At Kutais the travelers remained two days, where the banquets, balls, and receptions threatened to last forever, so that the young couple had to steal quietly away in order at length to reach Gordi.
At the entrance of the mountain pass is a bridge which leads over a rushing stream. There the carriages are left, since the heights can be reached only on horseback or in palanquins.
So, as soon as the equipages were emptied, they all crossed the carpeted bridge, which was roofed with a continuous arbor of flowers and adorned with a triumphal arch marking the boundary of Mingrelia.[[19]] Thereupon they took their way to a tastefully decorated pavilion, where the young couple were received by a delegation of my son’s officials and servants, as well as by all the princes and nobles of the region. After the health of the newly wedded couple had been toasted, all those who had been on horseback mounted so as to make a cordon around Mary’s palanquin, and the imposing procession started out along the road which leads up the mountain for seven kilometers.
At the first cannon shot which announced their arrival I went with my suite to the balcony of their dwelling, where I first received the cavalcade of the prince from the Letchgum, who, under the leadership of Prince Gregor, Niko’s uncle, were riding ahead of the newcomers; then I caught sight of the young couple, who, amid the ringing of all the bells, the music of a march played by the military band, and the roar of cannon echoing from the mountains, approached and received from the steward at the head of his people the bread and salt in accordance with the custom of the country.
Then they hastened up to me and knelt before me, to receive my blessing, with the holy picture, on the threshold of their new dwelling. This moment was so affecting and so solemn that the tumult of the billowing throng suddenly changed to the deepest silence. Tears stood in the eyes of all; Mary showed herself especially moved, so that I had to conduct her into the house to give her time to recover.
At last we proceeded to the church, where the Te Deum was celebrated, and the archimandrite, together with my almoner, delivered appropriate addresses. After the religious solemnities were finished I conducted my daughter-in-law into the great hall and there presented her with my gift, a parure of diamonds. As regards the dwelling that I have prepared for them, I can truly call it a jewel casket.
We rested for a while; then the festivities began, and lasted till late at night. Orchestral performances, national songs and dances, firing of guns, games, athletic sports, alternated. The number of guests came to three hundred, of whom a part ate under the great trees in the park. On the next day it began again, for we celebrated Mary’s birthday; and for this occasion I had prepared an evening surprise—fireworks, and an illumination of the mountains with Bengal lights, which furnished a magical spectacle.
Whenever I received such a letter I read it aloud to the Suttner family, and it was taken as a settled thing that as soon as the castle was completed I was to go to the Caucasus. This work was continually delayed, but we were perfectly satisfied that it was. Life, alternating between Harmannsdorf and Vienna, was so happy! Harmannsdorf, especially, offered us a whole succession of delights. During the hunting season came a throng of guests, and there were dancing and theatricals. In the park was a large hall with stage and dressing rooms. There we performed various dramas and comedies, which were witnessed not only by the Harmannsdorf public and the inhabitants of the neighboring castles, but also by the peasants of the surrounding villages, who came flocking in and filled the theater. Then the harvest and vintage festivals, the excursions to the neighboring Stockern, where also a jolly throng of young people sojourned, and above all the favorite donkey-wagon parties and the stolen moments of confidential tête-à-têtes. The only dissonances that made their appearance in the house sprang from unfortunate business transactions. On the estate of Zogelsdorf, which belonged to Harmannsdorf, were quarries which were operated actively but unprofitably. The new Vienna museums were built from the Zogelsdorf stone, and the statues of Hercules that adorn the Burgtor were chiseled from it; yet a dishonest overseer was the cause of this business resulting in serious losses instead of profit, But the burden of this anxiety rested more on the parents; the children heard little about it and did not take it to heart. The brilliancy of our outward life was not diminished, and our gay and joyous activities went on as usual. Artur Gundaccar and I had sad moments only when we could not succeed in banishing the thought of our approaching separation....
“Oh, no more of that,” one or the other of us would say after such an outburst of grief; “nothing endures forever; let us thank fate for granting us this bit of heaven.”
I confided this love story to my mother, who had remained at Graz with her sister. Of course, she urged me either to insist on a marriage or to leave the house; but I quieted her.