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...
