Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part One

by Hedy Thalberg James

  “Why, dearest Stephany, there is not anything worth thinking about but you! And as far as my father is concerned, he will be more than happy to welcome you with open arms. He already told me earlier today how pleased he would be to have such a beautiful daughter-in-law, if you and I could come to terms. Now let's go tell him, so he may share in our joy and bask in his glory to make all the necessary arrangements for the forthcoming wedding. With your permission, of course!” He moved to reassure a still perplexed Stephany, kissing her hands again and offering her his arm to return.

  “But... what about the servants?”

  “What about them?” he answered lightly.

  “What will they be saying?” she muttered before entering.

  “Aside from congratulating us? I dare any one of them to even look wrongly in your direction!” he said, his voice unmistakably pronouncing what would happen to any of them, should they even think about it. He put his arms protectively around her shoulders. “You are, as of now, my fiancée, the future Mrs. Reinhardt, until death do us part! And that is final!”

  Again, she was too moved to answer.

  ∼

  “Is my angel sleeping or just resting?”

  “Neither, Otto! Just recalling your long, drawn-out marriage proposal of twenty years ago!” she giggled.

  “A day of suspense can be an eternity and very torturous,” he said grimly, as if he still felt pain.

  “I agree with all my heart, dearest. After all, I was the one who didn't know where you Reinhardts would place me.”

  “The two wise men placed you right where you belonged and were most qualified for!” He smiled, embracing her. “You gave my father and me the very best years of our lives and will hopefully now continue to give them to me. I can never thank you often enough, my dear Stephany!”

  “Whoever stated that the first sight of love is the last of wisdom, was wrong. Very wrong,” she mused quietly, still in his arms, not even realizing that their coach had stopped and the coachman had discreetly disappeared.

  3

  “The King is dead, long live the King!” was the first thought of attorney Herbert Wiland when he shook hands with both arriving Reinhardts. Just as he had anticipated, everyone who was even remotely related to Albert came with their various spouses and offspring, filling the room with tense looking creatures, dressed in the most pitiful clothes they could find in hopes of gaining Otto's and Stephany's sympathy. They expected not only their “rightful” inheritance, but also a continuation of the comfortable lifestyles to which they had grown accustomed.

  Herbert Wiland had been Albert Reinhardt's lawyer for more than thirty years, as had his father before him. Aside from being in their inner circle, he served and counseled the Reinhardts in all their business dealings as well as their private affairs with unfailing loyalty and fierce devotion. His two sons had graduated with honors from law school at the Sorbonne in Paris, which enabled them to become very renowned and had enlarged their father's law firm, now known as Herbert Wiland and Sons. Mark and Ulrich sat on either side of their father's oversized desk, being prepared for takeover in case of possible crucial events.

  With Otto Reinhardt now as their most prominent client, all three lawyers treated him with the same courteous respect and sincerity, as they had his father.

  The trio was presently carefully scrutinizing each and every individual relative. Now the elder decided to assume his position as attorney and slowly, and almost with reverence, opened the late Albert Reinhardt's last will and testament. “Hm!” he uttered with a slight smirk, which changed into an astounded marveling as he read the first lines to himself.

  “This is truly a surprise!” he proclaimed, looking at the anxiously waiting Reinhardt relatives. “My late client's fortune has been divided into four equal parts with very few stipulations pending. Your son Karl is to receive the castle in Lindenfels with ample farm and forest lands to ensure the upkeep.”

  “Father had it built especially for him thirteen years ago,” Otto answered firmly and loudly enough for all to hear, trying to hide his own calculation on the division of the four equal parts of Albert's amassed fortune.

  “Everything else listed in the testament concerning the dividing up of the remainder of the estate, etcetera, etcetera, seems to lie entirely in your hands, Mr. Reinhardt. My guess is that the late Albert Reinhardt felt that with so much harmony and lack of greed from any side, it should be a rather easy task! Needless to say, your children must be of proper age to inherit any portion. Up to and until this time, you and your wife are the sole heirs.” He took a deep sigh, and looked at the relatives’ strained and grim faces, enjoying every moment of it.

