Pages: 306
Year of publication: 2000
Russian language
Description of the book Coronation, or the Last of the Novels:
The work of the famous Russian writer is one of the fascinating books in the series “The Adventures of Erast Fandorin” and is written in the detective genre. The novel is narrated on behalf of the butler Afanasy Zyukin, who served the famous Romanov family. On the eve of the coronation, the young heir to the throne disappears. The criminals demand the famous stone, without which the ceremony cannot take place, since the jewel adorns the imperial scepter. However, without receiving necessary thing, the kidnappers threaten to brutally kill the boy. The case is assigned to the popular detective Erast Petrovich Fandorin to investigate. An exciting plot, unexpected turns of events, and an unpredictable outcome will impress the most demanding readers.
On our website you can read the book Coronation, or the Last of the Novels online completely free of charge and without registration electronic library Enjoybooks, Rubooks, Litmir, Loveread.
Did you like the book? Leave a review on the site, share the book with friends on social networks.
Hello dears!
I have said more than once, not twice, not three times that one of my favorite modern authors writing in Russian is Boris Akunin (Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili). And in his books I find not only a plot or a beautiful style, I find something more - relaxation of the soul and elevation of the mind :-)
When I have internal turmoil, when something really bothers me or I’m worried, I almost always re-read my favorite books by Akunin and they calm me down somewhat.. or something. In general, they have a beneficial effect on me.
At least for this he already Thanks a lot. Moreover, he writes books himself, with his own hands, and not with the labor of literary slaves (and this is one of the rare exceptions nowadays), and as for his political preferences... I do not share most of his views, but I cannot understand who, why and How can he be forbidden to express them? He is a smart, interesting, thoughtful person, and his position is his right, and, fortunately, we have a free country. But we digress a bit :-)
One of my favorite books by Akunin is the high-society detective story “Coronation, or the Last of the Novels.” In this book, like no other, there are many allusions to real political and historical events. Boris Akunin talentedly, and definitely not without intention, connects the destinies of historical figures and fictional characters, like a skilled weaver weaving them with threads into the carpet of the finished work. Some of the characters are easy to guess, some are called by their real names, but some of them have to suffer quite a bit in order to understand who exactly could be taken as a basis, which real person.
Well, shall we suffer a little? :-)))
Let's not waste time on the main negative characters, some minor ones, such as the English, and the original Mr. Fraby, as well as on Erast Petrovich and Masa. For different reasons. Let's talk about others.
The main character of the book is Afanasy Stepanovich Zyukin. In fact, the story is told on his behalf. He is 46 years old, which means his year of birth is 1850. From the good old palace family in the 3rd generation. Both his grandfather and father were grand ducal lackeys and chamberlains. He is very proud of his gorgeous sideburns, which, however, he has to get rid of for business. 
As an option:-)
At the age of 15, he fell in love with one of the Grand Duchesses, whose name he does not mention, and so much so that he never married again. The name of the Grand Duchess is not given, but it is said that she married a German prince and died after her first birth. Most likely, Akunin took it as a basis tragic fate Alexandra, the youngest and favorite daughter of Emperor Nicholas I, who married Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel and died after childbirth. True, the dates do not coincide, because Alexandra passed away back in 1844. But the most optimal in character and destiny. 
Alexandra Nikolaevna
Afanasy showed himself to be a devoted, strong man, although limited in places and somewhat blinded by the imaginary greatness of the grand ducal power. The insight turned out to be too painful for him and despite the reward - he was promoted to chamberlain-fourier, awarded a diamond snuffbox and ten thousand rubles, he left the butlers.
In one of Akunin’s subsequent books, “The Diamond Chariot,” in an article about the defeat of the Russian fleet at Tsushima, the names of the dead heroes on the battleship “Prince Kutuzov-Smolensky” are described, among whom is the treasurer of the squadron, State Councilor Zyukin. Most likely, this is Afanasy Stepanovich, whom Endlung once invited to the fleet (which we will talk about below):
"“And you, Zyukin, have done well,” said Endlung, who was somewhat hoarse from shouting. ... What's the point of being a lackey? Better come to us at "Retvizan" as a senior captain".
Chamber-Fourier uniform
Kaptenarmus is the head of food, chief of food, in our opinion :-) It is clear that Afanasy followed a different path - financial. In addition, he is a state councilor - and this is already a 5th class title, that is, in 9 years he has moved up one line in the Table of Ranks. Nothing is known about the family and children, but most likely not. Parallels with historical figures impossible to produce.
