The Prodigal Daughter (7 page)

The Republicans
chose Thomas E. Dewey as their candidate in June, and later in July the
Democrats again selected Roosevelt. Congressman Osborne took Florentyna along
to the Amphitheater to hear the President make his acceptance speech to the
convention. She was puzzled by the fact that whenever she saw Congressman
Osborne, he was accompanied by a different woman. She must ask Miss Trrdgold
about that; she would be sure to have an explanation. After the candidate’s
speech, Florentyna stood in a long line waiting to shake hands with the
President, but she was so nervous that she didn’t look up as he was wheeled by.

It was the most
exciting day of her life, and on the walk home she confided her interest in
politics to Congressman Osborne. He did not point out to her that despite the
war there wasn’t a woman sitting in the Senate, and there were only two women
in Congress.

In November,
Florentyna wrote to her father to tell him something she imagined he hadn’t
heard. FDR had won a fourth term. She w&ted months for his reply.

And then the
telegram came.

Miss Tredgold
could not extract the missive before the child spotted the sinall buff
envelope. The governess immediately carried the telegram to Mrs. Rosnovski in
the drawing room with a trembling Florentyna following in her wake, holding on
to her skirt, with Eleanor a pace behind them.

Zaphia tore the
envelope open with nervous fingers, read the contents, and burst into
hysterical tears. “No, no,” Florentyna cried, “it can’t be true, Marna. Tell me
he’s only missing,” and snatched the telegram from her speechless mother to
read the contents. It read: “DEMOB PAPERS ISSUED.
HOME
SOONEST.
LOVE ABEL.”

Florentyna let
out a whoop of joy and jumped on the back of Miss Tredgold, who fell into a
chair that normally she would never have sat in. E’leanor, as if aware the
usual codes could be broken, also jumped on the chair and started licking both
of them while Zaphia burst out laughing.

Miss Tredgold
could not convince Florentyna that soonest might turn out to take some time
since the army conducted a rigid system in deciding who should come home first,
awarding points to those who had served the longest or had been wounded in
battle. Florentyna remained optimistic, but the weeks passed slowly.

One evening, when
she was returning home clutching yet another Brownie badge, this time for
lifesaving, she spotted a light shining through a small window that had not
been lit for over three yeiirs. She forgot her lifesaving achievement
immediately, ran all the way down the street, and had nearly beaten the door
down before Miss Tredgold came to answer it. She dashed upstairs to her
father’s study, where she found him deep in conversation with her mother. She
threw her arms around him and would not let go until finally he pushed her back
to take a careful look at his ten-year-old daughter.

“You’re so much
more beautiful than your photographs.”

“And you’re in
one piece, Papa.”

“Yes, and I
won’t be going away again.”

“Not without me,
you won’t,” said Florentyna, and clung on to him once more.

For the next few
days, she pestered her father to tell her stories of the war. Had he met
General Eisenhower? No. General Patton’! Yes, for about ten minutes. General
Bradley? Yes. Had he seen any Germans? No, but on one occasion he had helped to
rescue wounded soldiers that had been ambushed by the enemy at Remagen.

“And what
happened...?”

“Enough,
enough, young lady.
You’re worse than a staff sergeant on drill
parade.”

Florentyna was
so excited by her father’s homecoming that she was an hour late for bed that
night and still didn’t sleep. Miss Tredgold reminded her how lucky she was that
her Papa had returned without injury or disfigurement, unlike so many fathers
of the children in her class.

When Florentyna
heard that Edward Winchester’s father had lost an arm at somewhere called
Bastogne, she tried to tell him how sorry ihe was.

Abel quickly
returned to the routine of his work. No one recognized him when he first strode
into the Chicago Baron: he had lost so much weight and looked so thin that the
duty manager asked him who he was. The first decision Abel had to make was to
order five new suits from Brooks Brothers because none of his pre-war clothes
fitted him.

George Novak, as
far as Abel could deduce from the annual reports he had been through, had kept
the Group on an even keel in his absence, even if he had taken no great strides
forward. It was also from George that he learned that Henry Osborne
‘ had
been re-elected to Congress for a fifth term. He asked
his secretary to call Washington.

“Congratulations,
Henry. Consider yourself elected to the board.”

“Thank you,
Abel. You’ll be glad to learn,” said Henry, “that I have acquired six percent
of Lester’s stock while you’ve been away rustling up gourmet dinners on Primus
stoves for our top military brass.”

“Well done,
Henry. What hope is there of getting our hands on the magic eight percent?”

“A very good
chance,” replied Henry. “Peter Parfitt, who expected to be chairman of Lester’s
before Kane arrived on the scene, has been removed from the board and has about
as much affection for Kane as a mongoose has for a rattlesnake. Parfitt has
made it very clear that he is willing to part with his two percent.”

“Then what’s
stopping
,us
?”

“He’s dernanding
a million dollars for his holding, because I’m sure he’s worked out that his
shares are all you need to topple Kane, and there are not many stockholders
left for me to buy from. But a million is way above the ten percent over
current stock value that you authorized me to proceed at.”

Abel studied the
figures that Henry had left for him on his desk. “Offer him seven hundred and
fifty thousand” was all he said.

George was
thinking about far smaller sums when he next spoke to Abel.

“I allowed Henry
a loan in your absence, and he still hasn’t paid the money back,” he admitted.

“A
loan?”

“Henry’s
description, not mine,” said George.

“Who’s kidding
who? How much?” said Abel.

“Five
thousand dollars.
I’m sorry, Abel.”

