Once upon a time a rich
girl lived in a fabulous city of a fabulous land. She grew tall and willowy
with blonde tresses, and was nurtured by a father who garnered wealth and power
within and without limits. Despite all they had, they craved more. Not
satisfied with one, the father possessed a string of wives: the first was the
daughter’s mother, the second a showgirl and the third and current one born of
a foreign land. For her part, she was his Good Daughter whose ambition helped
make him the Most Powerful Man in the World. But over time, she encountered
closed doors in the Residence and the time spent with father dwindling to
nothing. Jealousy made her suspect the Third Wife who was always standing
beside him in stylish clothes and long tresses to compare with hers. Her thin
lips always seemed to hover above a meeting place and opaque sunglasses, worn
in sun or rain, hid personality and intent.
The Good Daughter looked for any
reason to criticize the Third Wife: those lips, her insect-looking sunglasses
and saccharine foreign accent. Then quite by accident, she espied the Third
Wife meeting a Mysterious Mustachioed Man in the park. He was strange and
foreign and wore a heavy fur coat suitable for Siberian winters. Conspiracy!
Collusion! What else would he have to do with her father’s wife? She watched
for the next meeting and proof of their purpose.
One day at a public
appearance, she noticed something odd: the Third Wife wasn’t wearing sunglasses
despite the harsh sun. Later, as she mulled that over, she learned her
stepmother had slipped out of the Residence. She raced to the site of the last
illicit meeting and found them sitting on a bench. “Aha! I knew you were up to
something.” But, in a surprising silky voice, the Mysterious Mustachioed Man
invited her to sit. “I’m investigating the Most Powerful Man in the World,
because no one rises so high without disregard of basic human decency.”
Taken
aback, the Good Daughter rallied. “She made him do it.” “No, he did it because
of you,” the Third Wife said, “and because of who he is. I wanted him to be
content, but he believes past success makes future wins a certainty.” The man
added, “The dubious past has a way of catching up. If you understand, say ‘Da.’”
