Chapter 38: An Accomplished Wife

The same group of people met again on New Year’s Day for a reception at the Palace of the Austrian envoy, the Archduke Josef. Small, rotund and with an impressive beard, the Archduke was universally regarded as the most sociable of the entire diplomatic corps in Munich. Ellen and Richard had sat with him during a few evenings at the Oktoberfest and they had found him most entertaining. He was a widower, but a string of “actresses” helped him to console himself.

His latest flame was an actress from Louisiana, a quadroon of most exquisite beauty whom he had discovered during a visit to Paris and whom he had persuaded to share his palace for a season or two.

Of course this was scandalous for many of Munich’s society, but the Archduke was not disconcerted by the gossip. He was a close cousin of the Austrian King and German Emperor, in fact fourth in the line of succession, a Knight of the Golden Fleece and not even the Bishop dared to reprimand him.

Isabelle Delatour, the actress, was a most delightful person Ellen thought and she enjoyed seeing her again. Ellen was decidedly tired after the Royal Soiree and the subsequent romp with Richard, but she found the atmosphere at the reception stimulating enough.

Marie and Lucien de Perigneaux were late and when they arrived Ellen could not help but sense some discord between her friends. It was not much but Marie’s smile seemed forced and Lucien’s shoulders were tense when he greeted Ellen and Richard.

Ellen had no opportunity to ask Marie about the trouble she perceived. There were just too many people at the matinee and most of the time Isabelle Delatour laid a claim on Ellen.

The King made a late entrance too and he excused the Queen who was, as it was implied, suffering from the after effects of wine and champagne. King Ludwig seemed somewhat ruffled himself although his mood belied that. He was ever courteous to the ladies and he spent a few minutes with each of the assembled guests.

Ellen did not speak privately with Marie until the next afternoon when she visited her cousin to return the red peasant girl dress. Marie received her and they had tea together. Lucien was absent and Ellen grabbed the opportunity.

“Is something wrong, Marie?” she asked inflecting honest concern in her voice.

“What makes you ask that, my dear Ellen?” Marie answered with faux cheerfulness.

“I have come to know you, Marie,” Ellen returned. “I could sense tension between you and Lucien yesterday. I hope you did not quarrel on behalf of our little jest?”

“No, no, it was not about zat. ‘e... ‘e was gone ze ‘ole night again.”

“Oh ... I didn’t know ... How could I know...” Ellen blushed. “You don’t mean Lucien sees another woman?”

Marie smiled bitterly.

“No. Not a woman.”

“Then what ... Oh!”

Ellen understood, but she was a little shocked. Lucien? He did not fit her preconceived ideas of a “confirmed bachelor”.

“Yes, for a while I ‘oped ‘e would change,” Marie said wistfully. “‘e can’t, zough.”

“Oh, Marie, is that why you have no children? You must...”

“Oh yes. Children. Zat ‘ope died a long time ago. I should not complain too much. I owe ‘im a lot.”

“But you miss out on love, Marie! You miss out on all the wonderful things that...” Ellen faltered, not certain that she should give away any intimate details of her and Richard’s lovemaking.

“Do you really believe in love, Ellen?” Marie asked, her eyebrow arched in mock surprise.

“Indeed I do!” Ellen replied with conviction. “I experience it every day. Before you make fun of my naïvety, I know the sorry state of many marriages. That should not stop women and men from aiming higher.”

Marie shook her head. “‘o says I did not aim ‘igher, ma cher?”

Ellen shook her head being chagrined.

“You are right, Marie. Forgive my prying. My stepmother told me the same a year ago. She thinks that because I feel happy, I want everybody around me to feel happy as well regardless of whether they have the potential.”

“Zat is what I love about you, Ellen! You see your good fortune as obligation to make ozzer people’s lives better. But you must accept zat zis will not always be possible.”

Marie got up from her chair and pulled Ellen up to a standing position. Holding both of Ellen’s hands, she looked deep into her cousin’s eyes.

“Ellen, we ‘ave known each ozzer only for a few monz. Yet, you are closer to me zan anybody else. Closer zan my family, closer zan ... Anyway, I zank ze fate for bringing us togezzer.”

Ellen smiled at her cousin.

“Marie, I feel the same. Well, not quite, forgive me. With Richard, it’s more and deeper. You are my only family though. I love Richard’s sister and I admire his mother and his grandmother. I feel deep love for my stepparents. With you however, it’s different. You are the link to my roots. Do I make sense?”

“Perfectly,” Marie said and planted a feather-light kiss on Ellen’s lips.

The ball season in Munich went on for the entire January and February. This was Carnival and many costume balls were to attend. At a certain point the novelty was fading and attendance became a chore for Richard and Ellen.

