Lady Madeline

The large house stood on a gentle slope, on the west side of a grove. The tall trees gave it a melancholic and pleasant shade. The landscape looked out on a lush and magnificent scene. A brook crept across the tall grass and the scent of wildflowers hung in the air. Scenes of pure delight in pastoral simplicity.

I loved this place. I was happy to receive an invitation from Lady Madeline to come spend a few hours of afternoon with her. It was more than an invite. She begged me to come see her.

I knocked the lion head on the thick, tall wooden door and a friendly young lady rewarded me shortly after, with a thrilling “welcome.”

-“Lady Madeline will receive you in the drawing-room. Follow me, please.”

She opened a door and I walked into a large room. Bookcases lined three walls, floor to ceiling. Flanked by tall windows is a red marble fireplace. The entire room is inviting, two red sofas face one another in the center, perched on a thick oriental rug in shades of green.

I was still walking around the room when she came in:

-“My dearest child!” she exclaimed as she walked toward me with her arms stretched out, “I am so happy you came!”

I hugged her and said: “ It is always a pleasure to visit you!”

She looks older than the last time I saw her and frailer. I noticed the sad lines around her eyes. She is still elegant. She is not really beautiful in a traditional way, but she is striking nonetheless.

She gestures towards the sofas: “Sit! Sit!”

She rings a small chime and the lady who let me in walks into the drawing-room.

-“What is your palate for tea, Madam?” she asks.

-“My what?” I returned her question with a question.

-“Oolong will be quite fine.” Lady Madeline answers for me. “You can take some sugar in it,” she said, smiling in my direction. “And bring some of that delicious pudding too, please.” She asked before the lady left the room.

I can't stop looking at her. Her eyes hold unfathomable secrets. I see my attention intimidating her. She's not used to being looked at so closely. She smiles tremulously.

The young lady walked back into the room with a tray. Lady Madeline immediately puts a cup and saucer in front of me and pours tea from a floral teapot.

-“I´m more of a coffee junkie.” I said apologetically.

-“Don´t be so vulgar.“ Lady Madeline said while sipping her tea, “Taste the pudding, dear. It´s divine!”

Her eyes followed the fork to my mouth. I rolled my eyes, to show her it was delicious.

-“It´s an old recipe.” Lady Madeline smiled, “I remember an old friendly little lady. She must have worked in our kitchen when I was a child. I never knew who she was. Her image is like the scent in a dream I cannot place. She used to make that pudding for us.” She watched me eat the pudding and smiled some more: “ I always got lost in the flavor. So fruitful and full of fresh spice.”

I nodded, and she continued: “ It was full of love, charity, and hope.” she clapped her hands together.

-“It was sweet and inviting and full of good wishes. And there was always plenty to share. It was brave and truthful, fluffy, and light. It is simply wonderful!” Lady Madeline giggled. 

She stood up and walked toward a window: “I need a new gardener.” She said, then turned around to face me and continued: “No! A landscaper. An artist. Somebody who works with nature instead of against it.”

I stood up and joined her by the window.

-“Someone who understands the changing language of nature. A garden should be a pleasure ground. With all those chrysanthemums my garden looks like a graveyard. Why should there grow flowers for the dead in the gardens of the living?” She tilted her head a little and then continued: “I want flowers to cut and put them all around my house.”

-“Do you have particular flowers in mind?” I asked.

-“Camelias! I want a lot of camelias.” Lady Madeline answered. “At night we can see the constellation of Orion.” She changed the subject, “People say that Orion was a hunter.”

I smiled and spoke: “You have to admit, that constellation could look like a man with a club and a bow.”

“Even an arrow.” Lady Madeline filled in for me. “It´s just stars. You can join the dots in any way you want.”

-“Dots. Seventeen stars to be exact. Billions of 

miles away.” I pointed out.

-“Some of these stars don´t even exist anymore,” She said, while she led me back to the sofa, “ it took them too long to get here, and now they´re dead. This means I don´t really have to take them into account. They are negligible. Just like my sister. I think she will be dead soon too.” There was such coldness in her last sentence.

I put a hand over my mouth: “Good heavens, what makes you say that? I never realized you had siblings.”

Lady Madeline rolled her eyes and shook her shoulders: “A brother and a sister.” She explained, “ I am referred to as the evil other one.”

-“What makes you think she´s going to die?” I enquired.

-“She wrote me a letter asking for forgiveness.” Lady Madeline answered, “Why now? After more than forty years? She is dying." There was a pain in her words.

 "The voice of pain is weak after four decades.” she added

-“I´m so sorry.” I whispered.

-“Don´t be a child.” Lady Madeline said with a soothing voice.

-“May I ask what happened?” I tried cautiously.

 Lady Madeline stood up. And walked toward a picture near the fireplace. I saw her 

mind going back in time. 

-“This picture was taken forty years ago.” She murmured and handed me the picture, “ My world changed forever that day. A day that had begun with such promise, all smashed to pieces a few hours after that picture was taken. We grew up as privileged girls. We visited elite schools, traveled the world and the world expected us to raise great families. Our parents were very conservative. The decision was made, that my sister and I would stay close to home at home. That was never my dream. I refused to live my life in a bird in a cage.

On my travels abroad, but here as well, I had encountered such suffering amongst people. And what stayed with me most of all, was the damage and the consequences of indifference that poverty brings along. I grew to hate institutions after having seen the heartbreak they caused. I wanted to open a house, a real home for underprivileged and traumatized children. I had hoped my sister would support me in this.

The day that pictures were taken, my father had come to give me an ultimatum: I would leave this, in his eyes, absurd idea, or he would disown me. And so, he did. My mother didn´t even try to come to my aid. My sister left with our parents, and my heart broke.”

-“You stood your ground.” I said with pride in my voice.

-“The first years were extremely hard. Depression was my steady companion. It reigned over me. I even lost my will to live.” Lady Madeline continued, “ Always short on money, a never-ending supply of children in need and sometimes their mother as well. But I persevered and over the years, I managed to save a lot of children. And I consider each and every one of them my family.”

I could hear the love in her voice.

“You not only saved them, but I´m also sure you helped them to become happy grown-up beings. You never heard from your parents?” I asked

-“I wrote my parents a few letters, sent the obligatory Christmas cards. There was never anything but silence as a return. I learned from the obituaries in the newspapers when my parents had passed away. I tried to reach out to my sister. But was informed that she did not wish any contact and was respectfully asked to respect her wishes.”

I took a deep breath when Lady Madeline stopped talking. She stood up, took the picture from my hands, and placed it back near the fireplace.

-“You know, I thought I would feel like an animal released from its cage, but truth be told, I felt more like a bird who needed to be told how to fly. I opened the cage door and abandoned captivity.”

-“You did something great, Madeline.” I whispered because I was overwhelmed by her story, “something that mattered.”

-“I took the liberty to dream a world with more kindness in it.” Lady Madeline said after a short silence, “Kindness instead of two rigid lines.”

-“Forty years is a long time, Madeline.” I responded, “ Maybe it´s time to bury the doom and gloom with your sister. Life is too short, and time flies at too high a speed to walk around with a heavy heart.”

Lady Madeline stood up and bend toward me.

-“I love you!” she said and kissed me on my forehead.

When I left, I stopped to look up before I got into my car. The night sky with its plethora of stars was bewildering. From nursery windows, he paces the starry heavens. Orion. 

I waved at Lady Madeline and got into my car.

Every woman needs to make conscious choices that will shape their life. No matter the price, they have to learn to be better protagonists and heroines in their own life choices.

Lady Madeline most certainly achieved that!