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Authors: Allison Pataki
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to the darkness of the room after the stark sunlight of the outer courtyard. The din of the yards was now blocked by the thick walls of the palace, and they stood in silence for several moments, a hesitant trio wondering how to proceed.
A wigged secretary clipped forward and startled Sisi as his voice rang out. “Duchess Ludovika,” he said, bowing. “Please, if you and your daughters would be so gracious as to follow me?”
Without a word, the trio fell in line behind the secretary as he led them across the hall. They moved next into what appeared to be a receiving area, its cream-colored walls bare except for the same array of flags that Sisi had seen outside—the many kingdoms of Franz Joseph’s realm.
They cleared this room by way of a high-ceilinged doorway and immediately stepped into a much smaller room. This one was flooded with light, walled in by floor-to-ceiling windows, and Sisi blinked, her eyes having already adjusted to the dark, cool hallway.
“Your Majesty, Archduchess Sophie, may I present to you Her Royal Highness, the Duchess Ludovika Wilhelmine, wife of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach.”
Sisi’s eyes followed the direction in which this secretary projected his voice, and she noticed, for the first time, the seated figure of her aunt. Sophie was tucked in at a small table, a man on each side. Their faces were lit by the splash of afternoon sunshine that seeped in through the French doors and floor-to-ceiling windows. The male companions, one quite young, the other quite old, must have been a military officer and a minister, Sisi guessed. There were others in the room, too. Sisi’s eyes moved next to the corner where, removed from the seated party, stood a gray-haired woman, her complexion chalky and her face pinched. Unlike the standing footmen sprinkled around the room, wigged men who kept their eyes diverted and expressionless, this gray-haired woman studied the three Bavarian newcomers unashamedly, rendering her verdict with a tight jaw and a mistrustful gaze. Who was she? Sisi wondered.
Sisi’s eyes turned back toward her aunt, who looked on the newly arrived trio with an appraising expression, one of curiosity, but not delight. At the secretary’s introduction, Ludovika stepped forward, fanning her black skirt wide and curtsying low with a grace that surprised Sisi.
“And her daughters.” The secretary, seemingly unsure of which girl was which, waved them forward simultaneously. “Their Royal Highnesses, Helene Caroline Therese and Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchesses in Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach.” The two girls followed the example set by their mother and curtsied in unison. Sisi found it odd, even slightly entertaining, to hear herself referred to with such a lofty string of words.
An almost imperceptible flicker of Sophie’s forefinger signified that they were to enter the room and approach her at the table. With the duchess leading, the three of them crossed the threshold and moved toward where Sophie sat.
“Slowly, girls,” Ludovika whispered between Helene and Sisi. “Heads down,” she reminded them.
But Sisi could not resist the temptation to steal a glance upward at the figure she approached. The archduchess was as Sisi remembered her: a more sharp-featured version of her mother. Like Ludovika, Sophie wore her hair so that her face was framed by tight ringlets—light brown laced with wisps of gray—that met in a low bun at the nape of her head.
Sophie’s salmon-colored gown draped over a broad crinoline hoopskirt; emerald earrings danced beside her rouged cheeks as she jerked her head tightly from side to side, eyeing each visitor in turn. She had narrow eyes that seemed more probing and less inclined to smile than Ludovika’s.
Sophie was to speak first, according to Ludovika, but the woman did not appear in any rush to break the silence, so that the only sound in the room was the coordinated clicking of the visitors’
A wigged secretary clipped forward and startled Sisi as his voice rang out. “Duchess Ludovika,” he said, bowing. “Please, if you and your daughters would be so gracious as to follow me?”
Without a word, the trio fell in line behind the secretary as he led them across the hall. They moved next into what appeared to be a receiving area, its cream-colored walls bare except for the same array of flags that Sisi had seen outside—the many kingdoms of Franz Joseph’s realm.
They cleared this room by way of a high-ceilinged doorway and immediately stepped into a much smaller room. This one was flooded with light, walled in by floor-to-ceiling windows, and Sisi blinked, her eyes having already adjusted to the dark, cool hallway.
“Your Majesty, Archduchess Sophie, may I present to you Her Royal Highness, the Duchess Ludovika Wilhelmine, wife of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach.”
Sisi’s eyes followed the direction in which this secretary projected his voice, and she noticed, for the first time, the seated figure of her aunt. Sophie was tucked in at a small table, a man on each side. Their faces were lit by the splash of afternoon sunshine that seeped in through the French doors and floor-to-ceiling windows. The male companions, one quite young, the other quite old, must have been a military officer and a minister, Sisi guessed. There were others in the room, too. Sisi’s eyes moved next to the corner where, removed from the seated party, stood a gray-haired woman, her complexion chalky and her face pinched. Unlike the standing footmen sprinkled around the room, wigged men who kept their eyes diverted and expressionless, this gray-haired woman studied the three Bavarian newcomers unashamedly, rendering her verdict with a tight jaw and a mistrustful gaze. Who was she? Sisi wondered.
Sisi’s eyes turned back toward her aunt, who looked on the newly arrived trio with an appraising expression, one of curiosity, but not delight. At the secretary’s introduction, Ludovika stepped forward, fanning her black skirt wide and curtsying low with a grace that surprised Sisi.
“And her daughters.” The secretary, seemingly unsure of which girl was which, waved them forward simultaneously. “Their Royal Highnesses, Helene Caroline Therese and Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchesses in Bavaria, of the House of Wittelsbach.” The two girls followed the example set by their mother and curtsied in unison. Sisi found it odd, even slightly entertaining, to hear herself referred to with such a lofty string of words.
An almost imperceptible flicker of Sophie’s forefinger signified that they were to enter the room and approach her at the table. With the duchess leading, the three of them crossed the threshold and moved toward where Sophie sat.
“Slowly, girls,” Ludovika whispered between Helene and Sisi. “Heads down,” she reminded them.
But Sisi could not resist the temptation to steal a glance upward at the figure she approached. The archduchess was as Sisi remembered her: a more sharp-featured version of her mother. Like Ludovika, Sophie wore her hair so that her face was framed by tight ringlets—light brown laced with wisps of gray—that met in a low bun at the nape of her head.
Sophie’s salmon-colored gown draped over a broad crinoline hoopskirt; emerald earrings danced beside her rouged cheeks as she jerked her head tightly from side to side, eyeing each visitor in turn. She had narrow eyes that seemed more probing and less inclined to smile than Ludovika’s.
Sophie was to speak first, according to Ludovika, but the woman did not appear in any rush to break the silence, so that the only sound in the room was the coordinated clicking of the visitors’
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