The pains were coming more frequently.
“Alden,” Gilde whispered. “I think I am in labor.”
At four thirty that afternoon, Victoria Lynn Thornbury was born. Alden and Gilde named her Victoria in honor of the victory of the Allies. In reality she was a wrinkled, red little bundle. But Victoria was healthy and had a set of lungs like her mother’s. And to Alden and Gilde she was the most beautiful baby that had ever been born in the entire history of the world. They counted her fingers and toes. Marveled at her tiny earlobes. And because they were so happy and in love, they both seemed to have forgotten that Alden wasn’t her birth father.
The next three months were chaotic. Victoria, or Vicky as they called her, had colic and almost never slept through the night. Alden and Gilde took turns walking with her and rocking her. Alden bought Gilde a secondhand wooden rocking chair. The motion seemed to soothe Vicky’s stomach. Gilde couldn’t help but notice that the chair had been hand carved. One night as she rocked Vicky to sleep, her eyes examined the arm of the chair. It had small intricate rabbits and butterflies carved into the wood. Suddenly she was flooded with memories of her father. He made furniture like that, with beautiful carvings. She remembered watching him work when she was just a child. He would be so intent, such a perfectionist that every piece he turned out was a work of art. Gilde didn’t realize it but she was weeping softly. Alden was asleep in the other bedroom and even though he was exhausted, he heard Gilde and got out of bed. When he saw her sitting in the chair with Vicky asleep in her arms and tears rolling down her cheeks, he went to her and knelt beside her.
“Sweetheart … you’re tired. Let me take the baby for a while.”
She shook her head. “I’m alright”
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
“You see this? These tiny little rabbits and butterflies? My father used to make furniture like this. My papa is a real artisan.”
“You miss him?”
“Very much.”
“Well, as soon as we can get into Germany, we’ll go and find him.”
“He was arrested before I left. I never saw him again after that night. Do you think he is alright? Do you think he’s alive? I mean, do you remember that article about the concentration camp and how terrible it was.” Her voice was ragged with emotion.
“I don’t know what we are going to find when we get to Germany, Gilde. But I am going to do everything to help you look for your family and no matter what we discover I’ll be there with you. I wish I could promise you that all of your loved ones are alright But, I won’t lie to you. I can’t make that promise.”
He stroked her knee.
“I love you, Alden, and it is such a comfort to know you’ll be with me.”
“Of course I will. I’ll always be with you no matter what we have to face. I’ll spend the rest of my life taking care of you and showing you how grateful I am that you do love me.”
CHAPTER 73
By early September Vicky’s colic had settled down. She was sleeping through the night. Now Gilde was able to get some rest, but raising a baby was still more work than Gilde had ever anticipated. Finally, Alden decided that Gilde needed to get away. They’d been invited to a friend’s wedding in the East End of London. He thought the trip would be good for her, so he arranged for one of their mutual friends, Ruth, a senior nurse, to stay with Vicky. At first Gilde resisted. She didn’t want to leave the baby. But, Alden reminded her that they both knew Ruth was a very capable nurse.
“Come on, sweetheart. You need the break,” he said. “We’ll only be gone a few days.”
Gilde reluctantly agreed. Ruth arrived at eight o’clock the following morning, but it took Gilde over two hours to explain all of Vicky’s needs.
“I raised my two sisters. My mum was sick. I am sure I can handle this,” Ruth said, winking at Gilde. “Go and have a good time. You both need it.”
CHAPTER 74
It had been quite a while since Gilde had been in London. And being there brought up memories. So much had happened to her in London. She thought of Jane, William, Sam, Sharon, and Lenore. So many people had come and gone in her life. Gilde said a silent prayer begging God to take her before he took Alden. Please God, she prayed silently, I don’t want to ever have to face losing him. But she never mentioned it to Alden.
Alden had arranged for them to stay in a nice hotel. The room was decorated beautifully.
“This is like our belated honeymoon,” he said. They made love a half hour after they arrived. But Gilde couldn’t get Vicky off her mind. She called Ruth twice that first day to make sure everything was alright
Ruth assured her that everything was fine. The wedding was scheduled for the following evening. The first night Gilde and Alden were on their own to enjoy a nice evening out in London.
They went to dinner at a fancy pub right in Piccadilly Square. Gilde hadn’t worn her high heels or the silk stockings that William had given her in over a year. She got dressed and although in the back of her mind she was constantly thinking of her baby, she felt pretty for the first time since she’d gotten pregnant.
Alden ordered wine. As they sat close together at a corner table sipping the wine slowly, a crowd of people entered the pub. It was a group of both men and women and they were loud and laughing. Gilde glanced over at them and recognized a very familiar face. The man with the familiar face saw her too.
“Gilde Margolis? Is that you?”
“Elias? Elias Green?”
“Yeah, it’s me…” Elias said, walking over. “How have you been?”
“Fine. And you?”
“I’ve been doing well.”
“Were you in the war?”
“Yeah, actually, I was decorated by the British intelligence office for my service.”
“Very impressive.” She smiled. “Well, you look terrific. By the way, have you seen Shaul?”
“Never saw him again after we all separated at the train depot that morning.”
