PS: Please keep in mind that this is just an excerpt of an unpublished manuscript, and although it has undergone several rounds of vigorous editing already, it's not the polished, final product. Thank you! =)
Chapter One
On Holiday
The
summer of 1874 was a hot and humid one, but a fresh breeze blew over the Isle
of Wight. In the hallways of Osborne House reigned a lively air. Messengers
came and went, carriages arrived and left, and the footmen were busy announcing
the arrival of a steady flow of members of the royal family and British government.
Queen
Victoria, who had been on the throne for thirty-seven years now, enjoyed in
this way what she called a holiday. But in this, she didn’t differ from other
monarchs, who almost without pause had to attend to their government
business. The Queen of England was an energetic, albeit rotund lady and her caustic
remarks were much feared. And for the
past few days, she definitely took her
humor a little too far, because a certain
high-born visitor had arrived on the small
island, who added further responsibilities to her daily obligations, the kind
that were common
courtesies among the reigning houses of Europe.
This
visitor to the Isle of Wight was none other than Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
Queen
Victoria envied this woman, who knew how to escape
the responsibilities and duties of a monarch and actually enjoy going on
holiday.
The
wing adjutant of the Duke of Wales, who had been virtually deaf for years, but
didn’t want to miss the sight of the famed beautiful Empress from Austria,
patiently awaited an answer from his Queen, who sat at her desk working through
mountains of paperwork with a frown on her face.
“She
just arrived three days ago, Bradford,” she explained. “She must first get
settled in with her extensive entourage, and from what I’ve been told, the
Empress wishes to be left alone.”
“Your
Majesty,” Bradford purred, who, long and skinny as he was, pretended to be
patient, and with his eyebrows arched, was quite the strange opposite of his
sovereign. “Her Imperial and Apostolic Majesty is here because of her youngest
daughter. The child is very ill and requires rest.”
“Yet
another reason to leave them alone. However, I will not be able to avoid paying
them a short, private visit. That’s the
least I can do. Empress Elisabeth is here in her private capacity, and not as
part of an official state visit.”
Bradford
arched his eyebrows just a little further, so they almost reached his receding hairline.
The Queen looked up
“What’s
the matter, Bradford? Someone steal your crown?” she mocked him. “I am certain
Her Imperial Majesty will afford our courtiers and cavaliers ample opportunity
to admire her. I can only hope that she won’t turn all of my gentlemen’s
heads.”
Bradford
couldn’t think of an adequate reply. The Queen seemed to have guessed his most
intimate thoughts. The news of Sisi’s presence seemed to have spread like wildfire already throughout the
country estates all the way to Scotland and was viewed as quite a sensation. It
appeared to have caused a sudden influx in wanderlust amongst the country
gentry as well as nobility alike, because Sisi, the Empress of Austria, was
considered one of the most beautiful and extravagant women in Europe. A title
which could undeniably not have been bestowed upon their own monarch.
At
the same hour that Queen Victoria decided to pay Sisi a private visit, Ida von
Ferenczy, the Hungarian-born lady-in-waiting and confidante to the Empress,
drew closer to a small hill near the island beach. The salty air blew across
the sea, and the narcotic perfume of the blooming magnolia trees nearby, spread
along the coastline.
From
the grassy hill, one could see all the way to the beach, where the waves crashed
down in a well-timed rhythm. A truly
spectacular force of nature to behold. Sisi leaned back in a lounge chair on
the highest point of the hill. She did not see the roaring waves. She was
asleep. As Ida von Ferenczy drew closer, she noticed that Her Majesty’s sleep
was not a peaceful one. Worried, Ida stopped. She did not dare step any closer
while the Empress was asleep even though she had come here with an important
message.
As
always, when she saw the Empress, and Ida had been in her service for many
years and could genuinely claim to be her
confidante, she felt nothing but admiration for her, and not just for her
beauty’s sake. The Empress was now 37 years old. In the year that Queen
Victoria ascended to the throne, Sisi was born in Possenhofen as a daughter of
Duke Max in Bavaria and his wife, Duchess Ludovika. Sisi had a sunny and
carefree childhood amid her siblings,
encouraged by her lively and unconventional father. She grew up like a magical,
happy bird who knew nothing of the reins of etiquette.
Her
mother, Ludovika, was a sister of Archduchess Sophie of Austria. The
Archduchess had taken a bold and courageous step many years ago. During the
crisis of that revolutionary year of 1848, when the Viennese court had feared
for its safety, the imperial family fled the capital city and sought refuge in Olmütz. The Emperor abdicated, and Sophie
had convinced her husband, Archduke Franz Karl to renounce his claim to the
throne. Back then, she would have had the chance to become the Empress of
Austria and wear the crown with distinction. But she was smart enough to look to the future, and with the
foresight of a shrewd politician, she made it possible for her son, Franz
Joseph to ascend to the throne instead.
Naturally,
she understood how to steer his actions from
the beginning. The young Emperor, who had been raised to be a responsible and
conscientious ruler, always obeyed his mother’s sage advice in all things but
one.
