Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part One

by Hedy Thalberg James

  “Christina,” her mother replied calmly. “Karl Reinhardt will always be in demand.”

  “How can you be so calm, Mama? I'm ready to explode!”

  “Where is Karl now?”

  “Putting the horses away.”

  “Well, I must bring Papa his tea.” Mrs. Reinhardt turned and started up the stairs, a hint of a smile on her face. “Good night, Christina!”

  At that moment, Karl swept into the room, whistling cheerfully. “Good night and pleasant dreams, Mama!”

  “And to you too, Karl.”

  “You and Papa should have really been there, Mother. It was truly a wonderful evening!”

  “Well, perhaps we can join you the next time,” she answered, winking at him. He was looking so happy. What a shame that he had to be confronted by Christina. She felt sorry for him, not to be able to be left alone with his happiness.

  Karl's smile disappeared as he faced his pouting sister. “I am extremely angry with you, Karl!” Christina hissed.

  “Oh? That is really too bad! I, on the other hand, am extremely happy. As a matter of fact, the happiest I've ever been!”

  “What a statement coming from someone like you. You were eyeing Louise tonight as though she really meant something to you, and what’s worse, the poor gullible child seemed to reciprocate! She's barely over one heartbreak and now you are leading her towards another disaster. Aren't you satisfied by now that your philandering is known all over Vienna?” she snapped.

  “What I do and what you hear are two entirely different things, Christina. Some of your so-called friends have actually embellished the truth about their liaisons with me in order to make themselves more interesting in the eyes of others.”

  “Look, Karl, I have never interfered with your love life before, but we are talking about my dearest friend and her family. You give me no choice! I must put an end to this, before it is too late. Before things get out of hand!”

  Karl whirled around to look at his sister. Seeing genuine hurt and concern in her eyes, his anger subsided somewhat. “Well, Christina,” he began. “Before you continue with your unfounded accusations and interminable sermon, let me tell you some good news.”

  Christina looked vengefully at her brother.

  “I intend,” he began, quietly and seriously now. “to ask the Rombergs for Louise's hand in marriage. So, you see, your best friend can now, if she accepts me, be your sister-in-law!” Karl laughed at Christina's reaction. “Close your mouth, Christina, and hold onto to that chair before you faint! I am in no mood to carry a hysterical and ungrateful sister upstairs.”

  Christina sank into her chair, her confusion and embarrassment obvious.

  “I have loved Louise almost from the moment I saw her,” Karl said softly now. “Oh yes, I know about my alleged vice of flirting with all, but this, my dear Christina, is really a very normal thing about bachelors. Look—” he continued, kneeling in front of his stunned sister. “Do you realize that I had to be very sure before saying anything to anyone, especially to my family? Tonight would have been the perfect time, but you with your unfounded presumptions had to spoil it!” He reached out and brushed his sister's cheek. “Ah, sister, now what do you have to say for yourself? Only a short while ago, you were ready to throw me to the lions. Your good intentions could have destroyed the happiness of one to whom you are utterly devoted! At least I hope she'll choose to be happy with me,” he added as an afterthought.

  Christina's head snapped up, her eyes wide. She rushed from the kitchen toward the stairs. “Papa! Mama!” she shouted. “Karl is in love with Louise!” Karl could hear Christina's voice as she reached the landing. “Mama! Papa! Karl says he is going to marry Louise!”

  Stephany and Otto Reinhardt had come out of their bedroom. Otto still held the cup of tea his wife had prepared for him.

  “Well!” Otto intoned. “This calls for a toast! Come on, let's open a bottle of champagne. After all, it isn't every day a son falls in love!”

  “Oh, Karl,” Christina said, ascending the steps and grasping her brother's arm. “I'm so sorry! And I'm so happy!”

  Stephany, smiling elatedly, led the procession to the dining room, where Otto opened a bottle of champagne and offered a toast to his son's future bride and their happiness to come.

  ∼

  “Louise, are you still awake?”

  “Barely. If you don't mind, I'd like to sleep now.”

  “How can you even think of sleeping? Didn't you see how Karl stared at you the whole evening?” Anne asked.

