Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Style -- Family Trees -- Prelude -- I: KUSKOVO -- ONE: An Aristocratic Boyhood -- TWO: The Blacksmith's Daughter -- THREE: Grand Tour -- FOUR: The Big House -- FIVE: First Meeting -- SIX: Praskovia's Debut -- SEVEN: Early Success -- EIGHT: Serf Diva, Serf Mistress -- NINE: Entertaining Catherine -- TEN: The Sheremetevs and Their Serfs -- ELEVEN: The Old Count's Death -- Interlude: Serf Theater -- II: OSTANKINO -- TWELVE: "I intend to build . . ." -- THIRTEEN: Farewell to Kuskovo -- FOURTEEN: Ostankino's Premier -- FIFTEEN: Training the Troupe -- SIXTEEN: Life in the Troupe -- SEVENTEEN: To St. Petersburg -- EIGHTEEN: Tsar Paul -- Interlude: Serf Actress Stories -- III: THE FOUNTAIN HOUSE -- NINETEEN: Freedom -- TWENTY: The Curtain Falls -- TWENTY-ONE: The Specter of Death -- TWENTY-TWO: Coronation -- TWENTY-THREE: Wedding -- TWENTY-FOUR: Newlyweds -- TWENTY-FIVE: Dmitry's Birth -- TWENTY-SIX: Secrets Revealed -- TWENTY-SEVEN: Death -- TWENTY-EIGHT: Scandal -- TWENTY-NINE: Saint Praskovia -- THIRTY: Putrid Bones -- THIRTY-ONE: Fatherly Advice -- THIRTY-TWO: Separate Fates -- Coda -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.