Elisabeth

Elisabeth, Pride and Prejudice Fanfiction

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ElisabethBy Jennifer

Beginning,

Part 1

Posted on Thursday, 23 September 1999

With the recent slump in the number of story posts, I allowed myself to be talked into starting to post one I've been working on for several months. This is a blend of Austen characters (personalities, though not names), the history of the title character, the Kunze/Levay about her, and a few of the legends surrounding her life. Thanks to Leea, Dawn, Spring, and Andrea for reading the first 30 pages or so and offering their feedback.

"Father, why can't I just go with you to Egypt, Spain, or Kathmandu? Living free as a Gypsy, with a zither in your arms--I'd love to be like you."

--Michael Kunze, "Wie Du"

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single young man in possession of a throne must be in want of a consort.

"Max! Max! You won't believe what my sister just wrote me! At last, it is happening--after all these years! I must gather the rest of the family to inform them of this news...How soon can they all arrive here, I wonder? Helene!"

Duke Max in Bavaria winced as the shrill voice of his wife Ludovika rang out. Before she could force him into helping with the preparations, he grabbed his hat and walking stick and headed out for a nice long walk in the hills.

As he was passing through the village, Ludovika's second daughter, fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, spotted her father and came running over to him, the peasant children with whom she'd been playing momentarily abandoned. The girl adored him, and of all her brothers and sisters, it was she whose interests most coincided with his own.

"Where are you off to, Father?"

"Just a walk, Lisi. Your mother is about to drive me insane."

"I'm coming with you!" Without waiting for a reply, she took his arm and led him down the path at a brisk pace, chattering all the while about her new horse, and the latest trick she'd learned on the tightrope.

By the time the pair returned, dinner was, thankfully, already over. Max sent Lisi to beg some food from the cook, and retreated to his library, where Ludovika was least likely to disturb him. Perhaps the day of the coming gathering would be a good time to return to Munich, pay a visit to his mistress and children there, whom he hadn't seen since bringing the official family to the lake property for the summer.... Yes, he definitely needed a break from the wife his grandfather had forced on him. Munich it would be.

The day finally arrived, but as he was packing Max discovered that his escape was not to be as easy as he'd hoped.

"Father!" Lisi came bursting into his chamber. "Do you know what's going on? Mama's invited almost all the aunts and uncles to be here tonight--it'll be dreadful! Endless gossip and fuss. I want to hide in my room, but the governess won't let me! Can't I come with you instead?"

Max laughed. "No, not on this trip, my child!"

"Well, then, can't you stay and keep me company? You know how unpleasant it will be for me."

"I'm sorry, but no. Life's too short to lose even an hour to boredom. And I hate family gatherings like the plague."

"Me, too!" The girl sighed. "And it's not just this evening, either. They won't let me do anything at all today--I can't run, or climb the cherry tree, or ride, or play with the boys...And I had promised some of the children from the village that I would join them for a race up the mountain this afternoon. I should have won it, too."

Max sympathised, but knew there would be no point in trying to convince his wife to relax the rules. "Just be glad you're not your older sister. Your mother's going to be focused on Helene tonight, I expect."

"But, Father, are you sure I can't travel with you? I would love to see Egypt, or Spain, or...anywhere you've been! It's not enough for me, just reading about such places in books. How lucky you are, getting to travel about like a Gypsy...I want to be just like you."

"Now, now. I'm not going far this time; I might even come back as early as tomorrow evening. Be good, Lisi!" With that, he left.

"Good-bye, Father..."

The governess finally found her still there, after an hour spent searching the rest of the building. "There you are, Princess! You must come dress now."

"I hate getting dressed up. I hate being a princess. If I weren't a princess, I would join the circus! I can already walk the tightrope, you know, and you should see my trapeze routine!"

Long familiar with Elisabeth's flights of fancy, the governess was not amused. "Come along now. You've wasted time enough." Lisi submitted, but she was secretly forming a plan that would let her have some fun that evening after all.

"The business of her life was to get her daughters married; its solace was visiting and news."

-Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Ludovika could barely contain herself; the instant all of her guests had gathered in the drawing room, she announced, "It's so nice to see all of you! I asked you to come because I want to tell you that something of great importance is about to occur!" Her relatives all exchanged weary glances, being regrettably familiar with the Duchess's tendency to exaggerate her own importance.

"And what would that be, sister?"

"As you all know, I've been training my eldest daughter Helene. She is a model young lady, with such a wonderful disposition, and of course her great beauty. Well, in August I shall be taking her to Bad Ischl."