Afanasy Zyukin’s adventure buddy was Philip Nikolaevich Endlung. A young man, a lieutenant in the fleet, he was chosen as a companion and mentor of Grand Duke Pavel Georgievich (we’ll talk about him in the next parts), and at first Afanasy Zyukin absolutely does not welcome his presence around the grand dukes:
"Oh, this Endlung. One should not say so, but Ekaterina Ioannovna committed big mistake, when she considered this gentleman a suitable mentor for her eldest son. The lieutenant, of course, is a clever beast: his eyes are clear and pure, his face is pink, the neat parting on his golden head, the childish blush on his cheeks - well, he’s just an angel. He is respectful with older ladies, shuffles his feet, and can listen with the most interested look about John of Kronstadt and about the Italian greyhound’s distemper. It is not surprising that Ekaterina Ioannovna melted from Endlung. Such a pleasant and, most importantly, serious young man, not like the rogue midshipmen from the Naval Corps or the slackers from the Guards crew"
Endlung is second from bottom.
Afanasy is especially outraged that Endlung received the court title of chamber cadet. This title has not been included in the official Table of Ranks since 1809, so it was just a court title. By the way, the same title was awarded to A.S. Pushkin in his time.
But gradually Zyukin softens his position and even begins to treat the young sailor with sympathy - he sees that he is not an intellectual, but an honest and devoted comrade, for whom friendship is not an empty phrase. Well, he’s also a never-failing bon vivant and a regular in the dressing rooms of the Moscow Variety Theater and “fun houses” around the world :-)
He is assigned to Retvizan, but it is not entirely clear how this can be at all? 
Scheme of the Swedish "Ratvizan"
There are 4 ships known in the Russian Navy under this name. It was originally a Swedish 64-gun battleship Rättvisan, that is, Justice, who after the Battle of Vyborg in 1790 was captured and served in the Russian fleet. According to a long-standing tradition, when one ship with a glorious name was decommissioned, a new one was given its same name. Therefore, two 74-gun battleships launched in 1818 and 1839 bore the same name. 
This is approximately what the Retvizan screw gun looked like
Finally, on September 11, 1855, the new Screw-Based Battleship Retvizan was launched. It is possible that Endlung was related to the crew of this ship, but this could not have happened, because on March 23, 1880, the Retvizan was disarmed and handed over to the Kronstadt military port for storage, and on November 22, it was excluded from the list of ships of the Baltic Fleet and turned into a block for practicing winter artillery fire. . 
Squadron battleship "Retvizan"
The most famous of the ships with this name, the squadron battleship Retvizan, was launched only in 1901. So the author was a little mistaken here, apparently :-))
In the course of the work, Philip Nikolaevich Endlung says the following about his fate: “And the Nagasaki fortune teller prophesied my death in a naval battle. So trust the predictions after this.”
And as subsequent events show, the predictions could be trusted. 
Battleship "Prince Suvorov"
In the same “Diamond Chariot”, which we have already discussed above, a list of those killed in the Battle of Tsushima is given:
“On the battleship “Prince Kutuzov-Smolensky”: junior flagship Rear Admiral Leontyev, ship commander captain first rank Endlung, squadron treasurer state councilor Zyukin, senior officer captain second rank von Schwalbe..» 
V.V. Ignatius
As you can see, Philip Nikolaevich rose to the status of captain of the first rank and commander of the ship.
The battleship named “Prince Kutuzov-Smolensky” did not take part in the Battle of Tsushima. In principle, such an armadillo did not exist at all. In the Battle of Tsushima, a squadron battleship of the Borodino project called Prince Suvorov, which, by the way, was the flagship of the 2nd Pacific Squadron, fought and died. The commander of the ship who died in the battle was Captain 1st Rank Vasily Vasilyevich Ignatius. But he was not at all like Filya Endlung - Vasily Vasilyevich was a talented artist and illustrator.
To be continued...
Have a nice day!
ERAST FANDORIN VIII
He died before my eyes, this strange and unpleasant gentleman.
Everything happened quickly, so quickly.
Simultaneously with the roar of shots, he was thrown towards the rope.
