Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

Chapter 392 034 Fate always has a clever arrangement
Okhotnikov was discharged from the army legally and reasonably due to tuberculosis. After that, Louisa found that her maid's face seemed to have lost its former luster.

She could imagine that little Natalia was distraught because of the departure of her lover, so she wanted to arrange for her to dance.

However, the girl's current dull look clearly showed that she was not suitable for participating in enjoyable social activities. She was just mechanically maintaining her movements because she had been serving as the queen's maid.

"Well, she fell in love with a young man who was unlikely to have any future, and this is probably the result."

She then sent little Natalia away from the Alexander Palace, leaving behind her only a few older girls who were engaged but not yet married.

Little Natalia was not even the oldest among these unmarried girls. There were even older girls in the palace.

The youngest girl, Katya, is also looking forward to today's dance. Her parents and two brothers will all attend the dance.

These students, brothers and sisters all like to work part-time as Cupids in clothes, specializing in matchmaking for their family members.

She told everyone how handsome her elder brother Vasily and her second brother Nicholas were, which really made the maids want to laugh, but they couldn't.

"Is it really as you said?"

"Of course. Nicholas is much more beautiful than those officers in the palace, and she is also a diplomatic student."

"Ah, that's not bad, at least I'm not a soldier."

Princess Lobanova-Rostovskaya, the girl that Solovyov was paying attention to, was sweet-looking and peaceful, but she mentioned the issue of her military identity, which more or less proved that in recent times, military officers in the Russian court did not seem to be as popular as they used to be.

Girls also have more choices when choosing their fiancés. This lady had met Solovyov in the palace and had a good impression of him.

But his father had a bad temper, and although his mother supported his brothers in joining the army, she did not want her daughter to marry an officer, even if he was a promising young colonel or general.

Moreover, she has no opinion of her own, is gentle to everyone, smiles very sweetly, and has a lot of suitors.

You can see it when you enter the dance floor.

Little Katya was watching from the side. While Masha was dancing the waltz on the dance floor, many young men came to invite her to dance.

There was even something unpleasant that happened: Sergei Volkonsky of the Guards Cavalry Regiment had an argument with others.

Considering that he was Peter Volkonsky's cousin and brother-in-law, Solovyov had to come out to smooth things over. After all, it was more convenient and flexible for him to move around.

"Seryosha, don't fight with others at this time, think about your sister"

Sergei was somewhat impulsive, but someone held him back and he did not lose his temper. After all, the Tsar himself was right in front of him, and this was not the right time for an argument.

As for the young lady, she looked even more attractive as she tilted her head and looked at the young officers who were arguing with each other for dancing with her.

This girl is sweet-looking, so naturally there are people pursuing her. When Solovyov saw her, he was already very experienced, and when he encountered such a girl with a holy light behind her smile, he did not have much resistance.

But considering the background of this lovely girl, for a family like Solovyov to marry a noble lady from a relatively high-ranking family, generally only those famous families with senior generals would accept promising young officers.

Solovyov thought about his mother. Even among the wives that Solovyov's family could marry, her status was relatively high.

His cousin was also an officer in the Guards, but his wife was not rich. The same was true for his other uncles and cousins.

If you want to marry a good wife, you have to make yourself more successful.

But Sergei, a member of the Rurik family of the second branch of the Volkonsky clan, was evidently enchanted by the girl, and now, apart from his love letters, he was doing so almost in public.

In order to avoid trouble, Solovyov had no choice but to find him a dance partner.

"In the Guards, even if you are an infantryman, you are still a senior, Uncle Dmitri's former adjutant, and my brother-in-law's friend and deputy. I have to listen to you."

"That's good, Seryosha. If you want to dance, you can go to the girls' school and invite a girl. That way it won't be awkward. It's just dancing, so don't put too much emotion into it."

Speaking of which, Solovyov thought for a long time and decided that there was a Volkonsky among the Decembrists who might fit the bill, as he was always so close to these people.

And it's not just this one, his beloved nephew Veniamin will be one in the future, and there are many other friends who can be connected with these people.

It would be a waste of talent to send them to Siberia to dig potatoes. If this were to happen, it would be better to pack them up and send them to Rossburg.

Solovyov supported the Decembrists' ideas, but their actions were too stupid.

Besides, he is essentially a man who lives for the day. As long as he can live a good life, who wants change?

What's more, in their family's situation, although there is a gap in status between the serfs and the master, the master is not arrogant and has actually dissolved that kind of relationship. The conflicts are not sharp, and they can get along well.

As for Lobanova-Rostovskaya, although she was polite to everyone, she did not like impulsiveness to some extent.

Therefore, Sergei could only be given the good guy card, and was dragged to the girls' school by Solovyov, and asked Yulia's good friend Ekaterina Komnenos to be his dance partner.

This Greek chick hasn't grown up yet. Although she's cute, she won't make people feel love for her. And there's no Nabokov now.
Solovyov has moved the bomb Sergei away, so nothing should happen today.

As for himself, since he had walked away from Barclay and Yermolov, he still had many issues to consider, but they were all things that needed to be done on this occasion.

For example, if Yulia needs a dance partner today, as her brother he has the obligation to recommend one.

But at the dance, who to find is also a problem.

He looked at Yermolov, a man who actually felt very safe, but considering Yulia's preferences.
It's not like he needs to find a fiancé for his sister now, and Yermolov just said that he has never married due to financial problems. It may be that the family background of the girl he likes is not that good.

After all, girls need dowries. Sonia has never married Nicholas, and this may be one of the reasons.

