Candice couldn't hold anymore and burst into tears, finally releasing her feelings into sobs she was trying so hard to contain; they were small convulsions but audible enough, and immediately she tried to compose herself… Surely William must have heard her, and I just hoped he would be able to stay where he was, holding back his desire to storm the door and rescue her.
After a few seconds and with visible effort, Candice could finally control her sobbing enough to answer loudly and full of sincerity:
"If that is the price I need to pay, I don't want a father nor a mother!... I rather renounce the Ardlay last name than see Albert married to some-one el-se…"
She had said those last words with fear and anxiety, I could imagine she had never thought to see herself confessing her feelings, especially not to me. She blushed like I had not seen her before and lowered her face; she had run out of words.
I watched her carefully, trying to measure my words in order to achieve my goals. I thought that, since she was obviously nervous waiting for an unmeasured response from me, the best way to reach her was to speak to her with compassion and to try, even against our history, to gain her trust, enough for her to open up and tell me about her feelings.
If I was not mistaken, it was very possible that I was the first person to whom she was opening up, and in that case, her confession could easily turn into a catharsis. So, before she had a chance to stand up from her chair and leave me without a word, I asked with a voice as soft as I could muster:
"Candice… Are you in love with William?"
I decided to be blunt and to the point, I had no time to beat about the bush. Candice jumped slightly from her seat, she was not expecting that question, she never looked at me and when she started crying again she just nodded her head.
"Candice, please calm down and look at me… I won't bite."
The girl lifted up her eyes, I could see tears running down her cheeks, and I repeated my question; I needed more than a nod, that would be the only thing that could clear William's doubts.
"I'll ask you once more, but this time I want you to answer me, not just nod: Are you in love with William?"
I could see fear in her eyes, I'm sure she thought I would scold her, but behind that fear I could see determination, and when she finally answered she gave me a resounding "Yes" without regard.
"And may I know since when have you had feelings for him?"
"Aunt Elroy, please…"
"No Candice, I need to know!, it is my nephew we are talking about, I have the right to know!"
"I think it happened when we lived together at Magnolia House, after I ended my relationship with Terry…"
"I see… And how can you then say that nothing ever happened between you?"
"I was not aware of my real feelings for Albert, not until he left. When Albert left I felt like I would die, I searched for him everywhere and even when I found Terry in a deplorable state, I left him to fend for himself without even speaking to him, in order to keep looking for Albert.
It was then that I discovered my feelings for Terry were no more and that's when I knew that without even noticing, I had fallen in love with Albert. The only thing I wanted was to see him and tell him how I felt, but…"
"But what?... You thought he didn't feel the same for you?"
"Yes… No… I don't know… Sometimes when I remembered the way he used to look at me I thought that maybe he also felt something for me, but if it would've been so, why did he leave? Why abandon me?, why not confess his feelings?...
I even considered it was because he had recovered his memory, maybe he was not free, maybe he was already married… And that is why I decided to go back to Pony's Home instead of keep waiting for him to return to the home we once shared. But just as I had decided that, you sent for me and ordered me to be engaged to Neal, and then… then…"
"And then you discovered William was your adoptive father."
Again with her eyes full of tears, Candice could just nod her head and after a few seconds she answered:
"And there was nothing I could do. I cannot keep feeling what I feel for him, I know that! It's not correct, he is my 'adoptive father' no matter how much I abhor the term itself, that's what we are. More than friends, even more than the siblings we pretended to be; by law we are father and daughter…"
She covered her face with her hands and started sobbing again… her pain was evident.
"Candice, you know very well that when William adopted you into our family he didn't have the age to adopt a thirteen year old girl on his own. Your adoption was more than anything a tutorship, and if William and you want to annul it, it could be done easily, believe me, I know, I tried many times to convince him to do it."
"But is not only that… By asking him to annul my adoption I would be so ungrateful, he has given me so much, and…
No, it's not only that, and the proof is right here in front of my eyes: I do not come from a good family like the ladies in these pictures, I don't even know who my real parents are, I don't speak several languages, nor play musical instruments, and very probably no matter how much I try, I won't ever be able to become a lady... and Albert needs and deserves a lady.
Not to mention that I would have a very hard time trying to make you and the rest of the family accept me, I've always had… I know well enough what I need to do, and even if it pains me that is what I will do, and that is precisely why I came to talk to Albert today before our meeting."
"And so this is your real motive to go back to Pony's Home?... You want to forget him, right?"
"Yes, I need to leave and try with all my might to forget him, and what you have asked me to do today, to help you find a wife for him, has just confirmed it. I need to remove myself from this situation and put some space between us, so that when Albert happens to choose a wife for himself, it won't pain me so much or at least I will be able to endure it. After all, even if I love him and would like things to be different, I know he's impossible for me and I just want him to be happy."
There was nothing else to say, Candice had confessed her feelings for William, and with some luck he would've heard everything she had said, there was nothing else for me to do but wait for him to decide… At the end and just like Candice, the only thing I wanted for him was his happiness.
Candice took her leave, grateful that at last we had been able to have a civilized conversation and she begged me not to tell anyone of our talk. I wished her a good trip to Pony's Home and reiterated my gratitude for taking care of William and for loving him so much as to let him go.
Once Candice left the residence I entered the adjoining room where William had been waiting sitting by the wall. His expression was one I had not seen before, his eyes were wet, his gaze tender and pain was etched in his features. I couldn't tell if he was happy by what he had heard or if it pained him to know it; I think it was both feelings intertwined.
"So?, Did you hear everything?
"Yes aunt… Although more than once I refrained myself to enter and stop the torture you were putting her through."
"I know William, and I'm sorry if I also made you suffer, but I believe that was the only way for that girl to open up to me."
"Candy is no longer a girl, aunt."
"I know, you don't need to tell me. So, did you convince yourself that she also loves you?"
The smile that spread on his face was one I had never seen before, his face was alight and I understood at that moment that only Candice would be able to really make him happy. He couldn't answer with words, he just nodded, stood up and hugged me.
"Thank you," he said with a broken voice.
"You don't have anything to thank me for, son. But tell me, why did you let Candice return to Pony's Home?, what do you plan to do now?"
"Candy is an independent woman, aunt, that is one of the things I like most about her, I cannot deny her her freedom nor cut her wings, if she wants to go back to Pony's Home, I won't stop her."
"Yes, but now you know the real reason why she wants to leave, she has decided to forget you!"
"And now that thanks to you I also know her feelings for me, I won't let that happen. I thought about it and I have decided to pay her a visit very soon, but I need to wait for the perfect moment… I still have an ace under my sleeve that I did not want to play for fear of being rejected, but now, knowing what I know, I will bet everything I have on it!"
"An ace under your sleeve?"
"Yes… When I told you I had met Candy while saving her from the waterfall, I lied."
"You lied? When did you meet her then?"
"When she was just six years old."
"How is that even possible? She was not even working for the Leagans then, none of us had met her at that age…"
"That's correct, I was the first Ardlay to meet her… Do you remember my silver brooch, the one I lost that day I escaped from the ball at Lakewood?..."
And it was then that my nephew told me everything about the first time he saw Candice, of how her smile was etched in his heart and how she always wore his lost brooch over hers, even without knowing who that mysterious boy was.
There is no doubt that some are forever linked by the red thread of fate, and no matter what, they are always destined to meet.
Knowing their story, as if it was taken straight from a fairytale: "The prince and the orphan", how can I oppose God's will?
If the Universe has insisted on bringing them together, who am I to prevent it?
THE END
Thank you for reading, I apologize for the late publishing of this chapter, but here it is at last. Even if this is "The end" you should expect an Epilogue very soon.