“This is my husband, Alden. Alden, this is Elias Green. We were on the Kindertransport together when we came to Britain from Germany.”
A woman with short blond hair came walking up. “Elias, the party is in the other room,” she said. Gilde thought she was rude.
“Babs, I want you to meet an old friend of mine. This is Gilde Margolis. I’ve known her since we were children. We came over from Germany with a group together,” he said, then he made sure to add, “This is Alden, her husband.”
“Nice to meet you,” Gilde said. “It’s not Gilde Margolis anymore.” She smiled at Alden. “It’s Gilde Thornbury.”
“Say, why don’t you two join us? My wife, Babs, is an actress and that group in the other room, well, they are all part of her cast party. What do you say, Babs?”
“Sure, come as my guests,” she said without enthusiasm, looking Gilde up and down and scrutinizing whether to worry about Elias trying to sleep with her or not.
Alden shrugged. “We don’t want to intrude.”
“Don’t be silly, come on, it’ll be fun,” Elias said.
Gilde and Alden entered the private room. A piano player was playing show tunes. Everyone was dressed in formal attire.
“Sit with me, come on, let’s catch up,” Elias said to Gilde. “So, it’s been years since the last time I saw you, you were just a twelve-year-old standing outside the train station. Do you remember?”
“Yes, I remember every minute of that trip. I was so afraid.”
“I think we all were. I always wonder how Shaul is doing.”
Just then a man in his early forties, tall and well-groomed, took a microphone and stood by the piano.
“Welcome everyone. Mr. Jacobson and I would like to thank all of you for your hard work on The Song of the Blackbird. Every one of you did a wonderful job….”
“That’s the director,” Elias whispered. “Jacobson is the producer. Babs was lucky to land this part. Even though it wasn’t a lead, it was a big step in her career.” It
was easy to see that Elias had been drinking. His speech was a little slurred, his eyes were red, and his voice was too loud.
“I’ll bet you’re really proud of her,” Gilde said.
“Yes, I am,” Elias said. “Hey, didn’t you want to be an actress when you were young?”
“Yeah, that was a long time ago,” Gilde said.
“She still has the most beautiful voice,” Alden said, taking Gilde’s hand. “She sings to our daughter all the time.”
“I remember that you had a good singing voice. You used to sing sometimes when we were at school at the orphanage.”
“Now I sing my little girl to sleep and hope the singing works.” She laughed.
“I can’t believe you have a child!”
“Yes, she’s wonderful. She’s three months old.”
“That’s really something.”
“Do you have any children?”
“No, not yet. Not with our careers. It just hasn’t been the right time,” he said. Then, changing the subject, his eyes brightened up and he said, “I have an idea. This should be a lot of fun. I’ll be right back.”
“Where’s he going?” Alden asked, leery of Elias.
“I don’t know.”
“He’s a heavy drinker. I can see that,” Alden said.
“I would have to agree with you from what I can see. But, I hardly know him. I haven’t seen him for years.”
“Ladies and gentleman, Babs’s husband has asked us for a special favor. He’d like to invite an old friend up to sing a song for all of us. We’ve agreed to indulge him. So, Gilde Margolis, please come on up to the stage.”
Alden and Gilde looked at each other. “I couldn’t,” she said. “But thank you for asking me.”
“You can and you will,” the director said. “Come on, nobody here will bite you.”
Gilde shrugged. Elias came back to the table and grabbed Gilde’s hand. Alden said lamely, “Her name is Gilde Thornbury, not Margolis.” Then as soon as the words left his lips, he felt foolish.
“Do you know any American music?” the piano player asked.
“Some,” Gilde said.
“Do you know ‘Chattanooga Choo Choo?’”
“Actually I do know that song.”
“Okay then, let’s go.” The piano player’s fingers danced over the keys as the lively tune sprung to life.
Gilde hadn’t sung in front of a crowd in years, and she’d never sung in front of a group of professional entertainers before. Her knees wobbled. But as soon as she opened her mouth and began to sing, she forgot that anyone was watching. Her natural rhythm kicked in and she began singing and moving with the beat. When the song was finished, the entire audience stood up, clapping. Her face flushed and she whispered, “Thank you.” Then handed the microphone to the director of the play and turned to leave.
“Hey, wait a minute,” the director said, taking the mike away from his mouth. “Your name is Gilda, right?”
“Gilde.”
“Gilde, that was sensational. I have a part for you in my next production. Are you interested?”
She had to hold on to the piano or she might have fallen over. “A part? In a play?”
“Yes, a professional show. On the London stage. Here’s my card. Call me tomorrow.”
Gilde took the card and went back to her table.
“You were wonderful, sweetheart,” Alden said.
That night back at the hotel room, Alden and Gilde made love. She lay in his arms knowing she had to talk to him about the offer from the director but not wanting to disrupt the bliss of the mood.
“Alden. I don’t know how you’re going to feel about this, but the director offered me a part in a real professional production. It’s been my dream to do something like this since I was a little girl. But if you don’t want me to do it, I’ll understand. If I take it, I’ll need to move to London. At least until the show closes. I could take Vicky with me. I’d have to hire a nurse to watch her during rehearsals and when I was on stage….”
