The other ledgers were
basically filled with stories of Charmaine growing up and trying to adjust to
living with complete strangers. Charmaine, the friendly little girl that she
was, could not understand the reason for being ignored and rejected by Stanley
Wharbucks. Three days after the incident in the study Ben and Florence took her
back to see Stanley Wharbucks hoping he had changed his mind about her. He was
livid! He chased them from the house and told them if they brought her back to
see him they would be fired! Ben was so upset and was going to leave the estate
that very same day but Florence reminded him that they now had an obligation to
take care of Charmaine for her mother Charlotte’s sake. Charmaine was Stanley
Wharbucks only living
heir whether he wanted to admit it or not and it was only
fair that she be brought up on the property that her mother would have
inherited. Florence said that Stanley Wharbucks had not disputed that Charmaine was Charlotte’s daughter, he was
only mad at Charles being her father. Ben calmed down but from that day he only
dealt with Stanley Wharbucks in a professional matter. He no longer joined him
in the study in the evenings after work to drink rum, smoke cigars and play
cards. Ben now spent his evenings in his little garden beside his house where
he grew his hybrid roses and herbs. It was Stanley Wharbucks' wife who had given Ben his first rose plant and taught him how to hybridize the roses. She knew the names of all the herbs on the estate and she had helped Ben to create his own little garden sanctuary. After a while, Stanley Wharbucks started visiting
Ben’s little garden, claiming that the scent of the roses cleared his sinuses and reminded him of his wife.
The first time he came to the garden Charmaine ran to greet him (Florence had told her
that he was her Grandfather) and Stanley Wharbucks turned his back on her. Charmaine's
little eyes filled with tears when he would not speak to her. Florence
took her by the hand and went inside the house. She explained to Charmaine that
Stanley Wharbucks wasn’t a bad person, he was just missing her mother so much and
because she looked so much like her mother it made him feel angry that she was
not around. Florence made Charmaine promise not to bother him or say anything
to him unless he spoke to her first.
Charmaine nodded her head in agreement and from that day whenever he came to
the garden she would stay inside the house until he left. Charmaine kept her promise
to Florence and never said a word to her Grandfather. Many times she would look
through the window and catch him staring at her and he would quickly look away.
Ben did not like the way Stanley Wharbucks treated Charmaine and whenever he
came by the garden Ben would sit in silence until he left. He told Stanley
Wharbucks that he did not want Charmaine to see him smoking or drinking so he
had given up those habits. He was hoping that this would stop him from
coming to the garden but this did not deter Stanley Wharbucks as he still came to
the garden. Ben believed that he came because he secretly wanted to see
Charmaine. The years went by quickly. By the time Charmaine was six years old
she had stopped crying herself to sleep and she no longer spoke about her father. She
no longer played with the pocket watch that he had given her the day he left
her with Ben and Florence. The pocket
watch and her necklace were now in the bottom of her bag under her bed. It was also time for Charmaine to attend school so
Ben decided to approach Stanley Wharbucks to talk to him about it. Surprisingly, Stanley
Wharbucks was in agreement with Ben that Charmaine should attend the same
private school that her mother Charlotte had attended. As a matter of fact, he
said that he would go himself and get her enrolled. When Ben opened his eyes
wide in astonishment he retorted, “So that they’ll know that she is Stanley
Wharbucks granddaughter and treat her accordingly!” Ben could not speak, he placed his hand over his heart in shock. This
was coming from the person who had ignored a child for the past two years! “I
am only going to enroll her in the school, I am not taking her!” said Stanley Wharbucks
defensively. Ben gave him Charmaine’s birth certificate (which Charles had the good sense
to put in her bag) and went back to tell Florence the good news. I found myself
nodding off and decided to go to bed. The story was getting more and more interesting.
Was Stanley Wharbucks mellowing?
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