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He wanted to send his sincerest congratulations. Marius figured that it would be better to keep things short and simple. His daughter wouldn’t care for any long winded explanations or vows of change. The address was given by a friend of a colleague of an old friend. Word was that Coulter was of decent stock, politically moderate, and the temperament of a river’s smooth surface. And English. But that didn’t bother him for he was glad he instilled enough sense in his daughter for her to stay away from home.
When he arrived at the house, he couldn’t help but admire the fine attention to details that was given to maintaining the facade. His mink daemon began to scratch at the front door before Marius had a chance to knock. A maid was ready before his knuckles grazed the wood a second time. She informed him, ever so sweetly, that missus was out for the afternoon, but that she could inform the boss that there was a visitor. Rather than cool his heels with his son-in-law, Marius politely declined and made his way to snoop around on his own in the meantime.
The gardens stretched on for longer than they should. A gorgeous pond sat right in the middle of the greenery. No doubt there were fountain works that could sprout up from the bottom and put on a good show for party guests. Marble statues were peppered into the scenery. Much to his shock, one had scuff marks on it. With the sun’s glare, Marius couldn’t see inside the house too well. He crept along the side of the building and spied at least four bedrooms, a study, a library, a parlour, a tea room, and other miscellaneous floor space that the rich were fond of. For a moment, he allowed himself to fondly recall the days of kicking his feet up to have his shoes tenderly removed from his feet.
Barely any time had passed. He went to find a place far enough away to go unnoticed, but close enough to watch the entrances and take a seat. As he took in the rare day of sun, he thought about how rest had that rare quality in that he was never bored of it. He stretched his legs out as he appreciated the scenery. It truly was a fine home.
Far later, he saw his daughter walking barefoot against her own driveway before returning her heels to her feet as she caught her breath and ran one last hand over her hair. She slipped in the door after fixing a smile to her face. Marius got up to his feet. He dusted himself off before taking a long loop back around to the door. At last, he got his chance to knock a second time. The maid greeted him again.
Unfortunately, it was the boss that shook his hand first. Marius frowned as the word “affable” slid across his mind.
Edward gripped Marius’s hand with both of his. “Wonderful to meet you. My wife didn’t tell me she was expecting a visitor.”
“I’m a surprise. Called Marius.” He grinned, “Too embarrassed to call ahead. I was so sorry to miss the big day.”
“It’s fine! Fine!” Edward led him inside. “Marisa!”
Marisa stood a foyer’s length away from her father. “Oh…” She smiled without teeth.
“Here at last offering my sincerest congratulations, belated though they may be.” Marius opened his hands to his sides. In the corner of his eye he saw Edward’s brows drop for a moment seeing the daemons take a step towards each other and nothing more.
“Thank you.” Her face remained the same. “Very belated. Months and months of delay.”
“Lost in New Denmark.”
“Is that so?” Was that a laugh?
“Well!” Edward scratched the back of his head. “I suppose you two have some catching up to do?”
Marisa adjusted her attention back to her husband. “Oh dear, this is Marius! I’ve known him since I was just a baby. An old friend of the family. Such a shame we missed him at the wedding.”
“An old friend? With the name, I may have guessed that he was a cousin or uncle.” Edward’s laugh sounded strained, but Marius supposed it must be what came naturally.
“Not invited to the club, unfortunately,” Marius offered.
“Well, I’ll leave you two to catch up.”
Marisa took his hands, “Join us.”
“In a bit, I have some calls I promised I’d make. Some egos to goose.” Edward clasped his hands together. “Please, go ahead. I’ll catch up on the conversation later.” He excused himself as quickly as possible.
Marisa tapped a heel against the ground. “Parlour.”
“Which one?”
She took off without looking at him. He took the cue to follow. The room was stuffed with soft pillows, soft corners, soft curtains. He understands why she chose it.
She was sitting before she looked at him again. “Wherever you want.”
He picked a spot perpendicular to her. “So who is it you had your rendezvous with this afternoon?”
Marisa laughed and kept laughing. At one point she has to cover her mouth. “Oh, you’re terrified.”
The mink crawled up to the armrest next to Marius.
“Are you broke? Hm… wanted by the highest of the high?”
“No.” He looked at his palm. “Are you happy?”
Her eyebrows shot up.
The question he asked surprised him. “Are you alright?”
The earrings jingled a little as she shook her head. “Yes, papa.”
“Good, that’s good.”
“Were you really in New Denmark?”
“Sometimes.”
“That’s funny.”
All grown up. He couldn’t help but be bombarded with cliché thoughts of wonder at how big she has gotten, how different and yet how the same she was. He was upset that she didn’t shake his hand when she saw him. Or at least offered him a drink. Something to do with his hands.
It made him sigh too loudly. His breath felt like a solid thing that was pushing him around. If it wouldn’t be so noticeable, he would start holding it. “Why this one?”
Marisa rolled her eyes. “Why not? You don’t like him?”
“I’m sure your mother approves.”
