The Duel, the Diva, and the Demon

The party arrived at the Palais Lobkowitz on the Minoritenplatz to find linkboys with torches lining the entrance and a stream of masked figures ascending the wide stone steps. Inside, three enormous crystal chandeliers threw prismatic light across a vaulted ceiling, gilded mirrors doubled the crowd into infinity, and an orchestra of twenty played a Haydn contradanse beneath a thirty-foot stained-glass window depicting the Lobkowitz coat of arms in azure, gold, and red. The air was thick with…