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Chapter 43
Leaning on a walking stick as she made her way around the room, Miriam took her time taking in the paintings covering each wall – the wonderful paintings by a talented artist, her father, Otto.
Lili watched her with bated breath, thinking of the paintings that had adorned her wealthy grandparents’ mansion in Corfu decades earlier – paintings that were now sitting a vault in a London museum. She wanted her grandmother’s blessing for what she wanted to do with them, but she needed her approval too. All along, despite the articles in the press calling her a wealthy young heiress of an art collection worth a fortune, Lili had known the truth. She was not the heir to the fortune. Miriam was. They had never been Otto’s to bequeath; the provenance had shown that.
However, these paintings in the cabin – the ones that the press knew nothing about – did belong to Lili. He’d left them to Lili’s mother. In the event of her death, they passed to Otto’s great-granddaughter, Alena Lili Jones.
As she watched Miriam walking slowly around the room, staring at Otto’s art, Lili guessed he’d had good reason not to leave her his private art collection. They had been estranged at the time of his death. He’d never met his grown-up daughter. Lili imagined that he’d thought there was a possibility that Miriam might just get rid of the paintings; destroy them. She watched her grandmother silently studying the paintings and wondered what she was thinking.
Miriam was thinking about a conversation she’d had up at the summerhouse before she’d found Lili. She’d had a long conversation with Elspeth. She’d discovered the human story behind the Nazi officer who had been her father, and it had dispelled all the assumptions she’d made about the skeleton in her closet; the person she’d seen as a war criminal. She’d found out that he’d been the gentlest, kindest man one could ever hope to meet.
Miriam stopped in front of the fireplace to stare at the portrait of her mother. She’d never known her late father had been such a talented artist.
She stood there for some considerable time before she turned and looked at her granddaughter. ‘Remarkable,’ she said. ‘You look just like her. If there was any doubt in my mind that you were my grandchild …’ she trailed off as they chose a seat on the sofa.
Nate, shooing Bella outside, took Alex with him. Lili caught the look on Alex’s face as he followed Nate out of the door to give them some privacy. She wondered how long he had been standing out there and how much of their conversation he’d overheard. Lili was conscious of the fact that when Nate had asked her about leaving for Washington, she had been non-committal. Lili had surprised herself. Despite the playful banter with Nate over taking over Sarah’s flower shop, and staying in the old summerhouse, it had been just that – playful banter. Hadn’t it? She still wanted to go with Alex – didn’t she?
As Miriam took a seat, she said, ‘I wish …’ Her wrinkled face crumpled as she looked around the summerhouse, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Lili had an idea what Miriam wished for; that she hadn’t been estranged from her daughter or missed out on knowing her granddaughter. Then there were the years she might have spent getting to know her father.
‘I wish I’d come with my daughter on her first visit to see Otto,’ confided Miriam. ‘Then perhaps we wouldn’t have been estranged when you were born, and …’
Lili reached for her hand. ‘It’s all right. I’m here now. You’re here now. And that’s all that matters.’ Lili stared at the portrait of Alena and imagined how happy Otto would be if he knew that his daughter had come back to him. Although she hadn’t met him again in her lifetime, at least she knew him now – the kind-hearted artist who had saved her and a little English boy called Joseph.
Lili smiled. ‘You know, I was in Corfu just recently, and my wonderful guide, Spiros, took me to a vineyard.’ Lili glanced up at the portrait of her great-grandmother. It was the actual place where Alena grew up. I walked around the house. It was so wonderful to be there.’
Lili told her grandmother about the knowledgeable tour guide who had talked of the two brothers from the Greek mainland who had found the abandoned vineyard and derelict farmhouse, and how they had restored it.
‘Have you returned to visit your parents’ former home on Corfu since the war?’
Miriam smiled, although she shook her head. ‘I haven’t been back, but the couple who adopted me went. They knew I was the last living relative of the wealthy family who owned the biggest vineyard on the island. As my legal guardians, they acted on my behalf and sold the land to the brothers. You see, the tour guide does not know the full story. Some of the money paid for us all to resettle in Israel, but the rest, they put in trust for me.’ Miriam shifted her gaze to the portrait of her mother.
‘When I came of age, I chose to use that legacy to help other Greek Orthodox Jews, who had lost everything in the war, to resettle in Israel.’
Miriam turned to her granddaughter and smiled. ‘I’d love for us to go there together, if you would like to visit the vineyard again.’
Lili nearly cried. ‘Oh, yes! That would be amazing.’
Miriam squeezed her granddaughter’s hand. She thought so too.
‘Miriam?’
Miriam wiped her eyes dry and turned around at the sound of a familiar voice. ‘Ah, this is Anita. She accompanied me to England.’ Miriam held out her hand. ‘Come sit with us.’
Lili turned in her seat to see a young woman, about her own age, hovering in the doorway. Lili stared at her as she walked into the summerhouse.
Miriam smiled at Lili. ‘You notice the family resemblance. She is your cousin – one of your aunt’s children.’
Lili looked at Miriam. ‘My mum had siblings?’ The idea had never occurred to her.
‘Of course. I had five children.’
‘Five?’
‘There are many, many relatives waiting for you in Israel.’
‘Waiting for me?’
