Knowing how close the two women were, everyone discreetly disappeared when she arrived, and gave them some space, and when Beryl left after almost an hour, she was crying. She had the strongest premonition that she would never see Adina alive again.
The following morning, Karl, who had fallen asleep in the chair at the side of his wife’s bed, felt a slight pressure on his fingers.
‘Will you come and lie with me?’ she whispered.
‘Nothing would give me greater pleasure,’ he assured her as he inched his large frame onto the bed, being careful not to hurt her. She was so fragile now.
He slipped his arm gently around her and she snuggled up to him contentedly. ‘Do you know something Karl? I never dreamed I could be this happy.’
He smiled as they held each other and fell asleep together – and when he awoke, Adina Stolzenbach had gone to what he hoped was a better place.
Melly was inconsolable, as were Beattie and Beryl, and Ariel too, of course. But Karl felt strangely calm. His love for Adina had been such that he knew she would never be gone from him completely.
It was much later that evening, when his wife’s body had been taken away by the undertaker, that he remembered about the letter. The house was quiet now and so he went upstairs and opened the bedside drawer and took the letter back downstairs to read. For a while he stared at her familiar handwriting on the envelope, and then he opened it and began to read.
My dearest love,
It is time to tell you of the secret I have kept from you all these years. When you returned to Germany I discovered that I was carrying our child.
She went on to tell him of all that had happened, and as the story unfolded, a sense of elation swept through him, although his heart broke afresh for everything his beloved Adina must have suffered. Now at last he understood why he had always felt such an affinity with Melly. She was his daughter, his firstborn child.
Whether or not you decide to tell Melly when you know the truth will be up to you, but if you do tell her please do not let her know that she was stolen from me. I have long since forgiven Fliss and Theo for what they did. They were wonderful parents to Melly and I know that she loved them devotedly. It would be too cruel to destroy the memories she has of them now and I trust you to give her an explanation of why I allowed them to keep her. You could perhaps tell her that I allowed them to adopt her because I knew that she would have a better life? But do please make sure that she knows how very much I loved her, and that I never stopped loving her; that on the day she walked back into my life she made me the proudest woman on earth. I know I can trust you to do this for me and you will find the right words when the time is right.
Remember me with fondness, my darling. You made me the happiest woman on earth and I wouldn’t have traded a moment of our time together for a king’s ransom.
I am waiting just beyond the door and one day it will open once more and we shall be together again for all time.
Your loving wife,
Adina xxxx
Karl screwed his eyes tightly shut as a terrible pain of anguish and loss stabbed at his heart, but then his mood lifted as he began to think of Melly. Adina would live on through their daughter.
Adina Stolzenbach was buried in Bushey Jewish Cemetery, according to her wishes. The same people who had assembled for her wedding were present at her funeral and it was a sombre affair, for all who had known her had come to love and respect her.
‘I can still remember the very first day she ever set foot in the house when she was little more than a lass,’ Beattie sobbed. ‘But the girl had spirit and look what she became. She was an example to us all.’
Back at the house in Prince Regent Terrace, Beattie had laid on a funeral tea for anyone who wished to attend. When everyone had finally left, only Melly and Karl remained.
‘I have something that Adina wished you to have,’ he told her quietly now, and when he held out the shining steel band that he had made for Adina all those long years ago, Melly recognised it instantly.
Beryl had given it back to Adina just before she and Karl got married, for Adina had insisted that no other ring, not even one made of solid platinum, could ever take its place.
‘B . . . but that’s Adina’s wedding ring!’ Melly stuttered. ‘She always wore it and I couldn’t quite understand why she didn’t have a new one when you and she got married?’
‘Ah well, there is a story behind this band of steel, my little one. And now it is time I told it to you. Come . . .’
Then placing his arm protectively about his daughter, Karl sat her down and began to speak. Adina had left him the most precious legacy of all.
A Band of Steel Page 44