Stephany and Otto were outwardly still pretending not to have ever had a daughter and went about their daily routines. Trying to avoid telling his children of Christina’s marriage, Karl had told them that, now he had returned, it was their aunt’s turn to go on a long voyage. At his parents’ fervent and understandable plea, he and his children continued to live at their mansion, renewing his rental contract with George Auersbach, who in turn was glad to have such a roomy place for Anne and their growing wealth of offspring.
Other than taking a little walk in their gardens and stopping by the pond to see the still occupied swan house with a new generation of swans peacefully gliding by, Otto and Stephany hardly ever left the house. They would sentimentally reminisce about the good old times, Otto sighing, “Ah, memories. Now we have only our memories, dearest!”
“But then, so does everyone else who is privileged to live this long,” she would remind him, gratefully adding how much she treasured the present and to be together with him, as well as being able to see how much Karl and his children were enjoying their newly re-established relationship.
Time permitting, their old friend Romberg would come by for a chess game with Otto. Since his wife’s illness had progressed to the point where she was unable to leave her bed, Stephany would visit her at their home. For many years now, the two ladies had been close friends as well as confidantes, enjoying some time away from their aloof husbands, and also grateful to have a friend to whom one could disclose the petty as well as larger problems of the family. Karl would also visit the Rombergs at regular intervals, bringing the children and enjoying the company and lengthy conversations, carefully avoiding the mention of Louise or Christina’s names.
By now, Max and Moritz Romberg too were happily married and had become prosperous business partners in their chosen field of pharmacy. Both lived in Salzburg, Moritz and his wife looking forward to their first child. Bruno Kraus had become a famous tenor, by means of his beautiful voice as well as his infidelities, but Therese, still childless, had no intention of leaving him. She frequently traveled to visit her own parents, as well as his, who had, by now, become extremely fond of their daughter-in-law. The Auersbachs also behaved less and less snobbishly and had become very gracious to Anne, aside from being proud and grateful for those many little Auersbachs she regularly presented them with, while their other sons were still unattached.
Although Rudolf Altmann and Thomas von Walden, as well as Christina, were on everyone’s mind most of the time, one would never have known it. Nothing about them was ever uttered, even if it were burning their tongues, fearing not only the consequences for the Reinhardts or even the Rombergs, but also that of the two children. Von Altmann and von Walden had become quite powerful and were known to be full of vengeance against anyone crossing them. It was rumored that they personally attended each one of the executions like a sideshow, always with a smile on their face.
“Let’s talk about Christmas!” Stephany laughed, trying to lighten Mrs. Romberg’s mood, which lately was as changeable as the April weather. “There are only two more months,” Stephany continued. “Last year was so depressing, despite our son’s return. The war was barely over and I could hardly stand to even think about the holidays. This year I mean to make up for it. How about all of you— and I mean each and every one of you, near or far— celebrating at our place?” Stephany put it as a question, but Mrs. Romberg knew from the assertive tone of her soft voice, however kindly put, that it was more of a command than request.
To Stephany’s surprise, Mrs. Romberg agreed with a smile. “What a wonderful idea! I assure you, we shall all be there. I might have to be carried, but I’ll come!”
“Karl will be so happy to hear it. He deserves to have a good Christmas together with his children and all his friends for a change.”
“Anyone calling me?” he joked, entering the room with a child on each arm.
“We are just planning an extraordinarily large Christmas party!”
Verena lost no time in jumping up and down in delight, clapping her hands, while Alex remained quiet, foreseeing only a lost night in which he and his father could challenge each other in battle. He knew that none of the Auersbachs’ children were interested in any of his games and Uncle George’s battle strategies were quite predictable, which bored Alex to death.
“All right, Mother let’s plan on it. And how about planning for a big New Year’s Eve party at the same time? But how will Papa feel about it?”
“I believe giving a party would be better than anything else we could do for him right now.”
