What followed was a series of standard procedures.
Alexandra met with France's marriage envoy, accepting his blessings and the Crown Prince of France's token.
The Palace Steward publicly read out the marriage contract, which was essentially an alliance agreement.
Since this marriage alliance involved a change of faith, the church did not participate much. It merely sent choirboys to chant a prayer of blessing in Slavic.
However, under the agreement, the princess could make one final prayer at the Dormition Cathedral before leaving Russia—at the princess's own request.
After Antoine, representing Joseph, stood beside Alexandra and accepted the cheers and blessings of the thousands of nobles present, the ball began.
The ball was followed by a banquet, then another ball... The entire ceremony would last three days. Throughout that time, all of Saint Petersburg would revel through the night.
Once the ceremonies in Saint Petersburg had concluded, the princess would proceed to Moscow and repeat much the same process before finally departing for Paris.
According to Catherine II's arrangements, the wedding procession would take more than three months to travel, as it would deliberately detour through Austria, Bavaria, and several other German states.
The following afternoon.
Amid the lively, somewhat chaotic music of the ball, Talleyrand sat in a modest reception room on the south side of the Winter Palace. Holding a teacup, he smiled at Zubov across from him and said:
"That is roughly the situation. You may treat this as an ordinary military exercise. There is no need even to prepare logistical supplies.
"Afterward, I will go to Vienna to negotiate and let them deal with the Ottomans' troubles."
The Tsar's lover was clearly in high spirits because of the marriage alliance and immediately nodded. "Naturally, that will not be a problem. Still, I had thought the Crown