Page:Maria Felicia.pdf/109

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A STORY OF BOHEMIAN LOVE
105

as the Queen of Bohemia. The coronation of the Empress, the steward said, was even more magnificent than that of the Emperor. It took place three days after his, and was attended by Charles himself in the robe of a Roman Emperor. But the Bohemian noblewomen contributed to the celebration even more magnificence than the Emperor with his suite. The steward had counted one thousand carriages in which the women, glittering with pearls, gold and diamonds, came with their husbands, fathers and brothers. The Bohemian nobles at that time were immensely wealthy, and were famed for their wealth over all Europe.

The steward also told his listeners how, after the death of Charles VI., who was the last male descendant of the House of Hapsburg, great storms swept over Bohemia, what course they took and how they ended. The Emperor died in October, 1740, and in December of the same year, Frederick the Great of Prussia invaded the Austrian countries and denied Maria Theresa the right to the Bohe-