  “Yes. I also couldn't help but notice the sly glances between you and George Auersbach,” Louise retorted.

  “Ah...George is such an exciting man!” Anne whispered. “You didn't see Rudolf Altmann there. Besides, he is such a mama's boy! One can never be sure of his intentions. But George! If I could find a man like George Auersbach, someone who'd truly love me, I would throw away my diamond real fast!”

  “Ha! It's so small, no one would ever notice it's missing anyhow,” Louise teased. The two young women giggled.

  “Why don't you two stop dreaming about Karl and George now and get some sleep?” Therese said. “Didn't Bruno sing wonderfully to-night? Who knows, he even may be famous one day!” she added, a bit hurt by their selfish thoughts.

  “I'm so sorry. I didn't have a chance yet to comment on his singing,” Louise apologized.

  Anne ignored the remark and returned to Karl Reinhardt. “Even Max and Moritz were noticing how enamored Karl is with you! We even tried to imagine how a girl like you would maneuver a man like him, should the occasion arise,” Anne snickered.

  “Oh, for heaven's sake! Just like Therese will manipulate her Bruno, and you your Baron... or Count... or Prince... or whatever!”

  “But you, Louise!” You found yourself a King! How will you deal with him?”

  “Very carefully,” came the soft, thoughtful response. Louise blew out the candle and hugged her pillow tightly. “Love can be so beautiful! I'm just beginning to see that,” she mumbled, already half asleep.

  As much as the Reinhardts rejoiced, the Rombergs were at first stunned, but overjoyed for their daughter. Christina and Louise were ecstatic at the prospect of becoming sisters. Karl and Louise were quite simply too much in love to be anything but happy. An intimate, family-only wedding had been unanimously agreed upon. Stephany's birthday party was still on schedule, so Louise and her family had no choice this time but to attend. And the Reinhardts were proud to finally introduce the Rombergs to their inner circle.

  “Our table seats twelve,” Mrs. Romberg was saying. “which is just perfect! The Reinhardts are four, we are seven and the priest makes twelve!”

  “You'll need an extension, unless that old monk has lost some weight!” Moritz joked.

  “Don't exaggerate, Moritz!” his mother admonished. “He is a very dedicated man!”

  “Oh, Mother, please! We all know he wanted to be a gourmet cook and his family wouldn't let him because they wanted a priest in the family.”

  “Let's stop it now, please.”

  “Sorry, Mother!” said Moritz, grinning. “I really like Karl. He will be like another brother. Don't you think so?” He gave her a peck on the cheek and left.

  “We at least agree on the Reinhardts,” she muttered.

  The news of the engagement had spread quickly through all the salons of the Reinhardt friends and was being discussed everywhere.

  “This is going to be the finest and largest wedding Vienna has seen in years,” Irma Leiber stated solemnly. She was one of the many matrons who hosted luncheons, dinner parties, and coffee klatsches for no other reason than to catch up on society's most pertinent 'news'. And as if Stephany Reinhardt's birthday celebration had not been enough, now the wedding of her son Karl was without question the greatest social event in Vienna that year.

  “Still, Karl Reinhardt might yet break up with the pharmacist's daughter,” Mrs. Leiber mused aloud. “After all, Baron Altmann did! And we all know
that Reinhardt is not an easy man to get along with. And he does have a reputation as a Don Juan!”

  “I wouldn't count on their breaking up, Irma!” one of the ladies said. “And as for Altmann, he's courting another Romberg girl, remember?”

  “Oh, well, what does it matter anyhow? All I can say is that my daughter ceased her relationship with Karl Reinhardt,” Mrs. Leiber stated.

  “So did mine!”

  “Just like with our pretty daughter, Wilma,” another replied. “She found him to be a complete bore as well as a conceited flirt!”

  “My Alice felt she could do much better! Not as far as money is concerned, naturally, but some of his character traits really disturbed her,” Paula Wehner lied, like the other women before her.

  “I can only say,” Countess Auersbach finally commented. “that I am very happy Karl has at last found someone so perfectly suited for him!” The others' remarks had incited her, and she couldn't abstain from letting them know that they could not get away with their lies. No one knew Karl better than her own son, George, who had only admiration and the greatest praise for him. “Louise is a lady of great quality, and is, just like her sisters, a beauty!” she added acidly, observing their disappointed looks with inner pleasure.

