Chapter 25 The Whole Truth #2
“She was sixteen,” Joe said. His face had that pale, set look again. “And when I fell in love with her, she was still sixteen. When I asked her to marry me, she told me the truth about all of it.”
“And that didn’t stop you,” Mr. Stark said flatly. “That she was a kid.”
“Dad. Look at her. Listen to her. She was no kid. For one thing, she was brought up as a princess, and whatever we’d like to think here in the States, it’s not the same.
Princess Elizabeth met Prince Philip when she was thirteen, and how old was she when she married him?
” His gaze was steady, but I could feel his stress.
How often had he defied his father before going off to war?
And how many times since, mainly about me?
He went on, “I told myself all those things you’re thinking.
Who wouldn’t have? That she was a princess.
That she was German. That she was sixteen. ”
“That I wasn’t a Jew,” I said. “And that I carry the gene for hemophilia.”
Mr. Stark paled. I saw it happen, as if the blood had drained from his face. “What?” He didn’t say it loudly. He said it as if he had no strength left.
“Yes,” I said. “I was an ineligible partner for Joe in every way. But we loved each other so, you see. I’ve felt that I should tell you and Mrs. Stark this, about the hemophilia, and now, I think you must know it all. It came from Queen Victoria, and, of course, from her mother before her.”
“Queen Victoria.” Mr. Stark was reduced to repeating my words, apparently.
“Yes. I’m descended from a daughter who was also a carrier, as was Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, and her children after her. Elizabeth and Philip are fortunate; their mothers didn’t inherit this.”
“Elizabeth and Philip?” Mr. Stark looked lost.
“Yes. They’re my third cousins, because of Queen Victoria.
My mother wished me to seek refuge with them after the war, but this was not realistic.
Only observe with what reluctance Lord Mountbatten has been accepted!
Merely because he was born Prince Louis of Battenberg, and his mother was Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine.
Despite his being born in Britain, so many German names could not be countenanced, and now he and Philip are both surnamed Mountbatten.
He is a cousin, yes, and Elizabeth also, but both fortunately unafflicted. ”
“Unafflicted,” Mr. Stark said. This must be a lawyer technique, to merely repeat a word and keep the other person talking on. I must remember it; it was most effective.
“It’s been illuminating,” I said, “to discuss this family tree of mine with a professor at the School of Medicine, for, of course, there is much documentation of this royal lineage. The hemophilia trait is passed on by a very simple inheritance pattern, much simpler than, for example, that for eye color. A child of two brown-eyed parents has only a twenty-five-percent chance of having blue eyes, because of dominant and recessive genes. One can draw the Punnett Square to work out the probabilities; most illuminating. Eye color, you see, involves more than one gene, so it’s more difficult.
Hemophilia, though, involves only one, so the pattern is much simpler.
For a girl to be a carrier or a boy to have the illness, the chance with each child is exactly fifty percent.
The best thing to do, I believe, is to have one child, and if he or she is proven not to carry the gene—this is done simply, by a blood test—one has no more children, because one has already won this genetic lottery. ”
“Is that what your parents did?”
“No. No, they were unlucky. I carry the gene, and my two elder brothers had the disease.”
“And they are …”
“Dead. In childhood. But now, as Joe says, much more is known about such things, especially here in America, which is making such advances in science. Blood transfusions have long been possible, but the new plasma transfusions—so clever, to be able to separate the elements of blood in this way—are more effective. So even if one were unlucky, one’s children need not suffer such a tragic fate. ”
Joe said, “This is beside the point. I don’t know why we had to tell you today, but Marguerite insisted.”
“Because I’m very tired of secrets,” I said. “And it isn’t fair to ask your father for help while holding back such secrets. You see, Mr. Stark, I wish to have … I wish for independence.”
“Independence.” Mr. Stark was repeating again. “And yet you married Joe. I’d like to ask you to wait in the outer office for a minute, Marguerite.”
“No,” Joe said, in his calmest voice. “If one of us goes, we both go. Hear her out, Dad.”
“It’s very difficult,” I said, “to get a job when one is of German birth. I confess I didn’t realize how difficult it would be. I’ve had to find another way, and when I thought of this plan, it made perfect sense. Once I’ve sold the necklace, Joe and I will buy land, and also perhaps houses.”
“Real estate,” Joe said.
“Yes,” I said. “Real estate. If we buy land now, we’ll be able to sell it later to a builder for much more. The building is already happening, and the buying is happening, too, so one must be quick. And for an apartment house, you know, or a … a house with two homes in it—”
“A duplex,” Joe said. “Very common in Palo Alto.”
“Yes,” I said. “A duplex. In such a case, money will come from the rents, and Joe won’t have to wash dishes or carry boxes, but can concentrate on his studies. This is very important for Jewish people, I believe, to study.”
“But you know nothing about real estate,” Mr. Stark said, “or finance, or any of the rest of it. You’re a … a nineteen-year-old girl with no training at all.”
I would not respond with emotion. I was a rational being, and I would be rational now.
“I’ve mentioned, I believe, that my parents were landowners.
My father has discussed these things with me in the past. And one can always find others to ask.
Several others, to make sure one understands all there is to know, and that the first person’s answers were correct.
How else would one learn? Joe and I made this decision weeks ago, and since then, I’ve been calling on real-estate brokers, who handle such sales.
I’ve made a plan in my notebook, you see, with figures—” I opened it to the page and turned it around on the desk so he could see the items, written in my neatest script—“and have discussed it with Joe and made many corrections and estimations. We’ve both learned a great deal.
Of course, there’s still much more to know, but this too we can learn.
A mix of properties; this I believe is key.
Some closer to the city, and some farther away.
These last will be cheaper, but this great change will continue, I think, and one can simply await one’s moment.
Joe and I wish to seize our opportunity now, while it offers itself. ”
“And if you lose it all?” Mr. Stark said. “If your investment turns out to be swampland?”
“If that happens,” I said, “it will be a lesson. We must endeavor to make wise decisions, and this I believe we can do, by consulting each other and being very clear-eyed and unsentimental. So. Can you help me—will you help me—to find an auction house for the necklace? I’ve written down all the dates and personages I know, so you can explain.
” I passed across a separate piece of paper.
“The provenance, this is called. I learned this in my investigations. This is most important, for if the necklace can be proven to have been given by Napoleon to Josephine—there’s a painting, I believe, showing her wearing all the pieces of the emerald parure—it will of course have much more value.
Not so much value as the jewels of Marie Antoinette, but, na ja, royalty and tragedy are a great attraction to many people.
But, of course, the necklace’s last owner died most tragically as well. ”
“What?” Mr. Stark said.
“My mother.” I looked at him very steadily.
“I’m not the daughter-in-law you would have wished.
In fact, you and Mrs. Stark would wish me far away.
I know this. I would only wish you to believe that I love Joe as my parents loved each other, with all my heart, and I’ll help him and work for him and do everything I can to ensure his happiness, all the days of my life.
This I’ve vowed before God, and this I promise now to you. ”
“Ditto,” Joe said.
I was so surprised, I laughed.