He dropped his small revolver, grabbed the shaky railing and froze in place, throwing his head back. A white face flashed, crossed out by a stripe of mustache, and disappeared, curtained with black crepe.
- Erast Petrovich! - I shouted, calling him by his first name and patronymic for the first time.
Or did you just want to shout?
The precarious flooring swayed under his feet. The head suddenly jerked forward, as if from a powerful push, the body began to fall with its chest onto the rope and the next moment, turning over absurdly, it was already flying down, down, down.
The treasured box fell out of my hands, hit the stone and split, the multi-colored edges of diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds flashed with dazzling sparks, but I didn’t even look at all these countless treasures that fell into the grass.
A soft, crunching sound of impact came from the crevice, and I gasped. The black sack, accelerating, rolled along steep slope and stopped his sickening spinning only at the very stream, limply dropped one hand into the water and remained there, face down in the pebbles.
I didn't love this man. Maybe he even hated it. In any case, I wanted him to disappear from our lives once and for all. However, I did not want him to die.
Risk was her trade, he played with danger all the time, but for some reason I didn’t think that he could die. He seemed immortal to me.
I don’t know how long I stood there, looking down stiffly. It must not be long at all. But time seemed to have cracked, split, and I fell into this hole - back into my former, serene life, which ended exactly two weeks ago.
Yes, then it was also Monday, the sixth of May.
the 6th of May
To the ancient capital Russian state we arrived in the morning. In connection with the upcoming coronation celebrations, the Nikolaevsky station was overloaded, and our train was driven along the transfer branch to Brestsky, which seemed to me an incorrect action on the part of the local authorities, to put it mildly. Presumably, this was due to some coldness in the relationship between His Highness Georgy Alexandrovich and His Highness Simeon Alexandrovich, the Moscow Governor-General. I can’t explain in any other way the humiliating half-hour standing at Sortirovochnaya and the subsequent transfer of an emergency train from the main station to the secondary one.
And it was not Simeon Alexandrovich himself who met us on the platform, as required by protocol, tradition, kinship and, in the end, simply respect for his elder brother, but only the chairman of the committee for receiving guests - the minister of the imperial court, who, however, was right there left for Nikolaevsky to meet the Prince of Prussia. Since when is the Prussian heir given more respect in Moscow than His Majesty's uncle, Admiral General of the Russian Navy and the second most senior of the Grand Dukes of the Imperial House? Georgy Alexandrovich did not show it, but I think he was no less outraged by such an obvious affront than I was.
It’s good that at least Her Highness Grand Duchess Ekaterina Ioannovna remained in St. Petersburg - she is so zealous for the subtleties of the ritual and the observance of the august dignity. The measles epidemic that struck the four middle sons, Alexei Georgievich, Sergei Georgievich, Dmitry Georgievich and Konstantin Georgievich, prevented Her Highness, an exemplary and loving mother, from participating in the coronation, the highest event in the life of the state and the imperial family. True, evil tongues claimed that Her Highness’s absence from Moscow celebrations was explained not so much by maternal love as by her reluctance to play the role of an extra at the triumph of the young queen. At the same time, they remembered last year’s story with the Christmas ball. The new empress invited the ladies of the august family to establish a needlework society - so that each of the grand duchesses would knit a warm cap for the orphans of the Mariinsky Orphanage.
May 20
He died before my eyes, this strange and unpleasant gentleman.
Everything happened quickly, so quickly.
Simultaneously with the roar of shots, he was thrown towards the rope.
He dropped his small revolver, grabbed the shaky railing and froze in place, throwing his head back. A white face flashed, crossed out by a stripe of mustache, and disappeared, curtained with black crepe.
- Erast Petrovich! – I shouted, calling him by his first name and patronymic for the first time.
Or did you just want to shout?
The precarious flooring swayed under his feet. The head suddenly jerked forward, as if from a powerful push, the body began to fall with its chest onto the rope and the next moment, turning over absurdly, it was already flying down, down, down.
The treasured box fell out of my hands, hit the stone and split, the multi-colored edges of diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds flashed with dazzling sparks, but I didn’t even look at all these countless treasures that fell into the grass.
A soft, crunching sound of impact came from the crevice, and I gasped. The black sack, accelerating, rolled down a steep slope and stopped its sickening spinning only at the very stream, limply dropped one hand into the water and remained there, face down in the pebbles.
