The Lives Of The Romanovs

Keeping A Friendship

Maria

For some reason, Vladimir was refusing to me speak with me anymore. He did not want to sit next to me at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. He wouldn't let me in to his sitting room or go on a walk with me. I hadn't known why. I was sure I did not say anything offensive or crude, I had made sure of that. But then this morning, it had come to my realization that I left Vladimir alone with the Big Pair. And you do not leave a boy you adore with the Big Pair because they will obliterate him.

I practically jogged down the halls to Olga and Tatiana's bedroom. I knew they had just gotten done praying together so they would now probably be knitting and reading together. It would be the perfect to time to get them together to have the conversation.
Once I got there, I opened the doors to the room. As suspected, Tatiana was knitting a blanket and Olga was rereading "Anna Karenina". I slammed the doors behind and walked to the center of their bedroom so I could get their full attention and a look at both of them.
"What did you two say to Vladimir? One moment he was casually smiling at me and now he will not even look at me!"
Olga and Tatiana exchanged looks with each other. Tatiana sighed at me and set her knitting things with did to the side.
"Sweet Mashka, we just did not want you to get too caught up with Vladimir. He is a morganatic prince after all-"
"Who cares if he's a morganatic prince?! It is not like he was born from some whore!"
Olga gasped. "Do not say such a word, Maria! That's such an unladylike word!"
"I do not care about what is ladylike and what is unladylike! That is not the point of why I am in here right now. You both have deeply hurt my feelings. You both knew how much I wanted to have a relationship with Vladimir and you couldn't let me have that. Olga, you have Igor. Tatiana, you have Dmitri. But me?...I have no one."
Tatiana tilted her head to the side and had a face of guilt. "Maria, I am so sorry. I did not realize-"
I scoffed. "Yes Tatiana, that's exactly the problem. You didn't realize. Now if you excuse me, I have to go fix your mess."

I then started walking down to the sitting room Vladimir had temporarily occupied. There's no way he would go anywhere else this morning. He was a hardworking man dedicated to his work. I knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" I heard him shout.
"A certain grand duchess." I replied. I heard the footsteps from behind the door. The door of the sitting room opened just enough so I could see his face. I have a weak smile at him. He tried not to, but he gave a weak smile back at me.
"Vladimir, I know what Olga and Tatiana said to you. But I've wanted to let you know that it doesn't matter to me if you have two-rubles or one-thousand-rubles to your know name."
Vladimir nodded and pursed his lips. "I'm very flattered, Maria. But I must get back to work now."
"Don't you like me anymore?"
"Oh, don't think I don't. I like you a great deal. But that's exactly the problem. It'd be stupid to believe I could be involved with a grand duchess. A daughter of the Tsar for that matter."
I felt a hard lump in my throat. "You are just as valuable as any other Russian prince or grand duke."
Vladimir chuckled. "You would say that, wouldn't you? I knew from the very first day that you were the sweetest person in this family."
"Then why let Olga and Tatiana influence you so deeply into ignoring me?"
Vladimir looked me up and down. He just looked into my eyes and frowned.
"Because I'm in love with you and I know damn well that I shouldn't be. Have a good morning, Maria." Vladimir weakly smiled. He then shut the door slowly and left me on the other side. I didn't know if what to say or think in that moment. I did not know Vladimir's feelings went that deep for me.

Unfortunately, Pierre Gilliard found me in that moment. He let out a smile at me and a laugh. I turned towards him, but only for his smile to fade.
"Maria Nikolaevna, are you alright? You look like you have seen a ghost."
There was nothing I could think of to say in that moment. I just stuttered and gulped.
"Um, me? No-no, I'm fine. If you'd excuse me, Monsieur Gilliard, I'm feeling rather fatigued right now. I think I need to lye down."
Monsieur Gilliard put his hand on my shoulder.
"Should I walk you to your room?"
"No, I will be alright. I apologize for leaving like this. Perhaps I will see you later." I nodded at him. I turned away and started to walk back to my bedroom. I needed to lie down and try and get the words that came out of Vladimir Paley's mouth out of my mind.