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estates, the style of living. Extravagance and profligacy, among the aristocratic class, were all but taken for granted, an exception being the eccentric tsar himself,
who lived quite modestly in his grand palaces and had raised his children on plain food and amid simple furnishings.
    When Alix, her brother and father arrived in the imperial capital the social season was under way, and Ella, an eager hostess whoparticularly enjoyed giving balls,
entertained often. Taking her younger sister under her wing, she showed Alix off in the best drawing rooms and ballrooms of the city, and often took her to the dances given by the tsarina, Maria
Feodorovna (‘Minnie’) at the Anitchkov Palace.
    Alix was content to follow her sister’s lead, despite her dislike of crowds and her wariness among strangers. She was aware that she was being studied and judged, especially by Minnie and
the tsar himself, and their scrutiny must have made her self-conscious; she knew that she did not truly fit in, that her manners were considered provincial and her inexpensive clothes almost shabby
beside the elaborate gowns of the Russian court ladies. To an extent she lost her self-consciousness when sitting in the theatre, enjoying the delights of the ballet and especially the opera, where
she was swept away by the grandeur of the music. But every time she was introduced to new people or stood in a long reception line, her unease was apparent to those around her. They took note of
her clumsy curtsy, her inability to make light conversation, her stiffness and uncontrollable blushing. They called her a haughty German, and dismissed her from their thoughts.
    If the reception of the Petersburgers caused Alix strain, the continued pressure she felt to agree to marry her cousin Eddy was an equal source of stress. Throughout the winter of 1890 Queen
Victoria kept up her campaign to bring about the match, writing letters to Alix herself and to other family members. Far away though she was, the queen maintained a nervous watch on Alix in Russia,
aided by letters from Minnie to her sister the Princess of Wales, Bertie’s wife Alexandra. (Minnie and Alexandra were Danish princesses, daughters of King Christian IX.)
    What Minnie told Alexandra was uncompromising and rather harsh. A wife would soon have to be found for Nicky, Minnie told her sister in England, but it would not be Alix. For one thing, it would
never do for the youngest daughter of an undistinguished grand duke to marry the heir to the Russian throne. Besides, Alix was not personally suited to be tsarina. She was too hard, shelacked grace and tact, she did not have the gift of making people like her.
    Alexandra passed on to her mother-in-law Queen Victoria all that Minnie told her, adding that Minnie was ‘very annoyed’ that an attachment had been allowed to develop between Alix
and Nicky. She had in mind another young woman to be Nicky’s wife: Hélène, daughter of the Count of Paris, who was the pretender to the French throne. Hélène would
be preferable in every way, and a Franco-Russian union would reinforce prevailing diplomatic currents.
    While their elders worried and schemed, Alix and Nicky met frequently, often when Ella brought them together at social gatherings. For if the Russian sovereigns and Queen Victoria were
vehemently opposed to any thought of marriage between the two young people, Ella and Serge were enthusiastically in favour of it. 15 Nicky and
Alix skated together, sometimes battling winds so forceful that they could hardly move. They met at tea parties, they attended church services together. They played badminton, built snow
fortresses, and slid down immense ice hills on sledges. Ella staged a performance of
Eugene Onegin
at her private theatre and persuaded Nicky to play a small part; whether Alix had a part
is unknown, but doubtless she watched the rehearsals and chatted with Nicky during them. 16
    Alix and Nicky were falling in love. For Alix it was a