The murmurs of "is that all?" and "oh, yes, very important" could not dampen Ludovika's spirits. She explained that Helene's Aunt Sophie had written, asking them to come. The comments grew louder.

"Wait a second--which Aunt Sophie?"

"Not the Emperor's mother, surely?"

"If she goes, that means the Emperor will be there, too!"

The Duchess drew the attention back to herself by confirming loudly that "she wants Franz Joseph to become acquainted with Helene...." She tried for a meaningful pause, but soon abandoned the idea; the need to tell everyone of her good fortune was just too great.

"My Helene will be Empress of Austria."

Elisabeth, who had been waiting for this moment all evening, took advantage of the general confusion following the announcement to make her escape. As she'd hoped, the servants had not bothered with completely taking down her trapeze, but had simply tied it back behind the curtains, out of sight. Her aunts and uncles were just beginning to get over their surprise and congratulate her poor sister when she had finished freeing the trapeze and pulling back all but the flimsiest of the curtains separating her from the main portion of the room. Taking a deep breath, for this would be her first public performance--and despite her excitement, the thought of all those people watching her made her nervous--Lisi grabbed the bar and let it carry her through the remaining fabric.

She barely heard the shocked--and disapproving--exclamations as she flew over the heads of her relatives, concentrating entirely on what she was doing. As all eyes were on her at this point, and hers were focused straight ahead, no one noticed the mysterious stranger who had joined their gathering. The beautiful figure appeared silently in the shadows shortly after Lisi began her routine, and a close observer might have noticed a thoughtful look in his eyes as they followed her path through the air. However, even had someone been aware of his presence, the air of detached reserve that surrounded the visitor would have prevented such a close examination.

The newcomer's eyes remained fixed on Lisi as she lost her grip and began falling. Before the other onlookers even had time to realise what had happened, the stranger shook his head dismissively, and faded back into the shadows.

Although her fall could easily have been life threatening, Lisi landed on a rather plump aunt, who unintentionally cushioned the impact. The girl was swiftly carried to her bed, and a doctor sent for. While Ludovika was not especially fond of Lisi, who was not pretty enough for her tastes, in addition to being too wild and like her father, she was present when the girl finally regained consciousness. Helene, to no one's surprise, had never left her side, and her face was the first thing Elisabeth saw.

After assuring everyone that she felt fine, Lisi turned to her mother. Remembering what the reason for the gathering had been, she begged that when she grew up, a husband not be sought for her the way one had been for her sister. "After all, everything that makes me happy, I can do alone--writing poetry, dreaming, or just riding with the wind....I never want to be bound to someone!"

"Now she's talking nonsense, just like her father--and, just like him, always ruining my plans with those dreadful circus antics. You won't be doing anything, Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie von Wittelsbach, as you're to stay in that bed! And I doubt you have to worry in any case; how I'll ever find a suitable husband for you, I can't imagine. Although, with your sister married to the Austrian Emperor, you will have such opportunities...." Ludovika's voice trailed off as she left the room, leaving the grateful girls alone together.

"Now, Lisi, are you certain that you were not injured? I have been worrying ever since I saw you up there!"

"Oh, Néne, I'm fine, truly. But what about you? Now that Mama has finally convinced Aunt Sophie of her ridiculous scheme, leaving you forced to marry a total stranger." Elisabeth was outraged that any such thing could be happening to her much-loved Helene.

"Now, really, Lisi, it isn't so bad as all that. We are not really complete strangers, after all; surely you remember meeting our Habsburg cousins a few years ago? You still correspond with one of them, do you not?"

Lisi sighed. "Yes, Karl Ludwig is nice enough. But Franz Joseph barely said two words, like he was too good for his poor country relations. And from what Karl Ludwig tells me, it seems he almost worships Aunt Sophie, and I have never really liked her. I think it's shameful that they're making you marry him! Don't you want to marry someone you love?"

"But, darling, you know we have always been expected to marry for political reasons, just as Mama and her sisters had to. I have never understood where all your romantic notions came from, as no one has ever pretended otherwise. I will do my duty, as you will when your time comes. And I do not deny that I am sensible of the honour being paid me with this match. Assuming, that is, that the Emperor wants me...."

This last comment made Lisi indignant. "How could he not want you?!? You're so pretty, and good, and kind....Oh, Néne, how I'm going to miss you!"

