Eric had been so satisfied with his cunning plan. He had the widow believing that he had left, and now he could wander around the inner passages of the house without anyone being the wiser. He had been so sure she would spend the money on whims. He had been sure she was going to send his son, once he was a little bit recovered, to a hospital, and then begin a new life. A life of luxury, a life of well-fare. He half expected her to turn selfish and betray all of her believings. He would have bet a fortune on it.
He would've lost it.
He looked at her, holding her son in the night and singing a lullaby softly. William, white as snow, smiled tenderly and let himself be lulled to sleep. He had begun to walk again, and seemed pretty satisfied. Her mother, in turn, looked marginally better now, with her eyes not so sunken in her face, and the dark rings under them gone. The softness of her regard had become obvious to the eye, even if she insisted in wearing the same black dresses of mourning, though now at least they were new. Self-made, but new. They didn't flatter her at all, that was for sure. She seemed even more decolorated in them, like a motherly ghost.
Every day she counted the money left, made calculations, tried to save for his son without depriving him of anything. William had now the better doctor in town, and her mother had even talked to an outside doctor, a german named Jauss with very bad character, but who seemed to be very competent.
Eric had spied her acounts, and was very surprised to see which project she was investing so much money in. Hellen was saving for her son to go to Oxford.
He remembered little of his own mother. He knew everytime he tried to kiss her or give her a hug, or even touch her, she pushed him aside and replaced the mask on his face. He wondered what would have become of him, had he had a mother like Hellen. She was... Well, different, that was for sure.
He remembered quite well being locked in a cage, being exhibited as an animal. He recalled the humiliation, the rage, the incomprehension. Why was he there? Why had her mother left him? Why did the people attack him?
William received so much love and attention, it almost stunned him. He was sure now, Hellen would never leave him, no matter how difficult the circumstances.
He couldn't stop himself. He was always behind her, spying on her. She was the mother he had longed so much for. She was...
She was not beautiful, that was clear. She was a far cry from Christine. She didn't have an ounce of that incredible spirit he had loved so much in his pupil. She could almost be called vulgar.
But she was not.
