Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

Even before Neilson could knock at the door, it opened inward and a woman nearly as tall as Ned, and of approximately the same age, appeared before them in a floor-length gray wool dress buttoned to the throat, her long blonde hair gathered into a bun at the nape of her graceful neck. To Ned’s eye, Yulia’s face was not beautiful in the same sense as Zhanna’s, nor pretty as Corinne’s, but striking all the same, with a perfect oval shape, flawless porcelain complexion, large and full-lipped mouth, and dazzling blue eyes that looked upon him with a mixture of curiosity and approval. He felt his cheeks color under her gaze and was rendered speechless.

Neilson greeted the widow in flawless Russian. Yulia insisted on responding in English, however, which she spoke correctly, though with a distinct Russian accent. She took the men into the anteroom, where she hung their coats and hats on a rack before leading them into a drawing room that looked much like the merchant Dorokhin’s in Verkhne-Udinsk.

“Allow me to introduce Captain Edmund du Pont,” Neilson continued. “He is the American officer I mentioned to you last week, the one who will be managing the wireless project.”

“So very pleased to meet you, captain,” the widow answered, scarcely having taken her eyes off him since opening the door.

“The pleasure is all mine, Madame Yushnevskaya,” Ned replied, having found his voice again.

“Please call me Yulia,” she invited, breaking into a languid smile. “Our long Russian names with patronymic are quite inconvenient, and you certainly need not call me ‘Madame’ when just among us.”

“Captain du Pont comes to us from Delaware, in America,” Neilson added. “But he arrived by way of the Philippine Islands, where he has been battling rebels and bandits these past few years.”

“Du Pont de Nemours?” she inquired with a curious look.

“Yes, Madame,” he replied, “but we are a very large family and my branch is regrettably not one of the wealthier ones.”

“Yulia, please,” she corrected him. “All the same, I must thank your family’s company for supplying arms to Russia during the Great War, and now to our Siberian Army. Without Allied weaponry, we could not hope to resist the Bolsheviks.”

“I accept your thanks, though it is none of my doing,” Ned answered with an easy smile.

At that moment, an elderly housekeeper arrived to deliver a tray with tea and cakes and Yulia interrupted their conversation to serve her guests. Neilson waited patiently to receive his glass of steaming tea, taking a short sip before returning to business.

“Yulia, we are expecting our wireless equipment to arrive soon, along with a six-man technical team,” the officer began. “As you and I have discussed, our governments intend for the experts to live and work at your vacant workers’ lodge. And we are prepared to pay you a generous monthly rent for the privilege.”

The widow waved off the colonel’s offer of remuneration as if it were a slur.

“I will not have it. For your men to live there costs me nothing, and I shall enjoy their armed protection so long as they remain on my property,” she responded. “That is sufficient reward for me.”

“Of course, we are also willing to cover the expense of repairs and modifications to any buildings we use,” Ned pointed out. “With your permission, of course.”

“Yes, Captain du Pont has been allotted ample funding for the project,” Neilson agreed. “I suggest that you and he sit down together and draw up a budget at your earliest convenience. And you really need not decline our offer of rent, Yulia. You might find it useful to have some American dollars on hand, considering how the Siberian ruble has inflated lately.”

“Ah, yes, prices are climbing by the day,” Yulia admitted with a fleeting wince. “Perhaps a budget would be helpful, after all.”

“We will also want to make arrangements for the men to come and go without attracting undue attention,” Neilson continued. “While they will wear the uniform of the Russian Railway Service Corps, it is important that the Bolsheviks not suspect that we are running a wireless installation here. Do you employ many servants?”

“Only an elderly housekeeper and her husband, but they are completely reliable and loyal to my family. Also, we hire men from the village when necessary to remove snow or make repairs, but these are also completely dependable persons.”

“In any event, I propose to bring an army cook and orderly to run the lodge. Simpler that way, wouldn’t you say?” Neilson offered.

Yulia nodded in tentative agreement.

“But what shall I tell our neighbors, or others who might see your men here?” she asked. “Sooner or later, people will raise questions.”