Джеффри Арчер - The Prodigal Daughter

This routine was slavishly adhered to and broken only on rare occasions such as birthdays or national holidays, when Miss Tredgold allowed Florentyna to accompany her to the United Artists Theater to see films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs but not before Miss Tredgold had been to the show the previous week in order to ascertain that it was suitable for her ward. Walt Disney met with Miss Tredgold’s approval, as did Laurence Olivier, playing Heathcliff pursued by Merle Oberon, whom she went to watch three Thursdays running on her afternoon off at a cost of twenty cents a showing. She was able to convince herself it was worth sixty cents; after all, Wuthering Heights was a classic.

Miss Tredgold never stopped Florentyna from asking questions about the Nazis, the New Deal and even a home run, although sometimes she obviously didn’t understand the answers. The young girl soon discovered that her mother was not always able to satisfy her curiosity, and on several occasions Miss Tredgold, in order not to render an inaccurate answer, had to disappear into her room and consult the Encyclopaedia Britannica .

At the age of five Florentyna attended kindergarten at the Girls Latin School of Chicago, where within a week she was moved up a grade because she was so far ahead of her contemporaries. In her world everything looked wonderful. She had Mama and Papa, Miss Tredgold and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and as far as her horizon could reach, nothing seemed to be unattainable.

Only the ‘best families,’ as Abel described them, sent their children to the Latin School, and it came as something of a shock to Miss Tredgold that when she asked some of Florentyna’s friends back for tea, the invitations were politely declined. Florentyna’s best friends, Mary Gill and Susie Jacobson, came regularly; but some of the parents of the other girls would make excuses for not accepting, and Miss Tredgold soon came to realize that although the Chicago Baron might well have broken the chains of poverty he was still unable to break into some of the better drawing rooms in Chicago. Zaphia did not help, making little effort to get to know the other parents, let alone join any of their charity committees, hospital boards or the clubs to which so many of them seemed to belong.

Miss Tredgold did the best she could to help, but as she was only a servant in the eyes of most of the parents, it was not easy for her. She prayed that Florentyna would never learn of these prejudices — but it was not to be.

Florentyna sailed through the first grade, more than holding her own academically with the group, and only her size reminded everyone that she was a year younger.

Abel was too busy building up his own empire to give much thought to his social standing or any problems Miss Tredgold might be facing. The Group was showing steady progress, with Abel looking well set by 1938 to be on target to repay the loan to his backer. In fact, Abel was predicting profits of $250,000 for the year, despite his massive building program.

His real worries were not in the nursery or the hotels, but over four thousand miles away in his beloved homeland. His worst fears were realized when on September 1, 1939, Hitler marched into Poland, and Britain declared war on Germany two days later. With the outbreak of another war he seriously considered leaving control of the Baron Group to George — who was turning out to be a trusty lieutenant — while he sailed off to London to join the Polish regiment in exile. George and Zaphia managed to talk him out of the idea, so he concentrated instead on raising cash and sending the money to the British Red Cross, while lobbying Democratic politicians to join the war alongside the British. FDR needs all the friends he can get, Florentyna heard her father declare one morning.

By the last quarter of 1939, Abel, with the help of a small loan from the First National Bank of Chicago, became the 100 percent owner of the Baron Group. He predicted in the annual report that profits for 1940 would be over half a million dollars.

Franklin D. Roosevelt — the one with the red eyes and the fluffy brown fur — rarely left Florentyna’s side even when she progressed to second grade. Miss Tredgold considered that perhaps the time had come to leave FDR at home. In normal circumstances she would have insisted — there might have been a few tears and the matter would have been resolved — but against her better judgment she let the child have her own way. It was a decision that turned out to be one of Miss Tredgold’s rare mistakes.

Every Monday, the Boys Latin School joined the Girls to be tutored in French by the modern language teacher, Mme. Mettinet. For everyone except Florentyna, this was a first, painful introduction to the language. As the class chanted boucher, boulanger and épicier after Madame, Florentyna, more out of boredom than bravado, began holding a conversation with FDR in French. Her next-door neighbor, a tall, rather lazy boy named Edward Winchester, who seemed unable to grasp the difference between le and la , leaned over and told Florentyna to stop showing off. Florentyna reddened. ‘I was only trying to explain to FDR the difference between the masculine and the feminine.’

‘Were you?’ said Edward. ‘Well, I’ll show you le difference , Mademoiselle Know-All,’ and in a fit of fury he grabbed FDR and with all the strength he could muster tore one of the bear’s arms from its body. Florentyna remained rooted to her seat in shock as Edward then took the inkwell out of his desk and poured the contents over the bear’s head.

Mme. Mettinet, who had never approved of having boys in the same class as girls, rushed to the back of the room, but it was too late. FDR was already royal blue from head to toe and sat on the floor in the middle of a circle of stuffing from his severed arm. Florentyna grabbed her favorite friend, tears diluting the puddled ink. Mme. Mettinet marched Edward to the headmaster’s office and instructed the other children to sit in silence until she returned.

Florentyna crawled around the floor, trying hopelessly to put the stuffing back into FDR, when a fair-haired girl Florentyna had never liked leaned over and hissed, ‘Serves you right, stupid Polack.’ The class giggled at the girl’s remark and some of them started to chant, ‘Stupid Polack, stupid Polack, stupid Polack.’ Florentyna clung to FDR and prayed for Mme. Mettinet’s return.

It seemed like hours, although it was only a few minutes, before the French mistress reappeared, with Edward looking suitably crestfallen following in her wake. The chanting stopped the moment Mme. Mettinet entered the room, but Florentyna couldn’t even make herself look up. In the unnatural silence, Edward walked up to Florentyna and apologized in a voice that was as loud as it was unconvincing. He returned to his seat and grinned at his classmates.

When Miss Tredgold picked up her charge from school that afternoon she could hardly miss noticing that the child’s face was red from crying and that she walked with a bowed head, clinging onto blue-faced FDR by his remaining arm. Miss Tredgold coaxed the whole story out of Florentyna before they reached home. She then gave the child her favorite supper of hamburger and ice cream, two dishes of which she normally disapproved, and put her to bed early, hoping she would quickly fall asleep. After a futile hour with nail brush and soap spent trying to clean up the indelibly stained bear, Miss Tredgold was forced to concede defeat. As she laid the damp animal by Florentyna’s side, a small voice from under the bedcovers said, ‘Thank you, Miss Tredgold. FDR needs all the friends he can get.’

When Abel returned a little after 10 P.M. — he had taken to arriving home late almost every night — Miss Tredgold sought a private meeting with him. Abel was surprised by the request and led her at once to his study. During the eighteen months she had been in his employ, Miss Tredgold had always reported the week’s progress to Mr. Rosnovski on Sundays between 10 and 10:30 A.M. when Zaphia accompanied Florentyna to Sunday Mass at Holy Name Cathedral. Miss Tredgold’s reports were always clear and accurate; if anything, she had a tendency to underestimate the child’s achievements.