"There, there." Helene hugged her sister. "You can come visit me, you know; would you not like to see Vienna? And you will not be all alone; it will be up to you to take care of the younger girls once I am gone, and make sure our brothers don't tease them too much. The boys will listen to you. But now, you must rest, as the doctor said. I'll come see you first thing in the morning, all right?"

Elisabeth had no choice but to consent. That night, she cried herself to sleep, unable to bear the thought of losing her dearest sister.

Part 2A

Posted on Thursday, 7 October 1999

"However much one plans and thinks, things never work out...."

--Michael Kunze, "So wie man denkt, so kommt es nie"

August was rapidly approaching, and with it, the trip to Bad Ischl. Elisabeth continued to sulk about Helene's coming engagement, and her parents were at a loss as to how to bring her out of her moodiness. Finally it was decided that she would accompany her sister and mother on their trip, since between them the novelty of it and being reunited with her cousin Karl Ludwig ought to cheer her up, and a trunk for Lisi was added to the luggage being packed.

At last the three set out, and the first part of the trip was uneventful. When they were but a few hours from their destination, however, Ludovika insisted on halting the carriage; she was having a headache, and the movement and noise were too much for her. Her daughters, well-acquainted with their mother's migraines, waited in silence for it to pass, but the eldest was growing increasingly anxious that the delay would cause them to be late.

They eventually pulled up to the Villa Eltz, and were startled to see Sophie come forward to meet them before they had even alighted.

"What on earth took you so long?"

"We had to stop on the way, sister. We'll just rest for a bit, and then--"

"That won't do. The Emperor was expecting you at four."

Helene blanched. "What, already?!"

"It can't be helped. Let me see how you look, Helene." The Archduchess Sophie examined her niece with a severely critical eye. "That hairstyle is simply dreadful. And the dress!"

"We thought it best to travel in mourning," Ludovika tried to explain. "We brought lighter dresses, since no one here would know that Max's sister died so recently, but I am afraid the baggage coach seems to have been delayed as well..."

"It had better arrive before this evening, that's all I can say." Sophie's eye fell onto the smaller girl, who'd been trying to fade into the background and avoid the notice of this loud, strict-seeming aunt. "And what is this?"

"Oh, well, Sophie, Max and I decided that it was best if Lisi came along. She won't be in the way, I promise."

"See that she isn't. And now, you really must come inside. One doesn't keep an emperor waiting!" With that, she turned sharply and led the visitors into the building.

The parlour they were brought to already seemed full, to Lisi's mind. There was her Uncle Franz Karl, her favourite aunt, apparently come all the way from Prussia for the occasion, and three cousins, all boys, in addition to the servants. Karl Ludwig's face brightened when he saw her, and she shyly returned his wave, but the others were rather intimidating--especially the eldest. And this was to be her sister's family?

Introductions were mercifully brief, and as soon as she could Lisi withdrew to a chair as far from the others as possible. It was difficult to sit quietly indoors on such a beautiful day; she longed to be running through the forest nearby, or exploring the mountains they had passed as they entered the town... She tried to keep from attracting attention to herself, but could not prevent her mind from wandering; therefore, she failed to notice that Franz Joseph's eyes were often fixed in her direction.

The afternoon dragged endlessly, the awkward silence only occasionally broken by attempts at conversation--most of which were prompted by Ludovika, and only served to heighten Helene's discomfort in particular. At last the company sat down to dinner, which had the benefit of providing activity for everyone. Lisi, however, could barely pick at her food, and envied her sister's apparent ease. Had she realised how much of the Emperor's attention was devoted to her, she would have been even more intimidated. She was relieved to have at least been seated by her Aunt Elise, with whom she could be honest. When her aunt, noticing how little of the girl's food was leaving the plate, asked if she felt unwell, Lisi confided in a whisper, " Néne is lucky, because she has already seen so many people, but I haven't. I am so scared that I can't even eat." Despite her aunt's reassurances, it was all she could do to make it through the evening.

The following day was just as difficult for Elisabeth, if not more so. It grew less and less possible to pretend the trip was proceeding as planned, for the Emperor made no secret of the fact that he admired the younger of the cousins most, a circumstance for which no one had been prepared. He even cancelled the hunting expedition which had been planned for the day, which greatly surprised those who knew him well, in order to spend more time with the girls. Their mothers tried to make the best of things, however, hoping that the evening's ball would show Helene off better than the more informal, and highly uncomfortable, meetings thus far. The ladies-in-waiting went to great lengths to arrange her hair in a becoming manner, with tendrils of ivy wreathing her forehead, and her pure white gown was draped with utmost care. Lisi, left to dress herself as best she could, spent but a few moments on her own hair and was forced to spend the remaining time trying to obey her mother's admonition not to wrinkle her simple pink dress.

