Yesterday Was Long Ago: Part Two Read online

  So ‘poor Anette’ was now a very wealthy spinster, planning to leave everything to Victoria. And ‘poor Victoria’ became, a few days after Hannes’ death, the sole heir of all the Reinhardts’ possessions. After noticing both Wilands’ surprised expressions, Verena lost no time in answering the few obvious questions. “Stephan has chosen the monastery as his so-called home. After his death, everything could possibly end up in the Vatican. We still give a lot to our church, Franz-Xavier being the main reason, though we are not even allowed to see him.”

  Both lawyers agreed. “He seems to be the one who loves to suffer.”

  Verena gave a sad nod. “And as far as Philip is concerned,” she continued. “he is the sole owner of two prosperous factories and in the process of opening a third one. He also inherited not only Robert’s villa, among other things, but my late Papa left him the dream house, which both of you are renting. As you can see, my son is not short-changed in any way. However, in case of Victoria’s death… God forbid!” she stammered. “You will take care of the inheritance until the grandchildren become of proper age.”

  “You know we will,” both said in unison, though still astonished.

  “Then let’s have a glass of wine together.”

  “We feel very honored, Mrs. Reinhardt.”

  They all gave their signature and signed the date of December 3, 1910. It was exactly a week after her husband’s funeral. Nothing was left to fate; this was business. Doubtless, her Papa had taught her that too.

  “Something is not right. In all our experience, and that includes our late father’s many cases, no one ever left their first born out on everything they own,” Arthur related to his brother on their way home.

  “You’ve taken the words right out of my mouth. Either she still feels guilty about her behavior towards Mrs. Victoria Reinhardt until her return from her self-imposed exile in Salzburg, or she has by now found out about Philip’s philandering and is afraid that one of these days he will find a mistress who would end up with all their immense fortune.” Victor sighed, still amazed.

  “Be that as it may, Verena always knew what she was doing when it comes to business,” Arthur replied. “And I cannot think of another lady than Victoria who will be more worthy of everything.”

  Both brothers were in full agreement before entering their home, which one of these days would be their own dream house.

  ∼

  The shrill ring of the telephone awoke the dozing servant, Konrad, who wished, like the rest of the staff, that the Reinhardts never had installed one to begin with. All hated the loudness of it, as there was, so far, no way to dampen that noisy box which still was placed, almost hidden, in a corner in order not to degrade the beauty of all the other furniture. But it was one of the necessary and modern conveniences any servant had to get used to and endure.

  “Reinhardts’ residence. Konrad speaking,” he answered politely, suspecting Verena to be the caller, as she had left two months earlier for Ischl and Salzburg to make some changes before the arrival of her family and friends.

  “This is Mrs. Reinhardt, Konrad. Are any of my children there?” She almost pleaded.

  “Sorry, Madame… but they should be here shortly.”

  “Don’t tell me they went for their usual ride like nothing happened,” she replied, slightly irritated.

  “No, Madame. Excuse me as I am not quite certain of the details, Madame, but they went to the train station to meet Countess von Wintersberg. I was never told when the train is arriving. Maybe there is some lateness after all, as they should be here by now.

  “I’ll say! Everything is upside down. I imagine you heard the heir to the throne and his wife got shot.”

  “Yes, Madame.”

  “Any idea how Vienna is reacting?”

  “No, Madame. I am on duty, and the rest of the servants have the afternoon off. So far, no one has returned.”

  “Well, Konrad, have one of my children call the moment they arrive.”

  Before he was able to give her assurance that he would relay the message, she had already hung up. He had noticed her quivering voice. It was so very unlike her, as well as the abrupt hang-up without wishing him a good day. He felt, therefore, relieved when the family arrived barely an hour later. They all appeared happy and undisturbed, including Lotte, with the exception of carrying lots of newspapers. Anette was the first one to embrace her close friend Lotte, while Philip went to the phone the moment he got Konrad’s message.

