Read Online The Accidental Empress by Allison Pataki - Free Book Online
Authors: Allison Pataki
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Sisi had been told by her mother that when the young emperor had first visited the thermal waters of this town, he had declared the spot to be “heaven on earth.” Hearing her son’s pronouncement, Sophie had swiftly bought the largest home in the area and had relocated the court there for the warmest months of the year, swapping thermal waters and clean mountain air for city stink and the threat of fever.
“Here we are, girls.” The duchess barely breathed the words as the coach rolled to a halt outside the gate.
Sisi studied the waiting guards in their white uniforms, starched to impossible stiffness and trimmed in red and gold silk. Imagine, she thought to herself, having a group of soldiers like this always stationed outside your gate. Must one answer to them every time one wished to leave or return home?
Barking out a quick order to Hans the driver, a mustached guard now approached the coach, eyes darting between the three road-weary women who sat on the other side of its window. “May I?” He signaled with a gloved hand that he wished to open the carriage door. Ludovika nodded.
“Good day.” Sisi’s mother sat up as the guard opened the door, her chin angling upward. Sisi marveled at the air of authority her mother had so suddenly summoned, as if the anxiety of the preceding days and hours had been merely a bothersome cloak that the duchess now shrugged off.
“I am Her Majesty Duchess Ludovika of Bavaria, from the House of Wittelsbach and sister of the Archduchess of Austria, Sophie of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. My two daughters, Their Majesties the Duchesses of Bavaria, accompany me on the special invitation from His Imperial Highness, Emperor Franz Joseph, and his mother, the Archduchess Sophie.”
“Your Grace.” The young soldier saluted, clicking his heels together. “We have been expecting you.”
“If you please.” Her mother raised a hand, as if struck by an idea. “Has our other coach arrived before us?”
The guard nodded. “Yes. Less than an hour ago, Madame.”
“Please direct us to it,” Ludovika said, her tone brightening a bit as she looked to Sisi and Helene. “It carries our trunks, and we must change before we enter the palace.”
The guard raised a gloved hand, his tone courteous but unmoving. “My apologies, Duchess Ludovika. We have been instructed to direct you immediately into the front hall, where Her Majesty the Archduchess Sophie awaits your arrival.” With that, he looked at the driver, a tight nod of his chin, as he stepped back. “Drive on!”
Ludovika scowled, whispering to her daughters as the door shut and the carriage rolled forward onto the property, “I tried.”
The horses’ hooves clopped heavily across the cobblestoned forecourt as the walls of the castle complex absorbed the coach, pulling them into a cold hug of limestone and brick. Though the property was spacious enough, Sisi did note with mild surprise that the home was not any larger than Possenhofen Castle.
Regardless, it was not the size of the structure that mattered. Sisi sensed, when rolling through the front gate, the imperial presence. The numerous and intangible indices of Franz Joseph’s power hung over the property like a mist or shadow that loomed all around—difficult to touch or point to, yet impossible to deny. The flags of Franz Joseph’s many kingdoms colored the front wall: Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Venetia, Lombardy, Galicia. Clusters of guardsmen, rigid in their white and red uniforms, marched determinedly on various errands across the grounds. It felt more like a miniature city than one man’s home. Servants hustled, dogs barked, secretaries and valets hurried around the yard as they administered their tasks. A general air of busyness filled the forecourt and its surrounding buildings, reminding the visitor that this remote mountain town was now suddenly the heart of the empire—and all because one person was in residence.
And they, too,
Sisi had been told by her mother that when the young emperor had first visited the thermal waters of this town, he had declared the spot to be “heaven on earth.” Hearing her son’s pronouncement, Sophie had swiftly bought the largest home in the area and had relocated the court there for the warmest months of the year, swapping thermal waters and clean mountain air for city stink and the threat of fever.
“Here we are, girls.” The duchess barely breathed the words as the coach rolled to a halt outside the gate.
Sisi studied the waiting guards in their white uniforms, starched to impossible stiffness and trimmed in red and gold silk. Imagine, she thought to herself, having a group of soldiers like this always stationed outside your gate. Must one answer to them every time one wished to leave or return home?
Barking out a quick order to Hans the driver, a mustached guard now approached the coach, eyes darting between the three road-weary women who sat on the other side of its window. “May I?” He signaled with a gloved hand that he wished to open the carriage door. Ludovika nodded.
“Good day.” Sisi’s mother sat up as the guard opened the door, her chin angling upward. Sisi marveled at the air of authority her mother had so suddenly summoned, as if the anxiety of the preceding days and hours had been merely a bothersome cloak that the duchess now shrugged off.
“I am Her Majesty Duchess Ludovika of Bavaria, from the House of Wittelsbach and sister of the Archduchess of Austria, Sophie of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. My two daughters, Their Majesties the Duchesses of Bavaria, accompany me on the special invitation from His Imperial Highness, Emperor Franz Joseph, and his mother, the Archduchess Sophie.”
“Your Grace.” The young soldier saluted, clicking his heels together. “We have been expecting you.”
“If you please.” Her mother raised a hand, as if struck by an idea. “Has our other coach arrived before us?”
The guard nodded. “Yes. Less than an hour ago, Madame.”
“Please direct us to it,” Ludovika said, her tone brightening a bit as she looked to Sisi and Helene. “It carries our trunks, and we must change before we enter the palace.”
The guard raised a gloved hand, his tone courteous but unmoving. “My apologies, Duchess Ludovika. We have been instructed to direct you immediately into the front hall, where Her Majesty the Archduchess Sophie awaits your arrival.” With that, he looked at the driver, a tight nod of his chin, as he stepped back. “Drive on!”
Ludovika scowled, whispering to her daughters as the door shut and the carriage rolled forward onto the property, “I tried.”
The horses’ hooves clopped heavily across the cobblestoned forecourt as the walls of the castle complex absorbed the coach, pulling them into a cold hug of limestone and brick. Though the property was spacious enough, Sisi did note with mild surprise that the home was not any larger than Possenhofen Castle.
Regardless, it was not the size of the structure that mattered. Sisi sensed, when rolling through the front gate, the imperial presence. The numerous and intangible indices of Franz Joseph’s power hung over the property like a mist or shadow that loomed all around—difficult to touch or point to, yet impossible to deny. The flags of Franz Joseph’s many kingdoms colored the front wall: Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Venetia, Lombardy, Galicia. Clusters of guardsmen, rigid in their white and red uniforms, marched determinedly on various errands across the grounds. It felt more like a miniature city than one man’s home. Servants hustled, dogs barked, secretaries and valets hurried around the yard as they administered their tasks. A general air of busyness filled the forecourt and its surrounding buildings, reminding the visitor that this remote mountain town was now suddenly the heart of the empire—and all because one person was in residence.
And they, too,