“Forget it. If
that’s the only mistake you’ve made in the last three years, I’m a lucky man.
What do you irvagine Henry spends the money on?”

“Wine,
women and song.
There’s nothing particularly original about our congressman,
There’s
also a rumor around the Chicago bars that he’s started gambling quite heavily.”

“That’s all I
need from the latest member of the board. Keep an eye on him and let ine know
if the situation gets any worse.”

George nodded.

“And now I want
to talk about expansion. With Washington pumping three hundred million dollars a
week into the economy, we must be prepared for a boom the like of which America
has never experienced before. We must also start building Barons in Europe
while land is cheap and most people are only thinking about survival. Let’s
begin with London.”

“For God’s sake,
Abel, the place is as flat as a pancake.”

“All
the better to build on, my dear.”

“Miss Tredgold,”
said Zaphia, “I’m going to a fashion show this afternoon, a benefit for the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and I might not be back before Florentyna’s
bedtime.”

“Very good, Mrs.
Rosnovski,” said Miss Tredgold.

“I’d like to
go,” said Florentyna
Both
women stared at the child in
surprise.

“But it’s only
two days before your exams,” said Zaphia, anticipating that Miss ‘rredgold
would thoroughly disapprove if Florentyna attended something as frivolous as a
fashion show. “What are you meant to be doing this afternoon?”

“Medieval
history,” replied Miss Tredgold without hesitation.

“Charlemagne
through to the Council of Trent.”

Zaphia was sad
that her daughter was not being allowed to take an interest in feminine
pursuits but rather was expected to act as
a
iurrogate
son, filling the gap for her husband’s disappointment ai not having a boy.

“Then perhaps
we’d better ieave it for another time,” she said. Zaphia would have insisted
her daughter accompany her but realized that if Abel found
out,
both she and Florentyna would suffer for it later. However, for once Miss
Tredgold surprised her.

“I am not sure I
agn--e with you, Mrs. Rosnovski,” she said. “The occasion might well be the
ideal one to introduce the child to the world of fashion and indeed of
society.” Turning to Florentyna, she added, “And a break from your studies a
few days before exams can do you no han-n.”

Zaphia looked at
Miss Tredgold with new respect. “Perhaps you would like to come yourself?” she
added. It was the first time Zaphia had seen Miss Tredgold blush.

“No, thank you,
no, I couldn’t possibly.” She hesitated. “I have letters, yes, letters to
attend to, and I’ve set aside this afternoon to pen them.”

That afternoon,
Zaphia was waiting by the main school gate dressed in a pink suit in place of
the usual Miss Tredgold in sensible navy.

Florentyna
thought her mother looked extremely smart.

She, wanted to
run all the way to the Drake Hotel, where the fashion show was being held, and
when she actually aff ived she found it hard to remain still even thou ‘ gh her
seat was in the front row. She could have touched the haughty models as they
picked their way gracefully down the brilliantly lit catwalk.

As the pleated
skirts swirled and dipped, tight-waisted jackets were taken off to reveal
elegantly bare shoulders, and sophisticated ladies in floating yards of pale
organza topped with silk hats drifted silently to unknown assignations behind a
red velvet curtain. Florentyna sat entranced. When the last model had turned a
full circle, signaling that the show had ended, a press photographet asked
Zaphia if he could take her picture. “Mama,” said Florentyna urgently as he was
setting up his tripod, “you must wear your hat further forward if you want to
be thought chic.”

Mother obeyed
child for the first time.

When Miss
Tredgold tucked Florentyna into bed that night she asked if she had enjoyed the
experience.

“Oh, yes,” said
Florentyna. “I had no idea clothes could make you look so good.”

Miss Tredgold
smiled, a little wistfully.

“And did you
realize that they raised over eight thousand dollars for the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra? Even Papa would have been impressed by that.”

“Indeed he
would,”
said
Miss Tredgold, “and one day you will have
to decide how to use your wealth for the benefit of other people. It is not
always easy being born with money.”

The next day,
Miss Tredgold pointed out to Florentyna a picture of her mother in Women’s Wear
Daily under the caption, “Baroness Rosnovski enters the fashion scene in
Chicago.”

“When can I go
to a fashion show again?” asked Florentyna.

“Not until you
have been through Charlemagne and the Council of Trent,” said Miss Tredgold.

“I wonder what Charlemagne
wore when he was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,” said Florentyna.

That night,
closed into her room, with only the light of a flashlight to go by, she let
down the hem of her school skirt and took two inches in at the waist.

Florentyna was
now in her last term of Middle School, and Abel hoped ihe might win the coveted
Upper School Scholarship. Florentyna was aware that her father could afford to
send her to Upper School if she failed to win a scholarship, but she had plans
for the money her father would save each year if she was awarded free tuition.
She had studied hard that year, but she had no way of knowing how well she had
done when the final examination came to an end, as there were 122 Illinois
children who had entered for the examination, but only four scholarships were
to be awarded. Florentyna had been warned by Miss Tredgold that she would not
learn the result for at least a month.

“Patience is a
virtue,” Miss Tredgold reminded her, and added with mock horror that she would
return to England on the next boat if Florentyna did not come in in the first
three places.

“Don’t N
.-
silly, Miss Tredgold, I shall be first,” Florentyna
replied confidently, but as the days of the month went by she began to regret
her bragging and confided to Eleanor during a long walk that she might have
written cosine when she had meant sine in one of the questions, and created an
impossible triangle. “Purhaps I shall come in second,” she ventured over
breakfast one morning.

“Then I shall
move to the employ of the parents of the child who comes first,” said Miss
Tredgold imperturbably.