Karl thought of Christina and Thomas, but the mere suggestion of trying to build a bridge between those two divided houses would only fall on deaf ears, or at least cause a great deal of problems. No one had seen Christina in the past few months except Benedict, who had reported to him that at times she looked a bit lost, if not aggravated, hating the slow-moving pace at which their house was being refurbished. But he also had reported that the presence of Thomas and Rudolf always seemed to make her come alive again.
He had been informed of her only visit to Mark and Ulrich Wiland’s offices sometime in August, where she had inquired about her financial standing in planning to draft her testament. While both brothers had been pleased with her foresight and had praised it as an excellent idea, they had become quite alarmed at its contents and had tried to advise her, to no avail.
At one of their dinner parties, von Walden’s own lawyer, who was not only one of their distant relatives but also a very good friend, had jokingly remarked about the Major’s visit to him. He had requested a notarized signature on his and von Altmann’s testament, which stated and that all of their assets would pass to his beloved wife, the Baroness von Walden! Ulrich Wiland had laughingly recounted the situation to Karl. “Aside from their mounting debts, neither one owns more than two vicious mongrels that won’t let anyone near the place! Even the late Anna Altmann had died impoverished. I know this firsthand, Mr. Reinhardt.” Becoming serious, he continued. “This is why I was left with no choice but to tell you, as not doing so would be inexcusable!” Karl was wide awake after hearing this disclosure by his lawyer, and had asked him which steps he could take to prevent any problems his sister might encounter.
Christmas Eve was now only three days away and Karl had been unsuccessful in persuading his parents to celebrate the event at Lindenfels as they had in the past. They had made it a point to mention to him that the convenience for the families with small children was their main concern, since a long sleigh ride in the unpredictable weather would jeopardize their attendance. They had, however, agreed that the New Year’s party could take place in his castle, as Lindenfels had already begun preparing the necessary guest rooms ahead of time.
“Maybe this will be a blessing in disguise,” he thought. With all the noise, chatter, and clamor he could probably get away without being missed. He had to see his sister with all the unsettling rumors of her weight loss and fragile health that had been brought to him recently via Benedict, as well as this last bit of unsettling news from his lawyers. In the meantime, Reinhardt’s lawyer, along with Von Walden’s lawyer, had decided on forging a foolproof plot since their information had been so disturbing. Karl had been the only one told about it, as his father’s health was visibly deteriorating, and his mother would only be upset and advise against it. All things considered, within a week their plot would have been executed and no one would be the worse for it, Karl decided.
As his thoughts returned to the present, all attending families were singing the carefully selected Christmas carols and Karl was not only surprised by Alex’s participation, but his joining his sister and cousins in reciting a Christmas story was even more astonishing, even bowing and smiling and enjoying their applause. The stunned visitors attributed Alex’s change in behavior to the growing relationship between him and his father, who not only had become his friend, but also the fair disciplinarian Alex had missed and now so admired. Karl and Ale
x even shared a secret. Alex would, on his tenth birthday, get his own military instructor. With a solemn promise from Alex to prove himself worthy of it and a hearty handshake, Karl knew he had won this round.
The time had come to open the presents and Verena, again the most excited of all, was kissing and hugging her beautiful porcelain doll that had been clothed in an exquisite blue velvet dress, adorned with lace and satin. The Auersbach children had received a variety of toys carefully selected for them according to their different ages and none of them wasted any time in thoroughly enjoying them. Alex had found himself a chair in a less crowded corner and was carefully unwrapping a made-to-order uniform of the imperial cavalry. He was stroking the fine cloth softly, his eyes wide open and happily smiling, finally holding it up for everyone to see and admire. None of the family had ever seen him more excited.