  “Just as Albert Reinhardt had predicted,” he thought to himself, and continued in a very nonchalant manner. “While it is not stated anywhere, my late client's wish has always been that you, Mr. Otto Reinhardt, continue to reside in your present abode. Aside from the choice location, the house also heats so well; a comfort he appreciated as age and rheumatism took their toll on him.”

  Both Otto and Stephany nodded in agreement, while Rita whispered out of the side of her mouth behind her gloved hand, “That man has some nerve to call that palace a house!”

  An observant Herbert Wiland smiled and continued casually. “Of course, there are also several apartment buildings, the income of which went to several different charities and orphanages. You may change all or part of these provisions, should you wish to do so.”

  “Wouldn't dream of it!” Otto threw in.

  The lawyer showed his pleasure, turning to the next page. “Doubtlessly, you are more informed than I, but the late Mr. Reinhardt stressed the point that all of his faithful servants should be looked after until their death, since almost all served him devotedly for a lifetime, some having even given up the option to marry, in order to stay with him.”

  Stephany's thoughts went to Aunt Bertha, who was only one of the many.

  “My father and I, as well as my dear wife, have always agreed on the absolute welfare of all our servants and employees.”

  “Your reputation speaks for itself, of course. I just thought I should mention it for obvious reasons. Now, let us come to the last part of this rather simple and clearly stated testament, considering the magnitude of his fortune!” There was the lawyer’s special smirk again, watching curiously and in utter delight, the strained and worried faces of the rest of the Reinhardt relatives, as their fate and future was about to be decided.

  “You may continue the present monthly payments of five hundred florins per family, aside from letting all of your cousins live rent-free at their current addresses. I would say—if I may—your late father was extremely generous, if one considers that the average family in Vienna never sees five hundred florins a year. Not considering the free lodging.”

  Without giving Otto and Stephany a chance to make any further comments, the elusive Robert Eckerd, who had never made a sound at the funeral, jumped out of his chair and stormed, highly irritated, toward the lawyers. “Generous?” he shouted. “Our uncle? Surely you jest. You haven't even begun to mention part of his immense possessions!”

  “For instance, Mr. Eckerd?”

  “For instance, his extensive collection of priceless paintings, objects of art and antiques from all over the world, just to name a few. We also know of more banks, coal mines, as well as farms all over Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. God only knows how much else he has stashed away!” he fumed. “I know of pearls, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds.” “Not forgetting all the gold taken from my family alone!” echoed his wife Rita, equally disgruntled.

  “The paintings as well as everything else stay in their places. Nothing shall be removed unless, I repeat, unless Mr. or Mrs. Reinhardt decide or wish to do so. The jewelry will be divided among Otto Reinhardt's heirs, of course. My late client never was much interested in such trifling matters,” he remarked, knowing that each and every one of the relatives would have given their right arm for any one of those
exquisite pieces. He took a deep breath again. “Which leads us to the coal mines, banks, and farms. These the late Mr. Reinhardt sold when he had his grandson's castle built. This was not a matter of needing money, but they had become time-consuming as well as a burden, traveling back and forth for the old gentleman, and were quite unprofitable!”

  “I’ll bet!” Daniel replied loudly; his face reddened by fury.

  “My late client never believed in wasting anything, whether it be time, money, or talent,” Mr. Wiland countered firmly with great satisfaction. “Thus, his wealth. And for all the other properties, regardless of their value or location, that also belongs to the four parts to be equally divided. Any more questions?” he asked sharply.

  “Uncle Albert also had a large collection of rare coins. They should by now be of an immense value! I know this for a fact from my late mother!” Amanda cried, taking her turn, worrying about her inheritance slipping away.

  "That too is part of the previously mentioned properties,” he snapped, irritated, observing the consequential uproar. “Forgive me, but I am almost at a loss for words. Why should a kind-hearted and most noble uncle owe so much to his nieces and nephews, some of you only by marriage? Why are you so very upset? Hasn't he provided for you long enough while he was alive?”