I didn't love this man. Maybe he even hated it. In any case, I wanted him to disappear from our lives once and for all. However, I did not want him to die.
His trade was taking risks, he played with danger all the time, but for some reason I didn’t think that he could die. He seemed immortal to me.
I don’t know how long I stood there, looking down stiffly. It must not be long at all. But time seemed to crack, split, and I fell into this hole - back into my former, serene life, which ended exactly two weeks ago.
Yes, then it was also Monday, the sixth of May.
the 6th of May
We arrived in the ancient capital of the Russian state in the morning. In connection with the upcoming coronation celebrations, the Nikolaevsky station was overloaded, and our train was driven along the transfer branch to Brestsky, which seemed to me an incorrect action on the part of the local authorities, to put it mildly. Presumably, this was due to some coldness in the relationship between His Highness Georgy Alexandrovich and His Highness Simeon Alexandrovich, the Moscow Governor-General. I can’t explain in any other way the humiliating half-hour standing at Sortirovochnaya and the subsequent transfer of an emergency train from the main station to the secondary one.
And it was not Simeon Alexandrovich himself who met us on the platform, as required by protocol, tradition, kinship and, in the end, simply respect for his elder brother, but only the chairman of the committee for receiving guests - the minister of the imperial court, who, however, was right there left for Nikolaevsky to meet the Prince of Prussia. Since when is the Prussian heir given more respect in Moscow than His Majesty's uncle, Admiral General of the Russian Navy and the second most senior of the Grand Dukes of the Imperial House? Georgy Alexandrovich did not show it, but I think he was no less outraged by such an obvious affront than I was.
It’s good that Her Highness Grand Duchess Ekaterina Ioannovna remained in St. Petersburg - she is so zealous for the subtleties of the ritual and the observance of the august dignity. The measles epidemic that struck the four middle sons, Alexei Georgievich, Sergei Georgievich, Dmitry Georgievich and Konstantin Georgievich, prevented Her Highness, an exemplary and loving mother, from participating in the coronation, the highest event in the life of the state and the imperial family. True, evil tongues claimed that Her Highness’s absence from Moscow celebrations was explained not so much by maternal love as by her reluctance to play the role of an extra at the triumph of the young queen. At the same time, they remembered last year’s story with the Christmas ball. The new empress invited the ladies of the august family to establish a needlework society - so that each of the grand duchesses would knit a warm cap for the orphans of the Mariinsky Orphanage. Perhaps Ekaterina Ioannovna actually reacted too harshly to this undertaking. I also do not rule out that since then the relationship between Her Highness and Her Majesty has not become entirely good, however, there was no shocking in my mistress’s non-attendance at the coronation, I can vouch for this. Ekaterina Ioannovna can treat Her Majesty in any way she likes, but she would never allow herself to neglect her dynastic duty without a very serious reason. Her Highness's sons were indeed seriously ill.
This, of course, is sad, but, as people say, every cloud has a silver lining, for along with Her Highness the entire Grand Duke’s court remained in the capital, which significantly facilitated the very difficult task that faced me in connection with the temporary move to Moscow. The ladies of the court were very upset that they would not see the Moscow celebration and expressed dissatisfaction (of course, without going beyond the bounds of etiquette), but Ekaterina Ioannovna remained adamant: according to the ceremony, the small courtyard should be located where the majority of the members of the grand ducal family reside, and the majority of the Georgieviches, as our branch of the imperial house is unofficially called, remained in St. Petersburg.
Four went to the coronation: Georgy Alexandrovich himself, his eldest and youngest sons, as well as his only daughter Ksenia Georgievna.
As I already said, the absence of the gentlemen of the court only made me happy. The manager of the court, Prince Metlitsky, and the manager of the court office, Privy Councilor von Born, would only interfere with my work, poking my nose into matters completely beyond their understanding. A good butler does not need nannies and supervisors to cope with his duties. As for the chamberlain and ladies-in-waiting, I simply wouldn’t know where to place them - such a miserable residence was allocated to the Green Court (that’s what our house is called after the color of the Grand Duchess’s train) by the coronation committee. However, the conversation about the residence lies ahead.
The move from St. Petersburg went well. The train consisted of three carriages: the august family was traveling in the first, the servants in the second, the necessary utensils and luggage in the third, so I constantly had to move from carriage to carriage.