When they entered the ballroom, Elisabeth was once again unable to speak, faced with more fashionable strangers than she could recall ever before seeing at one time. They were greeted by Franz Joseph and his mother, then retired to the edge of the room, Lisi quite content with the prospect of merely watching the dancers for the whole evening. When the dancing began, neither of the Bavarian princesses joined in; nor did the Emperor, although he was quite fond of the activity in general. As the second dance was approaching, Sophie decided to take matters into her own hands; perhaps if Lisi were otherwise engaged, her son could be prevailed upon to dance with Helene. Accordingly, she went to one of the Emperor's aides and instructed him to dance with Elisabeth. As Sophie was introducing the couple, it was clear that the girl's shyness was overwhelming her again and that she would much prefer not to dance. However, she was left with little choice, and soon Sophie had the satisfaction of seeing her led to the floor. Her real wish, however, remained unfulfilled; her son continued to stand by, eyes never leaving Lisi, while poor Helene was once again left without a partner.

Lisi, terrified that she would do something to embarrass not just herself, but her unknown partner as well, confessed to him that it was her first ball. "And I do not know at all how I shall get on without the dancing master..." She managed, however, being musical enough to have a good sense of rhythm and energetic enough to make up in liveliness what she lacked in skill, and the amount of concentration she had to focus on the steps meant that she was in no danger of noticing Franz Joseph's interest--unlike her partner, who told a friend after the dance had ended that he suspected he'd been dancing with their future Empress.

Having survived her first dance, Lisi found the rest of the evening a trifle easier. Even Sophie declared that she would not dance at all badly, if she only practiced more. The girl was doing all right until, that is, the Emperor elected to dance the cotillion with her, and afterwards presented her with the flowers that were meant to be distributed among all the ladies present. She did not know why, but she could see that all eyes in the room were on her at that point; later, her aunt Elise asked if she had felt any significance to the gesture, but all it had actually made her feel was self-conscious. All in all, she was very relieved when the evening was over and she could return to the privacy of her room.

Part 2B

Posted on Thursday, 7 October 1999

"One doesn't send the Emperor of Austria packing!"

--Herzogin Ludovika von Wittelsbach

The morning of August eighteenth arrived; Franz Joseph's twenty-third birthday. As always, he was up before sunrise, and the hour was still quite early when he came into his mother's room, unusually cheerful.

"Good morning, Mother! This will be a beautiful day, don't you think?" He left her no time to reply before continuing. "I have reached a decision. Today you shall go to Aunt Ludovika and ask her if my cousin Elisabeth will have me."

Sophie had been expecting this, but still found it a bit of a shock; her eldest son had never disobeyed her wishes before, and he knew it was Helene she had chosen for his wife. However, she forced herself to consent, although she could not resist pointing out that the girl was completely unsuitable for the position to which he would be raising her.

"Nonsense. Her pedigree is no worse than her sister's, after all, and you were willing to overlook the father's family in her case. She is perhaps a little young, but I know you can find proper people to train her to her new duties. I am certain that she has all the qualities I need in a wife. And she has such sweet eyes; she is just like a freshly bloomed flower!"

If Sophie had any remaining hopes of changing her son's mind, they dissipated after hearing that last sentence. For him to be so out of character, it must be a strong infatuation indeed. As she could not guess how far his unusually stubborn behaviour might extend, she saw no choice but to follow his wishes instead of her own, for once.

As she expected, Ludovika's reaction to the request for her second daughter's hand was surprised, but no less thrilled than had it been for Helene's. Either way, she would be mother to the Empress of Austria, and if Lisi was still too young for marriage, not even having left the schoolroom yet, well, what of it? Ludovika's fawning gratefulness towards her older sister was nearly more than Sophie could stand; she left it to the mother to break the news to the bride herself.

Once she had regained control of herself, Ludovika sent for her daughter. "Come in here, child, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Reluctantly, the girl entered the room. She was not certain what to expect, but after the previous night, she knew she probably would not like it. "Yes, Mama?"

"Don't stand there like a fool, girl! Come, sit down. I have some wonderful news for you. Franz Joseph has asked for your hand."

Lisi blanched. He had seemed nice enough, she supposed, but..."Mama, please tell him I'm sorry, but no."

Ludovika's raptures came to an abrupt halt. "For heaven's sake, what can you mean?"