Alden cleared his throat. “You want this?”
“Yes, I really do,” she said.
“Well … it won’t be easy on us. But, I love you too much to ever stand in your way. I’ve always told you that I would stand behind you no matter what.”
“Oh Alden, really?”
“Of course. It makes you happy, so we’ll find a way to make it work. I’ll find a job in a hospital in London. We’ll hire a nurse to help with Vicky.” He kissed the top of her head. “If this is your dream, sweetheart, then I am going to do everything I can to help you make it come true.”
CHAPTER 75
When Babs heard that Gilde had landed a part in the next production she was furious with Elias for interfering.
“Don’t be jealous, Babs, it doesn’t become you,” Elias said.
“I might have gotten that part if you hadn’t put your nose where it didn’t belong.”
“You and Gilde are different types. I doubt you would be competing.”
“Well, don’t doubt it. You might be my husband, but you aren’t my friend. I am sick and tired of you, of your drinking, of your risk-taking, of your cheating. I have had it, Elias. I’m done. I’m leaving. Don’t come looking for me. This time it’s really over.”
“You’re making more of this than it is,” he said.
“I don’t care what you say. I’m done. You have all kinds of problems that you can’t let go of from your past. It’s not my fault that you were orphaned or that you had bad relationships with women before me. All I know is I can’t fix you, Elias. I’ve tried. God knows I’ve tried. You hurt me, I forgive you and take you back, and then you hurt me again. I won’t do it anymore. This is it. I’m done with you for good.”
Elias poured himself a drink and gulped it down while he listened to Babs slamming her suitcase in the bedroom. He knew she was packing. What could he do or say? It didn’t matter anyway. Women would come and go, and in the end they would all prove to be the same. He poured another drink.
CHAPTER 76
The first meeting of the cast was at the playhouse the following week.
“You have one week to be off book. We have another week of rehearsals, and then the show goes on,” the director said as Gilde sat listening.
She couldn’t believe that she was going to perform in a professional show. Would she be able to memorize her lines in time? She had to, she had no choice.
As soon as Gilde received her script she went home and began working on memorizing her lines. Even while she was feeding and bathing Vicky, she had a copy of the script beside her and she was rereading the lines over. Her part was small, but it did include a singing solo and she wanted to get it right. If she wasn’t ready in a week, she was sure they could easily replace her.
With his medical experience during the war, Alden had easily landed a position at a prestigious hospital in the West End of London. The salary was better than he’d been earning at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and they found a spacious second-floor flat a few streets from his job. The hours were long, but even though he came home exhausted, he insisted on staying awake and helping Gilde by running lines. They hired a young capable nurse, Brenda, who Alden knew from the hospital, to help with Vicky. She came to their house on a part-time basis. During the two weeks before the show opened, Gilde wanted Brenda to come as often as possible so that Vicky could get used to her.
The first night that the show was to open, Gilde sat backstage in the community dressing room contemplating running out of the theater before her cue was spoken by her fellow actor. But, she didn’t. At first when she walked out on stage she was dazed by the large crowd in the audience, but once she started singing she forgot that anyone was watching at all, and her voice rang through the auditorium like a silver bell. The audience loved her. By the end of the first month, she was offered and accepted a bigger and better part at another theater not far away, where she even had a small private dressing room. Although she was not quite famo
us, her name was becoming known amongst the regular theater crowd. And the directors were beginning to take notice of the bright young vivacious Gilde. She had all the makings of a star- a strong voice, a pretty face, a voluptuous body, and a brilliant sense of humor.
Alden never wavered in his support of his wife, and because he was always her best friend, besides being her husband and lover, her admiration for him grew and she loved him even more for his quiet stability and reassurance.
Every night of the show, as was expected of the cast, following the performance, Gilde came outside the back door in her gold lamé gown to autograph programs for the fans. It was on one such night that she walked out the back door, pen in hand to the music of loud applause, when she glanced over the crowd and saw Archie. He stood there on crutches, still handsome, with a dark-haired woman on his arm, a pale, slender woman. Archie’s eyes caught Gilde’s. His face broke into a smile. “Sign my program, please, Mrs. Thornbury,” someone said. “Mrs. Thornbury, will you please autograph this for my son?”
She was surrounded by fans. They were all calling out to her at once. For a moment she felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Then all the memories of her and Archie, what she had done and the shame she’d brought upon herself, came rushing at her in a surge like a tidal wave.
Gilde felt herself flush. Her knees seemed to be giving way beneath her. Keep calm, she told herself, all these people are watching you. Then she raised both hands in the air. “I’m sorry to disappoint all of you, but I am not feeling well tonight, so there will be no autographs. However, I want to thank you for coming to see the show. Please know that your support means a lot to me,” she said, trying to force a smile. Then she turned around and with her head high she quickly went back inside the theater.
Her heart was beating wildly as she disappeared behind the door in her dressing room. She dropped into the chair and put her face in her hands. It was hard to breathe. But only a moment later there was a knock at her dressing room door.
Oh no, she thought. Could Archie have paid someone to let him come backstage?