Back
then, in Bad Ischl, when he met Sisi and fell head over heels in love with the
young girl. He had come to the little resort town to look for a bride. However,
it was not Sisi whom he was supposed to court. The two sisters, Sophie and
Ludovika, had decided on Sisi’s older sister Helene as his bride. But next to her
younger sister, graceful Helene paled in comparison. The young Emperor only had
eyes for the spry country girl. He was enchanted by her appearance and fell
head over heels in love with her. Utterly amazed, his mother Sophie realized
that her son was not going to obey her in this matter. Whether she wanted to or
not, Sophie had to give her consent to their marriage, and when the beaming
bride arrived in Vienna, she won the people over in no time.
The
Emperor’s mother was very much in favor of adhering to the Spanish Court
Ceremonial as she was careful to follow the archaic family principals. In this
world of strict rules, the young Empress didn’t feel well from the beginning.
She was like a shimmering, exotic bird, who suddenly found itself locked up in
a gilded cage. Now she was in her mid-30s
already, yet still looked young and beautiful. When Ida saw her laying there,
she thought about all this and what fate still had in store for her, because
Elisabeth’s life was indeed an unusual one.
Ida
von Ferenczy was correct. Sisi had a nightmare. She dreamed about that horrible
night in 1872 that she spent at the deathbed of her mother-in-law. Sophie had
caught a cold during a capricious April night. After she attended a performance
at the overheated Burgtheater, Sophie followed her need for fresh air and
decided to sit on the balcony of her apartment for a little while. But she fell
asleep. The cold night air did not wake her.
The
ill woman had been brought to Schönbrunn. The council of physicians discussed
which necessary steps to take next. Sophie’s health temporarily improved so
that everyone began to hope for a full recovery, but then her condition
deteriorated. Her fever skyrocketed, and she was unconscious most of the time.
The Emperor sent his personal physician.
Now that the danger had taken on a more acute form, he pushed aside many of his
appointments and spent much of his precious free time with his mother. Slowly
the members of the imperial family gathered, along with the palace pastor.
Barely
three weeks later the council of physicians abandoned all hope. They were
unable to heal her pneumonia. In the night of the 26th of May, a
footman appeared in Sisi’s anteroom, to fetch her. The Archduchess wished to
see her daughter-in-law, with whom she had argued on so many occasions, one
last time.
The
clock just struck midnight when Sisi entered the death room. Sophie laid in her
bed, trying to catch her breath, with her eyes wide open, she feverishly looked
up at Sisi. The Empress kneeled down next to her bed, leaned over and then
turned around to the two nurses, outraged.
“Don’t you have a sweat cloth? She is soaking wet.”
Immediately,
one of the nuns stooped down to make up for what they missed. Sisi took the
cloth out of her hand and dried Sophie’s sweaty brow herself.
Her
touch woke the Archduchess. It took her a while to realize where she was, but
then a weak smile crossed her lips.
“My
child,” she groaned, “there are so many things for which I need to ask your
forgiveness. We disagreed on so many issues, but I want you to know that I
loved you as much as any of my own children. Franz Joseph adores you, and as
his mother, I was always keen to make a good woman of you that is equal to the
tasks of a dutiful Empress and wife. I know that you are a free spirit, a filly
that cannot be held at any one feed trough. If you would have been brought up
in Vienna instead of in Possenhofen, by a father who allowed you too many liberties,
then things would probably have been different. But you must see that this is
no way for an Empress to live and represent her country,” she sighed
exhaustedly.
“Oh,
Mama,” Sisi cried and sank to her knees in front of Sophie’s bed while she
grabbed her feverish-hot hands. “Mama, please forgive me for all the grief I
have caused you! Now, pull yourself together, Mama and get well again!”
“Oh
no, my child! I don’t want that any longer. Perhaps I’ve been dead since my Max
was killed in Mexico.”
And
she had indeed never gotten over it. When the casket with the mortal remains of
Emperor Maximilian arrived in Vienna from Mexico, his mother had collapsed.
Everyone feared Sophie would end up like Maximilian’s wife, Empress Charlotte.
She had lost her mind after the events in Mexico and lived in Belgium, mentally
deranged. But Sophie had been strong-
natured. She soon recovered and yet she was never the same again. She nearly
spent all of her time in church.
Sophie
smiled dully.
“Whatever
once stood between us, let us forget about now. We cannot allow it to stand
between us any longer, not in this hour. Do you hear me?”
In
just this moment, the Emperor entered the room. He saw the two women together,
the two people he loved the most, and who were, next to his children and work,
the contents of his life.
“Mama!
Sisi!” he cried out and hurried to his mother’s bedside. His wife looked up at
him, and he saw tears shimmering in her eyes. The Emperor realized that a
miracle had happened. Sisi and his mother had made their peace, but at the same
time, he suspected that his mother would not survive the night.
As
if Sisi had felt Ida’s gaze on her, she woke up. She saw the slender,
brown-haired Hungarian lady standing close by her.
“Your
Majesty had a bad dream?” Ida inquired worriedly.
“It
was indeed a heavy dream,” Sisi nodded and sat halfway up in her lounge chair.
“Over and over, my dreams lead me back into my past. It’s almost as if there is
no future.”