Immediately after leaving, His Highness Georgy Alexandrovich sat down to drink cognac with His Highness Pavel Georgievich and Chamberlain Endlung. I deigned to drink eleven glasses, got tired and then slept all the way to Moscow. Before going to bed, already in his “cabin,” as he called the compartment, he told me a little about the voyage to Sweden, which took place twenty-two years ago and which made a great impression on His Highness. The fact is that although Georgy Alexandrovich holds the rank of admiral general, he went to sea only once, retained the most unpleasant memories of this journey and often mentions the French minister Colbert, who did not sail on ships at all, but nevertheless made his country great sea power. I heard the story of Swedish swimming many times and managed to memorize it. The most dangerous thing here is the description of the storm off the coast of Gotland. After the words “And then the captain will shout: “Everyone to the pumps!”,” His Highness has the habit of rolling his eyes and hitting the table with his fist. This time the same thing happened, but without any damage to the tablecloth and dishes, since I took timely measures: I held the decanter and glass.
When His Highness got tired and began to lose coherence in speech, I signaled to the footman to undress and put him to bed, and I went to visit Pavel Georgievich and Lieutenant Endlung. As people who are young and healthy, they are much less tired of cognac. One could say that they were not tired at all, so it was necessary to keep an eye on them, especially considering the temperament of Mr. Chamberlain.
Oh, this Endlung. One should not say so, but Ekaterina Ioannovna made a big mistake when she considered this gentleman a suitable mentor for her eldest son. The lieutenant, of course, is a clever beast: his eyes are clear and pure, his face is pink, a neat parting on his golden head, a childish blush on his cheeks - well, just an angel. He is respectful with older ladies, shuffles his feet, and can listen with the most interested look about John of Kronstadt and about the Italian greyhound’s distemper. It is not surprising that Ekaterina Ioannovna melted from Endlung. Such a pleasant and, most importantly, serious young man, not like the rogue midshipmen from the Naval Corps or the slackers from the Guards crew. I found someone to entrust custody of Pavel Georgievich on the first big voyage. I've seen enough of this trustee.
In the first port, Varna, Endlung dressed up like a peacock - in a white suit, a scarlet vest, a star-shaped tie, a wide Panama hat - and went to an obscene house, and his Highness, then still just a boy, dragged with him. I tried to intervene, and the lieutenant told me: “I promised Ekaterina Ioannovna that I won’t take my eyes off His Highness, wherever I go, he will go.” I tell him: “No, Mr. Lieutenant, Her Highness said: where He, there you go too." And Endlung: “This, Afanasy Stepanych, is casuistry. The main thing is that we will be inseparable, like the Ajaxes.” And he dragged the young midshipman through all the dens, all the way to Gibraltar. And after Gibraltar to Kronstadt, both the lieutenant and the midshipman behaved quietly and did not even go ashore - they only ran to the doctor four times a day to do syringes. This is what a mentor is like. Because of this Endlung, His Highness has changed a lot, it’s simply unrecognizable. I already hinted to Georgy Alexandrovich, but he just waved his hand: nothing, they say, such a school will only benefit my Polly, and Endlung, although a dunce, is a good friend and a wide-open soul, there won’t be much harm from him. In my opinion, this is called letting a goat into the garden, to use a popular expression. I see right through Endlung. Why, the soul is wide open. Thanks to his friendship with Pavel Georgievich, he received a monogram for his shoulder straps, and now also a chamber cadet. This is unheard of - such a respectable court title for some lieutenant!
Left alone, the young people started playing bezique to make their wishes come true. When I looked into the compartment, Pavel Georgievich called:
- Sit down, Afanasy. Play American with us. If you cheat, I’ll make you shave your precious sideburns to hell.
I thanked him and declined, citing that I was extremely busy, although I had nothing special to do. It wasn’t enough to play “American” with His Highness. Yes, Pavel Georgievich himself knew very well that I would not make a partner - he was just joking. In recent months, he has developed this disconcerting habit of making fun of me. And all thanks to Endlung - his influence. Endlung himself, however, has stopped teasing me for some time now, but Pavel Georgievich still won’t stop. It’s okay, His Highness is allowed, I have no complaints.
And now he told me with the most stern look:
– You know, Afanasy, the phenomenal hair on your face arouses the jealousy of certain influential people. For example, the day before yesterday at the ball, when you stood at the door so important, with a gilded mace and sideburns on both sides, all the ladies looked only at you, but no one looked at cousin Nicky, even though he was the emperor. We need to, we need to shave you, or at least cut your hair.