  “Well, let's say 'sweet and pleasant'!” Frieda von Dorn admitted sulkily.

  “Maybe.” Irma shrugged. “I say modest but highly intelligent!”

  “The Rombergs, I hear, are very refined!” another interrupted, trying not to be out done by the others.

  “What does all this matter?” Pauline Wehner snapped, trying to keep the anger out of her voice. She had become tired of hearing all these compliments about the Rombergs. “My husband and I have always agreed that rich and poor just do not mix. Those struggling paupers will soon be uncomfortable at parties they'll have to attend, and the Reinhardts will have to really work to make them feel at ease!”

  “Just a minute, Mrs. Wehner,” said the Countess Auersbach. “Granted, the Rombergs are poor by our standards. Their hard-earned money has gone toward their sons’ education, however. What's more, except for the pharmacist, everyone in his family has attained the degree of doctor or even professor, since Paracelsus introduced chemistry to medicine! None of us here can even come close to his type of ancestry! And since the Reinhardts are very involved in the field of medicine, they are doubtlessly fully aware of the Rombergs' heritage and I'm certain very proud of their newly acquired in-laws.”

  The Countess was delighted by the dumbfounded expressions of her companions. After what seemed a long pause, Frieda von Dorn asked, to more or less break the mood, “Do you know where they are going to live, Countess?”

  “I suppose in Vienna,” the Countess replied. “Karl's profession requires his presence here. And I'm sure they'll spend the weekends at Lindenfels with the family.

  “His father might even build them a new home!” Pauline mused. She refrained, however, from saying it, afraid of the wrath of the Countess, who might be instrumental in removing her from the circle of friends, and she mused further. “If one wants to stay 'in' in Vienna, one plays by the rules!” The best thing to do in this instance, Mrs. Wehner decided, is to keep silent. “Will you be attending the wedding, Irma?” she asked cautiously instead.

  “What a silly question! We attend all their parties. The Reinhardts have never taken any offense to our daughter breaking up with Karl.”

  “Same with us,” Pauline nodded, looking around. “Do you think Karl ever got over Alice?”

  “Hah!”

  “You shouldn't be so sarcastic, Countess!” Erna Stein said, coming to Pauline's defense. “You've never had a daughter!”

  “No, that I did not! I have three sons to be completely content with, but if I had had a daughter, I would have made quite sure she would never have left a Reinhardt!” Again, there was a long silence.

  “Vienna's elite will have to get busy finding a proper suitor for Christina! She's getting on in age, also!” Monika Burg observed. She knew the Countess only tolerated her because of her husband's close association with her husband.

  “That's absolutely absurd!” The Countess retorted. “With the exception of Otto's father, who had married a so-called Baroness, all of the Reinhardts married into unnoted but suitable families!”

  “But, your husband is very proud of his noble ancestry, Countess!”

  “Yes, Monika!... But he also is aware that to have only 'blue blood' doesn't bring two kreuzers at the market!” With that, she stood up and asked for her coat. Parting Mrs. Leiber's little get-together, she felt proud of having spoken her mind, without having to worry about her husband's disapproval. It had been worth it, to accept today's invitation, and she hoped that more would follow. She admired the Reinhardts and felt strongly about speaking up in their behalf.

  ∼

  Karl and Louise had gotten into the habit of taking long walks every afternoon to the Donner Brunnen, Vienna's most beautiful fountain. Named after its creator, Alfred Donner, the fountain depicted the four major rivers of Austria besides the Donau and was surrounded by the four and five story baroque mansions of the Viennese elite. Even with no physical distance between the buildings, each was distinguished by its own particular pastel coloring, and the shape of windows as well as the different styles of their balconies. During their first walk there, Karl, being aware of her growing interest in his work, had pointed them out to her. “Every one of these patrician buildings reminds me of different pieces of fine china; something an emperor would order to dazzle his foreign visitors!”