  “I would have called you right away, Mother, but we left shortly after our meal to hear more about it. No, the train was on time… but why are you sounding so upset? None of us is. The people here have not been permitted to assemble anywhere since the first bulletin reached Vienna. Undercover policemen are all over the place. I recognized so many of them.”

  “You may not realize it, Philip, but it could mean war. It’s not just the latest incident… it has been brewing for a long time and not only in Austria. The Emperor left for Vienna in a hurry. You should have seen the confusion at the station. He and his entourage are something else!”

  “He had to leave hastily since he has to be there for the arrangement of the funeral, and to make sure that Countess Sophie will never enter their own burial ground. After all, the crypt of the Capuchin’s church is only meant for royalty.”

  “Of course, you are right, though Empress Maria-Theresa made one exception.”

  “But Franz-Josef will not. You’ll see!”

  “You are right again, Philip. We just talked about the same thing as soon as we heard about it. But the way I see it, she may not even want to be among those Habsburgers. That poor dear had to live with so much humility, ordered by the ‘all highest’ and executed by his feeble court. Thank God their marriage was a happy one, if not the happiest among all those… well, at the moment I cannot think of a name low enough. Look how Franz-Josef treated his son! Never gave him one day of joy! We just saw him again with his lady-love, Katharina, this morning. He gave us his little nod, permitting Helena Nordman and me to greet him. As if we care, or anyone else other than his own clique.”

  “As a pair of ‘poor commoners’,” he jested. “he may feel like he was doing you a big favor.”

  “Oh, I am sure he does. Ischl is too small of a place to avoid them and Helena and I are not about to change our morning walks. Aside from the fact that we love his route, it has the best smelling flowers.”

  “Mother, dear, calm down,” he encouraged softly before she had a chance to itemize each flower. “Nothing much will come of it, so just relax.” But like many Austrians, he was not sure how much more the country was willing to take.

  “Well then, give the Countess my warmest regards, and I am looking forward to seeing you in ten days. All of you!”

  “Wait a minute, Mother. The Countess would like to say a few words to you. Bye-bye.”

  “And a good day to you too, Verena Reinhardt. I am so happy to be here again! It’s getting quite lovely.”

  “Then stay longer,” she answered in honesty. “What is in Berlin that you cannot have here? We’ll talk about it when I see you. Did you hear about the assassination while the train stopped? Were they selling newspapers there too?

  “Only after we reached Linz. According to the papers, he was shot around noon.”

  “How silly of me not to take the time in to consideration. I am very uneasy about the whole thing. I don’t know why, but everyone in Ischl is too.”

  “I am not in the least. Austria and Germany are friends!” she emphasized in her strong Prussian accent with great pride. “The Balkan states give everyone lots of trouble and our Emperor always calls them a ‘bunch of contemptible scum, not worthy of a single German bullet’,” she said with assurance.

  “Thank you, dear Countess. Friends are always a comfort in time of need, and I am looking forward to seeing you.

  “And so are we. My daughter wants to say something too,” she finalized, handing Victoria the phone, who asked in
all sincerity if she or Philip should take the next train to Ischl and bring her back.

  Philip was happy to hear that she declined Victoria’s offer, as time was very important with the possibility of even his own scheduled vacation being cut short. Verena had calmed down somewhat, and felt happy at how much Victoria cared, knowing she was not capable of lying and would have taken the next train to Ischl.

  She walked on the arm of Marlene, who in many ways replaced Elsa, only the times were quite different. Every evening they walked the beautifully manicured lawns, arched hedges, admiring their special imported trees along with the great variety of flowers, which kept her fifteen gardeners fully employed at her places in Salzburg and Ischl. The statues came from decaying castles in Italy, as did some of the splashing fountains, giving a multitude of noisy birds a first-class sanctuary. It was in no way different from any other Reinhardt place, except for its size. They lived and loved beauty and made sure not one meter was ever neglected anywhere. Verena, like her ancestors, made sure the ‘R’s on every entrance meant ‘Royalty’.

