Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part One

by Hedy Thalberg James

  “One snap of my fingers and they run as far as I tell them!” Or so his ego let him think.

  “Any children by those two, Papa?”

  “Only one bow-legged son!” Karl answered under his breath, as the Colossus had decided to honor them with another visit.

  “How are you, Architect Reinhardt and Dr. Reinhardt?” he greeted them pompously, pronouncing and holding in high esteem names and titles. Not giving them a chance to answer, he continued. “I am sure I have congratulated you before, Dr. Reinhardt!”

  “Only about a dozen times!” Hannes thought as he forced a polite smile. “Yes, sir. And many thanks!”

  “I cannot leave this grand place without telling you personally, that in my estimation, you have raised a magnificent son. The finest in my regiment! And frankly, there are quite a few among us who are envious.”

  “The military deserves the credit, I’m sure, General! If there is anyone worthy of thanks, I feel I must thank you,” Karl replied firmly, remembering Alex’s behavior tonight, and meaning every word he said.

  “This young officer will make his way!” the General proudly prophesied and clicked his heels loudly, causing the surprised Colonel Essler, who was standing nearby, to pay attention. “He never clicks his heels unless he is going to pass out!” he thought, and came even closer, just in case he had to steady him. “I’ve just told the Reinhardts what a fine young man we have in Alex von Dorn-Reinhardt. As you might have also noticed, his speech tonight was superb! That young man will go places, just you watch, Essler!” he prompted. And with a slight slur in his voice, he suddenly announced, “I must go and find my wife. I believe it’s about time to leave!” And he disappeared into the dancing crowd.

  Colonel Essler realized now that he had no choice but to overlook Alex’s indiscretion earlier in the day and would have to speak with him himself. Looking around, he noticed that everyone seemed to be looking for someone, a possible sign that some of the guests were going to be leaving. Finally recognizing his daughter in the still crowded room, he also found Alex at her side.

  “Can I talk to you now, Alex?”

  “Of course, sir!”

  Essler gave a meaningful look to his daughter. “I mean alone!” he interrupted her still reciting to Alex, and realized that she had doubtlessly been regaling Alex with either her favorite Goethe poetry, or her own sad family story, and that Alex would probably be overjoyed to be put out of his misery. “At least for the time being,” Essler assured himself.

  “Why don’t you speak a few nice words to your brother and Lillian since they are leaving for their honeymoon?” he suggested. She left reluctantly and with a promise to Alex that she’d be back to continue their conversation. “First-Lieutenant von Dorn-Reinhardt!” He addressed him properly this time. “I don’t wish to further discuss with you or anyone else the matter of this afternoon’s unfortunate incident. I shall take care of all details as far as Clarissa von Walden is concerned. As far as I am concerned, the matter is closed.”

  “Thank you, sir!” Alex said, perplexed, but with an obvious sigh of relief.

  Essler watched his reaction with a mixture of interest and amusement. “General Hauser has nothing but praise for you. As a matter of fact, he said so to your father! In light of all this, I shall have no problem in having you transferred to Venetia.”

  Again, Alex was perplexed and repeated, “Venetia?” trying to assure himself that he had heard correctly.

  “Yes, you have not misunderstood me. Venetia, on the Adriatic sea!”

  “I don’t believe I deserve it, sir! Considering—”

  “That is for me to decide. You behaved splendidly tonight, if I do say so myself! And the attending officers….well….we are all very proud of you!”

  Alex, completely at a loss for words, stood there gnawing at his lower lip, and was finally able to utter the words, “Thank you, Colonel Essler!” along with a firm salute.

  “I advise you to speak to your servants just in case someone has seen our earlier meeting outside or has seen you entering the wedding ceremony.”

  “I shall do it, sir, if it’s an order.”

  “And otherwise?”

  “It’s simply superfluous, as none of the servants ever speak to anyone unless spoken to, and my father never puts a servant in the middle of a personal matter.”

  “In short, he trusts you.”

