Chapter ThreeThe Duke half-expected to find Katharina alone, but when the footman showed him into a large formal Reception room redolent with flowers, he found that there were a number of other people present.
Katharina, looking extremely beautiful in a gown of blue gauze, moved towards him and he knew by the expression in her eyes how pleased she was to see him.
He kissed her hand and then he went immediately to greet the Czarina, who was standing next to the Czar.
Elizabeth Feodorovna would have been extremely attractive and a fitting mate for the handsome Alexander, only unfortunately she had a most unbecoming scurvy on her face.
The Duke, however, had always found her charming and far more emotionally stable than her husband.
He had only spoken to her for a few minutes when the Cz
