Her name is Barbara - in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she's allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth amid the glitter and cruelty of the world's most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will learn to listen and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great.