Unexpected Blessings (26 page)

‘Sometimes we all need that kind of push from someone we trust.’

‘I went to see Dr Marcello, who did take me in hand,’ Marietta said. ‘She gave me new medication and superior health care. But it wasn’t only
that
which helped me to change for the better. Something else occurred.’

‘Tell me,’ Evan urged, her attention riveted on her mother.

‘Not long after Auntie Dottie’s visit to New York she died. She was in her eighties but seemed very fit to me, and she wasn’t a bit senile. She’d only been back on the West Coast a week or so when she had a fatal heart attack. To cut to the chase, as she would’ve said, she left me everything. Her apartment in Brentwood, some stocks, and her jewellery. It’s mostly costume but some of it is vintage and it’s very nice. Anyway, as it said in her will, I received all her worldly possessions.’

‘Just imagine you becoming an heiress, and all of a sudden, Mom. So unexpectedly.’

‘I didn’t inherit a fortune,’ Marietta laughed, ‘far from it.’

‘What did Dad say?’

‘Not much.’

‘Wasn’t he pleased?’ Evan asked, looking nonplussed for a moment.

‘Not really.’

‘But why not, Mom?’

‘Because by dying and leaving me her money and all, Auntie Dottie had changed the circumstances of my life. She’d made me independent.’

Evan gaped at her mother, flabbergasted. ‘Dad didn’t like it? Because you didn’t need him anymore? Financially, that is. You’re saying that, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, I am.’

‘How awful. But you’ve been married to each other all of your lives. Since you were twenty-one, Mommy! He couldn’t possibly think you were going to walk out on him
now,
because your aunt left you money. Or could he?’

‘I don’t know what he thought then, or thinks now, Evan. Your father never discusses it with me,’ Marietta answered, and drank some of her iced tea. ‘You know, I did take Auntie Dottie’s advice last February and went to Dr Marcello. And I was glad I had listened to her. So after her death and receiving the inheritance, I decided I must absolutely take charge of my life. And my inheritance as well.’

‘Because you know that’s what your aunt wanted you to do, right?’

‘Exactly. I contacted a real-estate broker on the Coast and put Auntie Dottie’s apartment up for rent. Furnished, of course. The broker had a deal for me within the week, and I now have a regular income from that. I didn’t sell the stocks, I kept them, and what money my aunt had in her bank account when she died I transferred to a bank in Manhattan. Where I had opened an account.’

‘Mom, I’m so proud of you! Congratulations!’

‘Thanks, that’s praise indeed, Evan, coming from you.’

‘I mean every word.’

‘I just want to say this, I haven’t gone mad with the money, you know. I’ve just bought a couple of new things. It’s nice to have some pretty clothes to wear. For a change.’

Marietta sounded so wistful when she said this, Evan looked up and stared at her mother. Hadn’t her mother ever had any nice things in the past? Not really, not that she could remember. Was that her father’s fault? Hadn’t he given her mother money to buy pretty things? Maybe he hadn’t been able to afford it then, in those days. Don’t blame him, Evan cautioned herself. Mom was very
sick,
always so sad, down in the dumps, depressed. Yes, Dad did his best, I’m sure of it, but he was awfully discouraged at times.

Evan concentrated on her salad for a few minutes, staring down at her plate, but looking at it more than eating. Suddenly she didn’t feel very hungry, and she put her fork down and straightened in the chair.

A silence fell between Evan and her mother, but it was an easy silence, and there was affection flowing between the two of them. And Evan began to wonder about something…wonder if she had been unfair to her mother all these years, always blaming her, applauding her father. Perhaps her mother had needed a bit of praise, too, and applause at times. And love from
her.
Guilt settled on her.

The waitress arrived, removed their plates, said she’d be back in a moment with their crab cakes, and hurried off once more.

Evan said quietly, her eyes on her mother’s face, ‘I want to tell you something, Mother. You really looked lovely last night, just as you do today. Dad must be pleased that you’re so much better, in every way. And looking so beautiful.’

‘I don’t know…I hope so, honey. But he doesn’t really pay much attention.’

Evan shook her head. ‘I can’t figure him out, Mom,’ she muttered, feeling suddenly annoyed by him and his behaviour.

