CHAPTER 2

The Wild Flower

IT TOOK AWHILE FOR THEM TO REACH THE MANOR.

From where they stood before the sight, these young gentlemen could see the windows. The glimmer of light winked at them from the curtains and shutters that lay open. Above them, the balcony was partly filled with flowers which stood out from the scenery.

Carl Ferd looked stunned at the sight of his longtime friend, Reimund Vester, a half-German chap. He was clad in a lieutenant uniform when he was already at the door, appearing to be dashing. With that look anywhere around the block, he could swoon any ladies even at a far distance, and be worthy of anyone's attention.

His pair of eyes were strikingly blue, quite frank and filled with goodness in it. Beneath the man's tall stature of iron, the flowing shadows would follow everywhere he went.

He cast a beam of delight across his face, and it almost resembled the brilliant color of his golden hair that went straight down upon the pearly forehead. August was under the impression that he was a man of softness for a lieutenant.

"Good day, I'm glad you came and-" Reimund paused to his feet and cast an astonished expression, blinking at the newcomer. "You brought someone?"

Carl nodded as he gestured to August and gave a slap on his back.

"Yes, Reimund. Let me introduce you to a very good friend of mine, August Lindeberg."

"Pleasant to meet you. How are you, Herr Lindeberg?" Reimund outstretched his arm and August returned it with a shake of the hand.

"Good, thank you." was the terse reply.

"I assume you are a student of architecture just like Carl here?" The lieutenant asked with a winning smile.

"Well, no. I'm a painter."

"Ah, the academic painter! Imagine if my fiance and I are your subjects!" His mouth curled into an eager smile. So eager his smile tickled the life out of his teeth.

Here, August thought of him as a bright, lively thing.

Too lively for him. 

Despite his lack of fondness towards the Viennese custom and people, he knew such species like this man would inevitably get along with anyone and even him.

A short pause had followed until it was quickly avoided by the lieutenant later on. 

"I mean you don't mind if I can hire you?"

August raised his brows, feeling suddenly amused. "Sure, I don't really mind so much."

"Perfect! We'll make a schedule for it. I was searching for someone like you actually. Quite a coincidence."

"Well, I mean-" August slowly gulped, blinked away, and found it quite difficult to form a sentence in this situation, since he initially took the offer as a mere joke. 

"Anyhow, I urge both of you to join and have a casual discourse with my fiance's family. We'll be having dinner soon in about an hour from now. The Jansten's will surely love the company, especially from students."

"Yes, not to mention Frau Elia," Carl added, with a note of sarcasm in his tone. "I have a feeling your soon to be mother-in-law will not be entirely satisfied with our presence since disrupting and meddling in her private life won't be a good idea."

"Rubbish! Don't talk nonsense," Reimund returned with an assured air. "I can guarantee you, she'll be pleased."

In a few minutes, he finally ushered these gentlemen inside.

The entrance hall was commodious with pillars that were made to be the bones of the manor. Within these walls, old-fashioned windows stood out with long crimson curtains that were pulled aside. Below their feet, the parquet floors have different patterns in every storeys beneath the carpet.

Their eyes travelled around the parlor from the flower in the vase on the round mahogany table, to the paintings against the walls until someone arrested their attention.

It was Frau Elia who came from the banister under the crystal chandelier. The wrinkled lines upon her face were the roots of her inner skin, revealing that her beauty had faded into a withered flower. Her chin held with a grand air, full of poise, yet there was no sign of haughtiness whatsoever.

"Good evening, gentlemen," she greeted and cast a grim expression at her guests, her wrinkled hand slid down stiffly on the staircase.

The men returned her greeting with a slight bow.

"Evening, we'll be in the dining room after I'll show them what the pavilion looks like, it won't take long." Reimund announced.

Frau Elia cocked her silvery brow and then nodded at Reimund. "Of course."

And so, these gentlemen slipped outside through the arched flowers.

Across the pavilion, the twins showed up after a few minutes where Phillipe and Gustav Jansten were frolicking around the water fountain in their garden.

Both were boys of twelve and have the same physical features. Their satiny brown hair had streaks of red over their crowning head, furling down behind the nape of their necks.

"Evening, boys! Where's your sister? I thought she was with you two a while ago." Reimund called from the pavilion.

The boys jerked their heads, perked their ears and stopped from their childish play when the voice interrupted them and swept them off guard. They waved at Reimund as if he was the only man who was in their presence.

Then the twins flew toward the men with their running feet until they leaped their way to the pavilion.

"She went upstairs. She said she wanted to take a bath because you mentioned she was smelly, Herr Vester." Gustav blurted out with the frank answer of a child.

Reimund forced back a laugh when his muscle stirred and he cleared his throat by replying, "I didn't mean it was her, she might have misunderstood me," He smiled. "What were you two playing over there?" He took a good look at the garden, and ruffled his soon to be brother in law's disheveled hair.

"Hopscotch, but we were playing blind man's buff with Susie."

"Who was blindfolded?" Reimund inquired.

"Susie," Gustav replied. "Phillipe and I were trying to find a good hiding spot. You see, I master at this game, and you'll be mighty surprised by my tactics."

"No doubt, your masterful ways shall win over me then," Reimund grinned and cast his attention upon the taciturn twin. "What about you, Phillipe? You must be skillful in hiding, too I assume?"

"Not so great as Gustav. But I'm very fond of the game, Herr Vester." Phillipe said and his hand rubbed against his elbow, a color surged over his cheekbones under his averted eyes.

