It had been over a month. Spring was in full bloom. The flowers had opened up, the trees were lush, and the skies stayed bright longer into the evening. In the capital, everything looked beautiful and cheerful. But not everyone was smiling.
The whole city was buzzing with gossip, not excitement. Because tomorrow, the grand duke, Ivan Romanov, was going to marry Tatiana Orlova. People whispered in the streets, at the market, even in their own homes. No one could believe it. The man who had once loved another woman so deeply was now marrying someone else, and not just anyone, but the former lady-in-waiting of his first wife. It was strange, shocking, and no one could stop talking about it.