“But
there is a future,” Ida smiled encouragingly. “And it’s close by! We just received
a message from Osborne House. Queen Victoria his coming for a visit!”
Sisi
jumped up. Her dream was forgotten. She quickly found her way back to the here
and now.
“Oh,
my Heavens!” she cried out. “Is that really necessary?”
“Apparently
it is, Your Majesty,” Ida nodded and smiled. “It appears to be an English custom.”
“We
will probably be obligated to suffer through several more of those courtesy
visits,” Sisi sighed and turned to stare out at the ocean. “But if anyone
thinks that I will reciprocate in kind, they are sadly mistaken. Dressing in
formal gowns and large receptions are plenty to be had at the Hofburg Palace
and in Schönbrunn. I did not come to England to endure the same here!”
“But
His Majesty specifically ordered to maintain good relations between the
Austrian Empire and Great Britain,” Ida reminded her. Indignant, Sisi stomped
with her dainty, lace-up boots through
the grass. It was as if an already saddled horse could no longer be subdued.
“I
know! I know!” Sisi nodded. “So, we shall be obedient and receive the Queen and
pretend we thoroughly enjoy ourselves.”
“Your
Majesty, it will pass. Does Your Majesty wish to see the Archduchess now?”
“Of
course, Ida! How is my daughter today? What did the doctor say?”
A
few minutes later they had reached the country house where the Empress stayed,
along with Ida von Ferenczy, Countess Marie von Festetics, and the inescapable
hairdresser, Fanny Feifalik.
Marie
Valerie Mathilde Amalie, affectionately called Valerie, was a delicate, sickly
child, six years of age, who always worried her mother with her frail
constitution. The little girl, whom her mother loved very much as she was her
youngest child, was the main reason for their visit to the Isle of Wight.
Tenderly,
the little girl embraced her mother with her skinny arms.
“Oh,
Mama!” she called out excitedly. “The horses have just arrived.”
The
news was like music to Sisi’s ears because she, the passionate equestrienne,
had ordered her favorite horses to be brought here. She just didn’t want to
forego the pleasure of her daily riding routine.
“How
wonderful!” Sisi exclaimed happily. “Shall we go to the stables now?”
Ida
von Ferenczy followed them like a shadow. In the hall-like, massive stables of
this country manor, the horses already stood in their straw-filled boxes, and
the stable lads were busy brushing Sisi’s beloved horses. Fearless, Valerie
jumped into their boxes and lightly patted the stallions and mares. Happily
snorting, the horses greeted their mistress. Sisi stroked their manes, was
handed some bread and sugar cubes, and devotedly fed her animals their treats.
“When
you’re all grown up, you will realize that it’s easier to talk to them than
some people,” she told Valerie. “And most importantly, you can trust them more
than people, because they never dissemble.”
“But,
Your Majesty,” interjected Ida von Ferenczy, who did not like it when she heard
the Empress philosophize in this manner. Sisi just smiled.
“Well,
and then there are the exceptions to the rules, and you, my dear Ida, are
definitely one of them.”
Sisi
had definitely experienced many disappointments within her close circle of
so-called friends. The gossip-addicted ladies of the Viennese court, the
intrigues of the powerful and the ones that wanted to be - Sisi had experienced
it all up close, saw right through it, and adjusted her own behavior
accordingly. However, it definitely had not improved her own standing within
the Viennese high society, which often reached an all-time low, much to the
dismay of the Emperor. This was regularly the cause of tensions between her and
Archduchess Sophie.
She
still couldn’t understand that there were people in this world whose character
so depended on superficialities, whose lives only revolved around honors,
titles, balls, and idle gossip.
Sisi
was different. She did not judge people by the number of medals they wore, the
cut of their robes, or the glittering of their jewels. She often preferred the
company of commoners whose sincerity and warmth deeply touched her. More than
once she offended the Viennese court with her preferences, and she consequently
withdrew more and more from those circles. And so, the beautiful Empress, who complainingly
carried the heavy burden of the crown, was a lonely woman. Her husband’s love
helped her cope with many things, just as her love for their youngest daughter
did, while her son had inwardly slipped away, along with their elder daughter.
The
beginnings of Rudi’s upbringing still fell into Archduchess Sophie’s time. She
and Franz Joseph thought to make Rudolph into a future soldier-emperor.
However, the boy had inherited too much of his mother’s temperament to allow
such a thing. But at least Sophie had succeeded in removing Rudolph from his
mother’s influence, and it was one of Sisi’s most painful experiences to know
that he had also inwardly distanced himself from her, and eventually followed
his own path.
The
Emperor, who was bogged down by government business, and the Empress, who
carefully avoided the Viennese court, had little contact with their son. Sisi
had left him in the care of his tutors and thought him in good hands.
Even
here, in the stables of this English country manor, she didn’t think about him.
For a short while, she was happy among
her horses and Valerie’s company. She had even forgotten the impending visit of
the British monarch, that was bound to throw some of Sisi’s staff into turmoil. From the clock tower of the manor, the bell rang midday. Sisi sincerely hoped that this summer would be a relaxing one.
