"Today I saw the Duchess of Alençon, the sister to the Empress. A carriage was parked in front of a shop on rue Marie-Thérèse... The shop door opened, a large dog ran up to the carriage, and then a lady emerged: like the Empress herself, but thinner, more fragile, and petite. Her appearance stunned me... The Duchess had no idea that she was being stared at so intently, or that my thoughts were hovering between her and her imperial sister…"
Constantin Christomanos "Élisabeth de Bavière, Impératrice d'Autriche"












