Shortly before the poet's duel, a rumor began to circulate in Petersburg society that Pushkin had allegedly started an intrigue with his wife's sister, Alexandra Goncharova. The main evidence was considered a gold chain with a cross, belonging to Alexandra and once found in Pushkin's bed.
Did Pushkin cheat on his wife Natalia?
Before his death, when Pushkin was already lying on his deathbed, he would ask his second Danzas to give her to Alexandra.
Perhaps there was no intrigue, just Pushkin showed Alexandra signs of attention, which looked like courtship. In addition, before the duel, Pushkin asked her for a dowry - family silver. It was pledged, but never redeemed. It is with this money that the poet will buy pistols for a duel. Perhaps Pushkin decided to give that chain as a sign of at least some material compensation. There is also a version that this whole story was invented by Dantes in order to switch public attention from the murder of the poet to his private life.
Why did Dantes start an intrigue with Natalia Goncharova?
Petersburg circles knew well about the unconventional predilections of Georges Dantes, in particular, about his relationship with Baron Louis Heckern. In order to divert the gossip of others from himself, Baron Heckern decides to adopt Dantes and bothers with the Dutch king about the papers confirming the adoption, and he himself advises to start a non-binding affair, for example, with some famous married lady. The choice falls on Natalia Goncharova. However, at the first meeting, she sharply refuses him. Now he finds himself in a dead end - his pride is wounded, and Goncharova becomes a kind of a matter of honor.
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In 1836, Natalia Pushkina and Dantes are said to have met in tete-a-tete format. The latter needed to get at least some sign from Pushkina so that he could talk about their romance. It seems that even then Natalya expressed herself about her husband, that she would be "faithful to him for a century." Then Dantes, threatening her with a pistol, demands either to surrender to him, or to get married. Soon Pushkin sent an angry letter to Baron Heckern and through him challenged Dantes to a duel. Dantes uses plan "B": he makes an offer to Natalia's sister, Ekaterina Goncharova. In light of these circumstances, Pushkin is forced to abandon the duel.
It seems that Dantes' task has come true: Petersburg began to swarm with rumors about his connection with Goncharova. A year before the ill-fated duel, Pushkin receives an anonymous letter, in which he is called "the historiographer of the order of the cuckolds." At first he tries not to pay attention to it, but there are more and more such letters. Pushkin considered Baron Heckern to be their author. At least one could guess about it from the handwriting and the quality of the paper. This move was beneficial for Heckern. Firstly, since the letters were anonymous, the baron did not risk being challenged to a duel, and, secondly, he saw that his adopted son Dantes went too far in attempts to charm Natalia.
Was reconciliation possible?
On January 25, two days before the duel, Baron Gekkern comes to Pushkin's house. He wants only one thing - to put up: the enmity of families has gone too far. Pushkin, who has not yet forgotten the anonymous insults, literally throws Gekkern out of his house and in the heat sends a letter to the Baron, where in extremely harsh terms he refuses his family from the world. Pushkin understood how insulting his tone was. The answer was immediate: a duel.
Did Dantes cheat in a duel?
According to the rules of the time, duelists did not have the right to wear protective chain mail. During the duel on January 27, the seconds, for some reason, as prescribed by the code, did not check the presence of chain mail at Pushkin and Dantes. Dantes fired first and wounded Pushkin in the stomach. Falling into the snow, the poet soon got up and fired, lightly wounding the offender in the arm. According to Dantes, the bullet was delayed by a button from his uniform. However, in this case, the button was only supposed to enlarge the wound. In addition, after the shot, Dantes fell and received a concussion, which indicated that he still put on chain mail.
Could the poet be saved?
Undoubtedly, if the wounded Pushkin was in the hands of modern doctors, it was not difficult to save him. However, the doctors, to whom he came on January 27, 1837, made a lot of mistakes. For example, they did not provide first aid at the site of the injury, which is why Pushkin lost a lot of blood. Moreover, for some reason they put leeches on the bloodless poet and applied cold compresses instead of the prescribed warm ones. Through the efforts of doctors, the sun of Russian poetry was able to enlighten only two days.