In fact, my “phenomenal vegetation” was nothing out of the ordinary: a mustache with beards and sideburns - perhaps luxuriant, but not excessive, and in any case kept in a decent form. My father and my grandfather wore the same ones, so I didn’t intend to shave or get a haircut.
“Okay, Polly,” Endlung stood up for me. – Don’t torment Afanasy Stepanovich. Better go, it's your turn.
Apparently, I still have to explain about my relationship with the lieutenant. There is a story here.
On the very first day of sailing on the corvette "Mstislav", as soon as we left Sevastopol, Endlung lay in wait for me on the deck, put his hand on my shoulder and said, looking with impudent eyes, completely transparent from the wine he drank at the farewell:
- What, Afonya, lackey soul, did you let go of the mops? Was it blown away by the breeze? [My sideburns actually became somewhat disheveled from the fresh sea wind - later I had to shorten them a little for the duration of the trip.] Not for service, but for friendship - fly to the squalid barman, tell him that His Highness ordered a bottle of rum to be sent - so that didn't get seasick.
Endlung, on the way, while we were traveling by train to Sevastopol, kept teasing and teasing me in the presence of His Highness, but I endured it, waiting for an opportunity to explain myself in private. So the opportunity presented itself.
I delicately, with two fingers, removed the lieutenant’s hand (not a chamber cadet at that time) from my shoulder and politely said this:
“If you, Mr. Endlung, have the fancy to be concerned with the definition of my soul, then it would be more accurate to call it not “lackey”, but “Hoff-Fourier,” for for my long, blameless service at the court of His Majesty, I was awarded the title of Hoff-Fourier. This rank belongs to the 9th class and corresponds to the rank of titular adviser, army staff captain or naval lieutenant(I emphasized the last one on purpose).
Endlung jumped up:
– Lieutenants don’t serve at table!
– Served sir, in the restaurant, and to the august family serve. Each in his own way, according to honor and duty.
After this very incident, Endlung became like silk with me: he spoke politely, no longer allowed jokes, but called me by my first name and patronymic and only “you”.
It must be said that a person of my position has a special relationship with addressing “you” and “you”, because the status of us, palace servants, is special. It is difficult to explain how it turns out that from some people it is offensive to be addressed as “you”, while from others it is offensive to hear “you”. But I can only serve the latter, if you understand what I mean.
I'll try to explain. I only tolerate being addressed as “you” by august persons. No, I don’t hate it, but I consider it a privilege and a special distinction. I would simply be killed if Georgy Alexandrovich, Her Highness, or any of their children, even the youngest, suddenly said “you” to me. Three years ago, I had a disagreement with Ekaterina Ioannovna regarding one maid, who was unfairly accused of frivolity. I showed firmness, insisted on my own, and the Grand Duchess, offended, “scorched” me for a whole week. I suffered a lot, became haggard, and couldn’t sleep at night. Then, of course, we explained. Ekaterina Ioannovna, with her characteristic generosity, admitted that she was wrong, I also obeyed and was allowed to touch my hand, and she kissed me on the forehead.
But I digress.
The players were served by the younger footman Lipps, one of the newcomers, whom I specially took with me to take a closer look at what he was worth. Previously, he served on the Estonian estate of Count Benckendorff and was recommended to me by His Excellency's majordomo, an old acquaintance of mine. He seems to be an efficient fellow and a man of few words; but a good servant, unlike a bad one, is not immediately recognized. In a new place, anyone stretches with all his might, here you need to wait half a year or a year, or even two. I watched how Lipps refilled the cognac, how deftly he replaced the soiled napkin, how he stood still - this is very, very important. He stood correctly - did not shift from foot to foot, did not turn his head. Perhaps we can let them out to guests for small receptions, I decided.
And the game went on as usual. First, Endlung lost, and Pavel Georgievich rode him down the corridor. Then fortune turned against His Highness, and the lieutenant demanded that Grand Duke completely undressed, he ran into the toilet room and brought a glass of water from there.
Boris Akunin
Coronation, or the Last of the Novels
He died before my eyes, this strange and unpleasant gentleman.
Everything happened quickly, so quickly.
Simultaneously with the roar of shots, he was thrown towards the rope.
