"Mr. Monet, thank you for curing my illness!" Madeline raised her glass and toasted Tony Monet.
"You're too kind, Madam. We're all friends, and it's something I should do!"
"Since we're all friends, I won't call you Mr. Monet anymore. Let's go with Tony. And don't call me Madam, just call me Madeline. Is that alright, Tony?"
Tony pondered for a moment and then nodded in agreement, saying, "Sure, Madeline!"
"I don't know what you like, but I assume you write novels every day. So, a pen must be necessary. I think this Parker pen is beautiful and suits your style!" With that, Madeline presented a beautifully packaged Parker gold pen box. (Parker pens have been around since 1863.)
As Tony accepted the pen, he felt a sense of nostalgia. Before his time travel, he used a keyboard as his main writing tool for novels. He never expected to switch to using a pen in 1912, and even his fingers had developed calluses from it.
While Tony was lost in his thoughts, Madeline raised her glass again and said, "To be honest, Tony, when you first introduced Todoris to me, I never thought you'd actually help Rick establish himself in the Astre family. So, here's to wishing 'Comet' even greater success!"
After a bit of small talk, Madeline got to the point and asked, "Tony, you mentioned earlier that you'd find a way to deal with Vincent. When do you plan to start, and is there anything I can assist with?"
Upon hearing this question, Tony set down his glass and replied seriously, "While Rick has managed to establish himself within the Astre family, it's still early to confront Vincent. We can't rush into action. We have to wait for Vincent to make a mistake on his own."
Before Madeline could ask, "Who knows when Vincent will make a mistake," Tony preemptively continued, "Based on my investigation and analysis of Vincent, what he most wants to do is prove himself and shed the label of merely earning money from land rents under the Astre family. So, with a little guidance, we can trigger his obsession, and he'll end up making a mistake himself."
Tony's assertion was well-founded. In history, Vincent had betrayed the ancestral decree of "Only sell your property to increase the value of other real estate, otherwise, keep hold of it." He had sold the land where the present-day Times Square and Empire State Building stand, fetching less than ten million dollars in total. It's hard to imagine how valuable those pieces of land would be now.
In reality, the saying "wealth doesn't last for three generations" often comes about not simply because later generations squander the ancestral inheritance on extravagant living, but rather due to the subsequent generations wanting to prove themselves. They often invest recklessly, ultimately depleting the wealth that could have sustained several generations. Just like the school principal – if he were only indulging in luxury, even with half a billion, he might not be able to spend it all in these years, not to mention the additional debts worth billions. Thus, being an honest spendthrift is often more beneficial for the family than striving for a monumental career.
"True, what you say makes sense. Lately, Vincent mentioned wanting to engage in charitable activities to change the public's negative perception of the Astre family's landlords!" Madeline concurred.
Madeline's remark brought to mind another method by which Vincent squandered his family's fortune: charity. Moreover, he didn't do it himself but left his wealth to his wife, Brooke Astre, after his death. This woman was even more adept at charity than he was. In 1998, she received the highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. One can only imagine how much she donated.
"But how do you plan to guide Vincent?" Madeline inquired further.
"Well, since you mentioned he's planning charity work, it makes things easier. I'll arrange for some charity organizations to visit him for fundraising. Then, I'll have some familiar newspapers and magazines praise his philanthropy and subtly suggest that he could sell unused land for charity purposes. I'm confident he'll take the bait!" Tony responded confidently.
"Great idea. I believe he'll take the bait for sure! This way, we can criticize him at the trust fund, thus reducing his control over the family's finances!"
The Astre family was among the first in the U.S. to implement "trust funds." This was, in fact, the best gift Old Astre left for future generations besides Manhattan land. It prevented the descendants from squandering all the wealth at once.
In fact, not only were Madeline's and Alice's inheritances distributed through trust funds, but also a portion of the $63 million that Vincent inherited was under the control of a six-member trust fund committee. So, if Vincent went too far, this committee had the power to reject the family head's orders. This was somewhat akin to ministers who could advise a monarch on life-and-death matters. Without them, Rick wouldn't have had a chance to return to the Astre family.
Just as Tony was about to leave after dessert, a maid entered and reported, "Madam, a Mr. Gustav, claiming to be from the Titanic Memorial Event Committee, is here to see you!"
"The Titanic Memorial Event? Why haven't I heard of any memorial event?" Madeline questioned.
Seeing Tony's evident interest, Madeline extended an invitation, "How about you join me in meeting this Mr. Gustav, Tony?"
In the reception room, after introductions were exchanged, Gustav happily addressed Tony, "Mr. Monet, it's great to see you here. I was actually planning to visit you after meeting Mrs. Astre!"
"I'm curious, Mr. Gustav. What brings you to us?" Tony asked with interest.
Gustav hurriedly explained, "You see, it's because the Titanic event's first anniversary is just two months away. So, on behalf of White Star Line, we're planning a large-scale memorial event. Both of you are well-known figures associated with the Titanic, so we'd like to invite both of you to join our event!"
"Oh, besides us and Mr. Monet, who else are you planning to invite?" Madeline asked calmly.
"We have quite a list. We'll invite the influential gentlemen and ladies, like the Carls from Philadelphia, Mrs. Rothschild, Miss Wendy from Remy Coffee, and so on!" Gustav replied.