Garstein's Legacy

  Chapter 4. Inheritance

  Connie died just before her ninety-seventh birthday, but kept her faculties well enough until very near the end. Alex's forebodings about the attitude of Ernest and Sylvia afterwards proved correct, especially after the reading of her Will. She had already purchased an annuity for the maid Betsy; otherwise she left the whole of her estate "in two equal parts to my son Ernest and to my son-in-law Alexander Forster, who has been like a son to me and whom I name as executor as being the more capable of the two." That last phrase particularly irked Sylvia, and Ernest was none too pleased although inwardly he recognised the truth in it. Even Alex thought it unfair since such a task was well within Ernest's capabilities, and said so, but for his pains was sharply told not to be so damned patronising.

  More materially, Sylvia's expectations were shattered by the division of the estate, since in her usual thoughtless way she had confidently assumed in the absence of Conrad (who like the Prodigal Son had already taken his share) that it would pass entirely to Ernest and herself. She urged Ernest to challenge the Will on the grounds of undue influence, but he thought success very unlikely and their attorney agreed. Everyone took it for granted that they ought to keep the family home, and Alex had at first intended that it should be substantially undervalued in the assessment of Connie's estate, but in view of their stance he hardened his own and took an average of two estimates commissioned by their respective attorneys. That left him with the greater part of the family share in the business and its revenues.

  With much lower income than she had expected, Sylvia decreed economies, the first being that the Martinez woman and her brats must go. Where they went was not her concern, but Maria appealed to Alex who felt obliged to do something for her in view of his hand in setting up her position, and considered carefully what it should be. There was clearly no point in asking Sylvia to reconsider her decision. He thought of finding another house for them, or rather for himself in Billings with Maria as resident housekeeper, but then remembered that in winter she suffered from the northern climate and had several times compared it unfavourably with São Paulo's.

  Instead, after enquiries about conditions there, he set up an account for her with a sum sufficient to buy a modest house in a tolerably respectable area of the city, and found for her the address of an agent his contacts believed to be as honest as any she was likely to find. He also set up a trust fund for the twins' education, with a margin for subsistence. From Betsy's initially grudging acknowledgement of Maria's attitude to work, he believed (or rather hoped) that she would not take long to find employment paid well enough for a living standard suited to the district. She was full of gratitude and assured him that like Connie, he would always be remembered in her daily prayers. Well, they could do no harm, and were certainly preferable to the curses that he thought might be directed at Sylvia and Ernest. With that in mind, he suggested that she might also pray for them as well, since for all their blessings they were not a happy couple. Her first reaction confirmed his suspicion, but on a moment's reflection softened just a little. "It goes against the grain, Senhor, but I shall do it for your sake."

  Thereafter, when he had business in the area, he would stay in a city hotel if the meetings were particularly early or late, but more often preferred the peace and solitude of Garstein's place. He gathered a small library of paperbacks that would not matter greatly if spoiled by damp in his absence. With the improvements he had made to the facilities, especially a few Tilley lamps to improve the lighting, he could happily spend the evenings reading.

  Some months after Connie's death, it occurred to him that he ought to revise his own Will, which had been made about ten years earlier under very different circumstances. The main legacy had been to Ernest and Sylvia, so that could be deleted for a start. There were bequests to various charitable or cultural organisations, and with some adjustments to the selection he corrected these in line with inflation, then doubled or tripled them. The results were still small in relation to his current wealth but in most instances a substantial part of their annual budget. A portion of his estate could of course go to the Martinez family, but he was anxious to avoid the dangers of swamping them with a sudden massive windfall and restrained his inclinations. That still left the great bulk to be reassigned, and he pondered very carefully how that should be disposed. Now that the Broadbents were dead or estranged, he had no close friends, and knew that various other people who had been especially kind to him were also now dead, but then he suddenly thought of the Cramptons; yes, why not? A letter to the only address he had for them went unanswered, but they could have moved house. He explained his intention to Weinberg, already appointed executor, and inserted in the Will an instruction to commission a search.