  “Because we are feeling cheated, and rightly so!” Claudia screamed at the top of her lungs. “Our own dear mother, God rest her soul, was shortchanged through her entire life and treated in the most unfair way! The Reinhardt fortune was always left with the eldest son. In our case, Uncle Albert was not only the eldest, but the only son, arriving after the birth of three girls. So his sister, our poor neglected and forever overlooked mother, received nothing at all!”

  “Nothing? You mean nothing at all?” the lawyer repeated, partially amused and partially in disbelief. “Just a moment, Mrs. Stradner,” he interrupted her ongoing tirade, appreciating Otto's and Stephany's serene composure, smiling at them. “My late father’s documents, as well as my own, of course, state that your poor neglected mother received not only the colossal amount of twenty thousand florins, but also inherited a fully furnished villa, including servants. And let me add, these documents are extremely correct, as they were frequently challenged over the years that have passed. And all that had been paid for by your late grandfather, Mathias Reinhardt,” he prompted, feeling the gratification of his long-awaited triumph. His eyes fixed on each of the completely dumbfounded relatives, who were now awed and whispered and moaned amongst themselves. “I'll be only too glad to furnish the dates.” He smiled self-assuredly. “But, as in so many of my pending cases of unfortunate heirs, the money has slipped through their fingers in no time at all, and mostly with the help of their chosen mates, whose lives had been one perpetual party—until the money had run out and they had to start to sell. Yes, dear ladies, they had to sell everything! It was my late client's compassion that persuaded him to offer his three nieces, including their vain husbands, their present apartments, plus a most generous income. And you too live life to the highest, as if there is no tomorrow and without ever giving our dear Lord an honest day's work. That is really the true story and your downfall. Your idle, do-nothing attitude has left you forever depending on my late client's virtue and goodness of heart. And now you are here, asking for more!” he exclaimed, his disgust now clearly showing. Then, closing the testament, he looked over to the Reinhardts, awaiting some reaction.

  Daniel, almost numb by the lawyer's disclosure, got up and sneered, “Are you trying to tell us, this is it?”

  “No, Mr. Berger, that is not it. Mr. and Mrs. Reinhardt have forty-eight hours to make their decisions, after which it will be final,” he countered sternly, not leaving any doubt about time for an appeal.

  “Then, my dear cousin Otto, we shall fight you with all we have!” Claudia snapped, deviously squinting her dark eyes. “We have all the necessary information now to do just that. This little enfant terrible you call your son—” She spewed venom, enraged. “And I refrain from calling him the name usually given to the likes of him, who are being picked up somewhere on a side street or a church!”

  "Whatever or wherever!” interrupted Robert "It was disgusting just having to listen to Uncle Albert's bragging about his grandson, as if the world were revolving around him! While his own blood relatives, that is our three sons, have gone unnoticed and were pushed into the background! Just to imagine that a complete stranger may end up as the richest man in Vienna is against all our standards!” he scoffed cynically.

  “You are even more vulgar than I had given you credit for!” the lawyer replied angry, taking a fast glimpse at the anguish on Otto and Stephany's faces, who were holding each other's hands tightly.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Reinhardt, your cousin's remarks were not only hearsay and completely uncalled for, but also despicable and in the lowest form of expression I have had to witness in all my practicing years!” He rose slowly, helped gentlemanly by his two equally outraged sons, whose hearts went out to the still stricken Reinhardts.

  The lawyer's anger grew even stronger as he walked slowly towards the relatives, staring at their embittered faces. “Considering that your late benefactor kept a bunch of useless parasites in comfort all these many years, one would at least hope for some gratitude and kind memories, if not consoling words for his grieving family.” He now observed a complete silence in the room. “Instead, you try to challenge the legality of Mr. and Mrs. Reinhardt's son, who is one of the four rightful heirs.” He continued grimly. “Well, I defy any one of you to give it a try!” He now addressed a most uncomfortable and shaken audience that felt their last hope of even a small inheritance dwindling away before their eyes.

