Continuation of "Consuelo": "Countess Rudolstadt"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

At the end of his novel "Consuelo" George Sand made a brilliant publicity stunt for those times. She wrote about

that anyone who wants to know the fate of the heroine, as well as what happened to Count Albert after his death, can not guess on the coffee grounds, but simply read the next novel called "Countess Rudolstadt". For those who have forgotten the content a little, we recall that at the end of the first book, Consuelo secretly married Count Albert, after which he died, and the newly-made widow, vowing to keep the circumstances of her marriage secret, went, as they would say now, to continue her musical career.

"Countess Rudolstadt" is a rather voluminous book, although smaller than "Consuelo", but it will take quite a long time to read it. In addition, it is heavily overloaded with philosophical arguments on the topic of good and evil, and many pages in it are devoted to the Masonic movement. And isolate from this sea of information a love line, which interests the majorityreaders, quite problematic. So for those who are interested in the plot itself, and not the numerous deviations from it, we suggest reading its abridged version.

Summary

"Countess Rudolstadt" begins with Consuelo's performance at the Berlin Opera. First of all, King Frederick favors her, and then the public follows him. Everything would be just great, but our heroine is constantly haunted by the ghost of her late husband. He flickers in the palace, sneaks into the theater during a performance, bringing the singer to a nervous breakdown. Being in poor he alth, she receives a letter from her friend Baron von Trenck, who asks her to convey news from him to her beloved, the sister of King Friedrich, Princess Amalia. Faithful to friendship, Consuelo comes to the princess and receives from her an invitation to a friendly "cabal". During a pleasant dinner in close and warm company, she is surprised to learn from the princess that her secret is not at all as secret as she thought. The doctor present at the death of Albert blabbed about the wedding, and the princess is aware that not the simple singer Porporina, but Countess Rudolstadt is sitting at the table with her.

King Frederick found out about this private meeting and wanted to find out details from our heroine, and having received a firm refusal, he decided the matter simply - he put Consuelo in jail and forgot about her. But Countess Rudolstadt was not left without help - she was rescued from captivity by a mysterious stranger, whose face she never saw, since it was constantly covered with a mask. young girla mysterious savior… well, how can you resist and not fall in love? So Consuelo could not resist - she gave her heart to a stranger in a mask.

A rather short time after her escape, she is informed that she is not a widow at all and that her husband is alive. The fact is that the count did not die at all, but fell into a lethargic sleep, which the ignorant physician who was present at this event took for death. Albert's mother, who knew that her son had inherited a tendency to lethargy from her, secretly kidnapped her son and thereby saved his life. Why secretly? Yes, the fact is that the senior Countess Rudolstadt was officially considered dead for a long time, although in fact she was not only in good he alth, but also held a fairly high position in the Masonic lodge. Consuelo, having talked with his mother-in-law, and having learned from her that Albert is practically at the head of the lodge, also decides to join Freemasonry and forget about his criminal love, remaining a faithful wife.

But how can a count, who is noble and generous, accept such a sacrifice from his wife? In no case - he gives his wife complete freedom of action and love. Corroded by conflicting feelings, the poor thing rushes between duty and love, but then fate itself comes to her rescue. The mysterious stranger takes off his mask and… turns out to be Albert. She fell in love with her lawful husband. It would seem that one can put an end to this, but George Sand is not like that. The happy ending of the novel is too insipid and boring, because a singer and an aristocrat with a lofty soul cannot live in peace in their ancient castle. Albert decides to announce that he is alive, and thishis decision ends rather sadly.

Epilogue

Our Countess Rudolstadt loses her voice when she learns that her husband was not recognized as a count, but as an impostor, and was imprisoned. Her further fate, according to the author, is lost in the darkness of the unknown. However, the reader is nevertheless conveyed by the echoes of the fate of the heroes. He, meaning the reader, meets on the page of the book a wandering family with many children, headed by a holy hermit. The old man is accompanied by his wife, whom the surrounding peasants call the "Gypsy comforter", and the half-crazy old man Zdenko is with them almost constantly. Everything converges - this is Consuelo with his beloved husband. They are happy wandering from village to village surrounded by the care and love of the local peasants.