  “I have no reason to believe otherwise, sir.”

  Essler left him then, smiling, relieved, and thinking, “Maybe this is what I should have done with Anette,” but immediately hated himself for the comparison. Alex was, if anything, too handsome, while Anette was downright plain, to be sure!

  ∼

  “Lillian, father sent me to say a few kind words.”

  “Well, say them, Anette.”

  “Your wedding bouquet was too small.”

  “Unfortunately, there are no large forget-me-nots to be found. And Verena and I tried to stay balanced. Any other reprimands?”

  “I was glad you had flowers put on your dress.”

  “What else would I have been able to put on it?”

  “Horses!” Anette jested, putting her arms around her. “Good Lord, you are so beautiful! If I could have a wish, I would wish to have just half your beauty!”

  “Anette, my dear, as you know, ‘Beauty is—”

  “Yeah, I know, ‘in the eyes of the beholder.’ If I could just find a blind or a kind man.” She sighed sadly, looking through her grayish blue eyes that were shiny with tears.

  “Is my sister insulting you?” Kurt Essler inquired wistfully.

  “Why would you think that?”

  “Experience!” he answered dryly, putting his arm around her shoulder.

  Turning to his sister, he continued. “I’ve seen you spending quite a long time with Alex. As I remember, you never liked him before.”

  “Well, we both are here alone,” she shrugged.

  “Alone maybe, but not desperate. There is a difference.”

  “Don’t speak so harshly, darling,” Lillian intervened. “If either Anette or Alex didn’t enjoy each other’s company, I’m sure they would have left long before!”

  “Thank you, Lillian, thank you! That was beautiful of you to say. I believe I shall now go and look for him!” she said in jest, though she secretly meant every word.

  With a slightly raised arm Alex had signaled to a rather lost and forlorn looking Father Christopher. “Are you by any chance free to talk to me?”

  “Nothing but free, Alex. I was actually looking around to see if I could be of help to anyone.”

  “Can you ever! I must talk to someone in confidence. I need advice desperately!” He did sound desperate, as the priest recognized anxious, if not bitter, tones in his voice.

  “Advice from a priest?” he inquired kindly.

  “Well, let’s call it a sort of confession, even though I am not a faithful son of the Catholic church, as you well know.”

  “Sounds more as though you need a friend.”

  “Right now, I simply need you to listen to me. As for friends, I don’t have any I can think of.”

  Father Christopher could have answered that to have a friend, one must be one first, but seeing the state Alex was in, he refrained and suggested they go into the chapel, remarking, “No one will be praying anymore today.”

  “Yes, they did enough of that during the ceremony.”

  “Are you trying to tell me you witnessed the wedding?”

  “That’s only one reason I must talk to you. Frankly, I don’t know where to begin though.”

  “Right from the start, Alex.”

  “Well…about three years ago, a few of my comrades gave me a little private farewell party, sort of a dinner party. I was leaving the next day for my new assignment in Silesia and had just been promoted to First-Lieutenant,” he explained. “There had been quite a few nice girls I had been introduced to there, but one of them, who had been introduced to me as Clarissa von Sch
neck, caught my special interest as it seemed we had a lot in common. Anyhow, at the end of the night, after a lot of conversation between us, we promised to write each other, nothing more and nothing less. Somehow, the host found out later that her name was actually Clarissa von Walden.”

  “I can see the problem already,” Father Christopher murmured, his face turning even more serious.

  “She wrote to me long and beautiful letters, and as I was pretty lonely, I welcomed their arrival.”

  “But we also wrote to you constantly, especially your father.”

  “Yes, that’s true…boring the hell out of me! Sorry, Father Christopher,” he interrupted himself. “but in the military, we use this a lot.”

  “I know Alex, and even worse, I’m sure.”

  “During my leave time, we met twice clandestinely,” he continued. “in one of her friends' houses, as the von Waldens feel just as badly about us as the Reinhardts do about them. The sad part about all of this is that they are only distant relatives, mostly by marriage, and not even on speaking terms with the Thomas von Waldens, and they heard about the murder just like everyone else in Vienna, yet they are being ostracized just for carrying the same name!”