  “You know, Marlene,” she said, taking a seat on an old stone bench. “Victoria is my greatest treasure. Her kindness towards me is overwhelming.”

  “I agree wholeheartedly, Madame,” she replied sincerely.

  “It seems whoever meets her, loves her.” But Marlene also recalled the time when Verena Reinhardt’s life had come virtually to a standstill. Curtains were drawn, no visits were made, and none were accepted, and that included her husband. Only very slowly had she resumed her routine, looked at the ‘Villa Karl’ with great joy, and visited the one Doctor Reinhardt referred to as a quack. And it was not just because her Papa had died, but her son was marrying a Prussian.

  Marlene was glad that at least her husband had lived long enough to enjoy their togetherness with Victoria and grandchildren, though Philip took his time to forgive, but she also wished her Aunt Elsa could have one day experienced the enormous change in her lifelong mistress… or by miracle lived long enough to call two fine ladies ‘Mrs. Reinhardt’ like the present staff and servants did. Marlene hoped secretly that one day she would be called to serve Victoria, as she was doubtless everyone’s favorite.

  ∼

  In all those years past, Victoria had a lot of chances to meet so many different types of Viennese and thought frequently of her father’s warning and observation. There were even times when she would have liked to tell him how right he was. Coming from his own daughter, he may have liked it. It was mostly in regards to their undeservedly famous, polite and friendly reputation, which was for a man like him nothing more than ‘oily courtesy’, with deeply hidden aggression underneath, be it a smug shopkeeper, a sly servant, pompous official, or greedy speculator. They all fell in the same category. Their exploited workers and servants were treated as less than animals, though the employers only profited by their hard labor under the most deplorable conditions. But she also had the great fortune to meet a multitude of the best Viennese, who would have surpassed any of his beloved Berliners, for whom he had the highest regards, with Kronthaler being the exception, of course. No Austrian was ever noble or brave like a Prussian. For him, his love and compassion belonged only to his country!

  And there was Philip. The man who drove his father-in-law to an asylum and a sudden death due to a massive heart attack, which no one mourned, but some of his foes possibly applauded. Except for Philip’s regular visit to his so-called ‘cafe houses’, with a reserved room upstairs to bed a girl from time to time, he inherited all other good traits, giving his parents all credit by citing them as the best example. As he was raising a family now on his own, he came to realize more and more what it took to be a good parent; a much harder task than he expected, as they were now four teenagers.

  Though a very authoritative man when it came to business, he was better known and admired for his excellent working conditions, when most factories were called ‘sweat shops’. Fainting for lack of air, food, and exhaustion were the order of the day. One just kept on working as rarely anything better presented itself. Philip was also known to treat the highest paid engineer to the lowest paid apprentice with the same respect, knowing he was in need of each one. Once again, and not unlike the household servants, they were proud to be called a Reinhardter.

  Though immensely rich, he never wasted a day with idleness, let alone live like nobility, yet never cared if he would be snubbed by calling himself a hard-working man. His was old money, and a new upstart, no matter how wealthy, would never gain entrance to any of the many clubs he turned down, using time as the main excuse. ‘New money’ had a dubious and vulgar ring to it. It would take quite a few generations to prove they were worthy of it. Then theirs would be ‘old money’, carefully molded by their past. And the past was what still counted, though a new century started fourteen years ago and a great turmoil awaited many empires. As Stephany and Otto Reinhardt would have said many years ago, “We shall see!”

  ∼

  Presently Philip sat in his usual reserved seat at Cafe Pracher, glancing through some of the many newspapers, their oversized headlines predicting Emperor Franz Josef would perform a miracle again. ‘Peace at all cost’ he heard being debated at the next table, as a war would mean the end for many. Dozens of voices gave their opinions while he searched through his briefcase for a list, which was carefully prepared weeks ago to surprise his daughter Elisabeth, who would graduate in two days with high honors. She told her parents a year ago that she planned to attend an excellent university to get three years of pre-med education, as her mind was made up to be a Doctor of Medicine. “More and more women nowadays take that step once considered odd or eccentric,” she emphasized strongly.