Oh, I can, Marietta thought, but murmured, ‘The money’s not that important to me, as I said. I’m not going to rush out and buy lots of things. But I do like the feeling of independence it gives me, I like knowing that if I had to, I could support myself.’

For a moment Evan was at a loss for words. She understood what her mother was saying. What she couldn’t understand was her father’s attitude, one which was apparently grudging to say the least, by the sound of it. Was he jealous? Threatened? Did he really think her mother would leave him? But why would she do that? Suddenly, and with a small shock, Evan realized that she didn’t know much about their marriage. After all, she had left home nine years ago and gone to live with her grandparents Glynnis and Richard in Manhattan. Did they have a bad marriage? Had her mother been too ill for too long? Did he resent the lost years?

On the other hand, her father had become a success as an antiques dealer in recent years. He enjoyed his home, enjoyed living in a lovely old farmhouse in Connecticut. How out of touch I am, she thought. Do I know either of my parents anymore?

‘Please don’t judge your father too harshly,’ Marietta was saying.

Rousing herself from her racing thoughts, Evan replied, ‘I don’t judge him at all. However, I do want to ask you something. Last night you had a strange look on your face, when Dad said he hadn’t known that his mother had worked for Emma Harte.’ She took a deep breath and plunged. ‘It was contempt I saw, Mother, wasn’t it? Contempt on your face.’

‘Not contempt, Evan honey. Merely dismay.’

‘He lied to me, didn’t he?’

Marietta couldn’t bring herself to confirm this verbally, and so she simply nodded.

‘But
why,
Mom? Why does it matter that she worked for Emma? And why does Dad hate the Hartes?’

‘You’ve asked me three questions all at once, and I will answer them in three words…
I don’t know.’

‘Let me ask you another question. If Dad knew Glynnis had worked for Emma Harte at the store, and he disliked the Hartes so much, why did he encourage me to go to London in January?’

‘Because he didn’t know about Glynnis and Emma then. Oh yes, he did remember that his mother had met Emma in the war years, and that they’d stayed in touch for a bit after the war. But he had no idea she’d been Emma’s secretary.’

‘He found that out after Grandma Glynnis died last November, didn’t he?’

Her mother nodded.

‘Did he discover some of his mother’s papers?’

‘A reference Emma had given Glynnis all those years ago, singing her praises as a secretary.’

‘And that’s all he found?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘It still doesn’t explain why he’s taken this attitude with me.’

‘No. Unless–’

‘Unless what?’ Evan interrupted.

‘Unless he’s just terribly upset. From the moment you walked into this store you’ve been madly in love–with the store, with Linnet O’Neill, with Paula O’Neill and India Standish. And Gideon Harte, as well. Maybe your father feels abandoned by you, Evan. Threatened by them all, fearful of losing you. Perhaps he thinks you’ll never come home.’

‘Oh Mom,’ she said softly.

‘I know you’re not coming home, at least not coming home to live. I know you’re going to stay in England. You see, women are intuitive and also so much more practical than men, and we see things differently. We see them as they really are, and not as we’d like them to be, the way men do.’ Marietta sighed. ‘I know you’re very much in love with Gideon, and I’m happy for you, honey. You certainly have my blessing.’

‘And not Dad’s, is that what you’re saying?’

‘No, not at all. It’s as I said, he doesn’t want to lose you completely. You were always–the favourite, let’s face it.’

Changing the subject for a moment, Evan asked, ‘Why did you and Dad adopt Elayne and Angharad?’

‘I couldn’t have more children.’

‘But you were a manic depressive, you found it hard to look after
me,
never mind two more.’

‘Your father wanted a bigger family, Evan.’

Evan reached out, took hold of her mother’s hand and held it very tightly. Intently, searchingly, she looked into her face, saw its loveliness, its calmness, the curved contours, the wide brow; her face was unlined; it had always been unlined and calm, full of repose. She had unique eyes, not blue, not green, but a subtle turquoise. Her mother’s hair was a shining, blonde halo around her face, and Evan suddenly realized that Marietta had always looked like this, untroubled, calm, and perfectly beautiful in a quiet, very soft way.

Evan said, carefully, slowly, ‘It was
you,
Mommy…you who wanted another child…because he took me away from you. He made me his, didn’t he? He pushed you out, took me for himself.’

