Authors: Brigitte Hamann
B008AITH44 EBOK (50 page)
But Franz Joseph accepted his wife’s new quirk with his usual patience and indulgent humor, even when Elisabeth, who felt bothered by
sightseers,
more and more frequently chose the nights for her wanderings—not unlike the nighttime excursions of Ludwig II. In the summer of 1885, for example, she set out at one o’clock in the morning from Zell am
See for the Schmittenhöhe, accompanied by a lady-in-waiting and several
mountain
guides carrying lanterns.
85
Not infrequently, odd scenes occurred. Ladies rushing along in double time were an unusual sight and gave rise to misinterpretations. During the way back from one of these extensive hikes, a policeman was convinced that the two running ladies (the Empress and Countess Festetics) were being pursued by an evildoer and was anxious to offer his protection. Marie Festetics: “Then he realized that it was the Empress and stopped his interference, but followed us, panting as far as the castle.”
86
Another way to work off her need for movement during the 1880s was fencing. This activity was also soon turned into hard work. For a time, Elisabeth took two fencing lessons a day, in addition to daily fencing practice—on top of her usual gymnastics.
During the 1880s, Elisabeth traveled to England several times, but only for the ocean swimming. In this, too, she went too far and was ridiculed. Emperor Wilhelm I also “laughed at her eccentric way of life, and voiced
the opinion that few people could tolerate bathing three times in the same day for half an hour at a time in the ocean.”
87
Bay Middleton’s marriage took place in late 1882. A secret
correspondence
with the Empress apparently continued. The two also met several more times. Marie Larisch mentions a “surprising” meeting in Amsterdam, where both the Empress and Middleton were taking a course of massages by Professor Metzger, popular at the time, Elisabeth for her sciatica and Bay in order to alleviate the consequences of a fall. The walk
à
quatre
in Amsterdam resembled, as Marie Larisch reports, a “sort of funeral march.” Ruefully Elisabeth referred to herself and Bay as “the Cripple Guard.”
88
And Elisabeth’s chief chamberlain, Baron Nopcsa, complained, “Her
Majesty
is unfortunately so nervous … that Metzger is delighted to see us leave and said that he hoped we would never return.”
89
One final time—on March 20, 1888—Archduchess Marie Valerie
mentions
a visit by Bay Middleton to Gödöllö. “It recalled old but not good times,” she commented disapprovingly. In 1892, Middleton broke his neck during a horse race. His wife destroyed all letters from the Empress. Only a few of her presents were preserved: a ring, cuff links, a medallion.
1
. Corti Papers.
2
. Scharding, p. 140.
3
. Maria Freiin von Wallersee,
Meine
Vergangenheit
(Berlin, 1913), pp. 43, 49, and 40.
4
. Sexau Papers, conversation with Privy Councillor von Müller, September 23, 1938.
5
. Ketterl, p. 39.
6
. Corti Papers, from Gödöllö, January 26, 1875.
7
. Both letters in Roger Fulford, ed.,
Darling
Child
(London, 1976), p. 145, from Osborne, August 2, 1874; and from Sandown, August 3, 1874.
8
. Corti Papers, from Ventnor, August 2, 1874.
9
. Ibid., from Steephill Castle, August 15, 1874.
10
. Ibid., from Claridge’s Hotel, August 22, 1874.
11
. Ibid., from Steephill Castle, August 28, 1874.
12
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 270, from Ventnor, September 13, [18]74.
13
. Cord Papers, from Isle of Wight, August 18, 1874.
14
. Festetics, August 26,
1874.
15
. Ibid., January 15, 1874.
16
. Ibid., January 18, 1874.
17
. Ibid., December 15, 1872.
18
. Crenneville, July 3, 1875.
19
. HHStA, Imperial and Royal General Direction of the Family Fund, Reserve Files, 1892.
20
. Corti Papers, from Sassetôt, August 4, 1875.
21
. Ibid., August 27, 1875.
22
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 279.
23
. Festetics, August 8, 1875.
24
. Corti Papers, September 16 and 22, 1875. A Countess Zanardi Landi (
The
Secret
of
an
Empress
,
London, 1914) tried to profit from the Empress’s accident by claiming that in Sassetôt Elisabeth secretly gave birth to a child; Countess Marie Larisch (who was not along in Sassetôt) picked up this story, in: Marie Louise von Wallersee,
Kaiserin
Elisabeth
und
ich
(Leipzig, 1935), pp. 303ff.
