by P. G. Glynn
But regrets were not in his nature. It was useless regretting things. Life was for living, with just an occasional backward glance at different decisions he might have made. The present was the place to be – and the present was about to deliver Suzy! In a sense it could be just yesterday that Hugo travelled alone to Vienna at virtually the same age, except that he had a Nazi at his heels and now it was as if Nazis had never existed. Oh, they were about and Otto tended to recognise them as if they were labelled, but admitting to a Nazi past was only for the foolhardy. Lenka’s lodger made no such admissions, but then he wouldn’t, would he? Fritz had come a long way since his beggarly days and was adept at self-preservation.
Otto wondered what Suzy would make of Fritz. He also wondered how she would view her aunt’s failure to come and meet her plane. Well, poor Suzy had plenty to learn about Lenka so the sooner she began the better!
He blinked in astonishment and caught his breath. Walking towards him from the newly arrived London plane was a girl who was surely Marie all over again. She was either Marie or a mirage, for she had the hair, the eyes, the sweet smiling mouth and determined chin that had once so captivated him. She was Marie – wasn’t she? No, he told himself sternly, the years had intervened and she couldn’t be. So she must be: “Suzy?”
“Yes,” she said, giving him a hug and kiss. “Who else were you expecting?”
“No-one else,” he grinned. “I just wasn’t prepared for you to have matured into such a beauty.”
She blushed, observing: “And you’re wearing a suit!”
“I’ve made a special effort for you.”
Suzy was looking around her. “Where’s Aunt Lenka?”
“Laying out the red carpet, I imagine.”
“You mean she isn’t here?”
“No, but I am.”
“Oh, I know, Nandad and I’m really glad about that – but as I’ve just travelled all the way from London to see her, I thought that at least she’d be at the airport to meet me!”
“The best way to treat Lenka,” he said, “is to have no specific expectations of her.”
“Why is that best?”
“Because then you aren’t setting yourself up for disappointment. Lenka likes to be … different. In fact, she thrives on it. If you want my advice, you’ll take her little idiosyncrasies in your stride.”
“I see,” said Suzy, her chin jutting just as Marie’s did at times like this. “So you think I should keep quiet when I might otherwise comment?”
He smiled, seeing fireworks ahead. “I think you should just … be yourself.”
+++++
En route to Lenka’s in their taxi, Suzy – who was already missing Edward - queried: “Are you glad to be away from the rats?”
“I am. It’s good, too, to have a flat instead of the basement room I had. But best of all is the fact that I’ve stopped being a kept man. It took me longer than most to understand that paying one’s own way from earning an honest living is good for the morale.”
“What work are you doing?”
“The kind I was born for,” Otto answered her. “The wonder – and the pity – is that I didn’t come to it sooner. I guide tourists around Vienna, telling them the history of the City and of our treasures. They tell me,” he added, “that I’m very good at it.”
“So would Nama be, if she were to do the same thing in London!” Suzy said, remembering with nostalgia being met by Marie at Paddington aged ten and making a mental comparison between that meeting and Aunt Lenka’s non-appearance at the airport here. “She seems to know all there is to know about the where and when of what once went on. I’ve always loved listening to her stories. And now I love being taught by her.”
“She teaches you drama?”
“Yes,” Suzy’s eyes sparkled. “She must have been a wonderful actress. I often wish I could see her on the stage, just as she used to be when Marie Howard was a household name.”
“I did see her,” Otto said, his eyes misting over as he remembered, “and was responsible for taking her away.”
“That’s such a shame! Although, I suppose … things work out as they’re meant to, in the end, don’t they?”
“I suppose they do,” he sighed. Then, brightening: “And we haven’t reached the end yet, thank heavens! Marie will in time realise that I’m her destiny – especially now that I’ve acquired the work ethic.”
Remembering Edward’s revelations of yesterday, Suzy quickly changed the subject – gazing out of the taxi window and saying: “I see that the soldiers have gone.”
