Plans & Happiness

Fagin and Bet plan their wedding.

Bet turned to leave. She smiled at Fagin and then left the room. Dodge looked up at her as she shut the door behind herself and walked toward him. She cleared her throat and then asked, "Did the others go downstairs?"

Dodge nodded and sat up, pulling his feet back off the coffee table. He waited for Bet to leave, but she didn't. She sat down in one of the chairs and began to talk.

"Do you know what Fagin told me?"

"What?" Dodge eyed her with some suspicion.

"He told me that he had come up with a way for the two of you to go back to London."

"Really?!" Dodge almost jumped off the couch in amazement.

"Yes," Bet lowered her voice so as to infer to the boy to lower his, also.

"How?"

"He found out - I guess from reading up on the subject - that criminals can be spared, somewhat, from their punishment by marrying someone that hasn't committed anything. He just asked me to marry him. I said yes . . ," Bet paused and sighed. "What do you think of all this?"

Dodge considered for a moment and then replied, "That's great, Bet. I sure will be glad to be back at home."

"You're not upset?"

"Why would I be upset?" Dodge grinned. "I don't care. You like Fagin - That's fine. You like me, I know . . . why worry. Say, do you think it will be possible to go back to living in Saffron Hill? Maybe even in the same building?"

Bet bit her lip, "I don't know . . . who would want that place anyway?" She began to laugh and Dodge joined in on the merriment.

Several more jokes were made afterward about how unlivable the old place really was, when suddenly Fagin walked into the room.

By this time, Dodge was rolling on the couch and Bet was hugging her gut and leaning forward in her chair.

The old Jew looked from one to the other and then addressed the room at large, "What is all so funny, my dears?"

Bet shook her head, a smile on her face, and then replied, "Nothing. I do need to be heading on. . ."

"My dear, you couldn't stay for lunch, could you?"

Bet was unsure about staying until Fagin mentioned the fact that they needed to make plans for the wedding - only then did she agree to stay. She ran downstairs and found Mr. Brownlow and Miss Doris having a conversation with Terry Hudgins. Bet informed them that she wanted to remain where she was for the time being. Miss Doris was a bit anxious about this since it meant that it would only be her and Mr. Brownlow looking for Bill, but she politely said that it did not bother her. Bet felt elated at these words and made her best attempt to show her gratitude. She promised to meet them within two hours. Mr. Brownlow said that that would be fine and that they would see her back at the hotel. Bet smiled and then turned to head back to the den.

As Bet raced back up the stairs she felt a jolt of glee. It was as though she had gone back to being a little girl again. The day seemed sunnier, full of life, and almost like a dream. Her heart pounded in her chest and she could practically feel her spirit rise as though it had wings. It was flighty, breathtaking, and full off all the happiness she had ever had the privilege to feel. So this is what love feels like, thought Bet. It is glorious, beautiful, and like nothing I've ever had! I wish I could feel this way forever!

She opened the door and walked back into the den. And there he was: her future husband - cooking something in the small kitchenette. Bet sat down at the small eating table and watched as the Jew turned over some bits of meat in a large sauce pan. Bet's mind began to wonder as she listened to him humming some tune. She began to picture them all back in London. It was going to be such a happy situation. Fagin would do the cooking, she would do the laundry and sewing, and Dodge would be nearby, playing cards and doing other things.

Now, Bet began to think solely of Fagin. He did not seem so old to her now. He was sixty-one and she was twenty-six. That was only thirty-five years difference. Bet had known some couples who had been two decades apart so three and a half did not seem to matter much.

Next, Bet began to go back in her remembrance to the time when she had first met Fagin. She had been fourteen at the time and he had been forty-nine. It had been Nancy who had introduced her to the Jew. It seemed like only yesterday.

Bet was abruptly brought back to the present by the sound of Fagin banging a spoon on the side of the sauce pan. She jumped and the old Jew apologized for the interruption.

"Sorry, my dear. I didn't mean to frighten you. I had to get the sauce off the spoon."

"I was daydreaming . . . sorry!"

"It is perfectly fine, my dear!" Fagin began to dish out the portions of meat. "What sort of wedding would you like, my dear?" he asked after joining her and Dodge at the table.

"I don't know . . . nothing too fancy . . . just something simple," she skewered a piece of meat onto her fork and placed it in her mouth.

"I hoped you would say so, my dear. I was thinking of just going down to the local law-offices (don't worry; I am just as shocked as you are that I am saying so) and we can have a quick little wedding without much fuss or intrusion."

"So you don't want a traditional Jewish wedding?" Bet smiled.

"Not in the least! Too much fuss and besides, I have no relatives to invite anyway," he looked over at Dodge, who, by this time, was trying not to laugh.

"And you," added Fagin, staring at the boy, "You can be the flower girl, my dear!"

Dodge stopped mid-giggle and said, "No way!"

Bet smiled and commented, "Didn't you always want to wear a dress with bows and frills?"

Dodge said that that had never been his wish and then he excused himself from the table so that he could eat by himself in the study.

"Strange boy," Fagin stated with a serious expression on his face, "I don't know why he wouldn't want to." He gave Bet a wink and went back to eating.

"When do you want to do this?" asked Bet, once she had stopped laughing.

"I promised Terry that I would finish his novel and I plan to actually keep that promise, my dear."

Bet was a bit shocked and said so.

"I am trying to do better, my dear. Anyway, we could still get married at any point and then, once I am done copying all those pages, we can go."

"So now or later?"

Fagin paused in thought and then answered, "I don't have much money, my dear. I wish I did, but I don't. I believe you should be able to have a nice dress for the occasion and a few arrangements of flowers. Also, enough money to buy a place in London. That will take me a while, my dear."

"So later?"

The Jew smiled, "Yes, my dear. Possibly in six months; that is, as long as you don't mind waiting."

"I don't mind too much," Bet felt a bit disappointed at such a (seemingly) long time frame, but she did not want to mess up Fagin's plans. "I guess that will give us more time to get reacquainted," said Bet.

"There you are, my dear!" Fagin seemed very pleased at her optimism. He paused for an instant and then said with a bit of guilt, "I haven't even gotten you a ring, my dear."

"That's fine. You can get me one at your leisure. This tastes really wonderful . . . I don't care much for hotel or boat food; It's just not the same as something home-cooked."

The old Jew nodded in agreement, "Especially boat food, my dear. I would starve before I ate shellfish!"

"You're not supposed to anyway - you're Jewish!" Bet grinned.

"That was always one of the things I liked about being Jewish," Fagin's face lit up with pleasure. "You don't have to eat a lot of strange and disgusting things!"

"On that note," put in Bet, "It doesn't matter that I'm not Jewish?"

Fagin shook his head and said that it did not matter at all. "Besides," he added, "Dodge is my grandson and he's not Jewish!"

"I still can't believe you got by with that lie."

"It's an art, my dear - just like many other things," he took up Bet's plate and went over to deposit it on top of one of the counters.

"Do you think we should go check on Dodge?" Bet looked over towards the closed door that led into the study.

"Leave him, my dear. Dodge will come out when he's ready. How much longer can you stay?"

"I've got an hour and fifteen minutes."

Fagin smiled, "That's plenty of time that we can use to get reacquainted, my dear." He smiled and led Bet away from the table and back into the den.

It has been a long time since I last updated. I'm sorry! Please leave a review! Thanks again to all my loyal readers and reviewers! - Elaine Dawkins