He dropped his small revolver, grabbed the shaky railing and froze in place, throwing his head back. A white face flashed, crossed out by a stripe of mustache, and disappeared, hung with black crepe.
Erast Petrovich! - I shouted, calling him by his first name and patronymic for the first time.
Or did you just want to shout?
The unreliable flooring swayed under his feet. The head suddenly jerked forward, as if from a powerful push, the body began to fall with its chest onto the rope and the next moment, turning over absurdly, it was already flying down, down, down.
The treasured box fell out of my hands, hit the stone and split, the multi-colored edges of diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds flashed with dazzling sparks, but I didn’t even look at all these countless treasures that fell into the grass.
A soft, crunching sound of impact came from the crevice, and I gasped. The black sack, accelerating, rolled down a steep slope and stopped its sickening spinning only at the very stream, limply dropped one hand into the water and remained there, face down in the pebbles.
* * *I didn't love this man. Maybe he even hated it. In any case, I wanted him to disappear from our lives once and for all. However, I did not want him to die.
His trade was taking risks, he played with danger all the time, but for some reason I didn’t think that he could die. He seemed immortal to me.
I don’t know how long I stood there, looking down stiffly. It must not be long at all. But time seemed to have cracked, split, and I fell into this hole - back into my former, serene life, which ended exactly two weeks ago.
Yes, then it was also Monday, the sixth of May.
We arrived in the ancient capital of the Russian state in the morning. In connection with the upcoming coronation celebrations, the Nikolaevsky station was overloaded, and our train was driven along the transfer branch to Brestsky, which seemed to me an incorrect action on the part of the local authorities, to put it mildly. Presumably, this was due to some coldness in the relationship between His Highness Georgy Alexandrovich and His Highness Simeon Alexandrovich, the Moscow Governor-General. I can’t explain in any other way the humiliating half-hour standing at Sortirovochnaya and the subsequent transfer of an emergency train from the main station to the secondary one.
And it was not Simeon Alexandrovich himself who met us on the platform, as required by protocol, tradition, kinship and, in the end, simply respect for his elder brother, but only the chairman of the committee for receiving guests - the minister of the imperial court, who, however, was right there left for Nikolaevsky to meet the Prince of Prussia. Since when is the Prussian heir given more respect in Moscow than His Majesty's uncle, Admiral General of the Russian Navy and the second most senior of the Grand Dukes of the Imperial House? Georgy Alexandrovich did not show it, but I think he was no less outraged by such an obvious front than I was.
It’s good that at least Her Highness Grand Duchess Ekaterina Ioannovna remained in St. Petersburg - she is so zealous for the subtleties of the ritual and the observance of the august dignity. The measles epidemic that struck the four middle sons, Alexei Georgievich, Sergei Georgievich, Dmitry Georgievich and Konstantin Georgievich, prevented Her Highness, an exemplary and loving mother, from participating in the coronation, the highest event in the life of the state and the imperial family. True, evil tongues claimed that Her Highness’s absence from Moscow celebrations was explained not so much by maternal love as by her reluctance to play the role of an extra at the triumph of the young queen. At the same time, they remembered last year’s story with the Christmas ball. The new empress invited the ladies of the august family to establish a needlework society - so that each of the grand duchesses would knit a warm cap for the orphans of the Mariinsky Orphanage. Perhaps Ekaterina Ioannovna actually reacted too harshly to this undertaking. I also do not rule out that since then the relationship between Her Highness and Her Majesty has not become entirely good, however, there was no shocking in my mistress’s non-attendance at the coronation, I can vouch for this. Ekaterina Ioannovna can treat Her Majesty in any way she likes, but she would never allow herself to neglect her dynastic duty without a very serious reason. Her Highness's sons were indeed seriously ill.
This, of course, is sad, but, as people say, every cloud has a silver lining, because along with Her Highness, the entire Grand Duke’s court remained in the capital, which significantly facilitated the very difficult task that faced me in connection with the temporary move to Moscow. The ladies of the court were very upset that they would not see the Moscow celebration and expressed dissatisfaction (of course, without going beyond the bounds of etiquette), but Ekaterina Ioannovna remained adamant: according to the ceremony, the small courtyard should be located where the majority of the members of the grand ducal family reside, and the majority of the Georgieviches, as our branch of the imperial house is unofficially called, remained in St. Petersburg.
