the road, down a good bump, into a field and regained the road some way along the bank. The driver's explanations were lost on us, but we were quite satisfied.
Lily, my cousin, took me for a drive one day in a sort of dogcart, and the carriage was caught in an immense rut and decanted us on the road. No harm was done, but I measured the depth of the rut with my scarf, and it was 12 inches.
One day was interesting. Men and women from the estate came to receive corn, as a harvest had not sufficed. They were all sorts and all ages, even one old woman who was known to be over 80, who – when refused more corn – crawled under a gate to press her claim.
The church was not far from the house, and we went to a service. I do not know why, as I am not musical, but the peasants' singing made me weep.
One thing I do remember. When we went into a bank, we had to take off our coats, lest we were hiding a bomb under them. It was after the first sad result of an approach to the Emperor.
Later, in St. Petersburg, Mischa, Aunt Nell's younger son, who managed their affairs, took us to two operas. Not in the opera house, which was closed in the summer, but with all the best singers and orchestra in the Narodny Dom – the Peoples' House. Not being musical, I cannot express what the Russian voices did – what no Italian opera could. "The Queen of Spades" was thrilling, but what I remember best was the opening chorus of [blank space], a work I had never heard of – nor have since. (It was all men's voices, as of a crowd of workers, and no sopranos to spoil it.) But the little interlude in the Queen of Spades, of a shepherd and his love, still lives for me (Moy Milen'kiy Druzhok).
We did manage to see the picture gallery. Aunt Nell's flat was just opposite the Fortress and Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, with its conspicuous tower and its reputation as a deadly prison. (All this may seem cool, but when nothing can be done more than has been tried, words are no substitute.)
Our last entertainment in St. Petersburgh was on the evening of our last day, when Mischa had asked the head of the River Police to take us for a trip. When a fog suddenly spread over the Island, the boat was completely lost and wandered among the islands, until someone recognized a landmark, and we got back to the town with, I am afraid to say, a poor opinion of the River Police.
Lily's baby was not well when we left, and we heard that it had chicken pox – and I developed it, very mildly. Mother knew it was very mild, but there was a good deal of smallpox in the town, and goodness knows how much trouble we should have. So, we went on with our plan, and the Captain of the English ship we boarded was kind to a girl who had a "tummy upset". In 24 hours, I was up and about, enjoying the small ship and the good weather. Once landed, we got an empty First Class carriage, quickly got home, and I soon was all right.
GOOD STEAMER SERVICE
Società Laguna di Venezia, a steamer service which ran from the Lido to Venice.
LILY
A small hamlet (81 inhabitants) in SMOLENSK was home to EV's cousin, Princess Elizaveta Sergeyevna Plaoutine (known to the family as Lily), and her husband, Prince Sergei Borisovich Scherbatoff. Though now called Mitino, this tiny village was called Preobrazhenskoye (Transfiguration) during EV's visits.
MISCHA
Michael Sergeyevich Plaoutine, second son of General Sergei Nikolaevich Plaoutine and Eleanor Hester Mary Pringle, and ADC to Czar Nicholas II through 1918.
AUNT NELL'S FLAT
24 Quai de la Cour, St. Petersburg, purchased in 1894, after Uncle Serge retired, and owned until the Bolsheviks stole it in 1918. It can be found now as 24 Winter Palace Embankment.
LILY'S BABY
Either Prince Dimitri Scherbatoff or Princess Tatiana Scherbatoff, children of Prince Sergei Borisovich Scherbatoff and Princess Elizaveta Sergeyevna Plaoutine.
ILLUSTRATIONS
1) A Crinkle Crankle Wall in Bramfield
2) Broke Hall, Nacton, Suffolk
3) Lady Jane Anne Saumarez
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