Terrible tsarinas

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Terrible Tsarinas The people at court were outraged and the foreign diplomats were quick to comment, in their dispatches, on His Majesty’s two-way escapades. They were already prepared to bury His Most Serene. Little did they suspect how great was Menshikov’s physical resistance. Suddenly, he popped up again in the midst of this circus of ambitious and sexual maneuvering. Did he think he could just raise his voice, and the troublemakers would run for shelter? Hardly. By now, Peter II had gotten the upper hand. He would no longer tolerate anyone, including his future father-inlaw, thwarting his desires. In front of Menshikov - stunned and close to apoplexy - he howled, “I will show you who is master, here!”5 This outburst reminded Menshikov of the terrible rages of his former mas ter, Peter the Great. Understanding that it would be imprudent to defy a lamb that had gone mad, he pretended to see this fury as nothing but a late childish tantrum, and departed Peterhof, where Peter had received him so badly, to convalesce at his property at Oranienbaum. Before leaving, he took care to invite all the assembled company to a reception that he was planning to host in his country residence in honor of the tsar and to celebrate his own recovery. But Peter II persisted and, under the pretext that His Most Serene did not invite Elizabeth by name, refused to attend. To underscore his displeasure, he openly went out with his aunt to hunt big game in the surroundings.

Throughout this semi-hunting, semi-romantic escapade, he wondered what was going on at the celebrations dreamed up by Menshikov. Wasn’t it strange that none of his friends had followed his example? Was their fear of displeasing Menshikov so strong that they preferred to displease the tsar? In any case, he didn’t worry much about the feelings of Maria Menshikov, who seemed to have gone from intended-bride to back-on-the-shelf.

On the contrary, as soon as Menshikov’s guests were back from