Chapter One Thousand Eight Hundred Forty-Three
14th April 1968
Munich
The whole thing was farcical.
There was simply no way to get around that. A couple days before, Vicky had met with Franz and they had completed the paperwork and had dropped it off at the courthouse, so they were already legally married. That had seemed very straight-forward as opposed to what was being staged while Vicky fretted in the foyer of the Frauenkirche.
It was all a far larger production with family, friends, and an extensive guest list that included everyone from Heads of State on down. There were thousands of people crowded into the Cathedral of Our Dear Lady and even more outside the brick church that dominated the center of Munich. Standing by the Devil’s step, she was waiting for her father and the ceremony to begin. Vicky knew that once she entered then she would need to see it through.
Her attendants were off to the side chattering among themselves, leaving Vicky to stew over what was happening. The thought raced through her mind; What if Kiki was right about this whole thing? What if all these people saw right through this charade? And the cameras, this was being broadcast around the world. She couldn’t possibly fool everyone. Finally, the last intrusive thought involved Rea. Her well meaning but ultimately bumbling twin sister. She had been totally absent during everything that had happened prior to this. Vicky had sent her several invitations but there had only been silence in return. Kiki said that Rea would come around, but so far that had not happened. More than anything, Vicky wanted…
“Aren’t you supposed to be happy?” An unexpected voice asked.
Startled, Vicky saw Rea step into the foyer from outside. She had cut her hair short and it really did look boyish, worst of all Rea being Rea, she was wearing the sort of dark blue suit that some women found fashionable as opposed to the bridesmaid’s dress that she should have been wearing. It was a small wonder that people thought what they did about her. They would eventually be in for quite a surprise.
“What are you doing here?” Vicky demanded.
“Sham weddings, nearly every notable from across several continents being played for saps, and free drinks at the reception afterwards” Rea replied in the private language that only the other would understand. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“And why are you wearing that?” Vicky demanded, realizing what a spectacle Rea was making of herself.
“I saw the puce dresses that you have Kiki, Anna and the rest of the women in your party wearing. Just seeing them made me feel like I was picking at a scab” Rea replied, “You’ve never had great taste. For a long time, I wondered if you were color blind.”
Then Rea gave Vicky’s dress an appraising look. “I always wondered what had become of our mother’s wedding dress” She said, “It does work for you though.”
“She didn’t think that either you or Kiki would ever need it” Vicky replied, “So, she gave it to me.”
Rea found that funny.
“If only she had known” Rea said, and Vicky felt a bit of heat on her cheeks. Vicky had realized that if her mother had ever figured out the truth, it was likely that she would have been sent to the same convent in Pskov that Gia had been exiled to after she had run off to Canada and she would have been a prisoner there for at least the remainder of her mother’s life.
Vicky decided that she needed to look past her sister’s antics and just take it at face value.
“I am glad you came” Vicky said.
“You know me” Ria replied, “I’m never one to miss a caper.”
“This is my wedding” Vicky said, “That is hardly a caper.”
“If you saw what I got Poppa to agree to in order to keep me from disrupting this whole thing, you wouldn’t think so” Rea said with an impish smile.
“You would have disrupted my wedding?” Vicky asked slightly appalled.
“Of course, not” Rea replied, “But Poppa assumed that I might and was offering to pay me off before I had a chance to tell him that.”
“You are saying that you extorted Poppa?” Vicky asked.
“By accident” Rea replied, “But a lot of great causes were advanced, so it is sort of hard for me to feel bad about it.”
For a moment it felt like when they had been girls and it had been the two of them against the entire world and they had won far more than they had ever lost. Then Poppa stepped in and everything was serious again. He saw Vicky standing there and he smiled, despite what he knew about what was really going on, Poppa still tried to put a positive spin on things.
“It is almost time” Louis said before turning to Rea, “And do I need to remind you of our deal?”
“No, Poppa” Rea said, she was rather convincing which meant that Poppa wouldn’t buy it for a second. It was a reminder to Vicky just how great a team she and her sister had been. With that the sounds of the pipe organ changed, and Louis held out his arm for Vicky.
“We’ll give your sister a moment to find her seat, then we will get on with this” Louis said. Rea blew a raspberry at Vicky as she rushed into the church and the actual wedding party entered the foyer. Vicky laughed at that and it was her fondest hope that Rea would never change.