Gloriette

The Gloriette, within the grounds of Schönbrunn Palace, becomes the setting for Henry Pelham’s unexpected reunion with Ilyas Shishani. In a blustery winter landscape, the seasonally closed site and its dark café give a familiar Viennese landmark the uneasy stillness of a place set apart from ordinary life.

Setting and Access

A message directs Henry to meet at the Gloriette at ten in the morning, describing the place as the axis point of the Schönbrunn Palace gardens. He has visited its café a couple of times, but never for work. The message gives him no indication of who is waiting there, and he does not recognize the number it came from.

Henry cuts short his morning with Celia Favreau and drives west to the palace grounds. The sprawling grounds are empty in the blustery winter weather. Although the Gloriette is closed for the season, its gate is unlocked; the café door is unlocked as well. Inside, chairs and tables have been stacked against a far wall, and the interior is dark.

The Meeting at the Café

The quiet of the café is broken by heels clicking against tile. Ilyas emerges from behind the counter, limping and smiling, and Henry takes a moment to process his face. Four years have passed since Henry knew him in Moscow: Ilyas now looks ashen and gray, fitter, and more intense, like a changed version of the man Henry remembers.

Their greeting is unexpectedly warm. Ilyas approaches with his hand out; after they shake hands, he embraces Henry and kisses his cheeks. Henry is frightened because he knows Ilyas is no longer the gentle baker he once met with, even as Ilyas appears to be impersonating that earlier innocence. The café’s disused, shadowed interior therefore hosts both an affectionate reunion and the recognition that the man returning to Henry is not simply the one he remembers.

Narrative Significance

The Gloriette’s seasonal closure and the café’s darkness make the meeting feel removed from the routine of Henry’s morning with Celia. The setting also makes the summons concrete: an unknown message brings Henry to a place he knows as a visitor, but has never used for work, where he finds a figure from his past waiting behind the counter.

The café has no electricity, so Ilyas cannot offer anything warm to drink. Instead, he produces two plastic bottles of Coca-Cola from the deep pockets of his coat and asks whether Henry still drinks it. The familiar drink and the altered man converge in the same encounter: the Gloriette provides a place where traces of their former familiarity remain, while the winter-dark café emphasizes how much has changed since Moscow.