Read The Luck of the Weissensteiners (The Three Nations Trilogy) for Free Online Page B

singing of hymns and the passionate and exaggerated head nodding during the sermon. Admittedly, some of the other church members needed to express their faith with equal intensity and exhibitionism, but surely everyone else had to find this as ridiculous as Greta and her sister did.
    Wilma told her about the news at the weaver workshop where business had picked up again. A former Hungarian countess had taken up residency in a large manor house outside of Bratislava and had ordered two massive hand-woven wall carpets, including one depicting her family history and another that displayed a variety of Bible figures. Jewish people were not supposed to be involved in the manufacture of symbols of the Christian faith as far as the Church and local law were concerned, so there was a little bit of a risk involved, but it was too much of an opportunity to turn down. The project meant that all three remaining Weissensteiners would have to weave continuously on these two commissioned works and leave the hired help to oversee the looms all by themselves. For the next few months the family would earn a lot and Jonah was positive that the display of his work in such a reputable home would bring in more custom, which was why they had to work doubly hard to make sure they delivered immaculate carpets to the best of their ability.
    The Countess fancied herself as the sponsor of traditional and modern art alike and frequently came to the workshop to instruct Jonah with her latest ideas and last minute changes to the agreed designs. Despite being a tough business woman during negotiations, she also became a kind and a warm hearted friend, and she adored Greta and her little boy Karl. She took a strong personal interest in the entire family without ever letting anyone come too close. There was never a mentioning of a husband or a Count and the ageing woman exuded a strong air of in-approachability on the subject matter and so no one ever asked her about it. Her status and riches were intimidating and helped her to keep a distance whenever she wanted.
    One of the young girls in Jonah's employ had asked for a raise during that period as the work would be so boring. Jonah was outraged at her cheek, but the girl was sure that it would not be possible for Jonah to find a sufficiently qualified or trained replacement for her on such short notice now that the big order had been placed . Jonah had agreed to the raise but he had immediately written to some of his fellow tradesmen seeking to replace the cheeky and greedy woman. The Countess also supplied him with a few addresses of craftsmen she thought might be able to help him out.
    The rich aristocrat loved to join Greta and Wilma when they talked about the books they had read or wanted to read and she frequently made recommendations. Sadly, Wilhelm only brought books home for himself these days and only occasionally did he keep them at home long enough for Greta to have enough time to read them too. Wilma was, by nature often too restless to sit down and read a book but if she did read, it was always something her sister had chosen. Occasionally the Countess brought books from her own large library for the two sisters to read, emphasising how important it was for young ladies to have a sound knowledge of literature and the arts. When they were on their own, Greta and Wilma were often rather unladylike. They started a silly competition between them about who would grow the longest hair. Greta had a slight advantage as her hair was less thick and therefore easier to look after. Wilma’s hair curled slightly and never seemed as long as Greta's because of its structure. They even got their brother Egon to use a piece of knitting wool and measure each woman's hair; when pulled, Wilma's hair was longer than it seemed but she never caught quite up with Greta all the same.
    While Jonah played with his grandson and tried to teach him to talk, the women braided their hair and tried out different hair styles.