Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796

Chapter 211 023 An unexpected visitor in Vienna

The two girls came to their mother, and only the little Sophia stared at Soloviev, with big eyes, which was very cute.

"You seem to like children very much, but you are not married."

"I often have to take care of children at home, big children, small children. The older one was sent to a girls' school, you know it."

Soloviev can finally relax. Although he rarely visits the prince's home, it is mainly because the status gap between the two sides is not small. There is a big gap between the nobles of Petersburg and the gentry of Ryazan.

Now he is sitting here, and his status is still relatively equal.

"But you are not married yet, are you also like..."

"Mom, some things can't be said casually."

The older child interrupted what her mother was about to say, and then began to salute her mother.

"Sorry, Mom, I think my tone is wrong."

"It's okay, Katish, your judgment is right, some things can't be said."

This hostess is already in her thirties, but she still has some charm. No wonder there were rumors about Prince Potemkin in the past.

"Mom, if something is said wrong, it is a matter of honor. I heard that Brother Mishka dueled with the secretary of the theater for Sister Julie."

"But that Venetian is an enemy, and I am a guest in your house, Katya."

Soloviev sometimes thought that this big girl was interesting. She finally adjusted her gait, but she kept interfering in the family affairs, but her timing of speaking was still relatively appropriate.

"Later I heard that the man died."

"Oh, he was just a nobody. Thanks to the help of Princess Yusupov, she did a lot of things."

"How is Tatiana? The sisters used to come to my salon, but Vasily always caused trouble with the emperor, so he came to Dresden."

"The princess is very good, but a lot of things happened in Petersburg. I want to talk about it now, but I can't finish it in a short time. But the Swiss guy should have the opportunity to marry Catherine, the daughter of the princess's first marriage."

"That's a good thing, but the girl from the Potemkin family is too young, and she has to wait for two years. 16 years old is relatively early to get married."

The princess continued to talk, this time without being disturbed by her eldest daughter.

"If I'm in Petersburg, I'll go and bless them. When I was with the emperor, he actually dueled with someone, which made us, the aides, spend a lot of time to help him. Otherwise, he would be driven to the mountains of Switzerland sooner or later."

"Speaking of Switzerland, we are going to travel there tomorrow, and we will also go to Italy."

"Italy is very nice, madam."

The princess chatted like this because there were few visitors these days and she seemed a little lonely.

Even when she met a young officer who came to visit, because he was an acquaintance in Petersburg, she opened up for a long time.

".So, you can still go back to St. Petersburg?"

"But I think it will take some means. I remember that Vasily Vasilyevich has some connections. His Excellency is not only a retired lieutenant general, but also a retired senior civil servant."

"And he is the son of the former Army Commander-in-Chief, the medal awarded to your father by Commander-in-Chief Prince Klimsky."

"I wasn't there at that time."

You know, Baron Sergei is the adjutant of Prince Klimsky's eldest son-in-law. No wonder he is always regarded as one of their own by their family. But Solovyov doesn't know the specific relationship between Prince Vasily and his father.

"If your father hadn't been injured in one leg, maybe he could be a quartermaster now. He has the ability, Misha."

The door was open, and Prince Vasily was standing at the door. He came back earlier than expected.

"Dad, good afternoon, you are finally back."

"Dad!" Sofia threw herself into her father's arms, and Ekaterina was obviously more polite, even taking his hat instead of the servant.

"They are all good children. Katishi took her sister out to play, and her father brought guests to discuss business."

Soloviev saw a thin figure in white clothes. At first, he couldn't see it clearly because of Prince Vasily Dolgorukov's sturdy figure. When the prince flashed around, he was also very surprised and stood up directly from the sofa.

"His Royal Highness Duke Teshen, hello."

"Aide-de-camp of the guards, with green eyes, you are the 'inventor' Soloviev, right? Although your rank is not high, you are still well-known in the officer corps because of your outpost battle in the Battle of the Trebia River where you set fire to the village, and captured General Scherer alive before."

"His Royal Highness has never seen me before, but he knows me so well."

"It's mainly because this special battle is really impressive."

Archduke Karl came to Dresden. Soloviev didn't know what he was going to do, but he was not in Vienna, so something must have happened there.

"Let's not talk about that. We were scheduled to reach Dresden tomorrow, but we didn't get delayed on the way. It's a miracle. If there had been no French at the Gotthard Pass, we might have achieved complete victory now."

Although Karl said so, there was always something strange about it. Anyway, although he was not from the same generation as the Austrian veterans, and he also had epilepsy and was physically weak, as the most outstanding commander of the Austrian army, he was still very popular among the whole army.

"But there is no if, Your Highness. We also know that you have made great efforts to ensure the safety of the Alpine Pass."

"Fortunately, this is at the home of a Russian friend, not at the Vienna court."

The position where Karl sat was not so particular. Obviously, he had been in the army for a long time, and he didn't pay much attention to things in social occasions. He paid more attention to discipline and convenience.

"You have been trained by Prince Suvorov, and the evaluation is very fair, but what can I do."

It seems that he was in a hurry on the road and didn't eat, so he grabbed the nuts on the table and took them one by one in his hand, but he only ate a few. Obviously, he was still very restrained.

"In the war, we should win first and then consider other things."

"But this will always be disturbed, Your Highness, the monarch and the commander sometimes disagree."

"And now, it's the same."

After Archduke Karl said this, Prince Vasily and Solovyov probably guessed that another group of ministers in Vienna were making trouble.

As Minister of War and Navy, Chairman of the Military Committee, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Austrian Field Marshal, and the third brother of Emperor Franz himself, his other brothers still support him, but it is difficult to do anything.