"I mean I do not wish to marry him."

"Don't be ridiculous! Think of all the pin money you'll have, the gowns, the jewels! Why, you'll be fabulously rich! You'll be Empress!"

"Yes, exactly. If he weren't an emperor, it might have been possible that I could have considered it. But he is. And since I do not love him, and have no wish to be an empress, I cannot marry him."

"Nonsense, you foolish child! Not want to be Empress? That's absurd!"

"But, Mama, I don't! I'd a thousand times rather join the circus, or spend my life travelling like Father, or...or anything other than that!"

"Well, that's neither here nor there. One doesn't send the Emperor of Austria packing. He wants you, although I can't imagine why, so you will marry him, like it or no. I will not allow you to throw away this wonderful chance! Think of your sisters, if not yourself; as sisters-in-law to Franz Joseph, they will be able to make brilliant matches themselves!"

Lisi could no longer hold back the tears that had been threatening since the conversation began. "But...but what about Néne? I don't understand why, but she was willing to marry him. Can't he choose her, like he was supposed to?"

But her mother was no longer listening. Of course, this change in plans left her having to start all over again with finding a husband for Helene, who was already growing a bit old to be unwed, but she could not risk Franz Joseph's rejecting her, should he be told that if he wanted to marry one of Ludovika's daughters, it would be Helene or no one.

Ludovika left the sobbing Elisabeth and went to tell Sophie that her son's suit would be accepted. Néne, who had guessed what was happening when her sister had been called into their mother's room, slipped inside and put her arm around Lisi.

"Shh, darling, it's all right. Please don't cry. You know I hate to see you like this."

Lisi threw her arms around her sister, and cried into her shoulder. "Oh, Néne! You don't...you can't...she...she's making me marry him!"

Helene closed her eyes briefly at this confirmation of her fears, then forced herself to concentrate on comforting her younger sister. "There, there. It isn't as bad as you think. You will be treated well, I am sure of it. He does not seem like a bad man, and while he is perhaps a little too old for you right now, in a few years that won't make such a difference. And...you are lucky, you know."

"How? When I am being forced to marry someone I don't know or love?"

"Because, Lisi, he loves you. We can all see that. Why else do you think he would go against his mother's wishes on so important a matter? The most the rest of us can hope for is that we be given husbands who might come to like us; yours chose you, and not for political reasons. If all he wanted was a suitable wife, there was no reason for him to do something so unexpected."

The awkwardness of Helene's situation suddenly occurred to Lisi. "Oh! How horrible of me! How can I go on like this, when you were expecting to marry him yourself? I wish now that you were. It would be so much better for all of us."

Her sister sighed. "Perhaps you are right. But that is now impossible; he does not want me, and there's an end to it. We must endeavor to make the most of our situations. Now, if we can just get you cleaned up, we really ought to go join the others for breakfast. And I want you to try to appear more cheerful, all right?"

Part 2C

Posted on Wednesday, 20 October 1999

"The Emperor's happiness is clearly evident in every report on those days in Bad Ischl. Of Sisi's feelings we unfortunately know very little, except that she was very embarrassed, very quiet, and constantly in tears."

--Brigitte Hamann, Elisabeth: Kaiserin wider Willen

Breakfast was an almost universally awkward affair. Lisi was struggling not to let her feelings show, either her misery over the engagement or her discomfort at being the object of everyone's attention; Néne was trying desperately not to appear as disappointed as she really felt; Karl Ludwig did not want his jealousy to be obvious; Sophie could not believe her son had an opinion that contradicted her own; and Ludovika was constantly afraid that Lisi would do something foolish, like tell everyone that she did not want to marry her cousin. Only Aunt Elise, who was pleased that it was her goddaughter who would be the niece elevated to such an exalted position, and an unwontedly cheerful Franz Joseph, who failed to notice that his new fiancée did not share his joy, were able to enjoy the meal.

When they arrived at church, Lisi found herself expected to enter alongside Franz Joseph, taking precedence even over Archduchess Sophie; such a prominent position was hardly likely to set the fifteen-year-old at ease, but now that she had, however unwillingly, become engaged to an emperor, she found herself left with no chance to avoid being the center of attention. After the service, Franz Joseph led her up to the priest and presented her officially as his bride, asking that their union be blessed, in front of the entire congregation. Lisi was then made to stand, blushing, in front of everybody for several minutes more, while people she had barely met made speeches in her honour.

