Letter that Marina wrote to Felix:
Dear Felix:
I implore you not to come back to Petersburg with Nicholas at this time.Explain this to your parents. Let Nicholas stay abroad until autumn. This is absolutely essential. This is not an idle request; it is serious....Do you understand that all is known here, for instance, our supper on the eve of the
wedding, my correspondence with Nicholas, your arrival in Paris, our lunch and dinner together and our visit to the theatre, and the fact that Mama went away leaving me alone with you. These facts were so distorted and exaggerated and people are saying such horrible things that my head is in a whirl. My father said, ‘I expect you thought you could hide everything...only by telling the truth can you stop these rumors. You know perhaps that the Tsar has learned about it, and I had to tell him everything I knew’.
“Think! They are telling stories in town about how I lived with your brother and other horrid things. They say I dishonored my husband, his name, my family, and that your brother dishonored his family and behaved extremely badly. Of course all this is untrue, but it isn’t easy to prove it and if Nicholas should arrive and come to know about the scandal, he will not be able to avoid a duel. My husband is coming here with his family. His regiment is taking a major part in this and will instigate a duel, and it will all end very badly. All the officers know about the restaurant. They are furious
with Nicholas and say the honor of the regiment is at stake. As they are sending me away from Petersburg any day now, for God’s sake
keep your brother from coming here. By then tongues will cease to wag and all will be forgotten by fall.
Please tear up my letter and don’t tell anyone I wrote to you since, in general, I have no right to write to you. Should it get around, there will be more needless misery, of which there is no lack.
Be sure to write soon,
All the best,
Marina
From this I can assume that just like entire St Petersburg knew of the scandel, so did the Tsar. However, whether he knew if the duel would go pass being rumor, I'm not sure.