Sins of the Empress available on Amazon
Infidelity is an old, old story, but it still makes headlines, especially when the powerful and prominent—the likes of David Patraeus--are caught or accused.
Grigory Orlov, a high-ranking officer in the Russian Army under Catherine the Great, didn’t make headlines or the lead story on the TV news when he betrayed the Empress Catherine by having an affair with another woman, but that was only because there were no newspapers or televisions. He certainly caused a lot of buzz and gossip in the ranks and among the public, however. You can read about it in my new historical novel SINS OF THE EMPRESS.
Orlov was assigned to Moscow and later Poland and was in charge of several extremely important missions. He was a big, tall, dashing and handsome man who attracted a lot of attention by his looks as well as by his success at keeping the bad guys out of Russia. It must have all gone to his head, and he couldn’t resist the attention and invitations of the women who flocked around him. Or maybe he was just lonely. After all, he had been away from Empress Catherine for months, and he’d been on many similar assignments over the years that kept him away just as long or longer. Sound familiar?
Some things never change. Hearts are broken, relationships severed, people suffer from the embarrassment either of being caught or being cockled, and generals lose their positions.
Although he was banished from court and forced to retire, the empress allowed him to keep his rank and gave him six thousand serfs and several thousand acres of land as well as an annual salary of one-hundred-fifty thousand rubles a year and new furnishings for a house he had just built on the River Neva. She also provided him with household servants and food. On top of that, she bestowed upon him the highest title of the time, that of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Talk about a golden parachute!
So it seems some things DO change, after all. I would be very surprised to hear of a similar fate for the most recent disgraced U.S. general.
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Grigory Orlov, a high-ranking officer in the Russian Army under Catherine the Great, didn’t make headlines or the lead story on the TV news when he betrayed the Empress Catherine by having an affair with another woman, but that was only because there were no newspapers or televisions. He certainly caused a lot of buzz and gossip in the ranks and among the public, however. You can read about it in my new historical novel SINS OF THE EMPRESS.
Orlov was assigned to Moscow and later Poland and was in charge of several extremely important missions. He was a big, tall, dashing and handsome man who attracted a lot of attention by his looks as well as by his success at keeping the bad guys out of Russia. It must have all gone to his head, and he couldn’t resist the attention and invitations of the women who flocked around him. Or maybe he was just lonely. After all, he had been away from Empress Catherine for months, and he’d been on many similar assignments over the years that kept him away just as long or longer. Sound familiar?
Some things never change. Hearts are broken, relationships severed, people suffer from the embarrassment either of being caught or being cockled, and generals lose their positions.
Although he was banished from court and forced to retire, the empress allowed him to keep his rank and gave him six thousand serfs and several thousand acres of land as well as an annual salary of one-hundred-fifty thousand rubles a year and new furnishings for a house he had just built on the River Neva. She also provided him with household servants and food. On top of that, she bestowed upon him the highest title of the time, that of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Talk about a golden parachute!
So it seems some things DO change, after all. I would be very surprised to hear of a similar fate for the most recent disgraced U.S. general.
Read More