“Oh,” she groaned. Marisa stood up and began to pace her side of the room. Her monkey daemon remained fixed to his spot. “This old thing.”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“You shouldn’t have showed up.” She said it coolly, not meant to be sharp, just a blunt fact.
Marius drummed his fingers against his knees. “Always keep an eye on you two. Send a signal here and there. Haven’t you been getting them?”
“I haven’t been looking for them,” another fact. She pushed it towards him with the wave of her hand. “Can’t speak for Marcel, of course. Are you going to hang around long?”
“No, I wouldn’t do that to you. I needed to speak to you face to face because I’m concerned with what I’ve been hearing.”
Finally, finally , he got her full attention. She put both hands on the back of a chair. Before she spoke, her head cocked, “Really?”
“The people you’re inking your name with…”
“Oh this can’t be about Eddie, can it?”
“Not your husband,” Marius leaned forward, “Those blood hungry fascists!”
“Spare me the bloated talk!”
“It’s not bloated if it’s true.”
“If you knew a single thing about what I do, you would have been able to do it yourself, or at the least, tear it down successfully. Go back to your nomadic life. It suits you.”
Marius stood up with a scowl on his face. “You do not get to talk down to me, young lady.”
“You’re not going to convince me out of it. Though it will be sweet of you to try. Actually, yes, I’d like you to try.” She put her hands under her chin. The act made Marius want to scream. Maybe he should have put in a few more years in order to drown out the sound of her mother’s upbringing.
“It’s not safe. You’re disposable to them.”
“Not for long.” Her eyes flashed. There was something, and it enraged Marius even more, that she knew. He could feel the sense of superiority that radiated from her. It was like she had an inside joke with herself.
His hands got shoved in his pockets. “Are you really not scared?”
“Not like you.”
Marius’ face twisted up. “What does that mean?”
“It means everything is fantastic. Now please, come down with some head cold or ache. You make my husband nervous.”
Not a strong constitution on that one, Marius thought disapprovingly. His daughter chose a man she could control with little to no effort. It delighted her. She moved with ease. An ease that she was still practicing when he saw her last. His poor little girl has been taught too well. His heart broke. He didn’t want to stay in this room any longer. A few minutes and he felt suffocated. His hand loosened his tie.
“Hm,” was all Marius managed.
His daughter went to open the door for him. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Wait,” Marius cleared his throat, “Is this lover of yours involved in your ambitions at all? Is that why you’re so cavalier about your own life?”
It was the most disturbed Marisa had appeared this whole exchange. She spat out the word, “ Lover . I hate that word.”
He didn’t care for the thought much himself.
“No, papa. He has nothing to do with it. Quite the opposite.”
Marius wanted to stew on that comment, but his daughter was pushing him out the door. First, there was the nonchalant confidence in which she confessed to her affair. Though it bothered him, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Second, and the thing that did surprise, is that whoever this fellow is he would be detrimental to her career. His estranged wife’s daughter should have chosen a harmless lover.
All that came out was, “Marisa, I’m afraid for you.”
She had him at the front door. “I’m so sorry you’re feeling so poorly. A bit of broth will soothe those bones.”
Marius’ voice took on the tone of pleading. He felt humiliated, but he persisted. “Please. If you need my help…”
“Decode those messages you’ve left floating around? Send a whisper on the wind? For the past decade or so you’ve had a curious and mysterious way of showing your concern.”
“I’m not here to make atonement.”
“Sensible.” Marisa looked at him with cool eyes. “Only hungry when there’s blood in the water. That’s who you really are.”
The door stopped centimeters from his nose. He chalked it up to her bad temper. No need to dwell on her words more than that. Marius would stick to his word and leave a small, but big enough, trace so that when she needed his help she could find him. He only had to wait for the call.
But his stubborn daughter would not come to call for some time. It would be roughly two more years and in a different country altogether.
He could hear his son-in-law through the door. "He's not one to stick around, is he?"
“Sweetheart, slow down!” Marius shouted.
His children were running through the house narrowly avoiding death as they careened around each corner. The second hand on the watch was creeping towards the moment where one or both of them would crash into a priceless item sending it to its death. Their daemons would be shifting as they turned the place into their own private obstacle course.
Marius grabbed the back of Marisa’s collar. “Careful.”
She scowled up at him, “You didn’t get Marcel.”
“Later.”
“That’s not fair! He’s the one that took my things, I was just getting them back.”
He laughed, “No it’s not. Now go clean yourself up for dinner.” He stood there as she stomped off down the hall. Her daemon attached himself to her back as she did so. Healthy and a little bit of an attitude, Marius should be pleased with how his daughter was growing up.
As he went to fetch his son and send him off to his own tasks, he thought of loose floor boards, unlocked windows, and staircases to the attic. When Marius chose his wife he was smitten. A viciously sharp and charismatic woman with high standards and vision for her future. Unfortunately, Marius had yet to learn that he had a bad fault of misinterpreting the virtues of others. It took until the second pregnancy for Marius to understand that if he wanted to impart the lessons he wanted to give to his children it would have to be on the sly. It was a disappointment, to be blunt.
