Lucia by Andrea di Robilant

Author:Andrea di Robilant
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307268570
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2008-01-22T05:00:00+00:00

The trumpets blare,

The proud horseman

Enters the arena.

He has a natural instinct for battle:

He stiffens his chest, his arms and feet,

And firmly holds his steed.

The memory of ancient feats sharpens his skill

As he dashes the skull to the ground.

The soldier

Can taste victory,

But his heart is not satisfied,

And he stands uncertain.

“Shall I find glory in battle,” he asks,

“Or seek my destiny in your beautiful eyes?” 34

Lucia handed Callenberg his well-earned scarf. She took the scroll on which the sonnet was inscribed, pressing it to her heart.

That evening, at the bal masqué given by the twenty-four horsemen, the guests wore costumes from Valachia, Bukhovina, Morlaquia and other exotic lands of the Habsburg Empire. Only the waiters serving at the tables laden with cakes and pastries and ice creams and candied fruits seemed to have a proper, recognisable uniform. Lucia went as a young Greek from an island in the Ionian archipelago which had long been part of the Venetian Empire. Empress Maria Theresa asked her what she was dressed as. “A Dalmatian,” she fibbed, knowing how fond the empress was of Dalmatia.35 She was dressed as a Greek, but she did not forget she was in the heart of Austria.

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