Chapters 13 and 14 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 13: Zionstrasse

The Palais in Vienna was almost thirty years old when the netsuke collection was sent as a wedding gift for Viktor and Emmy. A cousin named Ignace von Ephrussi lived in Vienna at the time. He was a baron and a war hero and the second richest banker in all of Vienna. He also had many other holdings in other locations. Edmund uncovered a drawing of this relative when the man was about fifty years old. This Ignace was apparently quite the rogue. He had affairs with both of his wife's sisters as well as other mistresses. Edmund found a contract between he and the main architect for the Palais which went under construction in 1869. The house is now a tourist attraction. Edmund enters and is taken on a tour. Everything is huge and splendid. All the...