A startled friend inquired, I wonder why your husband didnt receive anything then? Their grandchildren could surely use some help!
Oh, who can fathom their ways? replied Alice. The youngest one, hes on his own and already has a three-bedroom flat in Chipping Norton, plus two more two-beds as well. Hes even got a three-storey country house. Clearly, none of that is enough for him. And all of it was handed down from his folks! Meanwhile, my husbands left with absolutely nothing.
Edward and Alice had been married for twelve years and had two children, ages six and ten. Alice had always felt out of sorts around her in-laws, who constantly poked their noses into their lives, giving instructions about what they should or shouldnt do. It was bad enough that her mother-in-law scolded Alices decisions and even insisted she call her Mum.
I have a mother. I dont need another one, Alice firmly told her formidable mother-in-law.
Yet the real oddities began after their eldest daughter was born. Victoria started dropping by Alices home, unannounced, floating into the hallway like a ghostly presence; Alice, in turn, barred the door, ignoring her knocks and calls as if they were the tapping-over echoes of a distant storm. Eventually, the old woman seemed to realise her haunting behaviour and faded away, ceasing to intrude.
Alice managed with her children mostly through the occasional help from her own mother. As the children grew, they drifted further away from their paternal grandmother, as if the distance stretched out into a strange hinterland.
Edwards parents had always been quite prosperous and clever, people who delighted in journeying to foreign places, putting on little performances for their circles, and dining out in Londons labyrinth of restaurants. They rarely spoke to Alice and Edward. Even at Christmas time, it often turned out at the very last moment that they were off in some obscure corner of the countryside.
Then, as though out of a mist, Alice and Edward discovered that the entire family inheritance was going to his younger brother. Alice could not let it pass unchallenged and rang up her mother-in-law for some answers.
What did you expect? came the crisp reply from the other end. You wouldnt let me see my grandchildren, you turned Edward against us. But my youngest remembers ushe calls and visits without fail. So its only right.
Do you think their parents made the right decision?
