Moreover, any noble with a bit of status would keep a variety of servants to provide emotional value, such as jesters, dwarfs, storytellers, and black servant attendants, among others.
Although these household servants rarely did any real work, in the eyes of Russian nobility, their identity demanded they own as many serfs as possible. Even those among the nobility who had fallen on hard times would put on airs, ensuring a few servants followed closely behind when going out, or else they'd lose face in aristocratic circles.
Though the Russian aristocrats' lifestyle was all about grandeur, their household scale was unmatched in Europe.
However, for a lady of noble birth accustomed to the bright lights of industrial society and deeply influenced by liberalism, the lifestyle of Russian aristocrats was extremely distasteful to her, even to the point of shame. She couldn't easily part with the fashions of London, the perfumes of Paris, or the liberal political and social atmosphere.
