Chapter Two -Angel

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Chapter Two
Angel
Schloss Rottenstein
Meran, South Tyrol 
May 1930

 In this chapter we meet Bekka as a child, and her cousin and godfather 'Uncle Otto' von Habsburg, called so because he was thirteen years older than she. He has come to Meran at his mother's behest to take the child to Vienna, to his cousin Sophie and her husband Fritz von Nostitz-Rieneck. Sophie is the daughter of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, who were murdered at Sarjevo when their daughter was thirteen years old. Left behind are her mother widowed Berta, her beloved governess Mala, and Gottlieb, their house steward, once the personal servant of Bekka's father, Ferdinand Karl, in Vienna.

As they travel to the train station, Bekka asks Uncle Otto if her Romanesque parish church is the same one where Sts. Francis and Clare of Assisi worshipped, because they look similar to her, and this as well as her curiosity about her behaviour at her christening causes their Italian cab driver to superstitiously cross himself. 

Bekka as a five year old: 

 
Uncle Otto
 
Otto as a young child

Bekka's father Ferdinand Karl as a young man
Bekka's mother Berta
Otto's parents, Blessed Emperor Karl and Servant of God Empress Zita
Schloss Rottenstein, Meran, Bekka's childhood home, described as a 'cottage' 
 



 

 

 
 

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