"Don't let your brother beat you," The lieutenant smiled, growing with interest at the diffident boy. "By the way, I've reminded both of you not to refer to me as Herr Vester. Come on, even your sister calls me Reimund."

The twins exchanged glances.

"Mama told us not to call the elderly by their first name except Susie, of course," explained Gustav.

"Am I an elderly?" Reimund laughed,
"What if I permit you to call me Reimund from now on?"

"Like I said before, Mama told us it is rude if we don't call you by your surname." Gustav repeated, shrugging.

"If that is the case, then try not to do it when your mama isn't here. You may stick to my nickname without her knowledge. Have I made myself clear?" He bent nearer before the twins, palms tightly clasped together behind his back.

The twins stood erect, nodded, and raised their arms with a salute in a comical manner.

Reimund was flattered by the scene, and even Carl failed to hide his pleasure at the sight of these twins who were full of innocence. However, August had found nothing special about them and regarded the twins as another dead bore of juveniles. He had expected the owner of this manor to be someone who was a paternal figure.

Someone who had a bushy whisker, with spectacles and with an air that would have intimidated anyone. He realized it wasn't the case, and so it didn't take long for August to dive into an assumption when he had stepped into the hallway and noticed these things.

"Fatherless children, I see. No one to look up to, but with the lieutenant," August murmured under his breath, barely in a whisper.

As he scanned around the garden under the pavilion, August took his time to pause and observe, with an insatiable hunger of feeling the splendid beauty of nature around him.

Shortly after they went inside the octagonal room, the servants and the butler swarmed in from the kitchen.

Frau Elia went from the parlor and gestured to the guests and including Reimund to the dining room.

All were seated in their chairs, and August's thin bony fingers twisted the fork in the white napkin while Frau Elia rang her bell to fetch one of her servants.

During that hour, a woman dressed in her vintage gown had fled inside the dining room unexpectedly.

When August noticed her presence, he was immediately trapped under the spell of her beauty. His lust tickled him when he glanced at her neck down to her collarbone that lay exposed.

There, her creamy skin had glowed by the fireplace beside her which gave a clear vision of her curvy waist. Her dark auburn hair was still wetter than her lips, cascading down upon the towel until it reached her hips. He had never in his life, seen a woman that possessed a slim body like hers.

Unlike her mother, this particular creature that caught August's attention was a bloomed flower of a young woman in her mid-twenties. She did not resemble her mother's looks a bit.

As soon as she noticed her guests, she paused for an instant, and the beautiful lady broke into a pretty smile which made her boxes of white teeth twinkled endearingly.

"Why, hello," The woman's voice sounded melodic, almost in a soprano's voice at an opera in August's ears and she twirled the lock of hair between her delicate fingers. "Pardon me for my late arrival."

Reimund and the men in the room rose from their seats.

Her mother, however, appeared rather nettled at her daughter's appearance.

Frau Elia shot her daughter an indignant look. "You didn't put your hair up, Susie." She rebuked in a whisper by the time her daughter joined and sat together beside her mother. Frau Elia seized her daughter's wrist under the table with her sharp reproaching eyes as she leaned over her. "Your hair is still damp, you should know better. For heaven's sake, you are an adult." A sharp hiss went through from her clenched teeth and her daughter's reaction was merely a shrug.

An awkward silence followed, and the men in the room knew it was better to shut their mouths unless the meals were on the table already.

After a brief time of studying Frau Elia in nearly a minute, it was enough for August to assume she was a typical parent who considered themselves as a tyrant over her children.

Frau Elia was a stern woman who act as if her words were law in the house. He despised her for it and the middle aged woman reminded him of his mother again.

Suddenly, the door from the garden had swung open, and the twins rushed inside.

"Now, now, my boys," said Frau Elia, a little gently this time. "Wash your hands first before you eat. I shall not repeat myself to remind you two."

"Ja, Mama. We will!" They cried in a chorus and with that, the regular little men of twelve flew upstairs.

Finally, the servants served their drinks and delicacies in full haste as if there was no more time for the empty stomachs to wait.

The twins came back in a few minutes and hurried to sit on the chairs.

"Everyone in this room must be hungry," Susie began with her hazel eyes dancing fitfully in radiance as she turned to meet her guests. "A thousand pardons if we don't have any tarts, we'll have them by tomorrow."

"No worries, we're extremely grateful to you and your mother. I even invited my college friend, August, here," Carl said.

"Oh?" By now, she looked at the barley-blonde, skinny youth. "What are you majoring in?"

"Art." August gave a nod.

"An art student? How interesting! I've got a few acquaintances that study in the fine arts academy," Susie cried with a flighty ring in her voice. "I assume you paint?"

"He does," Reimund cut in, his eyes fell upon his lover. "I did ask him if he can paint us someday, right August?"

"I forgot to warn you, I mostly prefer landscapes in general," He paused. "But I do portraits, so I suppose it's fine."

"That's wonderful," Susie's pearly teeth brightened, and the art student whom she considered quiet before, had roused her a little by the time he spoke. "I remember Carl said you made an acquaintance with him when he moved in from Salzburg? Am I right, Carl?"

"Indeed, I met him in Freinberg when I just moved to Linz with my parents. August and I normally climbed up there when we were little romps. Whenever we hung out together, I would often visit his farmhouse ."

Reimund smiled after he gulped a drink from the glass of water. "The town must be a beloved home for you, Herr Lindeberg. You missed your family and the farm then?"

August suppressed his chuckle.

"No doubt, sometimes." He smirked at the thought.

His mind roaming around his past, a time when he was back at home five years ago.