Tatiana's rich soprano voice reached beyond the walls of the Bolshoi theatre and echoed in the ears of the handsome young general from Kremlin. He courted her with fervor, But, charmed though she was, Tatiana would not relent; for with a dream debut just behind her, she was intent on her dream of excelling in opera singing. But fate intervened.

A severe attack of bronchitis cruelly wrenched the timbre from her voice. Torn between a mind brimming with despair and a heart full of love, Tatiana finally gave in. She consented to marriage and moved to Kremlin with the ecstatic general.