Hatred For Him
1305 Words
Two years had passed. Kendal was now approaching his fifth birthday. He could draw very well and there was nothing he liked better than to come to the studio in the afternoons when there were no clients there and sit at a bench and paint.
"Nicole was delighted with life she lived luxuriously and loved her soirées. I think now and then she took a lover , but there was no really serious relationship. I did not enquire and she did not tell me." Kate thought to her self.
Kate had never been lonely, she had acquired something during her years with Nicole. A poise, she suppose. Her work was highly successful and she was treated with great respect, it was considered a symbol of social rank to have a Collison miniature.
One day Kendy came back from the garden, his face puckered a little and he showed more than sorrow for the loss of his kite. He was thinking of how his poor grandfather would not be able to see his glorious emblem. It was that thoughtfulness, that feelings for others, which made Kendy so endearing.
The following morning, Kate was having her sittings but promised herself that she would go out to look in the afternoon. There was no need to. Kendy came back from the Gardens with a kite about twice the size of the lost one, and more glorious, more flamboyant was the red and gold emblem of ancient France.
He was so joyous, when she knelt down and hugged him.
"Mind the kite," he warned her. "It's a very precious one."
Kate looked at Nicole questioningly.
"It was the gentleman in the Gardens" she said . "He was there this morning with the kite.
"You mean . . . He's given it to Kendy ?"
"He said it was partly his fault that the other one was lost. He and Kendy played with it all morning." Nicole mentioned.
A few days passed and each morning Kendal went off with his kite. There came what Kate was waiting for for, a cancellation from a sitter, and she seized the opportunity. She was going to see the gentleman in the Gardens for herself.
When she saw him she stood very still, trembling with a terrible fear. Her impulse was to snatch up Kendy and run as fast as she could .
The man came towards her, and bowed. Memories came flooding back. She wanted to shout at him . "Go away. Get out of my life."
But he stood there smiling.
"Mamma," said Kendy and continued in his delightful combination of the two languages France and English "voilà the monsieur of the jardins."
"Kendy and I have become friends," said the Baron.
"How . . . How long has this been going on?" She murmured.
"Long enough for us to have become good friends."
She couldn't look at him, she knew his ruthlessness and she greatly feared what his next action would be.
"How did you. . .?"
"I saw him. I was attracted by him . . . I discovered his name."
Kendy stood still looking from one to the other of us.
"Are we going to fly the kite?" He asked.
"But of course," replied the Baron. "Is it not a fine kite?" He went on, looking at Kate.
"It's bigger than the one that went to England," said Kendy.
"I hope your grandfather liked it?" Asked the Baron.
He knows so much! Kate thought. He has done this deliberately. Why?
He then bowed to her "will you forgive us? We must get the kite in the sky. It has to show these others how inferior their little efforts are."
"Come on," said Kendy.
She watched them move off together. She was dazed. What is he trying to do now? She asked herself. What does this mean? He has been coming to the Gardens to see the boy. Oh, why? When has he ever been interested in children?
"So I had not escaped from him. The last few years when I had come to terms with life, when I had learned to accept what it offered me and be grateful for it... They were just the interim. I was afraid of this man. I knew him to be without mercy, what did he want with my son." she cried.
The appalling truth had to be faced. Kendy was his son too.
She watched the orflamme rise in the sky. There it was, outstanding all others. Everyone was pointing it out and Kendy's pride in it was immense.
What is he teaching the boy already? She asked herself. Already he is showing him that he must be superior to all others. He must fly a larger kite. He must put the others in the shade.
"It was how the Baron had been brought up. He would try to turn my beautiful child into another such as himself. Never"
"Here you are, you hold it Grip it firmly. Don't let go. Can you?" Asked the Baron.
"Of course,"answered Kendy.
"Of course," the Baron repeated "I am now going to have a word with your mamma."
He sat beside her. Instinctively she moved away. He noticed and laughed.
"What a boy!" He said.
Kate was calm, she did not answer.
"He looks just like my grandfather. I have a portrait of him at the boy's age. The likeness is amazing."
"This boy is my boy. He is never going to be like those Norse Baron's who rode roughshod over everyone who stood in their way" she replied slowly.
"There is a sweetness in him," he went on, "inherited from his maternal relations, I don't doubt. But he'll be a fighter."
"I don't think there is any need to discuss him with you. If you will let me know the cost of the kite. . . "
"That was my gift to him."
"I don't really care for him to take gifts from strangers."
"Not from his own father!"
She turned to him sharply. "What are you planning?"
"I am his father and I shall give him a kite if I want to . . . Or anything else for that matter."
"I am his mother. I have brought him into this world and cared for him ever since. It is not for you to come along now because you like the look of him and claim to be his father. How can you be sure that you are."
He looked at Kate sardonically. "I knew him at once as soon as I saw him. I said to myself: That is my son."
"You have no claim on him."
"Don't let him see that you are afraid of me. That might arouse his resentment against me. I have heard from him what a beautiful, clever mother he has. I have also heard talk of you. You justified my belief in you. The famous Kate Collison . . . Beautiful. . .aloof. . . A little mysterious living almost like a nun, they say."
Kate was shocked on hearing this, she was surprised, many thoughts ran her mind, "where did he get all this informations?" She asked herself.
"I hate you. I hated you. You're a monster!?" She cried.
"You don't have to hate me, I made your life, No, look for yourself. Out of it came that beautiful boy. You wouldn't change that would you?"he hissed.
"I heard you have a son of your own, a legitimate one."
His face hardened. "I have no son," he said.
"The princess has a son, I was told,"
"She has. . ."
"Then. . .?"
"You knew, Kate. You were with her. I believe she confided in you. She did not come to me a virgin."
She looked at him steadily, mockingly. He is very serious now.
- Writer