“Yes, they went eventually. Austria is whole again. Which wouldn’t please the twins, would it? Or are they too grown up now to bother about soldiers?”
“I don’t think Robert and Daniel will ever grow up,” Suzy responded, raising her eyes skywards. “They behave virtually the same as they did when little.”
“That’s one of the differences between boys and girls,” Otto grinned.
“What is?”
“Girls turn into women, whereas boys stay … boyish.”
“Even when they’re men?”
“Especially then!”
Thinking of Edward, Suzy said: “Not all of them.”
“Do I detect wistfulness? Is there someone you’d prefer not to have left at home?”
Suzy smiled. “There might be.” Then, wanting to tell him, she said: “Yes, there is, actually. His name’s Edward … Edward Brodie.”
“I see.” Otto saw more than he had bargained for. “This is a silly question, I expect, but would he be related to Charles Brodie?”
“Charles was his grandfather.”
“Ah!”
Suzy thought another change of subject was called for. “Are we nearly at Aunt Lenka’s?” she asked.
“Yes, we are. We’re now in the First District, which is where the rich people live.”
“How is it that Aunt Lenka is still rich, whereas you are … perhaps not as rich as she is?”
“There’s no ‘perhaps’ about it,” Otto said happily. “She’s far richer than I’ll ever be again – but then Lenka has paid a price I wouldn’t have wanted to pay. Here we are, at her apartment.”
With a sinking heart Suzy looked up at the big, imposing building that – despite the grime ingraining its ochre walls - had a grandeur reminiscent of former days. Its arched windows had shutters that were mostly open, though some were closed, giving a forbidding impression. Looking at it, and thinking about the aunt waiting within, Suzy suddenly wished she had listened to Nama and Daddy – and, latterly, Edward - and stayed away. Why had she refused to listen, stubbornly insisting that this visit to Aunt Lenka was essential? Perhaps because it was …perhaps because there could be no moving on until she had visited.
There was a uniformed concierge at the door and then they entered a vast entrance hall with a high vaulted ceiling before crossing the marble floor toward a sweeping staircase set against the far wall. Above them were three decorative galleries, one for each storey, with tarnished gold railings beyond which, Suzy soon saw, were numbered doors. As they climbed to the first floor, she asked her grandfather: “We didn’t come here, did we … before?”
“No, we didn’t. Lenka’s … selective with visitors. In that sense you’re privileged. She issues few invitations – and then mostly to men.”
“Does she like them better than women?”
“Yes. At least, she always did.”
“Doesn’t she any longer?”
“That’s anybody’s guess. There’s never any telling what goes on in Lenka’s head. Don’t forget where I am if you need me, will you, Suzy?”
“No, I won’t forget,” she said, shivering as he pressed the doorbell. “But … don’t leave me yet.”
The door opened then. Suzy stared in shock at Aunt Lenka, who was standing there stark naked, her sagging flesh uniformly brown with no patchiness. “Wilkommen!” she said. “Come on in, my darling, and give your old aunt a big kiss!”
+++++
Possibly, Suzy had been even more shocked at Nandad seeing Aunt Lenka undressed than she had been at seeing her herself. But she had quickly realised that he had not found her nakedness surprising. So was it considered normal for Aunt Lenka to greet visitors wearing just her skin? If this was normality, Suzy wondered what else might be in the offing.
Looking round the room her aunt had shown her to after Nandad’s departure, she marvelled at its sumptuousness. The bed was massive and canopied with white muslin that issued from a golden crown positioned high above the pillows. Instead of sheets and blankets, it had a down-filled quilt covered in white broderie anglaise – the overall effect being, she believed, of sleeping within a soft cloud. Suzy had never slept in a double bed before, except with Nama in her attic, so felt awed by the size and beauty of this one.
