Yeah, I can buy that. I've read some other peoples' analyses since writing this, and apparently I'm the only person in the world who bought that Lymond was actually sleeping with Venceslas, and it wasn't just Guzel Guzel-ishly making people think he was for blackmail purposes. I just wasn't paying enough attention to the Russian sections.

(And I bet there are another half-dozen irritatingly subtle background affairs going on there, but I only finished the series a couple days ago and am too burnt out to re-read any of it soon.)