  “All that money, wasted on you!” he added with contempt, pouring even more fuel on the fire, as he watched Otto comforting his distressed wife.

  He felt something was coming to a peak shortly, and his suspicion was soon confirmed when Otto requested forcefully, “Mr. Wiland, give them all one month to get out of my apartments and cut their allowances to the bare minimum. Let's say, as much as a poor neglected cousin and his family might be able to live on.” He smiled ironically. “And please, no exceptions whatsoever!”

  “You'll pay for this!” screamed Robert, while the rest of the would-be challengers remained dumbstruck, partly because of Otto's spur of the moment decision, partly by Robert's outburst.

  “Cut their allowances to nil and give them the minimum lawful time to get out of my properties,” Otto replied, again not showing any emotion.

  “Any other wishes, Mr. Reinhardt?”

  “No, none that I can think of.”

  “Oh my God, what will become of us? Where will we go and how are we to survive?” Amanda cried in despair.

  Stephany, who had so far not spoken during this nerve-wracking ordeal, answered in a tone which never had been heard from this soft-spoken woman. “Why, all you have to do is to find yourselves another rich uncle! There shouldn't be any shortage of relatives like Albert Reinhardt,” she chided.

  “And as for the rest of you, I suggest a first-class lawyer, if possible, within the next twenty-four hours,” Mark Wiland suggested frankly, and not without humor, knowing that it would be a hopeless undertaking.

  His father smiled proudly, as this was his son's first day in office, ignoring the departure of the families, who were now fiercely quarreling amongst themselves and blaming one another for their most pitiable future.

  “As your dear late father would have said, this case is closed!”

  “Closed indeed, Herbert. And, as always, irrevocable!” Otto retorted, gazing at his wife for approval of his harsh verdict. He realized that Stephany had to use all of her fortitude to intervene and was secretly proud of her. To justify his own actions, he now said, “If someone is good, I'll try to be better. If someone is contemptible, I'll try to be even worse! Not exactly the Reinhardt way, but for a day like today, it will do,” he mused.

  “Considering the circumstan
ces, there is no one I know of who could have been more restrained,” Herbert Wiland insisted, shaking hands with both of the Reinhardts, and promising a necessary meeting that should take place very soon.

  It had always been a mutual understanding between Otto and Herbert that the present arrangements would have to change after his father's death. Both felt there were countless and certainly more deserving places in greater need of help. No one ever fully understood the bountiful provision-making for all these hostile and ungrateful relations, but whatever the purpose, it was clear that Albert had taken the reason for this into his grave, as he had never uttered one word other than to say, “Some things are at times better left unsaid!” For the late Albert Reinhardt, those three families had been just one more of the things he had accumulated in his lifetime, things that had to be taken care of and looked after. And to the best of his conscience and knowledge, he had done just that.

  Otto offered the three lawyers a ride home, as they would have had a long walk home ahead of them. They accepted graciously, but asked, “And what will you do, Mr. Reinhardt?”

  “We'll just spend some time in the nearest coffee house!” he answered with a grateful smile.

  4

  “Listen to me very carefully, before accusing me of any wrong-doings. All this may only be happening to our very best advantage. I have a great idea!” Robert urged excitedly, entering the parlor of his forlorn family where they all had assembled, being beside themselves with regret and in great anguish.

  They all had anxiously awaited his return from visiting their own attorney and the news of its outcome, meanwhile cursing Otto's unjust decision and vowing bitter revenge.

  Robert was not only their orator and thinker in the most difficult of situations, but also always very inventive and without any scruples in trying to secure their accustomed comfort. Up until this fateful afternoon at Mr. Wiland's office, he had always been successful to ensure that the ladies never had to lift their fine little fingers other than to point at the pastries they desired. Their husbands, in turn, used theirs to play cards or pull an occasional trigger in a duel, still always being accepted by the so-called upper-middle class of Vienna.