Alain Saury

Vassili Mikhailovich Ordynov, a poor and reclusive young man, must look for new accommodation. By chance, he meets a middle-aged man, Mourine, and a young woman, Catherine, who accepts him as a sub-tenant...

Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria clashes with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, over implementing progressive policies for their country. Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that doesn't realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales, later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides comic relief. Rudolf finds refuge from a loveless marriage with Princess Stéphanie by taking a mistress, Baroness Maria Vetsera. Their untimely demise at Mayerling, the imperial family's hunting lodge, is cloaked in mystery.