Four went to the coronation: Georgy Alexandrovich himself, his eldest and youngest sons, as well as his only daughter Ksenia Georgievna.
As I already said, the absence of the gentlemen of the court only made me happy. The manager of the court, Prince Metlitsky, and the manager of the court office, Privy Councilor von Born, would only interfere with my work, poking my nose into matters completely beyond their understanding. A good butler does not need nannies and supervisors to cope with his duties. As for the chamberlain and ladies-in-waiting, I simply wouldn’t know where to place them - such a miserable residence was allocated to the Green Court (that’s what our house is called after the color of the Grand Duchess’s train) by the coronation committee. However, the conversation about the residence lies ahead.
* * *The move from St. Petersburg went well. The train consisted of three carriages: the august family was traveling in the first, the servants in the second, the necessary utensils and luggage in the third, so I constantly had to move from carriage to carriage.
Immediately after leaving, His Highness Georgy Alexandrovich sat down to drink cognac with His Highness Pavel Georgievich and Chamberlain Endlung. I deigned to drink eleven glasses, got tired and then slept all the way to Moscow. Before going to bed, already in his “cabin,” as he called the compartment, he told me a little about the voyage to Sweden, which took place twenty-two years ago and which made a great impression on His Highness. The fact is that although Georgy Alexandrovich holds the rank of admiral general, he went to sea only once, retained the most unpleasant memories of this journey and often mentions the French minister Colbert, who did not sail on ships at all, but nevertheless made his country great sea power. I heard the story of Swedish swimming many times and managed to memorize it. The most dangerous thing here is the description of the storm off the coast of Gotland. After the words “And then the captain will shout: “Everyone to the pumps!”” His Highness has a habit of rolling his eyes and hitting the table with his fist. This time the same thing happened, but without any damage to the tablecloth and dishes, since I took timely measures: I held the decanter and glass.
When His Highness got tired and began to lose coherence in speech, I signaled to the footman to undress and put him to bed, and I went to visit Pavel Georgievich and Lieutenant Endlung. As people who are young and healthy, they are much less tired of cognac. One could say that they were not tired at all, so it was necessary to keep an eye on them, especially considering the temperament of Mr. Chamberlain.
Oh, this Endlung. One should not say so, but Ekaterina Ioannovna made a big mistake when she considered this gentleman a suitable mentor for her eldest son. The lieutenant, of course, is a clever beast: his eyes are clear and pure, his face is pink, the neat parting on his golden head, the childish blush on his cheeks - well, he’s just an angel. He is respectful with older ladies, shuffles his feet, and can listen with the most interested look about John of Kronstadt and about the Italian greyhound’s distemper. It is not surprising that Ekaterina Ioannovna melted from Endlung. Such a pleasant and, most importantly, serious young man, not like the rogue midshipmen from the Naval Corps or the slackers from the Guards crew. I found someone to entrust custody of Pavel Georgievich on the first big voyage. I've seen enough of this trustee.
In the first port, Varna, Endlung dressed up like a peacock - in a white suit, a scarlet vest, a star-shaped tie, a wide Panama hat - and went to an obscene house, and his Highness, then still just a boy, dragged with him. I tried to intervene, and the lieutenant told me: “I promised Ekaterina Ioannovna that I won’t take my eyes off His Highness, wherever I go, he will go.” I tell him: “No, Mister Lieutenant, Her Highness said: where is he going, there you go too.” And Endlung: “This, Afanasy Stepanych, is casuistry. The main thing is that we will be inseparable, like the Ajaxes.” And he dragged the young midshipman through all the dens, all the way to Gibraltar. And after Gibraltar to Kronstadt, both the lieutenant and the midshipman behaved quietly and did not even go ashore - they only ran to the doctor four times a day to do syringes. This is what a mentor is like. Because of this Endlung, His Highness has changed a lot, it’s simply unrecognizable. I already hinted to Georgy Alexandrovich, but he just waved his hand: nothing, they say, such a school will only benefit my Polly, and Endlung, although a dunce, is a good friend and a wide-open soul, there won’t be much harm from him. In my opinion, this is called letting a goat into the garden, to use a popular expression. I see right through Endlung. Why - the soul is wide open. Thanks to his friendship with Pavel Georgievich, he received a monogram for his shoulder straps, and now also a chamber cadet. This is unheard of - such an honorable court title for some lieutenant!