Yet, there was a certain charm to being the one that his children would fall back on when they’re mother couldn’t give what they needed. There’s plenty out there about absent, distant, or cruel fathers. More often than not, fathers are a breed that struggle to form close bonds with their offspring. But Marius’ children relied on him to soothe their worries. He could be a steady rock to rely on. It was good to be needed.
Things had begun to change. Lately, both children but Marisa especially, had begun to listen to him less and less. When he offered advice or words of encouragement they remained silent. Just that morning he got word from Marisa’s school that she had been suspected of tormenting other students.
“Suspected?” Marius repeated back to them. “And none of these young ladies have named her name? No? Then what is your proof? Is my daughter’s school performance falling behind? No? Then, I don’t see why you would make this effort to bother one of your bigger donors.”
He chalked it up to the beginning of the preteen rebellion. That hypothesis was losing weight. It wasn’t the growing pains of the search for independence. Marius feared his family was losing respect for him. His position hadn’t changed, nor had his temperament. Everything about him remained the same. Something was moving on without him. He found himself staring at his appetizer as he sat at the head of the dinner table. A seat he suspected he was only being lent.
His wife sat to his right. She had yet to touch her food, preferring to adjust and readjust the silver on the table. The feet of her children ran down the stairs. They appeared like mirages with smoothed hair and even smoother clothes. Marcel showed off his teeth to his mother as he pulled out his chair. Running around the table, Marisa gave her mother a peck on the cheek. It was just a peck, but Marius couldn’t help feeling like an inside joke was being exchanged. When they said grace, Marius kept his eyes open.
The discussion stayed within the normal range of topics. The children talked about their schooling, their plans for the upcoming holiday, and regular spats between brother and sister. Everything that was being shared was news to Marius. He did not recognize the teacher’s names or the interests that made his children’s eyes light up. There was no convincing way to argue that this was out of the blue. A gradual ramp up occurred. Marius missed the signs. He had been spending most of his time out of the house making connections with friends from the east, west, south, and north. His network made him quite proud.
“Have you packed your bag?”
“Yes, maman.” Marisa took a bite of her potatoes.
Marius furrowed his brow, “For what? I don’t remember being told we were going somewhere.”
“Marisa and I are,” his wife placed her hand on his, “to Geneva.”
“Geneva? What for?”
“It’s important for young ladies to be well traveled.”
“I agree,” Marius grumbled, “but why Geneva? There are plenty of great cities that offer something actually different from home. And why didn’t you inform me?”
“It was the spur of the moment. I practically just got the idea.”
He noticed his daughter’s eyes flickered to her mother as she suppressed a smirk.
“When are you two leaving?”
“Tomorrow.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Marcel chimed in, “Papa, it’s only a couple days.”
“Oh and the boy knew!”
His wife rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Don’t raise your voice at the dinner table.”
“I can raise my voice at my own table.” His daemon was nipping at his own ankle. “I don’t see why a weekend away had to be so cloak and dagger.”
“Do you need a bath?”
“I need some air,” he shot up from his seat, jammed his hands in his pockets and walked out the door. The evening air was bitterly cold. It stabbed at his throat. He stood out there hacking into his handkerchief as he looked up at the house behind him.
Marius knew he shouldn’t have gotten so worked up over that, but his patience was leaving him. That’s what he chalked it up to, at least.
He had stormed out without a coat and was paying the price. His pride wouldn’t allow him back inside just yet so he went up and down the street before returning inside with blue hands. When he did, the table was cleared and everyone had returned upstairs. He went down the hall to find his daughter.
The door was cracked open. She sat at her desk with her back to him.
Marius warmed his knuckles and knocked, “Can I come in?”
“Okay,” she said without turning around.
He cleared his throat.
Marisa turned around in her chair. “Are you still mad?” Her daemon was sitting on the bed watching his mink.
“No, I’m not still mad.” He clarified, “I wasn’t mad.”
“It’s only a couple days.”
“So I’ve heard. Did your mother tell you what this is for?”
Marisa shrugged. “We’re going to museums, the orchestra… Maman wanted to show me around the city.”
“Why not your brother?”
“Because I was the one who asked maman about going somewhere, so he will just have to miss out!” She rolled her eyes.
“Marisa. Don’t take that tone.”
She mumbled, “Sorry, papa. Don’t fight with maman about it. Please. I’m really excited to go.”
Marius frowned, “I won’t.”
The next morning he woke up early so he could say goodbye to his wife and daughter and personally drive them to the zeppelin they were going to catch. He waited in his car until the aircraft became a dot in the sky.
Back at home, Marius flipped through his private contact book. An address in Geneva jumped out at him. It wouldn’t be difficult to keep an eye on those two in case his wife had her own secrets to keep. But he knew his daughter didn’t want him to. She wasn’t being dragged along to something she didn’t ask for. She didn’t need his help.