The intriguing title refers to another peculiar episode in Princess Schwarzenberg’s troubled life — her unpaid dowry. As the attentive reader already knows, this financial disagreement was a constant bone of contention between Prince Schwarzenberg and his father-in-law, Prince Lobkowitz. What is more, the Prince used the arrears of the dowry as his main pretext for ending marital relations with his wife and exiling her from Vienna. True, the Prince was not entirely sincere in this matter, for his uncompromising stance served to conceal deeper motives which, at this point in the narrative, are not yet to be revealed.
From the Princess’s point of view, however, taking legal action against her own family was an act of desperation. After many years of enduring the reproaches of a hostile husband, it was one of the very few means left to her to try to soften the Prince’s heart and seek reconciliation. One can only imagine the all-surpassing effort this must have required of the poor lady. Naturally, it became a great matter of talk; after all, it was no everyday occurrence for a noblewoman to sue her own flesh and blood.
The legal proceedings lasted from seventeen fifteen to seventeen twenty-one and ended in the Princess’s favour. By that time, however, the situation had completely changed, and the favourable verdict had little bearing on the further course of her life.
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