  "I can feel for you Alex and I know it doesn't seem fair.”

  “When I heard about Verena's and Lillian's big wedding plans, I thought it to be the right time to introduce Clarissa to my family. I also thought that once they'd met her, they might rethink their hatred towards the von Walden name and concentrate on the person, especially after I had a chance to explain the circumstances.”

  "Most likely they would not, though there's always the possibility. So what, exactly, is the problem Alex?”

  Alex now retold the earlier confrontation with Colonel Essler, and that he had not expected this type of reaction on his part, but also his great disappointment in Clarissa's poor behavior.

  “This really made me think and I came to the conclusion that I could never accept or tolerate that. A wife of mine would have to conduct herself as a lady under all circumstances,” he sighed sadly.

  “I see, but I cannot see a real problem or any wrongdoings.”

  “You will. I'm coming to it instantly. But would you agree to be on a first name basis with me for just a short while?”

  "I always call you Alex! Haven't you ever noticed? To call you First Lieutenant von Dorn would be against all my beliefs. I dislike the army, Alex." It sounded like the crack of a whip, and not at all like the soft-spoken Father Christopher everyone knew.

  Alex forced himself to ignore the remark and continued. "To make this rather long story short, I had hoped for the best, but had also prepared myself for the worst. Throughout all the years I had been away from home, I had etched into my mind and had rehearsed it in case the right opportunity should some day present itself," he sneered, his face tense.

  "What kind of opportunity, Alex?" the priest asked in surprise, yet remaining calm and kind.

  "I thought, should they rebuke my request and possibly insult me in front of all the guests at the introduction of Clarissa, I would retaliate and expose some secrets of the grand Reinhardts. They have always stood so straight and shone and still do through their name, as unfairly as others must suffer for theirs."

  "In most cases people deserve it, but then, as always, there are those rare exceptions to the rule. And I must admit the von Waldens are one of them!"

  "Glad you see it my way!"

  "Not entirely. A wedding day is supposed to be a happy occasion and hardly the right time for a confrontation and family drama! If you felt so strongly about all this, you should have made it strictly a family affair; and only then if they had rejected Miss von Walden. But what secret of your family could they possibly be talking about and be able to expose that Vienna has not known and whispered about over the years? Don't think for a moment your family would not be aware of anything derogatory that some envious people would like to spread about them if there were anything to talk about! And Alex, those so-called secrets are nothing to be ashamed of, unless, of course, you know something I don't know, and which you feel must be brought out," he concluded with a shrug.

  "My grandmother's family and her background! I had a chance to visit Prague, and while there I searched for relatives of the late postmaster and innkeeper, Cerny. I found them alright, but what low-down scum! Those lazy drunkards had been told by their fathers or grandfathers that a relative had married a very rich man of Vienna. They were also told that all of the Cerny's had been forbidden to ever enter the city of Vienna and they have never forgiven this."

  "Doubtlessly, there was a good reason for it. Would you want to claim them as your relatives? Your grandmother left Bohemia almost sixty years ago to seek better working conditions and to improve her life as well as that of her parents. As fate would have it, she met and married the late Otto Reinhardt, who supported her parents and some other family members for years, even bought them a farm and enlarged their inn, including the post office. They did have a nice place, which I was told by your grandmother who stayed in touch with her parents very closely until they passed away and a fight over the inheritance ensued between all these relatives in Prague and they soon all went their own way. This happens every day in many families, even in my own! Should I now be ashamed of this for the rest of my life and forever dwell on something which couldn't be helped, or go on with my life?" he challenged sharply.

  "No, but you have never pretended to be something you are not!" Alex stammered.

  "I have chosen to be a priest and you have chosen a career with the military."

  "And that's what we are, Franz-Xavier! Grandmother, however, has always acted a part!"

