O, Whistle, and I'll Come to You...

Yes, Mary is a survivor in my personal 'Vetsera Fantasia' and why not? OK, Rudolf may have been dispatched with a champagne bottle (or drunk from a champagne bottle containing Prussic acid) or even, on this occasion, just been hit over the head with it during a quarrel with Mary. However, he still ends up a messy suicide in a Paris bordello a few years down the line. So Sarajevo and World War One will happen all the same, there's no escape.
I'm more interested in what would have become of Mary had someone intervened. Like Bratfisch, for instance. Mary's' mindset might have changed from the willing death-pact soul-mate to slightly peeved teenager 'What about me?'.A bit of self-preservation kicking in at last, perhaps. I like the sound of Bratfisch, Rudolf's trusted coachman and erstwhile 'entertainer'.
In one of Mary Vetsera's last letters she mentions Bratfisch entertaining both her and Rudolf with one of his amusing 'whistling' songs during their last afternoon together at Mayerling. Bratfisch was one of the few retainers never to spill the beans about what he knew about the Crown Prince's escapades. Mary wasn't the only woman/girl to be ferried around by Bratfisch at the behest of Rudolf, but she was probably the most notorious.
It has been said that when the 'Hofburg shuttle' came to pick her up at night, she would jump in having just thrown a coat over her nightdress.Well, that's teenage hormones for you! Bratfisch must have known an awful lot, but he kept schtum, right up to his premature death (from cancer) at the age of 45. However, let me preserve the good Bratfisch and Mary together in this particular fantasia and let's avoid the early death scenario for both and have some fun.
I don't think there is a budding romantic link between them per se. I think my Bratfisch is a combination of a shrewd operator who also takes pity on MV's predicament after the champagne bottle incident. He becomes her chevalier/rescuer, then later on her protector and manager.

Bratfisch carrying an unconscious Mary to his get-away coach...

In the sketch above, I have drawn the unconscious Mary (she was caught in a swoon) and the practical Bratfisch is carrying her (like a side of ham,lol) to his coach waiting outside in the courtyard. Two servants look on in the background,probably wondering what on earth is going on. 
Mary is carefully placed inside and a fur coverlet is tucked over her flimsy nightdress. The coach windows are blacked out so no-one can see inside. Bratfisch climbs up to the driver's seat, blows on his hands, gees up the horses and takes Mary away to an unknown destination. To be continued...