1911 (11)

When I heard Mother say we were going to Friedrichshof to visit Grandmother, I checked the workshop schedule first. Sadly, we had a test scheduled.

Anna sighed when she saw me.

“Do you really have to think about the blueprints even when you’re going to visit family?”

“We’re testing the barrel link this week. I’d be upset if it worked while I was gone.”

In the end, we postponed the test by a day and boarded the train with Mother.

Victoria, the Dowager Empress, was Wilhelm’s mother and my grandmother. She had been ill for a long time. The adults didn’t go into the details of her illness in front of us, but I more or less knew that her condition was serious.

Friedrichshof was much quieter than the Imperial Palace.

Summer light streamed through the windows, and paintings and books lined the corridors. Perhaps because of Grandmother’s illness, the attendants walked slowly and as quietly as possible. Even the sound of doors closing was barely audible.

When we entered Grandmother’s room, she was sitting on a long seat by the window rather than lying in bed.

She was much thinner and paler than when I’d seen her before, but her eyes were still full of life...