The diaries of Countess Festetics and Archduchess Valerie—both kept meticulously—as well as the memoirs of Bishop Hyazinth Rónay (who was also present in Sassetôt) leave no doubt that this story is pure myth. The contemporary French newspapers allow us to examine the course of the Empress’s day from hour to hour. Thousands saw her daily while she was bathing in the ocean and witnessed her horseback stunts. How, then, can she have been in her ninth month of pregnancy? The imperial family physician, Dr. Widerhofer, was along on the trip at the express wish of the Emperor, since Elisabeth’s daredeviltry made the risk of an accident very real, and it was not desirable to depend on strange physicians. The sources documenting the stay in Sassetôt are voluminous and give no hint of any gaps nor any attempts at concealment. The riding accident is beyond question. See also Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 282.
25
. In King James version, Ps. 91.1–2, 10–11. Private communication from Dr. Michael Habsburg-Salvator, Persenbeug.
26
. Festetics, October 15, 1875.
27
. Ibid., July 15, 1872.
28
. Corti Papers, March 5, 1876.
29
. Festetics, October 8, 1876.
30
. Corti Papers, to Ida Ferenczy, March 16, 1876.
31
. Ibid., from Easton Neston, March 20, 1876.
32
. John Welcome,
Die
Kaiserin
hinter
der
Meute
(Vienna, 1975), p. 99.
33
. Festetics, March 5, 1876.
34
. Scharding, p. 162.
35
. Wallersee,
Vergangenheit
,
pp. 47f.
36
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 299.
37
. Rudolf, box 16, to Latour, December 3, 1877.
38
. Reprinted in Brigitte Hamann, ed.,
Kronprinz
Rudolf
,
Majestät
ich
warne
Sie
(Vienna, 1979), pp. 19–52; quotation from p. 33.
39
. Festetics, February 1878.
40
. Ibid., January 4, 1878.
41
. Ibid., February 1878.
42
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 300.
43
. Sexau Papers, from Cottesbrook, February 3 [1878].
44
. Corti Papers, July 26, 1869.
45
. DStB, Collection of the Preussischer Kulturbesitz, collection Darmstaedter Lc 18. July 7, 1878.
46
. Fürstenberg, from Bad Ischl, August 13 [1877].
47
. Festetics, July 1, 1880.
48
. Corti Papers, from Schönbrunn, May 26, 1878.
49
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 301.
50
. Festetics, September 18, 1878.
51
. Ibid., September 20, 1878.
52
. Hübner, January 8, 1879.
53
. Ibid., July 24, 1878.
54
. Coronini to Crenneville, April 26,1876.
55
. Ibid., November 25, 1878, and January 22, 1879.
56
. Festetics, February 14, 1880.
57
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
pp. 290f. May 29, 1876.
58
. Corti Papers, from Summerhill, February 11 [1880].
59
. Welcome, p. 190, from Summerhill, February 22, 1879.
60
. Festetics, March 20, 1879.
61
. Corti Papers, from Summerhill, March 16, 1879.
62
. Festetics, March 22, 1879.
63
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 307.
64
.
Wiener
Zeitung
,
April 24 and 25, 1879.
65
. Wallersee,
Elisabeth
,
p. 170.
66
.
Die
Grosse
Politik
der
europäischen
Kabinette
1871–1914
,
vol. III (Berlin, 1927), p. 42 (September 5, 1879).
67
. Festetics, December 28, 1880.
68
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 312.
69
. Wallersee,
Elisabeth
,
p. 64. The quotation that follows is from the same source.
70
. Festetics, July 21, 1880.
71
. Corti Papers, from Summerhill, February 29, 1880.
72
. Corti,
Elisabeth
,
p. 316.
73
. Festetics, March 13, 1880.
74
. Welcome, p. 285.
75
. Corti Papers, to Ida Ferenczy, 1881.
76
. Festetics, April 19, 1882.
77
. Ibid., January 6, 1874.
78
. Elisabeth,
Winterlieder
,
p. 20.
79
. Ibid., pp. 1f.
80
. Valerie, September 15, 1882.
81
. Festetics, September 18, 1882.
82
. Valerie, September 20, 1882.
83
. Hübner, January 1, 1882.
84
. Festetics, April 24, 1882.
85
. Valerie, August 9, 1885.
86
. Festetics, September 20, 1882.
87
. Freiherr Robert Lucius von Ballhausen,
Bismarck-Erinnerungen
(Stuttgart, 1920), p. 398, October 24, 1887.
88
. Wallersee,
Elisabeth
,
p. 210.
89
. Corti Papers, to Ida Ferenczy from Amsterdam, June 6, 1884.