Chapter XII

Chapter XII

Bent forward, powerless, and besieged with tears, Stefan stood over his youngest child’s dead body. His daughter Elena lay in a coffin placed on a stone slab in the middle of the oldest church in Koltea monastery. She was named after her mother and managed to live twenty-three summers but with a serious illness during the last two, which she contracted from her no-good husband Jordan Paduroi. No one knew how he’d gotten it. He was a drunkard and a gambler, spending his father’s and Stephen’s money. He didn’t stop his drinking or gambling even after Elena fell ill and was bedridden. They separated over the disease but Jordan kept pushing her to get him more money. It was suspected that he ended her life in a rage but it was difficult to prove and for what? Stefan had done everything to convince her to leave him and remarry, but she refused.

Stefan had seen many things in his fifty-nine years of life until his last days in October 1826. He had seen everything but never thought that life would weigh on him so much. His half-open hazy eyes were sunken in tears from the pain he was feeling. His thoughts fervently carried him to his past, searching his memories. But, no matter how they came and went, they always stopped at two incidents. The first was from when he was a boy without sin and arrived at this monastery. The second was when he was a sinful man and committed a grave sin. Because of his greed and callousness he drove a woman off her property and sent her to a monastery. His rise and fall began with those two incidents. Those two incidents seemed to mix in his mind causing him a lot of pain. But the second incident, perhaps because it resembled the malice of his son-in-law, dug deeper into his consciousness. Was this his punishment for what he had done? And if this was his sin then why was he still alive? Why did his daughter have to die?

Stefan’s gravest sin began eleven years ago in Nobleman Hrizea Balcheanu’s estate courtyard in Teleorman County, located between Ardzhes County in the north and the Danube River that bordered Bulgaria in the south. Hrizea owned a magnificent house in one of the villages called Tatarasti. In Bucharest he owned an office for writing complaints and requests and to helping the illiterate. Some time back, when Hrizea’s first wife Anka died, he married sixteen-year-old Zuitsa who was twenty years younger than him. Her parents married her to him to gain “opportunities”. Afterwards she gave birth to two daughters and, no sooner had they grown up, on the fifth summer of their marriage Hrizea contracted pneumonia and died shortly thereafter. Eventually Zuitsa inherited the properties and became a target of interest. One year later she married Angel Amiras with whom they lived in Tatarasti. Unfortunately tragedy struck again two summers later. In 1798 Amiras suffered some kind of misfortune at the entrance of Bucharest and died. One year later matchmakers began to come with propositions but the resistant widow refused to remarry until the summer of 1815. That’s when intrigues by the greedy began to surface. Many refused to pay her for the summer crops and livestock products she delivered to them, making excuses and finding flaws in the goods. Facing debt and collapse, Zuitsa appealed to the first man of justice - Stefan Belu. She looked good and was well dressed, but not aggressive, when she entered his office. She was about forty years old then, with a baby face, smooth cheeks and a shapely figure. When she spoke about her problems she spoke, it seemed to Stefan, in a soft voice that came from somewhere deep in her chest. Stefan, on the other hand, kept mostly quiet, asking questions only for clarification but gave her his full attention. Clearly he was well aware of her position and what she was going through, as well as her naivety. He was going to save her from her attackers whose greed was nowhere near his! He began to use impeccably sweet words and the power of his important position when he spoke. He was a decade older than Zuitsa, mature and with a neat appearance. He exuded confidence with his words. He also wrote letters and sent them to her attackers. His big green eyes gleamed when he looked at her. His lips, bordered by a combed moustache and thick but well-groomed beard, poured words that made her feel calm.

“Mrs. Amiras, consider the problem solved. I am grateful that you opened my eyes because our office would have been ridiculed had you not come to me... I am also immensely sorry that you didn’t come to me right away and that you had to suffer so much. And only after you faced bankruptcy that you came to me! Should you face any other kind of trouble, please don’t hesitate to come to me, my door is always open!” said Stefan politely.

When one of the accused arrived at Stefan’s office the next day, he threatened to torture and imprison him if he didn’t pay Zuitsa all he owed her. He also told the greedy man he didn’t want to hear any more complaints from her about him or any of the others. Of course the man paid Zuitsa what he owed her but at the same time he noticed the woman had caught Stefan’s interests. It didn’t matter who, how, or how long things lasted, the man figured he had to be careful from now on. He also warned the others and they all began to be careful. Suddenly, all of Zuitsa’s troubles disappeared like magic. It was clear to her who the magician was. Stefan stayed away from her for a while. He left her alone until things settled down. He didn’t want to be a target of slander. He wanted to be seen as a respectable chancellor. He waited and waited until one day Zuitsa came back to him. She didn’t exactly know why she’d come back but maybe because of the serenity she felt for the first time after a dozen or so summers of torment.

