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Here Straka may have been winking at what he saw as MacInnes’s quirks and pretensions. The Scotsman is reputed (though, of course, I have no first-hand knowledge) to be an enthusiastic sharer of the nuances of his bowel health, a tea-drinker so persnickety about its preparation as to cause his café companions much embarrassment, and a self-styled Casanova who believes that a bottle of 1866 Château Hirondelle des Granges guarantees him the favor of anyone with whom he shares it. There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, that he attempted to ply Amarante Durand with this very vintage one night in Torremolinos and received the coldest of shoulders in response. (Fn13, p231)
- The wine mentioned is fictitious. Hirondelle des Granges translates to barn swallow – the European swallow.
- Philomela is a minor character in Greek mythology. In her tragic story, she is turned into a nightingale (Eric refers to Filomela as a nightingale in his postcards to Jen). Philomela had a sister, Procne, who is turned into a swallow.
- In 1866, Algernon Charles Swinburne published the poem Itylus, which retells the story of Philomela and Procne.
- Itylus means butterfly. In the marginalia just below the footnote, Eric mentions VANESSA. Vanessa means butterfly.
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Algernon Charles Swinburne’s characteristic theme is immersion: immersion in the sea, in song, and in the hypnotic repetitions to which song is drawn, in myth, in thoughts of death, and in thoughts of maternal vastness.
It seems to me that this footnote on page 231 is drawing specific attention to the 1866 poem Itylus, the Greek story of Philomela, and the importance of song in story.
Perhaps this is a clue that Filomela Caldeira and Amarante Durand are sisters, which would introduce a new dynamic into the relationship between the two of them and V.M. Straka.
We may even discover that they are The Drifting Twins.
Thoughts On "S" 
Torremolino(s) was used in another footnote as the name of a non-existent critic, p. 72 FN 3. Swinburne inspired by the original source here? http://bit.ly/19EUzfw The Swallows, p. 15 from Amaranth and Asphodel, Poems from the Greek Anthology. Here, the swallow is a bit spiteful. I suppose that sisters can be that way too.
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bowel movements
“(though, of course, I have no first-hand knowledge)”.
this reads really touching if it is not true.
filomela the nightingale married a nice man for a few years.
i think she married the bon vivant.
because philomela and dionysus.
Procne is more difficult, bc. more options.
Durand and Vaclav are almost exactly the same age, 1890 and 1891 birthdates. If Durand is Corbeau and Corbeau was at the hotel in Prague in 1910 and Vaclav emerged from the water and was the guest, they met at near 20 years of age and had a child together, Signe, nearly 20 years later. I believe that is the story in the comments. FXC was born in Brazil(?) apparently much later. We possibly know the least about her early life. FXC lives until 2012, begins translating in 1924. she really is impossibly old as eric said. if she begins translating at 18 she was born in 1906 and died at 106. (coincidentally Traven’s translator was born in 1907. Traven claimed to have been born in 1890, but research turns up 1882.) at any rate FXC is almost young enough to be Vaclav and Durand’s daughter. That would be a twist. Durand and FXC seem to be romantic rivals for Straka.
the story of ekstrom, durand and straka could be a conscious echo of tristam, isolt and king mark.
who is the bon vivant?
Interesting twist with FXC the possible daughter.
Scottsman Guthrie MacInnes is the bon vivant. He is 10 years older (1880) whereas Summersby is 2 years older than Vaclav (1888). Vaclav, Garcia and Summersby would all fit for “our young friend” at the hotel re: age, Vaclav imo most likely. I think there are not only 2 female aspects in this sisterhood, but 3, as often seen with the mothergodess. Maiden, Mother and Grandmother – first the Sola Straka was rejected by at the pier, then the radiant woman everyone lusts after (Durand: Vevoda had his eyes on her, Ekstrom was her partner, Garcias wife is jelous of Durand, MacInnes was rejected, Vaclav (may have) had a child with her, Feuerbach is like Pfeiffer through german name a possibility for secret fathership of Signe Rabe. FXC is only in relationship with Straka in old age – like the rejected third Isolde in Tristans story (First Isolde the healing mother, second the radiant desire, third the woman Tristan married in exile only because of the name, and who was lonely and disappointed bc she didn’t compare to the radiant one).
Also note, after Theseus abandoned Ariadne on the Isle of Dia, she instead chose Dionysos as her companion in some versions of the Myth. Therefore it is not far fetched to assume that scottsmann Guthrie MacInness, described as the bon vivant with offensive bowel movements, is to represent Dionysos. Therefore we should be able to easily exclude him from the candidates of possible Strakas.
There is another interesting connection between strakas lovers. if we consider straka/s. to be a retelling of theseus, with ariadne (snake symbol, passion) as sola, and her sister phaedra (theseus other wife) as corbeu, his third wife, the amazon hippolyta (brasil amazon river, language portuguese?)the warrior woman motif fits well with fxc (motivates him to fight, gives him the map to the chateau to fight vevoda). i just found another connection between the amazon hippolyta and the two sisters in wiki/amazons. it says under /minoan culture that supposed Amazon cults seems to have been very similar to and may have even originated in Minoan culture, thus maybe including the third wife into the sisterhood of filomela, corbeau and sola.
maybe far fetched, but if the Sisterhood of F & C (F x C) is of Filomela and Corbeau, might FXC stand for both women, and Straka hired both in 1925? i doubt it, but FXC had one change of meaning already, from male to female.