1636: The Viennese Waltz

CHAPTER 36

December 1635

Roth Jewel Emporium, Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia

The clerk took one look at Beth and sent for his boss, and, ultimately, for Morris Roth himself. For almost half an hour, the duchess of Cieszyn was fed wine and sweet chocolate, while she got to look at hundreds of jeweled rings, necklaces, bracelets, chokers, tiaras, and the like. It was enough to bring great covetousness to a girl’s soul. Not, however, enough to even consider any sort of rapprochement with Gundaker von Liechtenstein.

Finally, Morris arrived. “What brings you to our little shop, Your Grace?”

“I’ve been asked a favor by Empress Mariana and several other ladies of the Austro-Hungarian court, as well as the new imperial princesses, the Barbies. .?”

“I know them all well, except for Trudi,” Morris said. “And I imagine that she’s much like the rest. And what is this mission?”

“Apparently there is an up-time custom called a bridal shower. And, in this case, they have decided to do a jewelry and clothing shower. Lingerie?”

“It means undergarments, specifically for women, and implies attractive and perhaps a bit naughty,” Morris explained without even a hint of a blush.

Beth didn’t blush either. Instead, she opened her case and brought out several documents with seals from the Emperor of Austria-Hungary and Abraham Abrabanel. The documents, each with a price limit listed, empowered her to buy jewelry to give to Sarah Wendell, and smaller gifts to be exchanged among the ladies attending the party. All together, the letters of credit came to just over two million dollars.

Morris Roth looked them over and smiled. “I suspect that we’re going to have quite a good day today, Your Grace. Fun for you, and quite profitable for my little shop.”

Morris was completely correct. Beth had a blast. Morris even found several young women who had similar shapes and the coloring of the Barbies and the royal ladies. There were other shops in Prague, some in the Jewish quarter and some elsewhere, and runners went and found lingerie and other small items. Still, Morris’ shop got most of the two plus million dollars.

At the end of the day, a thoroughly sated and satisfied Beth ordered that all of the purchases be shipped to the Hofburg in Vienna.

And Morris ordered a company of guards to escort it.

Private Sitting Room, Palace of the King in the Low Countries in Brussels

“We’re going.” Maria Anna’s voice was not loud, but it was very firm.

Fernando, King in the Low Countries, felt a smile twitch his lips. His submissive “Yes, dear” earned him a sharp look from his wife, but the truth was his financial advisers, including William of Orange, wanted him to find out how stable Austro-Hungarian money was going to be and the wedding was an excellent opportunity to judge the situation for himself.

“Why are you so willing?”

He explained, then added, “Besides, it will give us both a chance to talk to your brother and my sister. And since relations with my brother in Spain seem to be. . less than cordial. . having good relations with your family are especially important.”

Maria Anna nodded, nibbling a fingernail. She was an astute judge of the politics of Europe and the Hapsburg family that ruled most of if. “Yes, I see. Do you think that your sister might be able to help with your brother?”

“I don’t know. With Olivares whispering in his ear, and now Borja. But anything we can do to forestall open war with Spain is worth a try.”

Grantville Airport, State of Thuringia-Franconia

“Yep, Clive, it’s official. A Jupiter will be arriving on January eleventh for refueling. It’s to be considered a diplomatic flight.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Nothing much, in this case. Just that everyone on it is going to have diplomatic immunity, so we don’t get to search the plane looking for contraband.”

“Pete, have we ever searched a plane looking for contraband?”

“Not that I recall, Clive. Not that I recall.”

Wendell Suite, Higgins Hotel, Grantville

“We have a ride,” Fletcher said, holding up the telegram. “King Fernando and Queen Maria Anna are picking us up on the way to the wedding.”

“How crowded is it going to be? The Monster is pushing it to hold fourteen.”

“It doesn’t say, hon. But probably pretty crowded. There are going to Fernando and Maria Anna, probably Dona Mencia, and at least one of Fernando’s retainers. I doubt that William of Orange will be coming. He’ll probably be holding down the store in the Netherlands. But there is a fair chance that they are going to bring at least a couple of their advisers-financial, political, something. And probably gifts. So pack light.”

“What about my gifts?”

“I think both our budget and our weight allowance are going to limit us in that regard. I’ll bring the digital and take wedding pictures, but that’s probably going to be all we can manage.”

Fortney House, Race Track City

“Say, Karl, if we got a couple of fast horses do you think we can make a run for it?” Sarah Wendell asked, only half-joking. “I knew this was going to be a circus. I even realized there would be royalty in attendance. But now it’s looking like an international peace conference, as well.”

“What?” Karl’s show of surprise didn’t impress Sarah at all. “Has Ferdinand invited Murad the Mad to our wedding? It will be all right, as long as we don’t have Philip and Fernando seated next to each other.”

“Okay. From now on, no one gets to complain to me about their in-laws. Ever!”

“They aren’t actually Karl’s relatives,” Gayleen Sanderlin said, laughing. “Just friends of the family and what. . business connections? You should meet my mother in-law.”

