The Paleys (1921-1927) - An Alternate Romanov Story

Differences

Paris, May 1924

Irina

The doctors had advised Irina to remain home, but she had put her foot down on this matter. It was difficult to say with certainty when the baby was due since she wasn't exactly sure when it had been conceived, but even by the most optimistic calculations, the event was coming near. Feodor was eager that the birth should take place at Ai-Todor, but the very thought of going into labour and spending her confinement there filled Irina with dread.

Yes, Ai-Todor was ideal for a short vacation, and she had loved the place the first times she had been there and even for the first few months when she could still walk around freely and visit other towns in the proximity. But, from the moment her condition prevented her from moving about, the estate quickly began to feel less like a retreat and more like a gilded seaside prison. The feeling was made even more present by the fact that she didn't know anyone there and spent most of her days alone. Feodor was always busy somewhere in the estate, dealing with the inevitable issues that came from managing such a vast area with so many people under his care, while she, on her end, hadn't had time to make any friends at University before she had to quit because of her severe sickness.

Her former lady-in-waiting, Maria, had married Rostislav at last, but they had both settled in Petrograd and only visited Ai-Todor in the Spring. Feodor had found her a new Ukrainian girl to occupy the post, but the truth was that there were so few social gatherings that her position was made almost irrelevant. She was also a very nice and kind young girl, but they had so little in common that Irina felt rather awkward in her presence and, after a while, preferred to be alone rather than keep the small talk with her.

The result was that Irina knew all the corners of every house inside the estate. Even the gardens and the beach below held no secrets any more. All that feeling of loneliness, along with the knowledge she had acquired about conception and pregnancy from books she had ordered, especially from Paris — she was determined not to be caught by surprise in that area again — soon led her to the conclusion that the estate was not entirely safe when it came to deliver a child.

Ai-Todor was too isolated. No modern midwife would willingly spend weeks on standby in such a remote location, waiting for the birth. The quality of the water was suspect, and if complications arose, their only hope would be that the village midwife was available and that traditional methods wouldn't endanger the mother, the child, or both. Armed with her newfound knowledge about the place, it didn't take Irina long to understand why, out of Grand Duchess Xenia's seven children, only one had been born there.

Yet, as Irina had come to learn in the year since marrying Feodor, her husband wasn't exceptionally skilled at seeing things from another's perspective. He had a deep sentimental attachment to Ai-Todor and a fixed idea of how and where his children's birth should occur. No matter how often Irina argued about travelling to Petrograd for the delivery, Feodor refused to budge. When their discussions became too tense or he felt overwhelmed, he would simply walk away, retreating into long, solitary strolls around the estate.

The first time it happened, Irina was stunned. She came from a family where arguments were rare, mainly because her parents openly communicated their needs and concerns to each other—even in front of their children. Feodor, however, had grown up in a typical royal household, where vast palaces and sprawling estates across Russia and Europe provided plenty of opportunities to avoid confrontation. When his parents didn't want to argue, they went their separate ways until they were ready to be in the same room again. It certainly explained why they both eventually found lovers yet remained married, even after being separated for nearly a decade.

For Irina, this dynamic was bewildering. She found it deeply upsetting that she could not express her feelings or opinions without her husband turning his back on her and returning hours later as though nothing had happened.