As the reader will notice, I am not an author who rushes to advance the plot. Since I intend to stay with my protagonist for more than one case, I have time. Aside, this chapter also reflects my own aversion to horror stories. Vampires? Dark forces? Please! Based on everything I have come to understand about Archduchess Marianne’s character and mindset, I am quite certain her initial reaction would have been much the same.
However, I would like to offer the reader a brief glimpse into the core values and interconnectedness of 18th-century Viennese aristocracy. This high society, with its strong esprit de corps, was mentally and culturally quite different from our modern, individualistic world — and is worth pausing to understand.
The Easter celebrations in this chapter are described according to Count Khevenhüller’s (1706–1776) famous diary. It is easy to imagine him smirking as he noted down the little amusing episode with Chancellor Kaunitz on Maundy Thursday, 7 April, for instance. Otherwise, the Easter holidays passed rather quietly. Khevenhüller gives no further details here, except to mention that, due to Marianne’s worsening prognosis, the celebrations were reduced to a minimum and held in a much more withdrawn manner.
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