The writing of this book would not have been possible without the support, kindness, and trust of a long chain of friends.
I want to express my gratitude here to the descendants of the Zakrevsky family, who very generously welcomed me into their homes all across Europe. My visits with each of them were hearty encounters. It is my hope that Mr. John Alexander and Mr. Nicholas Clegg, who received me in England; Mrs. Catherine von Tsurikov, in Germany; Mrs. Colette Hartwich, in Luxembourg; Mr. Basile Kochubey, Mrs. Janine Lansier, and Mrs. Francine Olivier-Martin, in France, all know how grateful I am for their warmth. It was their stories that allowed me to take full measure of the wealth that was Moura, this woman they loved so dearly. In their willingness to share their knowledge and their memories with me, they gave Moura her depth and all her humanity.
I also want to thank Danielle Guigonis, who supported me all the way through this long adventure. Without her devotion and her skill, I would never have reached the end.
I would also like to thank Jean-Yves Barillec, Delphine Borione, Frédérique Brizzi, Brigitte Defives, Carole Hardoüin, Frédérique and Michel Hochmann, Vincent Jolivet, Serge and Catherine Sobczinski, and Martine Zaugg, my perpetual victims who I tortured all over again for three years, by sending them snippets of a thousand versions of my manuscript. The patience they showed, their valuable comments, and their honesty continue to amaze me. I hope they all know just how thankful I am for their affection and their valiance.
I would like to tell my Russian friends just how indebted I am to them for having guided me through the labyrinths of Russia’s archives and libraries. I especially want to mention my Russian translator Marina Chernykh-Lecomte, who unfailingly answered my questions and broke down for me every single publication about Moura Budberg in Cyrillic characters. It is due to her work and her patience that I was able to summon up the feelings at the heart of the letters that Moura and Gorky wrote to each other. A warm thanks is also due to Claire de Montesquiou, who helped me decipher Moura’s handwritten messages to Lockhart while he was imprisoned in the Kremlin. I also want to acknowledge the support of Prince Nicolas Tchavtchavatzé, my mentor in the Russian world.
May the curators, the librarians, the archivists, and the researchers whose assistance I’ve asked for in American institutions know how grateful I am for their helpfulness. Most especially Dmitry Ahtyrsky and Tanya Cheboratev at the Columbia University Library in New York; Susan Floyd and Rick Watson at the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas at Austin; Carol Leadenham and Ron Basich at the Hoover Institution Archive of Stanford University in California; Kristina Rosenthal of the Tulsa University MacFarlane Library in Oklahoma; Denis Sears of the University of Illinois; Cherry Williams at the Lilly Library at Indiana University in Bloomington; and Kellyn Younggren at the Special Collections of the University of Montana.
Immense thanks are also due to Emily Dezurick-Badran and Frank Boyce at the Cambridge University Library in Great Britain; the staff of the British Library in London and the Public Record Office in Kew; the staff of the Centre Historique des Archives de Vincennes in Paris; Phil Tomaselli, the author of several works on genealogy and espionage; and Dottoressa Rossella Valentini of the Biblioteca Comunale de Montevarchi in Italy, all of whom were invaluable in their support of my research.
My gratitude also goes to Professor Richard Spence of the University of Idaho at Moscow in the United States, a specialist in British espionage in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, for our long conversations over Skype and for his generosity in willingly sharing with me the unpublished manuscripts he held in his archives, most especially those of the late Gail Owen, a scholar who had spent long years investigating the role Moura played in the Lockhart Plot. Thanks are also very much due to Dee Owen, who made all this possible.
I was especially touched by the very warm welcome I received in Estonia. My days at Yendel and in Tallinn, accompanied by Georgi Särekanno, a historian and collector of Benckendorff family relics and a curator at the Yendel museum—Jäneda Mõis—remain in my memory as a special stretch of happiness and sharing. I can never forget the moment when Georgi offered me an original piece of Moura’s letterhead paper, which he himself had found in the woods of Kallijärv. I also have to thank Enno Must, the director of Jäneda Mõis, who welcomed me at the mansion and the Kallijärv estate with boundless kindness. How could I recall these memories and not also think of Mairé Taska, the current owner of the lodge on the lake’s shores, who took great care in setting out the books and documents that might be of interest to me? I have no words for just how much these days spent at Yendel, in the company of such hosts, revived the magic of the place.
I’m also deeply indebted to Bernard Paqueteau, the cultural counselor at the French embassy in Tallinn, and to his wife, Dominique, who arranged a succession of meetings with various Estonian academics focusing on the history of their country between 1910 and 1939. Most especially Professor Olev Liivik, president of the Association for Germano-Baltic Culture; Reigo Rosenthal, a specialist of espionage in Estonia between the two wars; Märt Uustalu, a genealogist of the Baltic nobility, who I was able to meet in Tartu; and Mari-Leen Tammela, who was completing a thesis on Communism in Estonia and who guided me through all the archives. My thanks also go to His Excellency the Ambassador of France in Estonia, Monsieur Michel Raineri, who assisted me in my endeavors.
I have a very tender thought toward my parents, Aliette and Dominique Lapierre, for their unfailing trust in my work. As well as toward Rosie Yangson, who has been a steadying presence around all of us.
It is my hope that Frank Auboyneau and our daughter, Garance, who stoically beared my passion for Moura over the course of all these years, accompanying me on her tracks in my faraway trips, and editing the manuscript each day, know that this book owes every bit of its existence to their love.
May my editor Teresa Cremisi, and all her collaborators at Flammarion in France, know just how keenly I’ve felt them to be at my side all along.
Finally, I want to offer my warmest gratitude to Atria Books and its fabulous team, Rakesh Satyal, Loan Le, as well as Jeffrey Zuckerman who sustained this project with tireless work and enthusiasm.
—Alexandra Lapierre