The rest of the family was oohing and ahhing over the many different handmade presents and the obligatory books— romance for the ladies, and history and science for the gentlemen. Karl now brought out another box and presented each guest with a rare gold coin or a carefully selected piece of jewelry and his sincere words of thanks for their contribution towards his family during his absence. For his father, he had acquired a pocket watch by Vacheron Constatin, the best watchmaker in Switzerland, and made his mother a present of the most exquisite diamond pin in the shape of a snowflake. For his sister, he had purchased a bracelet of the finest sapphires, which he planned to put on her wrist the first chance he got. Observing their pleased smiles, he was sure that at this blessed time of the year, when all should rejoice, his parents’ troubled thoughts would be on their daughter, no matter how they tried to disguise their unhappiness.
“Something must be done about Christina,” Mrs. Romberg whispered to Karl at the first given opportunity. “And I feel it has to be soon!”
“Something is being done. New Year’s Eve is the day, but in God’s name, please do keep it to yourself!”
She smiled with satisfaction and he knew any secret he had would always be safe with any of the Rombergs.
∼
For Christina, Christmas existed only on the calendar. Thomas and Rudolf encouraged her to accompany them on one of their rare appearances at the servants’ quarters, giving presents to their crude staff who hardly took notice of her, continuing eating and drinking, only thanking and smiling at Thomas and Rudolf. A new woman had been added recently who gave the distinct impression of being better suited to a brothel than to a personal maid to Christina.
“This is our Christmas gift to you from both of us, darling,” Thomas beamed, knowing how very degrading this must be for his deeply disappointed wife.
“My name is Madeleine,” the redhead announced, pondering Christina’s face with an insolent look. She went on matter-of-factly. “I’ll be looking after your personal needs,” she said, putting both of her fists on her hips, daring Christina for a challenge.
“Not as long as I’m alive!” Christina thought, giving her a look of superiority which did not go unnoticed by Thomas.
“You two will be just fine,” Thomas mused, hoping to make Christina feel even more uncomfortable in an attempt to break her spirit.
Christina’s once very obvious élan had already been marred when Thomas let her know that she was not to receive visitors any longer nor open the mail and gifts that were delivered to the Walden house unless one of them had given full approval, because he feared that her family, out of anger over their marriage, might try to hurt her. So far, she had no suspicions that either one of them ever withheld any of her mail since, every now and then, they would let her have some of the less important things. Her living quarters had also become a lot more limited now, he claiming the place was still incomplete and that certain rooms could not yet be heated, as well as letting her know that he had to carefully budget the enormous expense which restoration of the house was costing him. Any suggestion by her to use her own money, as they had previously agreed upon, only brought about a smirk to his face and a cool reply that some people might think he had married her only for wealth, which, against her better judgment, led Christina to believe what she wanted to hear, that he had really married her because he loved her.
Rudolf Altmann had also become a great disappointment to her, having changed considerably soon after she had had her testament rewritten, making both of them her sole heirs. He was not as talkative and courteous as before, giving her only short answers, more often than not in a sarcastic tone. He also did not waste time on her any longer, spending most of his free time with Thomas under the pretext of having to discuss work. Thomas, on the other hand was always polite, his fixed smile showing all of his beautiful white teeth, nevertheless making clear his indifference to any of her wishes or pleas, categorically repudiating them and finding the perfect excuses for not obliging her. Both men had adjoining rooms, claiming that their conversations were strictly about military matters and would, if anything, just bore her anyhow.
Physical contact between her and Thomas consisted now of an ostentatious goodbye or welcome kiss performed for the benefit of the servants and Christina had long realized her grave mistake. While she was not too proud to return home to ask for her family’s forgiveness, she had practically been cut off from everyone and anything, living more and more like a condemned prisoner in that faraway old house. In her desperation, she knew she had to make a plan for herself, and she had finally decided on Benedict, whom she knew she could trust. She had picked up sign language, perfecting it in her work with charities. In fact, she had found Benedict there, which she luckily had never disclosed to Thomas. She did have to find some way to communicate with Benedict, which presented a problem insofar as he would mostly keep to himself, training dogs, attending to the horses and stable, hardly ever looking her way. Since Christmas, it had become even harder for her to be alone. The newly hired redhead was always following her around, and had begun to snoop around in all parts of the house taking notes, whenever she thought to be unobserved. And being in Thomas’ employ, Christina was certain that she was reporting to him every move she made. Not being careful in obtaining Benedict’s attention would only be risking his dismissal. And then what?
