Reinhardt Mayrhofer was a minor Austrian nobleman and husband of Maria Mayrhofer.
Personal History[]
Reinhardt moved in society, and found it useful to learn secrets in order to trade or sell them, often to parties in his home country.
While Maria had been faithful to her husband, Reinhardt was an adulterer. He had contracted syphilis from one of his extramarital partners, and Maria contracted the disease from him. She, in turn, passed it on to their son, which caused severe congenital disfigurement. Reinhardt smothered the child to death in its crib.
After the death of their son, Maria distanced herself from her husband, and eventually began an affair with Joseph Trevelyan. It was not until much later that she learned her husband had killed their child. When she confronted him, he laughed at her. She then threatened to expose him as a poxed womanizer and murderer. While she left to load her pistol, Reinhardt dressed himself in the gown that Maria wore for her secret meetings with Trevelyan, and taunted his wife, returning the threat of exposing her as an adulterer, and also of denouncing Trevelyan as a sodomite. Maria then shot Reinhardt through the heart, killing him.
Lord John Series[]
Lord John and the Private Matter[]
In June 1757, Lord John Grey investigates the murders of Timothy O'Connell and an unidentified man wearing a green dress, and in the course of his sleuthing he encounters a particular red wine of German origins. Through a conversation with Stephan von Namtzen, the wine leads him to an Austrian nobleman by the name of Mayrhofer.
In spite of suffering from mercury poisoning, Grey, von Namtzen and Tom Byrd search the Mayrhofer household. They learn from the house's staff that Herr Mayrhofer has not been seen since Tuesday, adding credence to Grey's suspicion that Herr Mayrhofer was, in fact, the dead man in the green dress. Further evidence points to Trevelyan making an escape on a ship, and Grey and Tom go to find out the ship. They are able to discover that the Nampara, a ship owned by Trevelyan, was to sail the following day. Grey and Tom chase after Trevelyan, and ultimately find themselves shanghaied on the Nampara, bound for India. Trevelyan still denies that he has killed anyone – not O'Connell, and not Mayrhofer.
Trevelyan tells the story of how he met Maria the year before and fell instantly in love with her, despite knowing she was married and mourning the loss of a child. Given her devout Catholic beliefs, it had taken him several months of persistence before she yielded. Trevelyan describes her husband, Reinhardt, as a degenerate, a womanizer – and a trader of secrets. Knowing this, Trevelyan deliberately set up Reinhardt to cross paths with Tim O'Connell and his stolen army correspondence, knowing Reinhardt would be very interested in such valuable information. Once Mayrhofer was implicated, he would either be banished or executed, freeing Maria to be with Trevelyan.
As Grey tries to determine who murdered O'Connell and Mayrhofer, a sickly Maria awakens and confesses to murdering her husband. Knowing they are at sea, she has no reservations about confessing. When Maria succumbs to another malarial chill, Grey and Trevelyan leave her to continue the story of how she killed her husband, after learning that he killed their child. Trevelyan confesses that he and Jack had smashed in Reinhardt's face to hide his identity, hoping that, wearing the green dress that he died in, he would be taken for a prostitute, and provoke no further investigation.
Personality[]
Reinhardt was described as a womanizer and degenerate.
Physical Appearance[]
Reinhardt resembles his cousin and wife, Maria – small in stature, with long, curling dark hair.
Relationships[]
Maria Mayrhofer[]
Reinhardt was unfaithful to Maria, often going with whores and making her a laughing stock in the process. Through his extramarital affairs, he contracted syphilis and gave the disease to Maria. When the couple had their first child together, a son, the disease resulted in the child being malformed. To prevent them from having to raise such a child and to ensure his wife did not become aware of his disease, Reinhardt killed their son in his crib.
When confronted with this truth by her lover, Joseph Trevelyan, Maria contemplated suicide. However, when she confronted Reinhardt and he laughed at her, admitting the truth of murdering their son and threatening to expose her affair with Trevelyan, she opted instead to use the bullet on him. Trevelyan and his footman Jack Byrd helped to cover up the murder and dump the body.
Name[]
- Reinhardt is a Germanic name composed of the elements ragin 'counsel' + hard 'hardy', 'brave', 'strong'.[1]
- Mayrhofer is a German surname meaning "from the region of Mayrhof" in Austria.[2]
Trivia[]
References[]
- ↑ Ancestry: Reinhardt. Accessed 24 August 2016.
- ↑ Mayrhofer - accessed 18 July 2016 via Wikipedia