That afternoon she was introduced to yet more members of the court, chief among them Count Grünne, upon whose friendship and guidance the young Emperor relied almost as much as upon his mother's. Grünne was one of the few among her new acquaintances whom Elisabeth found herself liking; his manner was warm, almost fatherly, and he shared her great love of horses. She was relieved to learn that Franz Joseph had asked him to take the couple on their daily drives rather than requiring her to face a series of unknown coachmen.

The next two weeks were filled with a never-ending string of parties, sorely testing Lisi's resolve to carry out the responsibilities which had suddenly been thrust upon her without complaint, and leaving her with no opportunity to escape the town and explore the forests and mountains which had beckoned to her from the first moments she had spent in Ischl, even before the disastrous meeting had occurred. There were three more balls to be endured as well, as the focus of even more public scrutiny than she had endured at the first. She graciously accepted gifts of more jewels than she had ever wanted, and did her best not to cry at the thought of why they were being given. Her one hope of escaping her new fate, that the Pope would refuse to grant the dispensation required for the cousins to be wed, came to nothing; news of his permission arrived as soon as it could reasonably be looked for, and from that day on Elisabeth knew there was nothing to be done.

Perhaps she could have borne all this with more fortitude, had it not been obvious to her how much her favourite sister was also suffering. Always the more serious of the two, Helene had grown quite grave since their arrival at Bad Ischl, and Lisi could see through her attempts to hide it--they knew each other too well for either to disguise what they were feeling with any success.

At last the visit was brought to an end. The journey back to Possenhofen was a painful one for the sisters. Lisi could not stop crying, and Néne remained determined not to let her disappointment show. The position of neither was improved by their mother, who could not stop talking about how wonderfully everything had turned out, and planning a massive wedding for her second daughter. When at last they arrived home, Lisi barely waited for the coach to stop before jumping out and running to the stables, wanting to get as far away from her mother as her horse could take her. Helene's retreat was more seemly; she greeted her other siblings, then retired to her room to recover from the journey. Their mother, of course, wasted no time in gathering her staff to make plans for providing Elisabeth with a proper trousseau.

Max had been sent a telegram with the news of his favourite daughter's engagement as soon as Ludovika could be bothered to remember him, and had been waiting with some concern for the women's return home. One look at the girl's face as she raced past convinced him that the upcoming marriage would be a dreadful mistake. She was too young, too carefree, to be exiled to the strictness of the Viennese court. But, he knew, there was no stopping it now--Ludovika had made up her mind, and it was too late to intervene. He would consider himself lucky if he were even able to successfully curb her expenses in preparing for the wedding.

The next several months were a blend of fittings, sittings, and lessons for the young bride. When she wasn't being forced to stand still while seamstresses and shoemakers poked and prodded and pricked her, or being asked to sit for hours on end because the Emperor had requested yet another portrait, she found herself confronted with a stricter academic regimen than she had thought possible. Having been accustomed to getting her education as and when she desired, Elisabeth now found it very difficult to keep up with all the lessons in etiquette, Austrian history, French and Italian, and so on that she was expected to absorb in time to become a proper Empress; there was so much she did not know, and she soon came to despair of ever being anything other than "the most ignorant queen in Europe". Those activities which had previously given her most joy--riding, going on long walks through the mountains, playing with the local peasant children--were strictly limited, as being unsuitable to her new position and taking too much time away from her much-needed studies. Only rarely could she make time for herself, and when she did, she used the opportunity to give vent to her feelings--either in poetry, or in tears.

The unknowing cause for all her suffering, Franz Joseph, remained blissfully unaware that his bride did not share in his anticipation. Although he wrote her frequently, repeatedly assuring her of his affection, Lisi found herself wishing he would spare her the trouble of composing tolerably cheerful replies. Or, if he insisted on corresponding, that he would at least refrain from constantly informing her of his mother's superiority. She could hardly believe it! Chastising her for addressing her aunt and future mother-in-law in too familiar a manner! Not to mention his behaviour the time he visited; not only had he requested that her riding be even more limited than it already was, but she had been utterly humiliated when she caught sight of a letter in which he was informing his mother that Lisi's teeth were no longer quite as yellow as they had been! The nerve of him! But there was no getting out of the marriage now; she had no choice but to pretend not to notice, and go on as best she could.

What she could not be aware of during all this is that she was frequently observed. The beautiful stranger who had appeared in her life for the first time that fateful night when the trip to Bad Ischl was announced found himself drawn back time and again, despite his initial dismissal of young Lisi. Thinking back on the way the young girl flew fearlessly through the air and did not ...

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