The entire audience began to feel a twinge of panic that had already enveloped the Governor General. No one had ever seen the Baroness act like this – be it when she was drunk, drugged, or in her deepest depths of depression. Something significant was happening to her – something mystical – and everyone in the room could see and feel it.
“And can’t you see the shock and horror in the eyes of this lovely woman?” The Baroness continued while looking at Elaine. The Baroness now lifted her frail finger and pointed at everyone in the room, including Karl Ernst and the Governor General, as if she were a teacher trying to find out which student threw the pencil while her back was turned.
“What have you done that could put such a pure soul into… this?”
The Baroness obviously favored Elaine in an uncanny way, and everyone seemed to sense that in talking about Elaine so intensely, the Baroness was somehow ‘connecting’ with her. All in the room could feel the electrical bond forming between Elaine and the Baroness, as if two powerful magnets were trying to pull each of them together, but somehow and even stronger force was holding them apart.
Elaine, however, could not handle the energy or the center of attention coming about in this form. She closed her eyes as if to break the bond and ran out of the room. Karl Ernst followed quickly behind her.
Running down the hallway Elaine opened the last door on the right thinking it would lead out of the house. She then froze in horror before she could put her leading foot down.
Karl Ernst then reached the door and out of the corner of his eye also saw what had make Elaine contract nearly every muscle in her body. The sight made him sick to his stomach and his heart starting beating twice as fast.
“Aw, Come in Frau Peterson!”
Von Wohl’s excited greeting suddenly erased the middle-aged woman’s distressed face. His special talent for making the unloved rekindle the spark missing in life was one of the reasons she stood before von Wohl’s bright green door, which she entered. The host took her coat and neatly hung it on the antique coat rack, then led his guest into the study, which had a two-month layer of dust and the typical disorder of a bachelor.
“Drink?”
The woman spoke softly, “Yes, please.” She slowly sat in the large easy chair that von Wohl had led her to. Von Wohl knew exactly want to bring since this was her ninth visit.
“So, what shall we look at today, Frau Peterson?” Von Wohl called from the kitchen.
“Coco” Peterson was the daughter of a German diplomat and Brazilian dancer. She had the bone structure of a Teutonic princess from her father, and was covered with the rich brown skin and straight black hair of her South American mother. Since coming to Germany in 1928, she had lived in relative wealth since one of her grandfathers owned a coffee plantation and the other was highly placed in the German Foreign Service.
“I would like to know if my son’s new girlfriend is right for him… this relationship looks serious.”
Von Wohl smiled to himself as he measured the proportions of the drink he was creating. He always wondered why relationships were the main concern of most people when it came to astrology, when there were so many other areas of life this tool could be used.
“Hmm…” Von Wohl made it sound as if he was already beginning to work on the project in his mind. Astrology had been very good to Ludwig von Wohl since learning it from the Baron. Even before he had mastered the art fully there was a swarm of his acquaintances that wanted to see what their horoscope said. Nearly all were either dissatisfied with their lives, insecure over some matter, lonely, and female. All of these the very qualities von Wohl thrived on and had a keen sense to manipulate.
He brought Coco’s drink and set it on the small oriental side table next to her, seated himself on the matching chair opposite her.
“Well, let’s take a look at her birthday, which is…?”
“November 3, 1921.”
Von Wohl looked in his Furstberg’s ephemeris to the date and began to take notes on where all the planets were on that day. While he in fact learned how to make a complete horoscope with the ascendant, he rarely ever went through the trouble to do this.
There were several reasons for this; the first being that it took approximately six hours going through eight different books and doing the math to cast just one chart. Most clients wanted an answer as soon as they walked in. If he requested they return the next day while he worked on constructing their horoscope, the possibility was high they would change their mind and not come back – or that the issue or decision would already be made without him.
“Hmm…” Again, von Wohl made the sounds as if he were calculating her data.
Coco was not only here for her son’s welfare, but for her own piece of mind. For years she had been dissatisfied with her marriage. Interested in the occult since a teenager seeing the sacrifices and priests undergoing possession of the candomblé rituals outside of San Paulo, she had a need for the occult – no matter what the culture.
“And when did the couple meet?”
“Uh, I don’t know exactly…”
“Hmm…” Von Wohl made it sound as if her lack of information would make his job a lot more difficult.
Coco and von Wohl met at one of many of the Foreign Service parties that von Wohl made a habit of attending. It was an excellent place to meet women like Coco, for parties such as these were the only entertainment many Foreign Service wives had. All too often they were left alone at home in some strange land while their husbands were away on some diplomatic mission.
“I think this will probably be just another fling.” Von Wohl said after careful study. Actually he was guessing more from the information Coco had told him earlier about her son Olaf’s history than what he ‘calculated’ by noting the girl’s birthday.
Coco let out a moan of frustration. She had so much wanted her son to finally find a girl that he would be motivated to marry and settle down.
“You don’t see any chance?”
“Frau Peterson, there is always a chance…” Von Wohl covered himself. “It’s just that those chances appear to be very small.”
Coco let out a long sigh and shook her head as if von Wohl had simply reconfirmed what she knew all along.
“I know, I know…” Von Wohl reassured while getting up, still looking at his notes. “…I know you want the best for Olaf, but sometimes a boy has to go through several affairs to get experience in order to learn what he really wants. Von Wohl said this as if it were written in the stars of a horoscope, when in fact this was the very phrase his mother had used to describe him.
Coco always felt reassured by von Wohl. Discussing the topic of marriage with Olaf only caused resentment and strife. The discussions between mother and son were now down to two matters, how much money he was spending for his adventures, and what went wrong with his last relationship. Their relationship had changed drastically since Olaf’s father took an assignment in Rome, where it was rumored he had an Italian lover.
“Frau Peterson?
“Yes?”
“Is there something else on your mind you want to discuss with me?
“Well, I…”
Von Wohl could see that he had hit a nerve, but waited to see if she could explain her feelings by herself. If she could, then he would be the attentive listener and this would strengthen the bond that was developing between them. If she didn’t know, or seemed confused by what she could express, then he would gently move in with what he wanted her to believe were her feelings. Either way he would win. Either way would bring Frau Peterson closer to him – mentally and emotionally – which he wanted just as much as her money.