  Louise was especially taken by one of the houses that had been painted in a yellowish golden tone with quaintly sculptured balconies on all of the five floors. The top of the mansion was adorned by smiling cupids, all facing the fountain. “What a beautiful view the inhabitants must have from there. One could really become envious of them with all the beauty and history surrounding them,” she had whispered to Karl.

  “I don't doubt that they are able to enjoy the beautiful view from there. But I hear there are some less enjoyable sounds in this house. The present owner, a young businessman named Schmidt who lives in Hungary for whatever reason, has his two spinster aunts, the Schmidt-Sisters, occupying the house. They are bedridden and quite abusive of their servants! I feel for their plight, not being able to get around, but it's still no reason to mistreat their employees. I know they do, because some of them have come from there to work for my family.” The home of the Schmidts, whose feuds were well known, and the family feared, was avoided by most.

  “Schmidt?” Louise asked in surprise. “Just plain Schmidt? No von this or von that?”

  “Theodor August Gottfried Schmidt once was the sole owner of this whole square and all that surrounds it,” Karl explained. “This, of course, was as far back as the twelfth century, when this was the flour market. He, like my own forefathers, refused all offers of titles,” he continued. “I must say, though, 'Reinhardt' is regal enough, whereas Schmidt could be improved upon!”

  Both laughed, Louise adding, “Louise Schmidt would have suited me just fine too, provided you were the bearer of the name.”

  Karl had decided that very day to purchase this yellowish golden building, which had so captured and fascinated his young bride-to-be. He would, of course, have to get the approval of his parents. Both of the elder Reinhardts were elated with Karl's choice of residence, and more so since it was in walking distance from their own home.

  Karl had urged them, “We must keep this a secret from Louise until after the wedding. I would so like to surprise her!”

  All had agreed and the Reinhardt attorneys assured them there would be no problem acquiring the building since the owner had no intention of returning to Vienna. And as far as the troublesome aunts were concerned, “They can surely be persuaded to move to a smaller place in the country,” they had mentioned convincingly.

  The Reinhardts and Rombergs had agreed that the first of May, which was also Christina's birthday, wo
uld be an ideal wedding date. It would provide the newlyweds with a few weeks for their desired honeymoon in Salzburg, and while they were there, Otto would have their new home suitably refurbished. Louise assumed she and her new husband would take up residence in his apartment. The Rombergs had never told her differently, since it was clear that providing housing was Karl's responsibility.

  “Oh, what a hectic time!” Mrs. Romberg sighed happily. “A wedding here as well as the birthday party for Christina, and all this in my humble little home! I hope both of you approve!”

  “Anything will be fine with me, as long as Karl is happy with it,” Louise replied.

  Karl smiled down at her. “I have a perfect angel on my arm, don't I, Mrs. Romberg?”

  “Rumor has it you had been looking for one!”

  “And I was lucky enough to find one!” Karl jested back happily. Kissing Louise's hand, he said, “But now, I have to leave. There is still much to be done, and the next nineteen days will be gone before we know it!”

  Louise laughed fondly, not able to imagine what could be so important that Karl had to do, outside of selecting which suit to wear to the wedding ceremony. Christina was taking charge of the wardrobes as well as the flowers. Karl’s tailor had two unclaimed suits in his shop that would need little alteration to perfectly fit Max and Moritz. For the two Romberg girls, Christina had chosen gowns of silk. Delicate light blue for Anne and for Therese, one in the slightest pink, choosing a very light green iridescently shimmering gown for herself, complementing the color schemes of the Rombergs’ magnificent table-setting and centerpiece, as well as the flower displays throughout the house. Unbeknownst to anyone, Stephany Reinhardt had insisted on paying for the wedding. “After all,” she had told Mrs. Romberg, “You are giving us Louise! Besides, you still have two daughters to think about.”

  The wedding went exactly as planned: heartfelt, beautiful, and the best-kept secret in Vienna. Louise wore her grandmother's wedding gown, which had been stored away all these years, carefully wrapped in muslin. It was a beautiful gown, which had been bought in France. The white silk had been adorned with delicate pink pearls shaped into rosebuds. She appeared to Karl like a fairy princess. So overjoyed was he, that never for a moment did he let her out of his sight.