Her property was doing well which, Stefan figured, made her feel radiant when she entered the office. But when she spoke she revealed something else; feelings of gratitude and warmth. Stefan hadn’t seen this during the first visit but smiled pleasantly with full understanding and courtesy. He surmised that her visit wasn’t because of a problem but was an occasion to maintain contact with an old acquaintance. They both had expectations. She was under a strange trembling spell and he caressed her with his looks.

Zuitsa spent many sleepless nights full of excitement because she felt Stefan had sent her clear signs that he was interested in her. She also didn’t want to live alone, caught in a cycle of adventurism and low regard. Being married to a woman of nobility Stefan didn’t want to get into a risky affair. Zuitsa, on the other hand, wanted him. Her memories of having a man next to her were fading but her feelings

of being with one were rising and bringing back distant memories. They were taking her back to pleasant times when she was a girl in love, who didn’t experience love because she was married to a much older man. She lived through two short marriages without love and through many summers of torment and intrigue. Of course, she was attracted to Stefan and showed it with every gesture she made. Her looks, her smile, the way she spoke, the way she waved her arms… weren’t just gestures of politeness, they were beyond what politeness allowed. She was also aware of her lasting beauty. Her body was firm and her skin clean and tight. She showed no signs of decline for her age like other women did. She worked hard and kept her body in shape and her vitality high. She figured Stefan hadn’t failed to notice all those things and wondered if his admiration for her was simply male instinct or love… Whatever it was it couldn’t be because of her wealth. He had who knows how many properties and treasures all over Walachia and beyond. It couldn’t be for his lustful urges either; he could satisfy those with younger women. The poor woman simply believed that Stefan had found a soul mate in her!

Zuitsa thought to herself, “His wife is from a family of old nobles and they are the worst kind. They were spoiled since they were children and they tormented their loved ones with whims and idleness all their lives. He had to endure her but now he was powerful so he no longer had to!”

She indulged herself in those thoughts and deeds. At the next meeting, which Stefan scheduled for ten days later, giving himself enough time to solve her new problem, Zuitsa, found herself in his arms without being aware of it. Not only for solving her problem but maybe because Stefan made her feel good with every word he said and compliment he made, answering her questions in a relaxed and cheerful manner. His looked straight into her eyes and didn’t leave her with any doubt of his intentions. He even evaded assumptions about the bad relationship he had with his wife. His words that day were simply full of hidden desires, which caressed Zuitsa, igniting a kind of love she had never experienced. Her eyes shone with purity, as if the sky had opened them and made them smile. They became tame and smiled under Stefan’s unmistakable flattering attacks. This was how it all started, and in the months that followed their love and

passion grew and shrunk. They had to hide it until Stefan resolved his divorce. This was how they spent their time in 1817. Then, during one of those rare days in February when they were in their love nest, Stefan showed Zuitsa his divorce papers. He also showed her his fear that he might be left with nothing once the divorce was finalized.

“I’m afraid I will become a target for the boyars too. They will attack me, she has Brankoveni roots and I am a foreigner! The properties are in her name because of my position in the Divan, and without property there is no future for us,” said Stefan looking worried.

“Don’t worry, I have properties… but what good are they without a husband to manage them. Besides, I would have lost them all if you hadn’t saved me from those devils. You have knowledge, people and positions and I have properties and myself. You will rise again with me on your side,” replied Zuitsa happily for finding salvation for everything.

“It’s not necessary! I have some money set aside, which isn’t enough to purchase a better property but I will try and borrow some from my brother. When I told him about the divorce he got a little angry... You know, he’s very much attached to my children and Elena.”

“Don’t go into debt for property. The money you have set aside will be used for our new life. You can have these properties. I will go to Bucharest tomorrow and transfer them into your name, you finalize the divorce!”