The whole bedroom was awesome, with towering wardrobes along the length of one wall, an ornate dressing table and gold curtains tied back with big tassels. There were several gilt-framed mirrors, so that Suzy could see herself from every imaginable angle, and there was a crystal chandelier as well as a white carpet with such deep pile that her stocking feet sank blissfully into it. In addition to all this, there was a door leading to a bathroom where both the large bath and washbasin had lustrous gold taps.
As Suzy started unpacking she thought back to the way her aunt had virtually dismissed Nandad. She had made it so obvious she didn’t want him lingering on that after a bit he had just gone. He and Aunt Lenka seemed to understand each other very well – but then they had known one another more or less forever. Before going, he told Suzy that he was expecting to see plenty of her while she was in Vienna – and told Aunt Lenka that she was not to monopolise his granddaughter, to which she responded that as Suzy was her guest his wishes didn’t come into things!
It felt strange being here, so far from Edward and from home, with an aunt she now realised she hardly knew. Sending letters and receiving them was very different from being with a person – especially one as individual as Aunt Lenka. Staying with Nandad would probably have been a more sensible thing to do. Suzy missed him already and wished she’d made a definite arrangement to meet up with him again soon.
“Are you hungry, Schatzi?” her aunt asked from the open doorway. Lenka was now wearing a sleeveless cream linen dress and, seeing her in this, it occurred to Suzy that one would never think she had sagging breasts. “I expect you are, after your long journey. So let’s take a walk, shall we?”
Uncertain where walking fitted into eating, Suzy said: “We aren’t having lunch here, then?”
“Doch! I am not accustomed to cooking,” Lenka responded dismissively. “Fritz cooks sometimes, but it’s a habit I’ve never seen the sense of acquiring. So, gemma Suzy – we’ll go to the Stadtpark and dine to music. First, though, remove that cardigan. It does nothing for your figure – or for your credibility as my niece. Cardigans are very … provincial, don’t you think?”
Suzy had never thought about it before, but did as she was told if only because she had been feeling rather too warm. She now found that in her short-sleeved blue and white striped dress with its full skirt she felt somewhat gauche beside Aunt Lenka’s more streamlined profile. To conquer this feeling she asked as they left the apartment: “Who’s Fritz?”
“He’s … an old friend of the family who lodges with me. He comes and goes as he pleases and is away at the moment. But, before your month is up, I expect you’ll meet him.”
“Aunt Lenka, are you still cross with me?”
They had reached the ground floor and, linking arms with Suzy as they emerged onto the street, Lenka queried: “Cross with my Liebling? Why would I be?”
“Maybe because you wanted me to come here for a year and I’ve only come for a month. I wondered if that was why … you weren’t at the airport to meet me.”
Lenka slowed her pace and, frowning, said: “You are suggesting I should have been there?”
“No – only I was hoping you would be.”
“Just as I had been hoping for many years that you were a girl who kept her word?”
Stung, Suzy concluded: “So you are angry?”
“Not a bit.” They reached the Stubenring and now contended with heavy traffic in crossing it. Once across, Lenka continued: “It is your loss, not mine. Had you put yourself in my hands for the appointed time, I could have set you up for life. As it is,” she spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness, “you’ve chosen provincialism.”
“No, I haven’t! I’ve chosen to become an actress.”
“Is there any difference?”
“Of course there is!”
Lenka shrugged. “And no doubt Marie had a hand in this. She wants you to step into her old shoes – whereas I wanted so much more for you.”
“I’m doing what I want to do.”
“You might think you are … but I know Marie.” Lenka smiled. “I’ll never forget her arrival at the castle. More of an ingénue would be hard to imagine. And that didn’t change fundamentally, despite all the money Otto lavished on her. She always remained little Miss Nobody from Nowhere.”
Suzy’s eyes flashed. “Don’t you dare talk about Nama like that!”
“I’m simply telling the truth. Is that too painful for you?”
“The truth as you see it is different from how others see it. Nama is still remembered in Britain as a great actress.”
“Is that so?” Lenka arched an expertly painted eyebrow. “How very gratifying for her! But doesn’t she mind being seen as a historical relic?”
