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She smiled. Perhaps she took my remark as flattery, or perhaps she thought I was getting too personal and didn't want to reply. So she didn't reply. Instead, she changed the subject.
In spite of her reservation I felt free to talk with her about these things. She had loved the Tara story, and had remarked that it must have been quite an experience. We also talked about her boyfriend, Nicolai. I discovered that he had been at one time the representative of the Republic of Moldavia to the Supreme Soviet. She didn't talk about how Nicolai later became the high ranking naval officer in charge of security, the Nicolai that I had met at the conference in Suchumi on the Black Sea. It appears that Nicolai had been involved with the security services there, the man that had enjoyed a lengthy discussions with on a cruise ship on the Black Sea and a bowel of borsht aboard ship. I remembered that meeting as an invigorating experience. I could appreciate why Anton had fallen in love with him. I had so myself, in a way. Nicolai was one of those factors that seemed to unite us, rather than divide us.
All in all, Antonovna came across as one of those rare, naturally open persons that one seldom meets, with a daring soul when it came to touchy subjects. Still, something troubled her. Something stood in the background that she didn't want to come even near to.
"Nicolai is a beautiful man," she said about her boyfriend when the name came up, "but he gets jealous when I'm out of town having meetings with other men, such as tonight. Still, I think that's really his problem, not mine," she added bravely though not convincingly.
What was this mysterious thing in the background that she didn't dare touch?
I asked her about Moldavia, to keep the conversation going. I had some notions that Moldavia was the wine cellar of the USSR. I had wondered about that, since she knew which was the best wine to order. There was a Pinot Gris on the wine list, a Gewurztraminer, and an Ehrenfelser, all familiar names. All were being produced in Moldavia as far as I could make out from looking at the wine list.
"You see, we have the best the world has to offer," she said proudly as I handed the wine list back to her and asked her to make the choice. "As you can see we produce the very best all by ourselves, and for ourselves," she said and then that I should tell her which wine I preferred.
Since I couldn't make up my mind I asked her to choose the wine for both of us according to her own preferences.
"Nicolai knows a lot more about this," she assured me.
She finally ordered a very dry Pinot Gris from the State Cellar.
"An excellent choice," the waiter assured her.
She told me after the wine had been served that her friendship with Nicolai Berendeyev goes back a long way, all the way to their university days. She also said that she knew Steve and Ushi for much longer than I have. She even explained why Ushi was on the panel with her. She didn't say much about Steve, though, except that Nicolai was closely linked with Steve through Steve's network. Then she told me that Nicolai was born in Moldavia. I wondered if I could build on this connection, though I couldn't think of anything.
I glanced out the window now and then while we talked. We talked about 'lesser' things after dinner, waiting for the empty plates to be cleared away. From what I could see it turned out to be a beautiful night outside. The bitter cold had made the air crisp and clear. The city lights sparkled beneath us. A dark gray band, the Volga, snaked its way through the sea of lights. The Volga lay frozen under Russia's all-pervading snow.
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