This was how the misery started. What she promised she did, she signed over the entire Balacheanu property to Stefan, a property which had once belonged to the powerful Balacheanu family and had lands and buildings all over the county. Stefan told her that he had started the divorce. But he lied. He dragged it on for weeks with excuses and obstacles, increasingly avoiding Zuitsa. Eventually she realized that not only would Stefan not divorce his wife, but he had never intended to divorce her. This was a big shock to Zuitsa who isolated herself in a room on the ground floor of a home in Tatarasti,

where she lay in despair. The room was a cold storage made with thick stone walls half buried underground. No light could get inside. There were little windows with heavy shutters but they were all closed. Zuitsa locked herself in this dark, cold and silent room full of wooden crates filled with rubies, shelves with pitchers and a linen closet full of old carpets. She didn’t want to see anyone and cursed her gullibility and the day she’d met him. She especially cursed Stefan. Sometimes, when she recovered from her stupor, she made attempts to get her property back but it was in vain. Sometime later she was asked to leave the home because it was no longer hers. Having no choice she left, rejected all worldly possessions and became a nun. In her ninth summer she became known as “Mother Zosima”.

And now, while standing over his dead daughter’s body, Stefan was reminded of the grave sin he himself had committed against Zuitsa, which was awfully similar to the sin his son-in-law had committed against his daughter. She too was seduced, robbed and rejected by his son-in-law. But if this was the punishment for his sin, because it was committed against a close and most innocent person, then why wasn’t he dead…? Why the disproportion? Zuitsa was now in her fifties and Elena was only twenty three and deceased…! Even with his distracted consciousness Stefan still remembered what his uncle, Father Daniel, had taught him when, as a boy, he was in this monastery. He remembered his uncle telling him: “A planned sin is more serious than an accidental sin! A sin may not weigh as much on a lay person as it does on a man of God. A lay person may know very little to nothing about these things but in the case of a novice, a monk, a priest, or a bishop, the weight of sin and punishment increases with their growth of knowledge. This is because they knew committing a sin was wrong and yet they did it anyway. It other words, they consciously committed the sin and with intent!”

Stefan lived a monastic life and received knowledge with prudence. He was expected to walk on a path full of humility. But, even though he was aware of the harms of temptation, he gave in to the lures of earthly afflictions and lust. As soon as he tasted them, they dragged him deeper and deeper into the abyss. And when he was most exalted, the cunning forces set out to reclaim the properties and treasures he had gained through intrigue. But those losses were one

thing and this one with his daughter was another. Of his ten children born, six survived and grew up, but the death of his youngest tore him apart. No evil had even brought him so much worry, sorrow and pain like this. Not even when he barely escaped from Brashov, when his home in Bucharest was destroyed by the armies that were raised to quell Tudor Vladimiresku’s uprising in the summer of 1821. Everything on his properties was looted, including his cellars and furniture. All those lost earthly possessions, however, didn’t affect him like the loss of his daughter Elena. That’s because they robbed him of the things he himself had robbed from others when he was in power. In the past, he was no different than the other crooks. This is what Tudor Vladimireski wrote about him:

“This gentleman, the former Great chancellor Stefan Belu, without doing anything good in the service of the country, was there only for its sale and brought it to the level of stupidity, robbing it ruthlessly and cunningly, in addition, the ruthless man took property by violence and, for the example of others, the court must investigate the above matters. It needs to provide an opinion by what means he worked with the shops, so we have a situation in which he was involved in everything, and turned the country into a wasteland; he took the position of a boyar (chancellor), which instead of being fully in service and for the good of the country and bringing progress, he created the conditions for its defeat.”

It’s true, Tudor Vladimiresku had big plans for Stefan but his government lasted only two or three months. Stefan, in the meantime escaped. More precisely, Stefan was rescued by his Macedonian compatriots who were the most numerous among the mounted insurgents. Their leader was Lieutenant Dimitria Makedonski who, after all, took his surname from his native country. Dimitria received recognition for his military skills from Russia after its clashes with the Ottomans in the summer of 1806. After moving to Walachia with his brother Pavle, they found themselves in Chancellor Stefan’s hands because they were leading a tax revolt. They acquired their innate skill to lead from their father Stoian Minchev who was a leader in the resistance in the old country in Krchovsko and Mavrovo. There were also other insurgents who proved themselves in battle, like the Tsepenkov brothers from Prilep, for example. Stefan may have been greedy but he was always

respectful of his compatriots. He was especially mindful when dealing with the likes of Dimitria and Pavle who had seen everything and belonged to a kind of breed that could be useful when you needed them. So, five years before the uprising, while Stefan was in authority, he helped them with their tax problems. He secretly waived their taxes, and for the others he delayed and extended their pay periods. After that Stefan helped Dimitria and Pavle with their business dealings and became close to them. Now that Dimitria Makedonski was an insurgent leader, he returned Stefan’s favours by arranging to smuggle him out of Bucharest. He also gave orders not to loot Stefan’s estates even if the courts found him guilty of the charges leveled against him. But before Stefan could be tried, Dimitria overthrew Tudor from the leadership after a quarrel, which saved Stefan, his property and his children. The looting of his properties took place later, when the Ottoman army was quelling the uprising. One of Stefan’s magnificent properties was turned into an Ottoman command post from where the killings in the streets of Bucharest were coordinated. Before Stefan acquired that property, that house had belonged to banker Hadzhi Mosku. Stefan bought it from his widow Katerina and then renovated it in the summer of l818.

