To Dimitra
The procession ascended slowly through the paths of the Anthoupolis cemetery. In front marched the band of the Municipality of Patras, playing mournful marches. It was followed by the coffin with the deceased, his widow, and behind them, his children, the other relatives, friends, and acquaintances.
The widow walked directly behind the coffin. She wore a black, full-length dress that left her neck bare. Her chestnut-blonde, well-styled hair reached her shoulders. Her step was steady, but her gaze was frozen and distant.
She walked without anyone beside her and without participating in the laments heard from the rest of the family. And as she walked, her entire life with her now-deceased husband passed through her mind. From the very first moment they met.
It was Christmas Eve of 1955, and she had arranged with her friends to attend a theatrical performance at the Apollo Municipal Theatre in Georgiou Square.
The weather was unexpectedly good for the season. They arrived a little while before the performance was to start and entered the foyer, chatting. Then, she felt a gaze upon her. She looked around, puzzled, and immediately saw him. He was standing with some others who were talking to him. But he probably wasn’t listening to them. Because his eyes were fixed upon her. He was looking at her persistently, penetratingly. And it wasn’t just a simple look…
He left his conversation partners and headed towards her. He looked her in the eyes, and she felt his gaze burrow into the most hidden corners of her mind. He smiled at her, bowed to kiss her hand, and said: “Charmed.” Immediately after, he turned his back and left her, without introducing himself or speaking further.
She stood there like a pillar of salt. The murmur had already erupted around her. He was around 65, a widower, a successful businessman, a big name in local society, known for his wealth as well as his conquests.
She, a living widow, a well-preserved 38, tall, beautiful, and from a good family with her own ways. She had married at 25, at her own insistence and against her family’s wishes. However, when a few months later she realized that this marriage was a huge mistake, she did not hesitate to dissolve it and return to her paternal home. Since then, she had been living her life carefree and stubbornly refused to remarry, as proposals were not lacking.
He approached her again during the intermission. This time, he was very talkative. She did not hesitate to respond to his flirtation. Although he was much older than her, his dynamism was something unimaginable. She agreed to leave together after the performance, both of them leaving their companions behind.
That first night, she became his. Without any hesitation. Followed walks, romantic dinners, hours-long conversations, flowers he sent her almost every day, and, just about two months later, the marriage proposal.
Which she also accepted without any hesitation. Her own family raised no objections. They anticipated, you see, partnerships and benefits. And his family? His family, as he had described to her, had opposed it as much as they could.
-“But what are you about to do? Do you realize how old you are?” his daughter retorted to him. “Very well, in fact,” he answered, “Do you, by any chance, remember how old I am?”
-“She’s after your money!” his second son, his youngest, almost shouted hysterically. “Good for her,” came the staggering reply.
-“Father,” his eldest son tried to intervene, “you are 65 years old, you have a heart condition, and you’ve known her for so little time. Perhaps you should wait a while.”
He smiled at them generously. The words came out of his mouth slowly-slowly. And the tone was sharp. Like sharpening steel.
“For 25 years, since I lost your mother, no other woman has entered this house. I struggled alone, father and mother both, so that you would lack for nothing. I raised you on velvet, with governesses and maids. I sent you to the best schools and set you up in your own businesses. And when the time came for you to marry, I didn’t control or boss you around. So, you will not do so to me now. And after all, both you and your children are provided for. Or will you look after me when my time comes? Because from what I see, you only remember me when you need me.”
They did not dare to raise any further objections. And from then on, they kept their distance from her. They only saw him at his office.
The scandal that broke out, however, as soon as the romance and the marriage became known, was huge. And if they could have, they would have stoned her. Friends and acquaintances distanced themselves. And in their place came countless ill-wishers who never missed an opportunity to bring her the gossip that was circulating.
“…For his money, she wrapped him around her finger. Who knows, maybe she even cast a spell on him. And she’s not even that pretty. But how did she manage it, when so many others had failed here…”
She closed her ears to all of it. After all, she expected it. Only that sometimes, she felt a complaint rising in her. “But does no one think that my own family has money? But does no one think that I had no need to get married? But does no one think that I might actually feel something for this man?”
He would then see the look in her eyes, understand her thoughts, and take her hand, whispering: “Don’t you care what others say, only care about what I feel for you and what you feel for me…”
Their life rolled on quickly, though not always without problems. You see, his heart was in such a condition that it often forced him to travel to Athens and be hospitalized. And she, never to leave his side, would pray with all the strength of her soul.
About ten years had passed. That afternoon, they were taking their walk on the promenade of Saint Nicholas. They were holding hands, walking like teenagers, when he squeezed her palm with force. She looked at him, startled, and saw him stretching his hand to his heart, beginning to bend.
At her screams, everyone who was around ran to them. And the ambulance came very quickly. But…
The funeral was scheduled for the day after next. However, at the demand of his children, who were sitting on hot coals, a copy of his will was read to them the very next day.
Shops and houses in the center and in the neighborhoods of the city, properties, fields, crops, and flocks in Ovrya, Agyia, Kastriki, Aigio, shares in Achaia Claus, Ladopoulos, Piraeus-Patras, Urban KTEL, deposits, bonds, and gold sovereigns in banks. His wealth reached an unimaginable amount, which no one knew. Not she, not even his own children. And he was leaving it all to her, thanking her for the love she gave him and for all she went through for him…
With the completion of the reading of the will by the notary, and before his astonished eyes, his children jumped to their feet, furious.
-“This is why you wrapped him around your finger, I hope you’re satisfied now,” his eldest son hissed through his teeth.
-“You left us on the street for a whore!” his daughter screamed hysterically.
-“You old slut, you achieved your goal!” shrieked his youngest son.
-“We won’t leave you like this. We will contest the will. And even if that doesn’t succeed, we will have the marriage annulled. We will destroy you,” the eldest son continued.
She remained motionless in her seat. She was interested in none of what she was hearing. She looked at them wearily and said something that left them dumbfounded. “I cede everything to you. The only thing I will keep is the house where we lived together, in Psila Alonia.”
Such an easy victory, none of them had expected.
The funeral service was held the next day at the Church of Saint Andrew and was attended by almost half the town. Officials, his associates and employees, and ordinary people who had the curiosity to see the family of the deceased.
And when the time came for them to pass by to offer their condolences to her and his children, who were sitting side-by-side, there were not a few who noticed the rigid posture of her body and her vacant gaze.
One of the people who also had the curiosity to see her up close, as soon as he took her hand, he realized that it was burning. He looked into her eyes and understood how wrong he had been thinking about this woman for so many years. Thoughts created by the rumors and gossip that circulated.
He addressed her timidly: “He would want you to be strong at a time like this. My condolences…”
Her gaze seemed to come alive for a moment. She looked at him and answered, struggling to hide a sob: “Andreas used to say, ‘When I die, they will accept you…'”
The procession had now reached the grave. The priest read the last words, and the coffin was placed in its position. The weeping and wailing of the children and grandchildren tore through the air. Only the widow remained motionless, her gaze frozen and distant…
Giorgis Taxideutis