Because of this, he has become depressed and is always troubled by depression and epilepsy, so he decided to leave Vienna and take sick leave.

At this moment, he can be seen tired in his complexion, but his mental state is good.

"So you came to me, Your Highness, and you should enjoy your life."

"And meet your cousin Marie-Thérèse, she is very pitiful and needs someone to take care of her. We may have some common problems. And if you go to the countryside, you can hunt, ride horses, and relax. Prince Vasily, you have always been so hospitable and kind-hearted. This time, the rest should be very pleasant."

By the way, he himself never mentioned that he was here for a blind date. Only Emperor Franz himself and his younger brother Archduke Joseph knew about his French cousin. One was that as a monarch, he needed to know, and Archduke Joseph was probably the most reliable one among the brothers.

During the dinner, Archduke Karl did not have the pomp of the Austrian royal family. Even if Prince Vasily entertained him, it was just a simple dinner.

And Archduke Karl was okay if he talked about military and general courtesy negotiations. If he talked in depth, there was nothing to praise so far.

But he would stay for a while, and then go to the small manor where his cousin lived in seclusion nearby. During this period, he had a lot of work arrangements.

"Misha, you should stay too. My two sons have gone to Strasbourg, France. You can come and help me with some things."

"Sir, I am willing to serve you."

"You are indeed promising. Seryosha has a good son. I have known your father since I was in the Selenge Regiment. He was an adjutant. He may not be good at fighting and not brave enough, but he is good at military supplies. We have never been at a disadvantage in Crimea. But you, as a son, although you are also an adjutant, are different from your father."

Soloviev only knew that his father had some relationship with the prince's family, and he also knew the family line of Prince Krimsky. Now he also knew their friendship during the Russo-Turkish War.

"Vassily Vasilyevich, thank you very much, but I have to go to Stuttgart and Paris to take up my post later."

"Ah, it doesn't matter. After His Highness Karl returns, we can go to Paris together. I also want to travel to France, Switzerland and Italy. Now is a good time of peace. I should go out more."

The prince was in a good mood and even found an old military uniform, but it didn't match his current body shape.

"You used to be in the Semenovsky Regiment?"

"Yes, I served as a staff major there, a major of the second battalion, which is not the same as you, the chief major."

Prince Vasily saw that this kid was promoted by exception based on military merit, and he remembered that his father, when the entire Dolgoruky family was stripped of their military ranks, bravely took the lead at the age of fourteen or fifteen and made great contributions in the siege of Perekop, so he liked him even more.

"But the old rank is no longer in use. When I was the commander of the 1st Battalion of the Putin Regiment, I used the new rank."

"Yes, times have changed."

And then, according to the convention of these activities, we will go to the hunting ground in a few days.

Fortunately, Dresden is different from the inland of Russia. The weather here is still very good, and the hunting time is longer, especially going out to hunt wild boars, deer and wild ducks, and then taking the dogs with us.

It is more or less a real-life shooting game, but the dog goes to grab the duck, not bring it back with its claws.

And with his identity, it is not convenient to ask more questions. After all, he has just gotten rid of the table with the children, and his rank is here again.

Of course, he also noticed that Catherine has been paying attention to him.

"Brother Mishka, you have been in the palace all the time, so you should have a chance to meet Her Majesty the Queen, right?"

"Yes, yes, what's the problem, Katya?"

Although he is a professional in this area, he even knows what material Louisa likes to wear in her pajamas

Then he has to continue with the child's question. She probably met Louisa when she was still the Crown Princess when she was a child, and she was very impressed.

"Her Royal Highness likes reading very much. Do you know what books she reads?"

"I don't know very well, but I know from Her Royal Highness Maria that Her Royal Highness likes history, geography and philosophy, as well as poetry, drama and novels."

"No wonder she is knowledgeable and has a good temperament, but I can't read these books. I prefer music scores and paintings."

Her hobby is more like Elena and Maria. If she can return to St. Petersburg and become Louisa's maid, she should like it as soon as she sees it.

"Your Royal Highness also likes this. I have seen the portraits that Mrs. Le Brun painted for Her Royal Highness."

"That lady also painted a portrait of my mother. I also like Sister Julie. At that time, she often brought me snacks made in the French immigrant area."

If this child is familiar with her, she will talk a lot, and she also likes macarone. It is the original Italian product of macaron.

It was not surprising. After all, he came from her "hometown" and she knew him. He was the elder brother of her pen pal and best friend, so it was inevitable that they would talk more.

Archduke Karl was talking to Prince Vasily about other things, mainly about the recent situation of the "Little Cake Princess".

This kind of thing was unexpected, but it was also reasonable. Archduke Karl was now keeping his marriage with his cousin secret, just to avoid irritating the French in public. After all, Marie-Thérèse's identity was too sensitive. If the marriage was made public, it would be regarded as an unfriendly move by the French.

Austria was not fully prepared at the moment, and Mark also interfered with Archduke Karl's work, making him feel exhausted and even wanted to withdraw from public life and rest in Teschen's fiefdom.

However, as the only royal general of the Habsburg royal family, he could not let himself rest. It was unlikely that he would recover from illness. After the death of his uncle Maximilian, his task was even heavier.

This blind date was a way to relax, and by chance, Solovyov, who was delayed in Brunswick for a few days, met her on the way.

As for the marriage issue, Karl was also worried that he would not be able to give his cousin the happiness she deserved after being in the army for too long, and she was involved in too many political issues.

Franz's thoughts were also involved. Although he often suspected his third brother, he was very tolerant of who his most talented brother wanted to marry in terms of religious beliefs and political involvement. Otherwise, there would be no such trip.