In time everything passed, including the days of the insurgency. Stefan was able to return home but unfortunately his misfortunes continued to follow him... First he fell seriously ill. This was at the end of 1822. He was saved only by the skill of Dr. Grunau, a German doctor who had been working in Bucharest for ten summers. After Dr. Grunau saved Stefan, his brother Konstantin, on November 1, made a big donation on his behalf. But unfortunately for Stefan, his shadow of misfortune continued to follow him. He lost his daughter Elena and even though his daughters Maria and Ekaterina were married and lived well, they were still childless in their thirties. He also worried about his sons. Dimitri still had no children and Kocho had a son and daughter but they were both sick.

Only Alexander, his youngest son, seemed to be doing well. Unfortunately, Alexander, like Stefan during his younger days, was rushing forward full of greed which disturbed Stefan. Alexander didn’t listen or look where he was going. He plodded forward blinded by earthly lures. He joined the Divan in 1822, as a great

falconer and protector of the crown. Two years later he married Barbu Vakaresku’s daughter Irina. Barbu Vakaresku was the Great Ban of Kraiova. And how did he do that? Alexander blackmailed the Ban to allow him to marry his daughter “tied with honour”; that was because two months before the marriage, Irina had given birth to a son who they named Stefan, after the child’s grandfather. Alexander was twenty-eight years old and Irena only eighteen when he seduced her into entering into an intimate relationship and consciously got her pregnant. He knew that the Ban wouldn’t allow this marriage in any other way, but, given the circumstances, he accepted Alexander as his son-in-law. Ordinarily only a prince, king or emperor could marry his daughter. Irina’s mother was Zoia, a noblewoman belonging to the old Palaeologan royal lineage which lasted until Istanbul fell to the Ottomans. Irina’s sister, Princess Elizabeth, was wife to Prince Matei Chika of Walachia. The Ban belonged to an old noble family. He was Vakaresku’s grandson. This was the same Vakaresku who, together with Brankoveni and his four sons, was executed in Istanbul. The Ban’s brother, meanwhile, married his daughter to Prince Bagration of the Georgian royal family. And now we had unworthy Alexander whose father was the infamous thieving and lustful Stefan, on top of that being a foreigner, marrying into a “blue blood” family. But Alexander turned out to be very clever and, with the step he took, he became brother-in-law to the prince of Walachia. Father and son followed the same path; they both married a noble woman from Kraiova.

But all was not well. Rumours began to surface that endangered Chika’s honour. It was alleged that his brother-in-law Alexander had had an affair with an unmarried and honourable woman before getting married, which was the ultimate immorality! So, in order to quench the rumours Prince Chika removed Alexander from the Divan. The Chika family was well experienced and had managed to hold onto the throne for the last two centuries. This was started by Giorgi Chika who moved to Moldovia from his native Kupurli (today’s Veles in the Republic of Macedonia) in Macedonia. Giorgi Chika was in the trade business and prospered so much that he became close to the Grand Vizier who appointed him Lord of Walachia. His descendants were also rulers of Walachia and Moldavia. But even with all the tradition of ruling and dealing with intrigue, the prince and the Ban had no solution for what to do about

Alexander so they gave in to every step he took. One year after they were married, Irina gave birth to a second son whom they named Barbu after his other grandfather. Alexander did this to tighten the knot even tighter. Every summer after that Irina gave birth. This summer Irina gave birth to a third son whom they name Konstantin after Alexander’s uncle, Baron Konstantin of Vienna.

While Stefan was facing his destiny, Alexander and his sons were yet to face theirs. At this very moment Stefan stood before all these people who had filled the church, feeling his heart weakening and his strength and mind giving up. It was clear to everyone that the old man standing before them was helpless. This man was not going to see his sixtieth summer. There was no trace in him of the powerful Stefan, who spread fear throughout Walachia, Transylvania and beyond. And as his lips moved, it seemed like he was whispering his last prayer before his death. He had no strength to stop Alexander from making the same mistakes he had made. And, while feeling sorrow for his sister, tomorrow Alexander would embark on that eternal race for earthly glory and dignity; blinded by its temporary and false glow.