Elizabeth’s involvement in the couple’s daily life varied from trivial commands to maternal support. Around Easter 1746, Peter discovered a walled door leading to Elizabeth’s private dining room. He drilled peepholes and watched the empress dine, then summoned his entire court to look. When he invited Catherine, she was horrified and refused, warning him of consequences.

Elizabeth discovered the holes and furiously confronted Peter in Catherine’s presence, comparing him to “ungrateful children” while specifying her anger was not directed at Catherine. Madame Krause later advised they should have begged forgiveness using the traditional plea to Elizabeth as “Matushka”—the “Little Mother”—advice Catherine remembered for future use.

When gossip spread about Catherine’s supposed affection for Peter’s friend, Andrei Chernyshev, the Chernyshevs were placed under arrest. The empress had Father Todorsky question Catherine about whether she had kissed Andrei, which she truthfully denied. A new chief governess was appointed, marking the beginning of intensified surveillance.

By May 1746, eight months into the marriage with no pregnancy, Elizabeth blamed Catherine. Bestuzhev recommended appointing a senior governess to monitor Catherine’s fidelity and communications. An imperial decree formally reminded Catherine that her sole purpose was winning her husband’s affection and producing an heir.

Bestuzhev selected Maria Choglokova as governess, Elizabeth’s 24-year-old cousin, known for her ”virtue and fertility” (107). Choglokova’s first act was forbidding Catherine from speaking directly to the empress. When Elizabeth confronted Catherine privately, accusing her of betrayal and being responsible for the unconsummated marriage, Catherine feared she would be struck and remembered Madame Krause’s advice and used the deferential plea to Elizabeth as Little Mother, which calmed the empress. Afterward, Catherine contemplated suicide.

Choglokova remained Catherine’s governess for seven years, making Catherine a “prisoner” under Bestuzhev’s control. “Ignorant and arrogant” (109), Choglokova failed to give Catherine useful help or advice, or to deal with the matter of Peter’s refusal to consummate the marriage. On a holiday together at the Oranienbaum estate, Peter established a pretend military camp while Catherine found refuge in French romances, suffering from boredom, severe headaches, and insomnia.

On March 16, 1747, Catherine’s father died. Bestuzhev’s policies had forced her to copy Foreign Office drafts for her monthly letters home, forbidding personal messages. She mourned deeply, but Elizabeth, through Choglokova, ordered her to stop because “your father was not a king” (111). Catherine was permitted only six weeks of mourning. When Catherine spoke casually with a court official, he reported hearing she had complained about ambassadors not offering condolences. Catherine furiously denied the accusation; Elizabeth’s rage turned on the official, who admitted Bestuzhev had forced him to lie.

In spring 1747, Bestuzhev arranged for Monsieur Choglokov to become Peter’s governor. Choglokov arrested several of Peter’s favorite servants and forced dismissals. Restrictions tightened: All conversations in the couple’s presence had to be loud enough for everyone to hear. Deprived of other company, Peter turned to Catherine, spending hours pacing in her room discussing military fantasies.

Peter spent his days playing violin or hosting small parties. At night, Madame Krause secretly brought him toy soldiers and miniature fortresses. Peter played with these toys on the marriage bed until late, joined by Krause, while Catherine waited in silence.

Elizabeth desperately needed an heir and was determined to identify who was responsible for the failure. Massie explains that “we do not know why he could not or would not reach over and touch his wife,” (116) but lists some of the reasons that have been suggested. Perhaps Peter’s doctors were right and he had not reached sexual maturity; he may have experienced “psychological inhibitions” as a result of his “horrendous” upbringing, coupled with Catherine’s reaction to his smallpox scars; or he may have suffered from “phimosis”—tightness of the foreskin—which can be “acutely painful” (117). Massie notes that King Louis of France experienced phimosis when married to Marie Antoinette in 1770, which resolved in 1777, leading to the birth of an heir.

In late May 1748, at Count Razumovsky’s estate, the house where Catherine and Peter were lodged began to collapse as foundation stones slid on thawing ground. Peter leaped from bed and ran while Catherine stayed to wake Madame Krause. A sergeant carried Catherine through the rubble to safety. Three servants and 16 workers were killed. When Catherine asked Elizabeth to reward the sergeant, the empress was displeased that Catherine admitted to being frightened. A court chamberlain secretly warned her that Elizabeth was vilifying her, calling her stupid and in debt. Catherine sent a sharp defense back to Elizabeth.

Despite isolation attempts, some court members helped Catherine. That summer, the Chevalier di Sacrosomo secretly passed notes between Catherine and her mother.

At Peterhof in summer 1748, the Choglokovs’ role as an exemplary married couple collapsed when Monsieur Choglokov’s affair with Catherine’s maid of honor, Maria Kosheleva, was revealed. Empress Elizabeth confronted Madame Choglokova. The couple begged forgiveness and Elizabeth allowed them to remain, though their moral authority was ruined.

