THE HALL OF MIRRORS

King Ludwig II of Bavaria walking alone in the Hall of Mirrors at his palace, an exact replica of Versailles. (candles lit – all of them!) It took the servants, 30 to 40 of them, about half an hour to light all the candles of the chandeliers. Some could be lowered from the ceiling; others needed ladders. And when all was ready and lit and bright and shiny, the king would come in … – dressed in a long black coat, slightly stooped, deep in thought. (servants exit) Some would slip back downstairs, to the quarters underneath the long Hall, and come down in history as those who would hear the king pace up and down the Hall – longer than its namesake at Versailles – “although ‘would’ is a misuse of language, as the king only spent a total of eleven days in the palace he’d had built to, perhaps, only feel what it must be like to be the Sun King. This way, please.”