Echoes of the Past
Posted: 10 Sep 2016, 00:39
More… always wanting more.
She was born early in the morning, the day kicking off one of the hottest Augusts on record in the City. Her father liked to tell her she came out with a defiant, indignant roar, the last of his children, and that was how they’d chosen her name. Her mother had wanted something edgy and modern, her father a suitable, more traditional German name that fit the legacy of the family. Lena had finally relented when he came up with a satisfactory compromise, and so Leonie Graciella von der Marck was named.
Little changed from that first breath onward; Leonie was always defiant, always headstrong, and rarely well-behaved. Her mother was absent most of the time, choosing to continue the delusion she was a 20-something trophy wife for as long as possible, which, if Lena had her way would be for as long as she lived. Leonie had arrived late, a supposed ‘surprise’ in her mother’s late thirties – the result of a drunken and purposeful evening of seduction, when Lena suspected Oskar was readying to divorce her, or so the gossip said. And though she was fun to dress up and take around for friends and strangers to coo and fawn over – the perfect little accessory, as long as she was small enough to be portable and little trouble - there was limited purpose to mothering her further than that, especially as she grew.
Still, a very young Leonie lived for those moments, the rare times it seemed her mother loved her. But in the immediate aftermath, when Lena was done with pretending and off to her next beauty treatment or event or new man on the side, there was nearly always a tantrum of some kind or another to accompany it – a sometimes successful art-form she learned at an extremely young age. It was the immediate loss of attention and care, the distracted and careless goodbye that always preceded such a thing, before Leonie was foisted off on Melba and Lena swept away, sometimes not to be seen again for weeks or more. The nanny had been carefully chosen, not for her credentials, but to assure Lena that she’d never be a threat to her marriage. Even so, Melba loved Leonie as her own, and though it was at first a pale replacement for what she should have had, the girl quickly came to consider the woman her first and most accessible parent.
Even though she lacked the attentions of her mother, Leonie enjoyed a close, doting relationship with her father in her earlier years. The one of three children he never questioned was his, Oskar poured all fatherly devotion into his small daughter, partially out of duty, but mostly out of love. Distant though he could be, there were many times she was allowed to spend in his study while he worked, playing happily while Melba remained close enough to spirit her away without being summoned when serious business came up. Later, as she grew, playtime turned to curiosity about the many family documents in Oskar’s archives, things she was encouraged to look carefully through and ask questions about. He spoke almost exclusively in German to her, especially when telling her family lore and legend, or explaining what it is to be von der Marck. Oskar took his family heritage seriously, was beyond proud of it, and saw it as his most important duty to instill within Leonie the very same. As soon as she was old enough to play without constant supervision, the summer vacations began, without him, at the family estate in Canada, in addition to the yearly gathering that grew sparser and less attended as the years wore on. Oskar himself was one of those who failed to show his face year after year, like so many others of his generation, but the times he did, he was pleased to see the growing bonds between Leonie and the cousins closest to her in age. No matter how distantly related, they seemed as close as siblings and for that the man was always thankful, for a variety of reasons – some of which he would never articulate out loud. They were von der Marck, the result of one deified Patriarch, and no matter how spoiled Leonie was turning out to be, he could see already how she always put those she loved before herself. It was what it meant to be of their blood; they could set every selfishness aside for the family, whenever needed.
But it was little wonder they could scarcely keep the old tradition together; Oskar couldn’t even keep his own family intact. He was too proud for paternity tests; Leonie was the only one he was sure about for too long, for she had his and his father’s eyes and that was enough for him. Lena… he had loved her once, though they had been young when they married. But after their first child, Lucia, who he now knew to be his, she drifted. Became obsessed with staying young and beautiful. And as Oskar sought more and more solace in work and less in her, her obsession grew. He knew it was mostly his fault that she strayed. Could never say with certainty her son was his. But it was far easier to sweep it all under the rug and pretend it wasn’t any issue. It was only when he started considering divorce, both to set her free and provide himself some relief from the constant question hanging over his head that she came back to him one glorious weekend, the Lena of old whom he had fallen in love with almost twenty years before.