With the Choglokovs humbled, Catherine enjoyed new freedoms, rising at 3:00 am to hunt ducks dressed in men’s clothing. She developed a love for horseback riding. To circumvent Elizabeth’s ban on riding astride, she designed a special sidesaddle with a movable pommel, allowing her to switch positions once out of sight. Her grooms kept the secret.

As retaliation for celebrating the Choglokovs’ expected downfall, Madame Choglokova arranged for Madame Krause’s dismissal. Madame Vladislavova replaced her. Armand Lestocq, Elizabeth’s physician and trusted friend, warned Catherine to stay away because he was under suspicion. He was arrested, accused by Bestuzhev of taking Prussian bribes. Despite lack of evidence, his property was confiscated and he was exiled to Siberia, a victory for Bestuzhev.

Peter’s difficult behavior continued. He raged at cards, hurled crude insults at generals, and installed hunting dogs behind their bedroom partition, causing a terrible smell. One day, on finding him brutally beating a small spaniel, Catherine’s attempt to intervene increased his blows. She retreated in tears.

In December 1748, the court moved to Moscow. Before Lent 1749, Elizabeth fell seriously ill. The Choglokovs kept Catherine and Peter in ignorance, though the presence of senior officials suggested grave illness. Catherine devised an escape plan should Elizabeth die. Elizabeth recovered. When Catherine was criticized for seeming unconcerned, she said that she had been kept ignorant; Elizabeth accepted her explanation.

Catherine rode all summer, becoming very tanned. Elizabeth sent her a skin rinse. Kyril Razumovsky visited the couple daily; 20 years later he confessed he had been in love with Catherine, astonishing her. In autumn Catherine suffered severe toothaches and fevers.

In August 1749, a drunken Peter betrayed Bestuzhev’s confidence to Choglokov, causing a furious argument between the two men. They became bitter enemies.

In autumn, Peter confided to Catherine that during the summer hunt he had held a secret meeting with Lieutenant Baturin, who swore absolute loyalty to him. Baturin had since been arrested, and Peter feared being implicated. Catherine calmed him. Baturin was found guilty of plotting to kill the empress and place Peter on the throne and was imprisoned for life.

That autumn Catherine’s toothache returned. She begged the empress’s physician for extraction. The surgeon pulled the tooth but also broke off a piece of her lower jaw. The empress, seeing Catherine’s suffering, wept. Catherine was bedridden for four weeks.

The Choglokovs invited Catherine and Peter to play cards with the Princess of Courland, the daughter of Duke Biron. Peter began showing her obvious favor. Catherine’s vanity was stung. One evening, Peter came to bed intoxicated and praising the princess. When Catherine feigned sleep, he hit her hard twice with his fist. Next morning he said nothing; Catherine pretended it had never occurred.

Madame Choglokova told Peter the empress wanted him to take a traditional Lenten bath. Peter refused, saying Elizabeth could send him back to Holstein. Choglokova returned with a different issue: Elizabeth was furious about the lack of an heir and was sending a midwife and doctor to examine both him and Catherine. Vladislavova privately remarked to Catherine that she could not be at fault since she was still a virgin.

On Easter Saturday 1750, Peter woke Catherine to eat oysters from Holstein, making her violently ill for two days. The empress also fell ill, possibly retreating from court gossip about her sexual favorites.

In autumn 1750, Danish diplomat Count Lynar arrived to negotiate exchanging Peter’s duchy of Holstein for Oldenburg, a deal favored by Bestuzhev. Catherine consulted Austrian minister Count de Bernis, who agreed the deal would make Peter appear weak. Peter withdrew his support, the proposal was dropped, and Catherine scored her first diplomatic victory over Bestuzhev.

Catherine found refuge in books, reading Russian works and French literature. She discovered Madame de Sévigné’s letters, a 10-volume history of Germany by Father Barre, and Pierre Bayle’s philosophical dictionary, acquiring a superior education through self-directed study.

As she grew intellectually, Catherine also became more physically attractive. She shone at court balls, dressing simply for private occasions and magnificently for costume events. At one ball she wore only a white bodice and skirt with a single rose, earning Elizabeth’s approval.

In winter 1750-1751, Count Zakhar Chernyshev returned and flirted with Catherine, but she refused his request for a private audience. Catherine’s trusted valet, Timothy Evreinov, was dismissed. His replacement, Vasily Shkurin, immediately betrayed her by reporting a private remark to Madame Choglokova, who stole beautiful fabrics intended as Catherine’s personal gift to Elizabeth. Catherine slapped Shkurin, calling him an ungrateful traitor. Choglokova stated that servants must report everything Catherine said to her.