  The family was very proud of her and his gift had to be very special. She was, after all, the first Reinhardt woman to enter a university, though each one was highly educated and well-read. Although Philip had everything a man’s heart could desire, his own personal life was never quite fulfilled. It was a situation he hated himself for. To make things worse, Madame Lydia, whom he considered his own female Sigmund Freud, had a stroke two years ago and was unable to speak. One of her nieces took over, but he never entered the place again, as for a man like him, it had lost its meaning. Afterwards he made his rounds and visited different cafes, only to encounter some of his acquaintances, who he never suspected, let alone some of his regular party guests.

  He never feared any indiscretion as they, like himself, had a wife and children. But it changed his mood afterwards, adding some embarrassment. After all, he was the man most envied by everyone else. Only a trip to Vienna’s most expensive gift shop, Rodeck, eased somewhat his feeling of shame and guilt. He would buy something very special for each member of his family, including Anette, knowing how happy Victoria was to see in him a good son, father, husband, and friend. But he wondered frequently if she realized that she, as a wife, was the main reason for his present state… or if she had by now forgiven him for his extra marital affairs each time before a child was born. Would the bedroom door have ever opened if any of her many operations made her a whole woman again? Now, after almost nineteen years of marriage, their love for each other was still shared, but he had the distinct feeling that even her desire for an encounter in the bedroom was a long time gone. Everything was too late.

  As he drove himself home with the back seat full of neatly wrapped Rodeck gifts, he felt like he had been sleepwalking through all these many years. He had time to think back to when all the turmoil of her operations began, barely six months after the birth of Peter and Paul. By then, she had one of the parlors made into a sickroom as Hannes and Verena wanted the family together so no one would be deprived of seeing Victoria as much as possible.

  “You gave life to four adorable and healthy children,” Verena stated one day with Hannes’ agreement. “This is a first for all of us, and that entire calamity brought the family only closer together.”

  The children sat at their mother’s huge bed, lis
tening to one of her stories when Philip entered, very elated. “Don’t anybody move. I’ll get my camera set up. It will be a picture we all will treasure for years to come.”

  “A permanently sick mother? It’s almost two years,” she said, astounded. “Wait until I am up and well again,” she pleaded sincerely.

  “No, darling. This photo is very special, and it shows how loved you are. Love is really all that matters.”

  “The only thing,” Hannes voiced with a wink towards Verena.

  “I think Philip is very wise,” Verena said, and all kept their smiles while Philip set his camera in place, having captured his family in one of their happiest moments.

  “As I was saying before our photo session,” Verena continued after the family left for some games in the park. “I was tortured for years by having only one healthy son, and yet I should have felt overjoyed to have at least one. Poor Stephan! He was so pitiful! He needed special shoes to keep his balance; otherwise there was no chance of improvement ever. Even Philip loved him very much, though Stephan took right from the beginning to Father Christopher. It was like an omen of things to come. We all were devastated when he left for the monastery, which is cut off from the outside world,” she sighed deeply. “And yet, I was born somewhat deformed but thanks to our connection to the best surgeons, I could be helped. As a matter of fact, my Papa never noticed until my brother called me ‘an ugly cripple’,” she shivered. “Of course, to a little handsome boy I must have been, as it was in a moment when I pulled my loose tooth.”

  “Children can be quite cruel. I hope was severely punished. I know I would have made sure of it!” Victoria replied bitterly.

  “Yes and no, my dear. Papa never forgave himself for leaving his family. When he lost his wife, he lost his mind. He suffered from her loss until the day he died.”

  Before she started to blame herself for being born, Victoria reached for her hand and interrupted politely. “Thank God he was blessed with a daughter like you. Not many are so fortunate.”