Sarah gave her a look, then looked over at Ron, who was looking a bit shame-faced. “Okay, you have a point. But how many heads of state attended your wedding?”

“Just one.” Gayleen sniffed haughtily. “Mike Stearns was there, and he was Chairman of the Emergency Committee at the time.”

Sarah blinked in sudden realization. Mike Stearns had attended a lot of weddings since the Ring of Fire. Heck, he probably attended a lot of weddings before the Ring of Fire as a union leader. She considered. “I still say this is over the top, even for post Ring of Fire weddings,” she insisted, but with considerably less heat. “But okay. At least the so-called ‘Prince of Germany’ won’t be coming.”

“Welllllll. .” Karl said in a tone of exaggerated musing. “Unless I invite King Albrecht. He is my liege lord, you know. And I understand that General Stearns is going to be visiting him.”

“You know, Mrs. Sanderlin, if I were to just shoot Karl it would solve all the wedding problems.”

St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna

“They are going to endorse Urban,” Father Lamormaini told Father Montilla. “It’s confirmed. I still have connections in the Hofburg.” The last part of the statement was true, and he was almost sure that the first part was true as well. The decision hadn’t been made yet, but if things continued as they were now, Lamormaini didn’t see any other outcome. “They have to be stopped before they make the public announcement, which will be shortly after the wedding of Prince Karl Eusebius and the Wendell peasant girl.”

“It is a hard thing you ask, Father,” said Montilla, but his tone didn’t bear him out. There was an excited light in the chubby little Spanish Jesuit’s eyes and the quaver in his voice was of excitement, not doubt.

“You saw the documents,” Lamormaini said. “The Omen clearly documents that the Antichrist had already arrived in that other history, before the Sphere of Fire transported the seed of evil into our world. The vile satanic rites that Friedrich Babbel sent us, confirming the evil that they allowed under the guise of secularism. Rosemary’s Baby. Left Behind. The Satanic Bible. The truth of the up-timers is there in their libraries. They tried to hide it, but a careful study of their archives proves it beyond doubt. The ‘force’ from their movie Star Wars that we have seen right here in Vienna. Trying to make God into a mere field of energy. We talked about all this. You have seen the proofs.”

“Yes, Father Lamormaini, and I would willingly burn every up-timer at the stake! But the Holy Roman Emperor-”

“He has rejected that duty. Quailed from it like a startled rabbit running from a fox.”

“Very well. I will need some equipment. I don’t want to use a slow fuse. It is too likely to be smelled. Besides, there is a certain justice to using Satan’s tools against his minions.”

“What do you need?”

“I will need wires. Insulated copper wires. A battery. It can be lead acid, zinc-carbon or really anything that will produce the juice. And a spark generator. Or, if you can get one, one of the blasting caps. If you can’t get me a blasting cap, get me some light bulbs and I can rig something from them.”

“From a light bulb.”

“They make light though heat. Remove the glass container, surround the filament with gunpowder, and when the electricity flows, it heats the filament, which burns. That’s all you need.

“I’ll get them for you.”

“Just make sure your man can send them to us before the wedding.”

Dressmaker, Race Track City

It was white silk, a bow to the up-timer custom. Floor length, with gold-embroidered lace cap sleeves, a low sweetheart neckline, a full skirt with gold-embroidered lace insets.

“That’s about the most princessy dress I’ve ever seen,” Judy remarked airily. “Too bad it’s wasted on you.”

Sarah stuck out her tongue.

“Ahh, the the true Platonic form of ladylike maturity,” offered Imperial Princess Cecilia Renata, giggling. Cecilia had declared herself a probational Barbie during the negotiations and nobody had objected. All the Barbies liked her.

Judy’s dress was the same style, but in emerald green with gold embroidery. Cecilia Renata’s was grass green with gold, Susan’s was dark blue with silver embroidery. Millicent was in red with silver. The rest of the girls had similar dresses in all the colors of the rainbow, even Gabrielle and Trudi. Of course, none of them had quite as much gold embroidery as Sarah’s. It was her day, after all. And Judy, as much as she might tease, wouldn’t allow any of the rest to outshine Sarah on her wedding day.

Instead of a veil, Sarah would wear her tiara, which was gold with green jewels.

* * *

The next couple of weeks were caught up in wedding preparations and Christmas celebrations. However, during that time Moses managed to propose and Susan accepted. When Susan told Judy, Judy suggested that they have a double wedding with Sarah and Karl.

“No!” Susan said. “First, I want a quiet ceremony, and second, I am not going to be a part of your political machinations.”

“Oh. You spotted that, did you?” Judy said.

“I agree that having the wedding of a Jew attended by half the crowned heads of Europe would be a good thing in the long run. It’s just not going to be mine.”

“It’s also too soon,” said Trudi. “What we are seeing in the USE now and what we saw in front of the synagogue when Mayor Dreeson was murdered, is proof of that.”