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[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Chapter I[/FONT]
«The ball in Schönbrunn was full of hairdressers and waitresses and, now, it gets interesting: in the contredanse de la noblesse there were two parties, the Romans and the Tartars; the Kaiser has always kept to the arm the Grand Duchess, and suddenly it happened that the Viennese plebs, by dint of shoving, tore the Grand Duchess from the Kaiser's arm and pushed her among the dancers. Then the Kaiser began to step on toes, swearing like a lazzarone and pushed away with great shots right and left a large mass of plebs; some of the Hungarian Guard wanted to intervene and make a clean sweep, but he sent them away. And so it had what he deserved, the plebs always remains the plebs.
«Then the Kaiser began to snogging with the beloved Elizabeth. This love is not a secret to anyone, only it is not clear whether it is a tidbit just for him or for the Prince of Tuscany. The Kaiser seems too tender with her, kisses her hands continuously, one after the other, and more often both together... she is still a baby; she must stay two years in a convent here and, probably, if do not interfere the witches, will become a my schoolgirl of piano[1]»

(to Leopold (Johann Georg) Mozart, Correspondence of Wolfgang Amadé Mozart and his family,
5 December 1781).​
Festivals and ceremonies at Court in honor of Paul, Crown Prince of Russia, and his wife Maria Feodorovna, born Princess of Württemberg, and the sister of her, the young Elizabeth, it provided material for numerous chatter and manifold stories.
The Emperor Joseph II, who, from now on, according to his own expression, called himself as «her father», selected a woman «by heart and spirit worthy», the Countess Josepha of Chanclos, as Obersthofmeisterin (tutor, governess) of the Princess and Father Langenau introduced her to the principles of the Catholic religion. In Vienna she was educated in the Salesianerinnenkloster.
After that the Princess Elizabeth of Württemberg was converted to Catholicism in the month of December 1782, the Emperor began to attend with her the daily Mass, then, day by day, the frequentation became more assiduous, so that the rumors were unleashed about the tender affection of misogynist Joseph II for the Princess of Württemberg.

When the Emperor, in the winter of 1783, did take contacts with the Court of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, it was immediately clear what were his intentions. Travelers who had stopped at the Court of the Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel had always comments, generally flatterers, about the Princess Caroline, «extremely lovable, lively, cheerful, bright and attractive» (Count of Mirabeau, The Secret History of the Court of Berlin, 1895).
The Duchess Augusta, although he had always hoped in a English marriage for her second daughter, was nevertheless at the peak of happiness for this matrimonial proposal, who wrote to her brother, the King of Great Britain: «My daughter is so delightful that I'm sure you will enjoy she as wife. [...] I was so afraid that the our lifestyle would bring harm to our children, that no one would want their. Thank God it all worked out better than I had dared to hope».

At the end of the later year, Joseph II announced his betrothal to Princess Elizabeth of Württemberg and made public the negotiations for the betrothal of his nephew Franz with the daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

The Imperial marriage between Joseph II and Elizabeth of Württemberg, just eighteen, took place in Wien on 28 October 1785, celebrated by Maximilian Franz, Archbishop of Cologne and youngest brother of the Emperor[2]. A Friday.
But «Né di Venere né di Marte, ci si sposa né si parte[3]»...



[1] The job was instead entrusted to Salieri.
[2] Maximilian Franz was ordained priest on 21 December 1784, and was consecrated bishop only the 8 May 1785.
[3] Neither on Friday (the day of Venus) nor on Tuesday (the day of Mars) should one get married, start a journey.
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