Otherwise, given how inseparable they were, Sonia wouldn't have ended up almost living alone.

So, this is also a problem.

But he couldn't ask for help from the three Dolgorukov brothers. He was very ambiguous with his best friend Mikhail and Ekaterina. His friends were not suitable, so he couldn't go to some troublemakers. After he sent Sergei away, he turned around and saw little Katya holding her second brother Nikolai's hand and introducing them to the sisters.

Ah, she is really interesting. When she first appears, she introduces her brother to the sisters.

This Nicholas is indeed handsome, and his eyes reveal a kind of confidence, but he is also calm and unobtrusive, which is quite inconsistent with his 17 years old.

As for the eldest brother Vasily, he has already found a dance partner, which is obviously different.

It’s just that girls like Nicholas more. If he were a little more lively, I’m afraid the girls would be crazy about him.

In the end, he only found the older Ekaterina Golitsyna as his dance partner, which was unexpected but also saved him a lot of embarrassment.

Then there was little Katya herself. Strangely, it seemed that because she was the youngest among the maids, the more mature girls were the choice of the young nobles.

"Katya, it looks like no one wants to ask you for a dance yet."

"Brother Mishka, I'm not in a hurry. There will always be someone who will come and dance with me."

"You've been practicing very well since you were young. I should be very happy to be your dance partner."

"But not now."

"There will always be one, Katya. There are always so many brilliant ladies in the palace, it's easy to be dazzled by the choices. Someone will recognize your charm in time."

"Yes, Brother Mishka, I noticed you've been keeping an eye on Masha."

"But for Seryosha's sake, I can't do this. There might be such a fool in the future who doesn't care about other people's feelings."

"That can't be you."

Solovyov didn't know whether what he said was true or not, but after a while, no one came to dance with little Katya.

She was really not in a hurry. If she were to change into someone like Natasha, she would be so anxious that her pearls would drop.

As for Solovyov, he did not take the initiative to extend an invitation. When he went to persuade Sergei just now, many girls had already been invited by other young officers.

As for the girl from the Kurakin family, Solovyov didn't dare to approach her easily, so he just sat here with little Katya.

When the waltz music was replaced by polonaise, still no one came to invite little Katya, so Yulia sat over here.

"How is it? Yurochka, have you found a suitable dance partner?"

"No one has come to invite anyone yet. Brother, you are here, but you don't invite anyone else. You just chat with Katya. It's really unlike you."

In fact, Yulia also knew that her brother had a lover outside, but compared with those playboys in St. Petersburg, his lover was just amorous and even relatively stable.

But she and little Katya didn't know that they dreamed of becoming a gentle and virtuous wife like Her Majesty the Queen, but her brother had secretly succeeded.

Little Katya didn't seem to care too much about what she said. After all, her mother had been pursued by Potemkin before, and this kind of gossip was not a big deal for the slightly precocious girl.

"I was just chatting with Katya. Of course, Yura, if you don't have a dance partner, your brother can help you find one."

"Katya, you can choose now and chat with someone else. Someone will come and ask you to dance later."

As a result, Solovyov actually found the Tsar's adjutant Pauluch.
As an aide-de-camp, it was easy for him to find a dance partner for his sister. During this period of time, he also exchanged views with Paolucci on Serbia's issues.

In a few days, Paolucci will set out for the rebel headquarters near Belgrade to test Karageorge's attitude.

As for Solovyov himself, he had to take over the aid plan, so it was normal for the two to hand over work issues.

Julia was quite satisfied with this Italian dance partner.
However, Paulucci was older than Solovyov, married young, and was a foreigner. It was obvious that he came here to take care of his colleague's sister.

However, little Katya was not invited.

"It seems, Katya, although the occasion is grand today, I am the only one who has the honor to ask you to dance with me."

Of course, Solovyov did not notice that there was an "old witch" staring at him viciously from behind.

Little Katya welcomed Solovyov's invitation. After all, she was already very familiar with him. The reason why her elder brother was able to fill the vacancy in the Semyonovsky Regiment was that she had found Solovyov in order to help little Natalia, and as a result, he took the opportunity to retire a group of officers with infectious diseases with Konstantin. It was a blessing in disguise, and it also fulfilled her father's wish to let her elder brother become a company commander in the Guards. Although it was a late start, it was just right - Russia was now at war with the Turks, and there was still a chance for him to go to the front line.

As for her dancing steps, since she had received strict dance training since she was a child, and she was very talented, she was also an excellent dancer among the maids. Although she was famous for this, no one invited her to dance. It should not be just because she was young.

You know, Katya is a girl with a really good figure. Although her face is not the prettiest, she is relatively gentle and likable. It is no wonder that no one invited her.

However, the "old witch" of Prince Saltykov's family regarded this girl from her natal family as a suitable candidate for the future wife of her youngest son, which is somewhat reasonable.

But besides this old lady, there were other people paying attention.

Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief like a little adult, but at the age of ten he was already tall enough to be among the line infantry, so this posture was indeed a bit novel.

He was relieved that he didn't need to make any connections himself. The master could do it himself, and he had enough food and clothing to invite a dance partner back.

Seeing him like this, Elena also wanted to laugh.

Of course, she had her own concerns, namely that her brother-in-law wasn't very interested in finding a dance partner.

The music at the party became more soothing, which made the atmosphere more relaxed.

It was at this time that little Katya and Solovyov prepared to dance their first dance of the evening.

The red thread of fate will also be tied to the hands of both of them.

(End of this chapter)