“She isn’t!” Suzy protested, recalling Edward’s question as to whether she liked Aunt Lenka. Currently she very definitely disliked her. “That isn’t a bit how she’s seen - and she’s very happy, helping to run the Brodie School and teaching drama to students like me.”
“So now she’s a teacher,” Lenka commented disparagingly as they reached Weiskirchenstrasse. “And you would sooner listen to her than to me about how to become a celebrity on the international scene?”
“You aren’t a celebrity.”
“Maybe not, but I could have been, had I started with half your advantages … and had I had an aunt as well versed as I am in playing the right cards at the right time. Still, this is no longer an issue. You have made your decision, as a consequence of which I now have someone else in mind for the role of my protegee. She might be less beautiful than you, but at least she has the sense to recognise a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ah, here we are at the Stadtpark, my darling!”
Suzy was busy with her thoughts as they strolled past a bronze statue of Strauss standing on a marble plinth and playing a violin. Just behind the statue was a white marble arch festooned with a variety of sculpted nudes. Nudity, Suzy decided wryly, was integral to Vienna! She also decided to veer onto less controversial topics with Aunt Lenka.
They now reached a restaurant made entirely of glass and, once within, it was almost as if they had brought the park in for there was an illusion of no separation from the grass and flowers and trees. Lilting music issued from the orchestra pit and Suzy had a curious sense of Strauss still creating it. She relaxed a little, looking forward to some sustenance and thinking that she must simply adjust to her aunt’s strangeness.
Once they had ordered lunch from a very attentive waiter Lenka asked her without preamble: “Are you a virgin?”
Suzy was so stunned that she couldn’t answer immediately. She was also worried that a swarthy man at a neighbouring table who was looking across at her had overheard. “You’ve no right to ask me that!” she then responded fiercely.
“I disagree. Whether you are or you aren’t, it is no cause for shame.”
“This isn’t about shame,” Suzy floundered. “We’re in a public place.”
“You’d prefer to continue our conversation in private, later?” her aunt asked, slowly moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue. “That’s fine by me.”
“Well, it isn’t by me! How would you feel, i
f I were to ask you something so … so personal?”
Lenka leaned back in her seat and smiled. “Ask me whatever you like! I’ve nothing to hide. Neither have you. Virginity at seventeen is cause for pride.”
“I never said … ”
“It didn’t need saying, Schatzilein. It is written all over you that you’re still pure. Is that because you have not yet had a boyfriend?”
“No. If it’s because of anything, it’s because Edward … respects me.”
“I see. I keep forgetting that the British are under-sexed.”
“We aren’t! Can we please change the subject?”
“Ah, Suzy, dearest – you are so modest! And you’ve yet to learn that your body is not something to be ashamed of. It is, instead, something to … capitalise on.”
“How do you mean?”
“You will see. But first,” she paused while a waiter put their hors d’oeuvres in front of them, “we will eat.”
+++++
After their wine-accompanied meal, they walked by the Wienfluss - a tributary of the Danube – and Lenka asked Suzy: “I have offended you?”
She was not used to wine and now that they were out in the fresh air again her head felt as if it belonged to somebody else. “Not especially,” Suzy said.
“You’ve gone so quiet.”
“I’m a bit tired.”
“Then we must go somewhere where you can lie down and rest. Come with me, Schatzi!”
With her head spinning, Suzy felt that lying down had plenty to recommend it. Lenka chuckled in amusement as, their arms linked, she steered her niece’s unsteady feet in the direction of the Donau Bad.
This was a walled enclosure on a bank of the Danube. After paying to enter, they stepped straight in to Suzy’s dream.
She thought she was dreaming as she looked around her, for there were naked bodies everywhere – all of them baked brown like Aunt Lenka’s. Countless men and women lay or sat on the grass, some asleep, some reading. Almost all of them were old and fat, and not a bit pleasant to look at.