Since she had not been able to see him anywhere around on Christmas Eve and had not been able to give him his Christmas present along with the little note she had written to Karl, wishing him the best for the season and the coming year, she had now removed the note from the gift, fearing to be discovered, only hoping now for a better chance on New Year’s Eve. By pretending to wish Benedict the best for the coming year, she might be able to tell him to explain to Karl how urgently she needed his help, as her instinct told her there was no time to lose.
Despite her anxiousness and grief, a faint smile came to her lips when she recalled her brother’s last visit and his offer of repayment. She hoped he had forgiven her for her insulting letter, refusing to see him and his children. Remembering him to be a good listener gave her a feeling of hope for forgiveness, but she also knew that ultimately, she would have to do a lot of explaining.
There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that von Walden and Altmann had laid out a carefully planned scheme, through which they had been able to introduce Christina to von Walden to begin with. Mark Wiland’s firm warning could therefore not be strong enough when he told Karl, “It will take great effort as well as cooperation on all our parts to bring these two gentlemen down and to justice. And once we have that scheme uncovered, we can only hope that your sister has become wiser and will want to come home. Otherwise, I don’t even dare to imagine the consequences!”
“According to Benedict’s reports, she is in a really bad frame of mind as well as not being very strong physically.”
“I heard that to her present personal maid, she is nothing short of defiant.”
“How should she not be? That woman has been hired by her husband, and Christina would have to be a fool not to know that she is there only to serve his purposes. Whatever
bad judgment my sister may have shown in the past, she is no fool!” Karl added.
∼
Thomas von Walden and Rudolf Altmann were sitting together, lazily enjoying a bottle of Reinhardt’s finest brandy, reminiscing on their own masterfully planned scheme.
“Wasn’t it a coincidence to have been able to meet Christina at your party, and to have won her heart so swiftly?” Thomas laughed contemptibly, thinking how fast she fell for him and how incredibly quickly she had agreed to an engagement.
“Indeed, it was,” jeered Rudolf.
“And wasn’t it coincidental that the revolution aided us in getting married without much ado and not stirring up any fuss with the dear in-laws?”
“Indeed, it was,” Rudolf agreed with his own deplorable smirk.
“I’m still surprised that the Reinhardt’s never even got their lawyers involved….or at least intervened themselves.”
“That was perhaps the one problem we didn’t expect to be solved so smoothly. And I know why!”
“Why’s that?”
“Because at that time, we didn’t realize that Christina was still her strong and willful self and wouldn’t let anyone come between us.”
“Aha! But we finally have to finish this little episode of my life on a more serious note. My beloved wife will just have to meet with a little accident which will put us on the greener side of life.” He smirked ominously, rubbing his hands. “New Year’s Eve will provide the perfect setting!”
Both had heard of Reinhardt’s New Year’s Eve party where all of their family, friends, and anyone of notability were invited, of course, excluding the von Waldens and Altmann. This alienation assured them that no surprise visits would take place. In addition, the servants would be drunk and noisily celebrating with cheap brandy and wine until they fell to the floor, remembering nothing. Christmas Eve had already been a good example of it. Madeleine’s contribution to their drunkenness never even entered their minds. The hiring of this new maid was only a temporary thing anyhow, her having already asked for a night out to be with her boyfriend. Normally, she would have been slapped for her insolence and discarded like trash; however, it was convenient to have her at this time, keeping an eye on Christina. His lawyer had asked to borrow her over the holidays.
Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part One Page 15