But in his weakness, he was hooked. In the best possible way, but with a new child, another new one to question at the very first, and Oskar was going nowhere. Falken wouldn’t hear anything about it, no matter the obvious worries. And so Oskar once again played the part of devoted husband, expectant father, and made the most of the year. Lena was entirely dependent and entirely his again, required coddling and special treatment; something he knew how to do, even though things would change shortly after, just like before. But for that short time, it was easy to fall in love with her again and believe things might be different.
If anything, Lena was an even more distant mother than before, giving Leonie over to the nanny as soon as they came home from the hospital. Age had done nothing to kick that missing maternal instinct in. She only checked on her once or twice a day at most, only held her when they were out in public or attending some friend’s party or another. Oskar couldn’t hide his disappointment; he’d hoped that the nearly full year they spent together awaiting their youngest daughter would turn into the life together he’d always wanted. But Lena carried on as if she were a young, unmarried woman, and eventually they drifted once more. Lena began staying at the estate in England more often, and, with no way to determine when it happened, it became her permanent residence, away from their home in Germany, though she returned on occasion to keep up appearances.
Yet even with the utter disgust and outrage that she had not only left him, but forced him to send his baby away under some false pretense of her happiness, Falken would not hear of divorce. It would disgrace the family, he said, and so Oskar was forced once more to pretend all was well and sink his full attention into work. He could not believe he’d sent his Leonie away, or that he’d allowed Lena to talk him into it. The beautiful girl with the piercing von der Marck eyes was special; she had potential to be all they had been missing for generations. And yet, send her away he had. He’d somehow fallen under Lena’s spell once more, believed her when she said Leonie’s acting out and utterly bad behavior was due to a lack of attention, stimulation, and happiness in the home. In short, she missed her friends and should be where they were, she’d said. He’d consented because, as far as he knew, Lena got her information from Melba, who’d been kept on as a maid in Leonie’s absence, and Melba knew his daughter better than anyone else in the world. Or so he thought, because by then, Leonie’s rapport with her distant von der Marck cousins was more than solidified. Her bond with her sister had also grown, without his ever realizing that in Lucia was at least someone else who understood just how awful a mother Lena was.
She was born early in the morning, the day kicking off one of the hottest Augusts on record in the City. Her father liked to tell her she came out with a defiant, indignant roar, the last of his children, and that was how they’d chosen her name. Her mother had wanted something edgy and modern, her father a suitable, more traditional German name that fit the legacy of the family. Lena had finally relented when he came up with a satisfactory compromise, and so Leonie Graciella von der Marck was named.
Little changed from that first breath onward; Leonie was always defiant, always headstrong, and rarely well-behaved. Her mother was absent most of the time, choosing to continue the delusion she was a 20-something trophy wife for as long as possible, which, if Lena had her way would be for as long as she lived. Leonie had arrived late, a supposed ‘surprise’ in her mother’s late thirties – the result of a drunken and purposeful evening of seduction, when Lena suspected Oskar was readying to divorce her, or so the gossip said. And though she was fun to dress up and take around for friends and strangers to coo and fawn over – the perfect little accessory, as long as she was small enough to be portable and little trouble - there was limited purpose to mothering her further than that, especially as she grew.
Still, a very young Leonie lived for those moments, the rare times it seemed her mother loved her. But in the immediate aftermath, when Lena was done with pretending and off to her next beauty treatment or event or new man on the side, there was nearly always a tantrum of some kind or another to accompany it – a sometimes successful art-form she learned at an extremely young age. It was the immediate loss of attention and care, the distracted and careless goodbye that always preceded such a thing, before Leonie was foisted off on Melba and Lena swept away, sometimes not to be seen again for weeks or more. The nanny had been carefully chosen, not for her credentials, but to assure Lena that she’d never be a threat to her marriage. Even so, Melba loved Leonie as her own, and though it was at first a pale replacement for what she should have had, the girl quickly came to consider the woman her first and most accessible parent.