Marietta blinked and turned her head, swallowed the tears, made no response.

‘I love you, Mom. I really do love you. I always have,’ Evan whispered in a gentle voice.

‘And I love you, Evan,’ her mother answered, choked, and Evan saw the tears glistening in those extraordinary eyes.

The sudden arrival of the waitress with their crab cakes interrupted this conversation, and once they were alone again, had recovered their composure to a degree, Evan said, ‘I didn’t mean to upset you.’

‘I know that. And after lunch I’d like us to go to your office for a moment or two. There’s something I need to tell you, explain to you.’

Wisely Evan didn’t ask what it was; she just nodded her acquiescence.

‘I want to tell you something about your grandmother,’ Marietta said to Evan an hour later, after they had settled themselves in her office.

‘Tell me then. Will it make me understand things better?’

‘I hope so, honey. Last summer, before she got really sick, Glynnis asked me to come into New York to have lunch with her. I was happy to go because I knew she cared about me, and I loved her. Actually, I thought she wanted to discuss my health or hers, I wasn’t sure which.’ Marietta stopped, wondering for a moment if she should continue. Was she not opening Pandora’s box, releasing terrible secrets?

Evan, sitting waiting, her eyes on her mother, cleared her throat several times, and pressed, ‘And why did Grandma want to talk to you?’ When Marietta remained totally silent, Evan exclaimed, ‘I bet it was about your
health.
She was always concerned about you. Glynnis loved you, you know.’

‘Yes, she did. However, that day she didn’t want to talk about me. Or even about herself. It was
you
she was fretting about.’

‘She was?’ Evan seemed taken aback by this revelation, and looked at her mother intently.

‘Yes, your grandma thought you were in a rut, going nowhere. Therefore, she told me, you must go to London. She was going to give you money and ship you off there. When I argued against this, asked her what you’d do there all on your own, she said you could work at Harte’s. She explained that she’d been close to Emma Harte once, knew the store because she herself had worked there during the Second World War. She told me that Harte’s in Knightsbridge was the perfect place for you.’

‘My God, Mom, she was planning it then! Didn’t she know Emma Harte was dead?’

‘I’m fairly certain she did, Evan, but she didn’t mention it to me that day. Glynnis said she wanted to put you amongst the Harte family, in their orbit, because that’s where you belonged. When I asked her what she meant, she became rather quiet, almost withdrawn. After a moment, she did start to talk about them once again, told me that she had a long history with the Hartes and that I should trust her. When I still opposed the idea of you leaving New York, she said that children were only ever lent to us for a short time, and then they must leave, have a life of their own. “Let her go,” she said, “send her to London. She’s irresistible.” Those were her exact words.’

‘She meant I was irresistible to the Hartes?’

‘Yes.’

‘What did Dad say?’

‘I never told him about the conversation. Your grandmother made me promise not to tell him. She put me on my honour.’

Evan leaned back in her chair, stared at her mother sitting on the other side of the desk, wondering just how much Marietta really knew. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask her mother if she knew that Glynnis and Robin had had an affair during the war, and then changed her mind immediately. It would be much wiser to probe a little more, rather than reveal the secret of her father’s parentage. She was still ambivalent, uncertain about telling him the truth. And so she said quietly, with a little smile, ‘Well, Grandma got her way in the end, didn’t she?’

‘That’s right, on her deathbed,’ Marietta murmured. ‘When she told you to go to London to find Emma Harte, because she held the key to your future, Glynnis surely knew exactly what she was doing.’

‘That’s true. Because she was absolutely certain I would do what she said, that I wouldn’t be able to resist going to London.’

‘I know you don’t have any regrets,’ her mother said, her eyes not leaving Evan’s face.

‘That’s true, Mom, I don’t. Did Grandma tell you anything else about her connection to the Hartes? Whether she knew all the family?’

‘No, she didn’t,’ Marietta answered, asking herself if she was doing the right thing by lying to her daughter. Well, she had no choice, at least for the moment. Perhaps later she would tell Evan everything, come clean with her, confide the truth.

Evan, scrutinizing her mother intently, exclaimed, ‘Mom, you look worried. Is there something you’re not telling me?’

‘No, of course not,’ Marietta lied.

‘If there is something on your mind, you could tell me, you know. I wouldn’t tell Dad.’