Star Trek: Discovery 3.12

In which Osyraa really does surprise people, but so do Michael and Tilly.

( Under the cut, Watership Down is evoked )

January Meme: Favorite book and/or fic you've read this year?

Asked by aurumcalendula. As mentioned briefly elsewhere, this was the year of non-fiction for me, and I enjoyed a lot of it (not all, but even the stuff that dragged provided some interesting information, which was of course why I had read it). Now, in last year I mentioned that one obscure Prussian 18th century noble named (Ernst Ahasverus von) Lehndorff had quickly become one of my favourite historical diarists, and why.

( Brief overview of the Lehndorff diaries and their publication history )

Now, what I had read in early to mid March 2020 was volume IV, which was at the Bayrische Staatsbibliothek but not digitalized yet, so I had to go to the reading room and knew I was on the clock because I could see a complete shut down of the libraries coming, given how all things Covid went. So here I was, busily making notes of excerpts (and translating them into English for cahn and mildred_of_midgard). Which wasn't an effort but a joy, because Retirement!Lehndorff was as entertaining as ever, and as good an observer as ever, which is one of the most important things about a readable diarist. It doesn't matter whether his subjects are people still famous (like Frederick the Great) or people no one knows anymore today. Take this February 1782 pen portrait of one of his former colleagues at court when the guy in question dies. You've never heard of him (I certainly hadn't), and there's no reason why you should to enjoy the following passage (read it and tell me whether you've found better in any novel as a self contained character portrait):


The Queen’s eternal Count Wartensleben has died. He was, in short, a unique creature of his type. For 43 years, he has been at this court, and during these 43 years he didn’t miss executing the duties of his office for a single day. He only left the antechambre of the Queen in order to go to sleep. Despite the two of them living in each other’s pocket for all this time, they were constantly at odds. Never has a soldier guarded his position so well like Count Wartensleben has the Queen’s antechambre. She accused him of interfering in all her affairs, that he was listening at doors, that he was reporting on her to other people, that he even dared once to approach her as a lover. All this has given cause to the most stormy scenes. The queen, who usually is benevolent but also has a touchy temper, sometimes threw napkins at his head. One day, I witnessed an actual battle. Wartensleben made an objection which the Queen didn’t like. At first, she tried to change his mind in kindness. When she didn’t manage to do this, she hit him so heavily with her fan on the shoulder that the unfortunate fan burst into a thousand pieces. Despite such scenes, he remained the one constant inhabitant of the antechambre, for 43 long years. AT noon, he arrived in a carriage with horses which were as old as he was at the palace. The two footmen who were with him then had to inspect the entire palace, all corridors and corners and report to him what was happening. This kept him occupied until 2 pm, which was when the Queen sat down for her lunch. After the meal, he planted himself in the miserable, sleazy antechambre, stole all the sugar cubes from us which we were being given to drink our coffee with and remained there until the arrival of the guests at 7 pm. While everyone was gambling, he slinked away through the corridors, in his younger years in order to seduce the wardrobe ladies, and later in order to spy. He only left the palace after all the candles had been extinguished. Other than the urge to spy, hiis primary motivation was avarice. About a hundred times he has told me that he was saving a lot by not having to heat his room, use any light or furniture. Day after day, he nicked a piece of white bread from the table for his breakfast the next morning, and he only had made gloves for the right hand which he needed to escort the Queen. He was truly the worst of misers. Besides, he was as dull as dirt; he always talked about himself and what was going on in his house. I remember how he told us for eight days about an ulcer his youngest daughter had on her backside. At which point the splendid and witty stewardess of the Queen’s, Countess Camas, who was thoroughly fed up with the story, said: „My dear Count, I know a wonderful way to treat this ulcer.“ Delighted, he exclaimed: „My dear lady, I urge you tell me which it is!“ Quickly, she returned: „Her Daddy has to put his nose into it!“ It has to be said that Wartensleben‘s nose was one of the most impressive which have ever existed.

