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I wanted to remark that 'pikant' is usually used in combination with 'details' as in 'geruchten met pikante details'. It means noteworthy, interesting, striking. Pikant (spicy) is also used to have sexual connotations, as Jack says, for example 'pikante jurk' - meaning it stirs the senses (as spicy food would do literally). I see the use in your text as a contraction of both.
Meneer [X], nu in de tachtig, was ook door [Y] uit Sint Petersburg meegenomen, nadat hij daar, nog voor de revolutie, ambassadeur was geweest. Er waren allerlei pikante geruchten over de diplomaat en zijn jonge Rus; maar na de dood van zijn meester was de knecht getrouwd met een Hollandse, die er veel Russischer uitzag dan hij.
It's a literary text, the narrator says this somewhat scathingly (even if one gets the sense her curiosity is piqued by these rumours as well).
We're referring to a rumour from the fifties or thereabouts about an employer and his protegé potentially having a homosexual relationship.
In the original, I feel there is a half-mocking tone which partly relates to the fact that that was even considered to be that scandalous at the time to begin with.
without context, a dictionary and/or thesaurus is all that's needed.
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Answers
2 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
saucy rumours
Explanation: An English friend of mine always calls me to tell me the latest saucy rumours....
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 16 mins (2011-02-04 13:17:49 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
In that case you might want to go for the literal translation 'spicy rumours'(also commonly used)?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 30 mins (2011-02-04 13:31:01 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
Ok, tricky one I see....just shooting from the hip but what about either indecent, suggestive, unseemly, racy, salty, risqué or naughty....?
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 46 mins (2011-02-04 13:47:51 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
I will mull it over a bit more, if I come up with any other good ones I will let you know....
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 1 hr (2011-02-04 14:16:46 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
How do you feel about using piquant?
katja van hellemond Portugal Local time: 08:18 Works in field Native speaker of: Dutch PRO pts in category: 3
Notes to answerer
Asker: Not convinced this is the right register. It's a literary text, the narrator says this somewhat scathingly (even if one gets the sense her curiosity is piqued by these rumours as well). To me, "saucy" just has this eager, "heh heh let's hear it then" vibe to it. . .
Asker: I don't like spicy either. Same register problem. And we're referring (sorry I'm dripfeeding the context to you here, I never realise other people don't have as much background info on the phrase at hand as I do!) to a rumour from the fifties or thereabouts about an employer and his protegé potentially having a homosexual relationship. "Spicy" seems inappropriate for something that refers to that era, not "literary" enough a word for my text, and it doesn't convey that half-mocking tone that I feel is there in the original, that partly relates to the fact that that was even considered to be that scandalous at the time to begin with.
Asker: Hi again, thanks for the continued input. :) Naughty, racy and salty - same problem; risqué - hate the alliteration; indecent - overly litera; suggestive. . .not sure; unseemly, perhaps. . .
Explanation: Having read all the comments, and even though I'm not a native, 'suggestive' seems like an acceptable translation bearing in mind that this story takes place in the 50'ies and language register of that era needs to be reflected in the translation.
Jan VDBulcke Local time: 09:18 Native speaker of: Dutch
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thanks for your contribution, Jan. Just to be clear, though - it's not the story itself that is set in the fifties, just the rumours that are being referred to. . .
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