  "A Swiss theologian said once, 'Act well at the moment and you have performed a good deed for all eternity.'"

  "Theologians have always annoyed me," Alex replied dismissively.

  "Ah yes, you and Hannes both," Franz-Xavier sighed. "Which you both may regret someday. But coming back to your, as you say, 'acting grandmother', she is very rightfully known as the 'Grand Dame of Vienna'!"

  "Ha! The Reinhardt fortune buys a lot of flattery!"

  "You are wrong, Alex. Since the day of your grandmother’s marriage, which admittedly caught everyone by surprise, she has been watched quite closely by all, expecting her to slip or somehow commit the unforgivable faux pas, not only because of who she was, but also what she would turn out to be. We are what we are and we are born with certain traits and talents and she took advantage of what she was, walking the tight rope like an artist that never tires in doing her very best on a daily basis! She is, therefore, entitled to her title you consider flattery. Every bit of it, Alex! She has earned the lifestyle she is now accustomed to, having to deal with the envy of so many throughout most of her life. Even after the death of Otto Reinhardt, she proved those wrong who had thought her to be finished and done like so many other widows who had strictly lived on their husbands' names and standing in the community. I tell you, Alex, I bow my head deeply to your grandmother's courage to carry on the Reinhardt name and what it stands for, and so should you, if you are a real man!" he urged, turning away. He gazed at the stained-glass window angels looking at Jesus, searching for the right words, finally turning back and looking at a partially repentant Alex, who for this had not prepared answers and felt that now he had turned out to be the accused and that the charges had been reversed.

  Franz-Xavier took the lead again, "And as for your...our Papa," He smiled broadly. "Vienna is still guessing! Once it was leaked that Karl had been adopted, many tried to claim him. In later years, as an architect, half of Vienna's philanderers proudly called him their son. Strange, no one ever tried to claim me! I was raised by greedy and heartless relatives until my mother married Hannes and Lillian's father, which turned out to be even worse! Have you ever been hungry? Well, we have, and when we asked for an extra slice of bread, we'd get a beating instead. That is when I learned to pray, Hannes to hate, and well, Lillian, she would hide b
ehind the horses. Maybe that is where her love for horses started because she felt safe with them," he mused.

  "I can feel for all the pain you had to go through as children," Alex commented sympathetically. “But about my father . . . I happen to know the truth," he continued, proud of his knowledge.

  "From the von Waldens? All their womanizing males, by the way, had claimed him also. What a joke!"

  Alex's face took on a very peculiar expression. "I heard that his father had been a blacksmith at the von Waldens."

  "It's just not so, Alex."

  "Then, maybe you know better?"

  "Much better! But I shall never tell."

  "Because you don't trust me?"

  "Our conversation over the last hour has shown me that I shouldn't, but that is not the reason at all. Papa Reinhardt's real father confessed to me on his death bed a year ago. It was the first confession I attended as a newly ordained priest. And we, as you, have our code of silence.”

  "Why do you believe he had not been lying?" Alex asked excitedly.

  "Because I know his mother," he smiled calmly.

  "Was he a blacksmith? Can you tell me at least that much?” Alex questioned feverishly, desperate to find out more about his ancestors.

  "Far from it! While I understand your concern about your heritage, I can only tell you that it should not matter at all. To all of us, you being the only exception, our Papa is the finest man who walks this earth. The way I heard it—and as I have just proved to you, as a Priest one hears a lot—our Papa is only equaled by the late Otto Reinhardt and Albert Reinhardt, whom he considered his only father and grandfather. This brings me back to what I have just said. One is exactly what one's behavior shows. Ancestry never enters into it, Alex."

  "In the military it matters a lot. It is everything. Believe me, I know!"

  "I've never understood why that is. The military represents fighting and dying. And in death, we are all equal. Always remember that. I hope the Lord has mercy on you for all your ungratefulness and many evil thoughts. As a priest, I must forgive you. As your stepbrother and as a mere human being, I am not so sure, and will have to work on it and search my soul."