Even though she lacked the attentions of her mother, Leonie enjoyed a close, doting relationship with her father in her earlier years. The one of three children he never questioned was his, Oskar poured all fatherly devotion into his small daughter, partially out of duty, but mostly out of love. Distant though he could be, there were many times she was allowed to spend in his study while he worked, playing happily while Melba remained close enough to spirit her away without being summoned when serious business came up. Later, as she grew, playtime turned to curiosity about the many family documents in Oskar’s archives, things she was encouraged to look carefully through and ask questions about. He spoke almost exclusively in German to her, especially when telling her family lore and legend, or explaining what it is to be von der Marck. Oskar took his family heritage seriously, was beyond proud of it, and saw it as his most important duty to instill within Leonie the very same. As soon as she was old enough to play without constant supervision, the summer vacations began, without him, at the family estate in Canada, in addition to the yearly gathering that grew sparser and less attended as the years wore on. Oskar himself was one of those who failed to show his face year after year, like so many others of his generation, but the times he did, he was pleased to see the growing bonds between Leonie and the cousins closest to her in age. No matter how distantly related, they seemed as close as siblings and for that the man was always thankful, for a variety of reasons – some of which he would never articulate out loud. They were von der Marck, the result of one deified Patriarch, and no matter how spoiled Leonie was turning out to be, he could see already how she always put those she loved before herself. It was what it meant to be of their blood; they could set every selfishness aside for the family, whenever needed.
But it was little wonder they could scarcely keep the old tradition together; Oskar couldn’t even keep his own family intact. He was too proud for paternity tests; Leonie was the only one he was sure about for too long, for she had his and his father’s eyes and that was enough for him. Lena… he had loved her once, though they had been young when they married. But after their first child, Lucia, who he now knew to be his, she drifted. Became obsessed with staying young and beautiful. And as Oskar sought more and more solace in work and less in her, her obsession grew. He knew it was mostly his fault that she strayed. Could never say with certainty her son was his. But it was far easier to sweep it all under the rug and pretend it wasn’t any issue. It was only when he started considering divorce, both to set her free and provide himself some relief from the constant question hanging over his head that she came back to him one glorious weekend, the Lena of old whom he had fallen in love with almost twenty years before.
But in his weakness, he was hooked. In the best possible way, but with a new child, another new one to question at the very first, and Oskar was going nowhere. Falken wouldn’t hear anything about it, no matter the obvious worries. And so Oskar once again played the part of devoted husband, expectant father, and made the most of the year. Lena was entirely dependent and entirely his again, required coddling and special treatment; something he knew how to do, even though things would change shortly after, just like before. But for that short time, it was easy to fall in love with her again and believe things might be different.
If anything, Lena was an even more distant mother than before, giving Leonie over to the nanny as soon as they came home from the hospital. Age had done nothing to kick that missing maternal instinct in. She only checked on her once or twice a day at most, only held her when they were out in public or attending some friend’s party or another. Oskar couldn’t hide his disappointment; he’d hoped that the nearly full year they spent together awaiting their youngest daughter would turn into the life together he’d always wanted. But Lena carried on as if she were a young, unmarried woman, and eventually they drifted once more. Lena began staying at the estate in England more often, and, with no way to determine when it happened, it became her permanent residence, away from their home in Germany, though she returned on occasion to keep up appearances.
Yet even with the utter disgust and outrage that she had not only left him, but forced him to send his baby away under some false pretense of her happiness, Falken would not hear of divorce. It would disgrace the family, he said, and so Oskar was forced once more to pretend all was well and sink his full attention into work. He could not believe he’d sent his Leonie away, or that he’d allowed Lena to talk him into it. The beautiful girl with the piercing von der Marck eyes was special; she had potential to be all they had been missing for generations. And yet, send her away he had. He’d somehow fallen under Lena’s spell once more, believed her when she said Leonie’s acting out and utterly bad behavior was due to a lack of attention, stimulation, and happiness in the home. In short, she missed her friends and should be where they were, she’d said. He’d consented because, as far as he knew, Lena got her information from Melba, who’d been kept on as a maid in Leonie’s absence, and Melba knew his daughter better than anyone else in the world. Or so he thought, because by then, Leonie’s rapport with her distant von der Marck cousins was more than solidified. Her bond with her sister had also grown, without his ever realizing that in Lucia was at least someone else who understood just how awful a mother Lena was.