Minutes later, Minny – looking indecently young in a wasp-waisted, high-throated, trailing lace gown and a wide straw hat drowning in artificial flowers – was dropping air-kisses in the direction of Alicky’s cheeks. ‘Forgive me for this unexpected intrusion, Alicky, but I have been meaning to speak with you for some time and today, with Nicky in St Petersburg, seemed as good a time as any.’

They seated themselves on the French Regency sofas that faced each other a few yards apart. Minny made polite enquiries about baby Olga and then launched into the reason for her visit.

‘I have come to believe that I have not been very fair to you Alicky,’ she said, her voice apologetic. ‘Because you were only in Russia days before you became Empress, you didn’t have time to appreciate the great difference between court life in Russia and the court life you had previously experienced in Darmstadt and in England. As a result, and through no fault of your own, you started your reign on the back foot. A drawback I should have put to rights by explaining all the things that the Russian public – and the court – expect of their Empress. I was simply too grief-stricken over the loss of my beloved Sasha to do so, and you are not to be blamed for things that have begun causing disquiet.’

Alicky was confused. Was Minny making an apology to her for not having given her the guidance she had so badly needed, or was she about to launch into yet another tirade of criticism?

‘The main duty of a Russian empress is to be seen, not to hide away, as you are doing here, at Tsarskoe Selo,’ Minny said, answering Alicky’s unasked question. ‘The Empress is the undisputed leader of St Petersburg society. As such, you should constantly be seen at St Petersburg balls and parties and receptions. The public want to see you bowling down Nevsky Prospekt in an open carriage with a cavalcade of outriders in the summer, and in a sleigh with even more outriders in the winter. As it is, you shrink from appearing in public and the people barely know what you look like.’

‘The people will know and love me for the things I am able to do for them,’ Alicky said through gritted teeth, wondering for how much longer she was going to be able to keep her temper. ‘I have no wish at all to be a frivolous example to them.’

Minny’s eyes flashed fire. ‘I hope you are not insinuating that, when I was Empress, I set a bad example?’

Alicky had been, but enraged as she was, she knew she couldn’t possibly say so. ‘No,’ she said through gritted teeth, ‘but your way of being Empress is not my way.’