The American Lady(74)

“There’s no way to say this gently.” Wanda heaved a desolate sigh. “I can’t marry you,” she blurted out. “I have to go to Lauscha. I have a job to do there—my family needs me now.”





5

Wanda was far from pleased to hear that her mother had chosen Yvonne Schwarzenberg and her daughter Wilma to chaperone her on her journey. Yvonne was the best friend of Monique Desmoines, who had broken off all contact with the Miles family after the debacle with the pigs’ feet at Dittmer’s. Although Ruth had initially been most annoyed about how Wanda had lost the job, she had been squarely on her daughter’s side. “Monique acts like the uncrowned queen of New York!” she said angrily and then told Wanda, “It’s just a shame you only managed to spoil one party for that snooty bitch.”

Nonetheless, Ruth had picked up the telephone as soon as she heard that the Schwarzenbergs would soon be setting off to Hamburg to spend the winter there with Wilma’s fiancé, a rubber wholesaler who had strong ties to Indonesia. Ruth found out the name of the ship and the date it would sail, and then she took the plunge. Would Yvonne be so kind as to take Wanda under her wing, just during the crossing? The answer was a hesitant yes, whereupon Ruth called the shipping line next thing and asked whether there was still a cabin free on the Germania, preferably on the same deck as Mrs. Schwarzenberg and her daughter. When she heard that there was indeed, Ruth finally agreed to Wanda’s departure. She had been worn down by weeks of pleading.

“I won’t stand in your way,” Ruth declared and then sighed, adding, “Back when I left Lauscha it was a completely different situation of course, but to be honest . . . I wouldn’t have let anyone or anything stop me then.” She shrugged, almost defiantly. “And who knows? Perhaps you really will be able to make them forget their current troubles over in Lauscha.”

So Wanda dutifully held back from making fun of the Schwarzenbergs—despite the fact that Wilma was such a gray little mouse and terribly dull. She had come to Pandora’s dance classes once or twice but spent most of the time in the changing room, terrified of being asked to dance for the group. Pandora had to drag her into the studio by the hair. And then she just stood there, as stiff as a stuffed giraffe.

But if she had to, she could even put up with eight days of listening to Yvonne Schwarzenberg hold forth on what made a man a good match. Rubber—the very idea!

By now they had heard back from Johanna, in writing, that Wanda was quite welcome to visit. Wanda had read the letter over and over again until the pages were tattered, and she knew it practically by heart.



We are very much looking forward to having Wanda with us. I can hardly wait to see with my own eyes what a fine young lady that little blonde baby of yours has grown up to be. But I do have to add a word of warning: given the state of affairs here just at the moment, neither Peter nor I will have much time to show Wanda the old country. Of course I’ll take her to Coburg one day and Sonneberg (that goes without saying). But we’ll have to wait until spring for anything more adventurous. I’ll be so relieved when we finally have our samples catalog off to press!

Then Johanna had spent a few lines lamenting that there were still no viable designs from Genoa and that Magnus was so brokenhearted that he had practically forgotten how to blow glass and wasted valuable rods making items that they would have to sell as seconds.



Magnus still hasn’t got over losing Marie. He’s suffering like a dog, and I feel guilty every time I remember doubting that he really loved our sister!



Johanna had found out in a recent telephone call from the Sonneberg post office that her niece knew the truth about her father by now, but to Wanda’s great disappointment Johanna hadn’t written a word about Thomas Heimer.



Wanda would set sail on October 15, which meant that she only had two weeks to pick out her wardrobe, buy presents for all of the Thuringian relatives, and go out to dinner with Harold one last time. They exchanged promises throughout the meal, caught between laughter and tears. Although Harold had been very upset when Wanda had turned down his proposal for some unspecified length of time, she sensed that once he had gotten over the shock, he was actually a little relieved not to have to take up his demanding new job with a wife in tow. Alas, he could not come to the farewell party that her parents were hosting, since he would be setting out for Albuquerque two days beforehand.

And then everything was packed, and all the farewells were spoken.

On the morning of October 15, Wanda stood on the steps that led into the belly of the liner with a small valise in her hand—the rest of her luggage had already been stowed the previous day—and waved to her parents. She suddenly felt a lump in her throat. The people down there on the docks blurred together into little colored dots, and Wanda had trouble picking out her parents in the crowd.