“Well, God knows I never saw any sign of that,” Wanda said dryly. The way he had sat there staring down into his coffee cup as though he could hardly wait for her to leave. “And Eva was such a snake!”
“Eva’s just a poor sinner.” Richard lifted her face and fixed his gaze on her. “I know they say that blood is thicker than water, but you don’t owe them anything for all that. That’s clear. All the same . . .”
Wanda put her hand up to stop him. She was exhausted. There was so much going on that she couldn’t think straight.
Richard grinned. “It’s obvious, if you ask me. Your uncle and aunt can get along very well here even without you. But the Heimers are really in a bind. I don’t know all the details, of course, but it seems that the last wholesaler who was taking wares from Thomas has just dropped him. He has nobody to blame for that but himself, the stubborn dog! Why does he always refuse to try anything new?”
Wanda wanted to ask him why he was so keen to help a glassblower who was a competitor after all, but before she could speak Richard continued.
“Your father is still a damned good glassblower. I’d say he’s even one of the best we have. His workshop might not have all the very latest equipment, but it’s still very well furnished. I would be thrilled to have everything that Thomas has to work with. But the fact is that nobody wants to buy what he makes anymore—statues of stags and goblets with hunting scenes and the like.”
“All that may be true,” Wanda put in. “But what does any of it have to do with me? It’s hardly as though we fell into one another’s arms after all those years of separation. I don’t even think he’s a very nice man, for all that he’s my father. I don’t know him, I don’t like that house, and I don’t know the first thing about glassblowing! How in the world did you get the idea that I might be able to help Thomas Heimer?”
Richard sighed. “It’s obvious, I’m telling you. If he’s not going to see his whole glassblowing business go down the drain, your father will have to move with the times.”
He stopped. A crafty smile played at his lips.
“And who better to help him do that than his worldly daughter from America?”
15
Genoa, 7 January 1911
Dear Wanda,
How could you think of giving me such a shock! When the mailman came to our door with an express letter, for a moment I feared the worst—and you know where my imagination can lead me! I was all the more relieved then to read that everything is all right.
I can hardly begin to believe what you’re telling me! Richard Stämme has told you that he’s in love with you? Just like that? When you had almost given up hope? And you’re going to help your father in his workshop? I have a thousand questions for you, and I don’t know which to ask first. Your letter was so enthusiastic and so cheerful! And at last I recognized my own dear Wanda again, always full of ideas and get-up-and-go. I have to confess that for a while I feared you would lose heart, what with all the unlucky twists and turns your life has taken recently . . .
Oh, I’m writing such convoluted nonsense! All I want to say is that I’m happy for you, happy with all my heart!
Believe it or not, I knew from your very first letter that you had fallen for Richard. Of course I agree with you that he is an extraordinary man. And he’s handsome too. I imagine that poor Anna wasn’t the only girl in the village whose head he has turned. Are you quite sure, though, that you weren’t exaggerating—even if only a little—about what happened on New Year’s Eve in front of Johanna’s house? I had always thought that Richard kept to himself. I would never have thought of him as a loving husband and father—although that hasn’t happened yet anyway, thank heavens. Dear, dear Wanda, I’m so happy for you! All the same I am afraid as well, in case things happen too fast between you and Richard. I can hear you saying that your mother was already married by your age—and you’re right, of course—but please consider that your mother was very unhappy in that first marriage. It would be rather silly to repeat the same mistake, wouldn’t it?
Now I don’t want to be comparing apples and oranges here, but all the same I will make one comparison: your mother left Lauscha for the sake of her great love, and you’re planning to stay in Lauscha for the sake of your great love—isn’t that odd?
What does your mother say to all this? The fact that you want to work side by side with Thomas must be something of a surprise to her, a shock even. (I do hope that you’ve written to her about this!) And what does Johanna say? She must have jumped when she heard it, I daresay. I can’t imagine she’s happy to see you head up the hill to your father’s house every day. Ruth’s phone must be ringing off the hook. And Anna? If looks could kill . . . am I right?