It's a cold wet day in St. Petersburg.

We're in a park near the Black River.

Two men and puppy jackets are milling around with their smartphones taking photos of a red

stone obelisk.

They're not here to soak up the ambiance of a dreary Russian winter's day.

They're here to pay their respects.

Does this obelisk mark the spot where something happened almost 200 years ago?

Now it's 1837, still winter but dusk.

The obelisk is gone and so is the park.

This is just a deserted stretch of land on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.

The snow is knee deep.

Four men are gathered in the fading light.

A duel is about to take place.

On one side is a French military officer, handsome, blonde, with a stylish mustache.

On the other is a short man with long dark hair and overgrown sideburns, Alexander Hushkin.

The pistols are loaded and the count is sounded.

I'm Amanda McGowan and this is Alice Obscura, a celebration of the world's strange, incredible

and wondrous places.

And today we'll tell you what brought Russia's Shakespeare, the great writer Alexander Hushkin,

to this duel by the Black River.

It's high drama, society scandal, a weird foot joke, and pistols at dusk.

That's up to this.

...