It has to be said, though, that Lehndorff is more prone to write about people he likes and/or admires than about those he dislikes (like Wartensleben), unless the disliked ones are in immediate proximity (usually when they're Heinrich's boyfriends). One of the most moving entries is about seeing his son again. In order to fully get what's going on, you should know that at this point, not only Lehndorff's first wife but also their four children are dead (two died shortly after being born, two as young children), and the first son from his second marriage has also been so sick that he's tried doctor after doctor (in Berlin, not in provincial East Prussia where he now mostly lives) and hasn't seen him for a while as a consequence. Then, on May 2nd 1777, this happens:

Upon my return to the inn where I’m lodging the most pleasant surprise awaits me any feeling heart can experience. For as I climb up the stairs to the rooms in which so many strangers lodge, a pretty boy steps downwards to me. Even while I ponder who he might be, I’m told he is my son. This child, which has been so thin and worn out that I gave him to Herr Muzelius in Berlin to be cured, and then to Halle in the care of my niece Isenburg, married Countess Schlieben, has changed so much within only six months that I hardly recognized him. I cannot describe my joy. It feels like my soul became one with that of the child - this is how glad I am! No joy in the world can replace such happiness. My heart swam in delight, and yet I could not pronounce a single word. (...) I had dinner with my niece, my wife and my son, and must confess that this meal meant more to me than any one with the most famous wits.

So reading volume IV was at different points hilarious or moving even when Lehndorff was simply writing about his own family business. (BTW, that these entries were there also shows how the editor's policy had changed; in the original volume, he'd cut nearly all Lehndorff family matters and just left the entries about the celebrities of the era.) But of course I was also still interested in him as an ongoing observer of the dysfunctional soap opera that was the Prussian Royal family. Which he could be because he more often than not spent the winter months in Berlin (East Prussia being really cold) and also at least once per year visited Rheinsberg, where Prince Heinrich lived, in the summer.

Lehndorff in retirement and with several decades of friendship-with-benefits to look back on still has a grudge against each and every one of Prince Heinrich's boyfriends, a great many of whom do tend to be charismatic, money spending bastards, or, as Lehndorff puts it on June 1st 1777:


If only this Prince whom my heart loves so tenderly would try to be as just as he is good and generous, he would be the object of universal admiration. Unfortunately, with him, passion always wins over sentiment. Thus he is able to give Kaphengst an estate for 150 000 Taler, but to refuse young Wreech who is completely loyal to him 100 Louisdor. His loyalty is known to the prince, but as he is modesty itself, he doesn’t get anything out of it, while the other achieves everything through his impudence. This reminds me that one day, I strongly remonstrated with Mara, a strong favourite of the Prince’s, because he had behaved very impudently towards his Highness. The creature replied to me: „Oh, you don’t know this Prince as I do. If you don’t behave like a bastard towards him, you’re not getting anywhere.“

Mara isn't wrong there as far as romantic favoritism goes, but it has to be said that while Lehndorff never was Heinricih's official favourite, their friendship-with-benefits has survived through the decades while the favourites came and went, and he does enjoy visiting Heinrich when they're both in their 60s as much as he did when they were in their 20s, and thus I end my entry on why this book which is part travelogue (Lehndorff uses his retirement from court for travelling through some of the other German states and Poland, and there's the regular to and thro to Berlin and Rheinsberg), part anecdote collection, part life story and part Rokoko Queer as Folk AU (starring Heinrich as Stuart Allen Jones and Lehndorff as a more bisexual than gay Vince) with a quote demonstrating this beautifully:

June 1784: From there, I hurry home, change my clothing and jump, after I had talked for a moment with my wife and her visitor, into the post carriage. In order to avoid the heat, I drive through the entire night and arrive on the 6th in the evening at Rheinsberg. I always experience a particular sensation whenever I get close to this charming place, when I think of the fact that in an hour, in half an hour, in a quarter of an hour I shall see Prince Heinrich again, who when it comes down to it has been for as long as I can remember the Prince whom I love best. I had all reason to be satisfied with his greeting. I cannot adequately render the emotion that moves inside me, but I am his, utterly and completely. (Ich bin auf jeden Fall ganz sein eigen.)



The other days