Ten Years Ago

Chapter 7 : Lady Whittekar

The lady who looked ever more than a real lady , sat quite confidently on her armchair . She must have been very charming and beautiful once - yet there was a look of eternal unhappiness and strength in her face . She was much like a queen , and seemed very patronizing and superior.
Lavingham had never seen such a lady like her .
'Miss Lavingham. Rather a unique name.'
Her voice was like the voice of a devil - for it was so manly and dark . It was not very shrill - yet you could make out that it was a woman's voice.
'It was a name invented by my grandfather's great-grandfather . It hasn't been very known , until me .'
' I see .'
'I wish that you start , my lady .'
' Alright. From where ?'
'Start with your adopted children. What did you feel about them ?'
'Well we adopted them around eight years before Lucinda died . Their parents died in a car accident , I heard . We used to be their neighbors - and we were very fond of them - so we adopted 'em .'
'Well , I'm afraid the Browns' real parents were killed by their enemies. The car was bombed .'
'Why , that's dreadful ! We never knew !'
' I understand your amazement . Pray continue what you have to say .'
'Right . Well , we chose not to change their surname - the Browns were very rich and esteemed people . Well , we wanted to take them in - because I  had always longed for children - you see I couldn't have any because of a disease I had suffered in my adolescence. We were very fond of the children - they were sweet , soft and very decent. They couldn't really have the life they had with their parents - in fact they had better and so did we . You see , their real parents were away most of the time and the children lived with us - so they were quite comfortable in our presence.'
'What's your opinion on the children ?'
'Sarah , poor thing , just two when her parents died. Fine girl as she grew . Always the obeying kind . 
Julian, however , was typical for any boy . Rebellious and good looking - but very vigilant, yes . He was absolutely independent when he entered his teens and was always away . Whatever decisions we made for him - he always went against them . Lucinda had to convince him for everything. She was a fine lady , yes she was . Pretty , all the children were . She always agreed with us . She was quite the understanding type of girl since she was eight . That's all, I say .'
'Tell me what you saw on the 5th of May. And I do not want the facts - I want just your opinion.'
' Well , that's quite hard . Got up , finished my routine. Had a rather ghastly quarrel with Lucinda although it was quite unusual of her to contradict me . It was about Sarah - I suppose you do know .
In the afternoon - I made some tea for her - the cook specialized in everything but tea . She complimented - that always cheered me . She didn't join us for lunch - some work she said . And then it all happened. The whole tragedy . The two deaths .'
' Well , if you had legally adopted the children - why was Sarah sent to Chicago ?'
' Adoption and wills are a totally nemesis to each other and don't have a single feather onto any of them . Wills are much more powerful. Legality always agrees with wills . The will was made by Lucinda firmly and didn't wish Sarah to stay with us . We never knew why . We were actually quite upset about it , but didn't make much fuss .
'I'm much obliged. Thank you.'