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fought too hard and sacrificed too much—and in the end, gained too much—to throw it away on marriage.”
    From the corner of her eye, she saw Crecy shrug. “Some would argue a married woman might achieve something.”
    “Elizabeth of England. Christina of Sweden. Ninon de Lenclos. None of them married, and for good reason.”
    “Christina wed.”
    “Yes. After giving up her throne, and all her power, and her volition. She proves my point, you see?” Adrienne bit her lip. “When I was affianced to King Louis—when I was his mistress—Crecy, I cannot tell you how much I hated that, hated being so completely in his power. I swore it would not happen again.”
    “Surely Hercule—”
    “Is one of the best men I have ever known,” Adrienne replied. “But it is not just him—it is the world. Once I have the mark of Eve upon me, nothing will be the same, no matter how tolerant Hercule makes himself. And as much as I trust Hercule, I do not trust him that much—not with all my property and everything that I am.” She smiled thinly at Crecy. “Remember, my dear? We are of Lilith, not of Eve.”
    Crecy chuckled. “I am a poor devil’s advocate.”
    “But not a bad devil,” Adrienne observed, forcing a smile.
    “So now you need a new lover, I think,” Crecy said lightly. “Shall I pick one out EMPIRE OF UNREASON
    for you?”
    “I think I shall go dry for a time. Even lovers can be tiresome, it seems.”
    Crecy made a disgusted sound. “Do not play that with me,” she said very softly.
    “You may fool others—you may even fool Hercule—but you do not fool me.
    Marriage or not, you love him. You wept for three days when he married. I suspect you wept last night.”
    “Nonsense. Look—is that Prince Golitsyn?” Adrienne pointed to a man on horseback, approaching the front entrance.
    “It is,” Crecy replied.
    Adrienne pursed her lips. “Admit him. No one else. He may remain armed.”
    She went to her reception hall and waited.
    She did not have long to wait. Two of her Lorraine guards showed Golitsyn into the room. He bowed stiffly, fingered his thick, graying mustache, and cleared his throat.
    “Milady,” he said.
    “How is it with you, Prince Golitsyn?” Adrienne asked, remaining in her armchair. She did not offer the prince a seat.
    “As you must know by now, it has been a busy night.”
    Adrienne nodded. “It’s early to pay a call on me, however, and with so many uninvited friends.”
    “I wanted to personally explain matters, milady, so that you would not worry unduly.”
    “How very kind of you, Prince Golitsyn. Do go on.”
    “It is quite simple, really. When Tsar Peter left, almost a year ago, he only EMPIRE OF UNREASON
    intended to be absent for a few months. He surely could not have meant for Menshikov to remain regent for this long. We waited patiently, hoping the tsar would return before Menshikov embezzled the entire treasury, but now we can wait no longer. Serious matters are afoot overseas, and the empire is threatened from within and from without. Moreover, we now have intelligence that the tsar is dead, and all his people with him.”
    “Menshikov said nothing of this to me.”
    “Menshikov has tried to hush it up. Perhaps he even had something to do with it. He intended to hold on to the throne and perhaps name himself tsar. So, we have taken steps to prevent this. I am happy to say that there was little bloodshed.”
    “And who have you named heir?”
    “Anna, the duchess of Courland, of course, is the natural choice.”
    “Anna is the tsar’s niece. Elizavet is his daughter. What of her?”
    A troubled look passed across Golitsyn’s brow. “The tsarevna, as you know, is a bit—ephemeral. She has little interest in governing and probably little talent for it.”
    “What shall become of her, then?”
    Golitsyn cocked his head. “Is she here?” he asked.
    “Who is and is not in my house is not your business, no matter how many soldiers you bring with you. Please