Nadezhda Akinfova was enthusiastically loved by the Russian minister of foreign affairs, Prince A. M. Gorchakov. Moreover, Fedor Tiutchev devoted his verses to her; and then there's the story of her love for N. M. Leikhtenbersky, which was reflected in Tolstoy's novels 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina.' Now, unpublished confidential archival material has allowed the author to reconstruct the beginnings of these romantic events.