By the time they reached the second house on their route, it was obvious that the focus of attention was not Tania but Zoia and the Princess made her plans accordingly.
Zoia, she told herself, should take her rightful place when they reached St. Petersburg as companion and Teacher to Tania.
There would be no question then of her appearing in public or accepting invitations to parties.
She did not wish to be unkind and Sonya Ysevolsov was in fact a warm-hearted woman and made few enemies.
But she was prepared to fight fiercely and tenaciously for the well-being of her child and she was determined that Tania should make the most brilliant marriage that any girl had ever achieved.
This, in the Princess’s eyes, meant marrying outside Russia.
She had seen much too much of the decadence an