Richard was feeling a certain strain too. His days were filled with a four-way diplomacy, involving Austria and Bavaria on one side, and Prussia and the British on the other side. Prussia vied for dominance in Germany, but was opposed by the Catholic League led by Austria. France too was trying to meddle and increasingly supporting the Holy Alliance.

When the Carnival season ended, both Richard and Ellen felt relief. Of course, the beginning of Lent was celebrated with just another beer festival, the “Strong Beer Festival”. The Catholic monks had long ago found out that fasting was less taxing when the drink consumed was a heavily malted, highly nourishing beer. Hence, the “Strong Beer” was created to help the faithful over Lent lest they suffered weight loss.

The Carters’ household more or less obeyed the ban on meat, greatly aided by Neeta’s recipes of spicy vegetable dishes from her Bengali homeland. It was a welcome change after months of overeating at the various festivities, although it was not easy to obtain the necessary spices.

Things became a little easier for Richard, for King Ludwig left Munich for Italy where he doubtlessly reacquainted himself with his Duchesa. Before the King left, Richard had good news for his royal host. Stephenson had agreed to deliver a steam locomotive for the planned railroad between Nuremberg and Fuerth. This meant that the plans could be put into execution and His Majesty was overjoyed.

During the week before Easter, all public life in Munich came to a halt. The Carters and their friends stayed at home for the most parts and waited impatiently for Easter Sunday. The Easter celebrations also ended the winter and the people, commoners and noble persons, once again mingled in the streets and in the parks.

Richard had organised a brief getaway for his family and their friends. The Count Hohenstedt had offered his hunting cabin in the foothills of the Alps south of Rosenheim. The air was still cold at night, but during the day the sun was strong enough to melt the last remnants of the snow. The hunting cabin was a solidly built log house, two storeys high and built around a huge masonry stove. The interior was made of fir wood and the upstairs sleeping chambers were small and low. The Carters liked it anyway.

For Little Anthony this was heaven. The boy was over four years old now and he loved to watch the animals, mostly cows and goats, on the pastures that surrounded the cabin. The family spent many hours climbing the surrounding hills and Anthony was always ahead of them accompanied by Ricky. Inevitably, Richard would have to carry the tired boy for part of the distance on the return trip.

The cabin was kept by a housekeeper, an elderly matron who fussed over the pregnant Maddalena as if she were the grandmother of the child. A girl from the village nearby, a skinny blond waif of perhaps fourteen years who went by the name Evi, helped her in the mornings by cleaning the chambers and doing the laundry. The girl always disappeared before noon and could be seen running back to the village on her thin legs.

After a few days whilst the family was sitting at lunch Ellen noticed something peculiar. Sadie was wrapping bread and a slice of roast pork in a napkin and stashing it away into the folds of her skirt. Ellen was mildly surprised. This was not how she knew Sadie. Ellen prided herself on being a caring mistress for her staff and Sadie never went hungry.

After lunch, whilst the family rested, Ellen saw that Sadie left the cabin by the back door and walked briskly in the direction of the village. This behaviour made Ellen curious and she decided to find out the reason for it. A short whistle brought Ricky to her side and Ellen followed Sadie at some distance curious of what she might find out.

Ellen stayed near the fringes of the forest to be under cover and Sadie put a little distance between them. Undaunted, Ellen broke into a short run followed by an overjoyed Ricky who found this a great fun. The run brought Ellen closer to the briskly walking Sadie and she could see now that Sadie was scanning the area in front of her. Obviously she saw what she was looking for and waved with her arms.

Ellen moved into the shadows of the trees and watched. It was only a few minutes later when she saw the blonde waif appear. Comprehension dawned on Ellen. Sadie was smuggling food for the girl. She sighed with relief. This was not what she had feared.

Ellen sat on a log and continued to watch. She could see that the girl wolfed down the food Sadie had brought. Then she pressed Sadie’s hand briefly and ran away again. Sadie began to walk back in the direction of the cabin when she noticed first Ricky, who was lying in the middle of the path, and then Ellen. She gave a visible start,, before she approached Ellen with obvious trepidation. Ellen watched her with a friendly smile.

“You should have told me, Sadie,” she admonished Sadie gently, when she stood before Ellen. “Isn’t she getting food in the kitchen?”

“I’m sorry, M’lady,” Sadie said, her head bowed. “She’s so skinny and she works all day, and they don’t give her enough food. I’ll repay you for the food I took.”

“Shush! Not a word of that!” Ellen expostulated. “I should have seen this myself. Isn’t she getting food in the kitchen?”

“No, M’lady. She works for money and the money goes to the farmer where she lives. The housekeeper is afraid to give her food for fear you’ll accuse her of theft.”