North of the Moon by Alla Crone

Author:Alla Crone
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504029711
Publisher: Open Road Distribution

Chapter Sixteen

In the past few months so many of Alexander’s hopes had been dashed, so deep a gulf existed between him and Irina that he wondered if he would ever be able to regain a measure of his previous happiness. True, much of it was his own fault, and he was guilty of—of what? Of being human in the face of loneliness? He couldn’t accuse himself of infidelity during those early months without her when he thought he had lost her forever.

But what about now and the time since Irina had joined him? What about that day a month ago, when everything had gone wrong and he found himself in the Buryat camp?

The day had started badly. Igor Panfilov, his partner from Kyakhta, had come up to Irkutsk with a current shipment of tea and told him that Stepan had been hurting the market by producing extra silver idols in payment for additional supplies of tea, which he was then selling to other Russian merchants at higher prices.

“I don’t know what we can do about it,” Igor said, “except confront him and threaten to expose him to the authorities. The trouble is, many Irkutsk merchants use him as their go-between, and unless we can persuade him quietly to curb his illegal dealings, our Russian colleagues will be unhappy.”

Alexander had trouble concentrating on what Igor was saying. Thin and pale with a neatly combed bronze beard, Igor was a quiet young man who took his work seriously, had taught Alexander all he knew about the business, and Alexander envied him his dedication. To some, this work was a life’s career, Alexander thought, and to others like himself, it was a tedious and necessary means of survival.

“I don’t know what to advise you,” he said finally. “What I don’t understand is how he smuggles all that silver and gold past the customs officials.”

Igor threw his hands up. “Easy! The smugglers have worked it out to perfection. There are coaches with double bottoms; even the wooden horse yokes and shaft bows are hollowed out. He’s getting careless, though. Not long ago he boasted about it to one of his friends, and shortly thereafter a band of marauding Buryats attacked and robbed one of the caravans.”

“Then we should inform our colleagues in Irkutsk about him. After all, their profits must suffer as well.”

“It is unwise to antagonize anyone in this business. So many people are involved. I guess the best thing to do is to watch Stepan closely for a while, and if things get out of hand, then we can take action.”

After Igor had left, Alexander stayed in his office for a while. He hated dishonesty of any kind, had often thought that many of the rich merchants acquired their wealth by dealings that stretched the edges of the law, and now his suspicions were confirmed. The devil of it was that he, Prince Alexander Dolovin, the scion of an old and noble name, was now swallowed in the boiling pot of such

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