Bill's Reaction – Chapter 30
Early Saturday morning, as Elizabeth drank her morning tea, she was lost in thought over the events of the last couple of days. She remembered back to Thursday afternoon when Victoria had fainted after Elizabeth had told her about Lucas….
{Thursday afternoon}
Elizabeth gasped in shock when Victoria fainted upon merely hearing the name of Lucas Bouchard. As she sprang to Victoria's assistance she realized, in hindsight, perhaps she should have taken a gentler approach. The poor woman – what damage must have been done to her emotional wellbeing!
Elizabeth alerted the household staff by calling for a cold cloth and began vigorously tapping her friend's hand and calling, "Victoria, Victoria!"
Thankfully, Victoria soon roused, but appeared disoriented. Elizabeth gently guided her to lie down on the couch. By now, the household staff had arrived along with Victoria's mother.
In a few minutes Victoria had recovered enough to sit up. Ruth Lockwood and Elizabeth provided a comforting hug from each side of her. Between them, they rocked Victoria back and forth, in much the same way as Elizabeth would comfort Little Jack.
Finally, Victoria regained her composure and assured everyone she was fine.
There was a commotion as Victoria's brother Philip arrived for a visit. He first became interested in the law, after Victoria went through her ordeal, but he quickly climbed the corporate ladder to become a junior law partner with a specialty in corporate law. He may have been successful, but he still connected with his family on a regular basis.
Elizabeth took the opportunity to step out of earshot to explain the sequence of events to Victoria's mother.
"Ruth, I am so sorry. I came here to help her, not send her into shock! Victoria asked me to confirm the name of the man I was entangled with back in Hope Valley. As soon as I said his name, she screamed and fainted."
Ruth looked at Elizabeth with sad eyes and remarked how the whole incident had changed Victoria. "That man stole far more than money. He stole dignity and self-esteem!" With an anger in her eyes Elizabeth never recalled seeing before, Ruth continued with a venomous tone, "In this particular instance, I firmly hope that man reaps everything that he sowed – in this life and in the next!"
Elizabeth reached over and hugged Ruth. She thought it best she leave now and excused herself to say goodbye to both Victoria and Philip.
Victoria looked at Elizabeth with red, puffy eyes and exclaimed, "Elizabeth, I am so sorry our visit ended so badly. I don't know why I can't put all that behind me."
Before Elizabeth could reply, Phillip interjected, "You can't put it behind you because you won't let it go." Phillip was a few years older than his sister and he clearly cared about her.
He paced the room more in frustration, than anger. "I have told you before, you need to get out and meet some new people so you can replace those past memories with new ones. I'm here to help you. I WANT to help you! I have a half dozen single friends I could introduce you to, but you won't even try."
He turned to Elizabeth in frustration and said, "Will you give it a try; maybe you could get her to do something besides living in the past."
Suddenly, Elizabeth had an idea. It was perfect! She was silent for a moment as the idea took root and quickly grew into something certain. She knew who she would ask to help introduce Victoria back into life.
It was too early to say anything to Victoria yet. With her idea bubbling and hope growing in her mind, she bid her farewell to Victoria, assuring her that she would be in contact again very soon. She also said good-bye to Mrs. Lockwood.
As she prepared to leave the parlour, she gestured to Phillip to join her in the entrance way. They spoke quietly for a few minutes as Elizabeth tested her idea on Phillip, only withholding the name of the person she had in mind. She wanted to speak with him directly first.
Phillip broke out into a smile. He recognized the opportunity and said he would support it as much as he could and he knew Celeste would also.
"Elizabeth, what a friend you are to Victoria. We will be happy to go out on a few dates with them, if that will make Victoria feel more comfortable. I can hardly wait to find out who you have in mind."
Elizabeth was slightly confused. Victoria had insinuated that neither she nor Phillip were involved in a relationship, which is why her parents did not have any grandchildren.
Phillip sensed the reason for her confusion and he confided in Elizabeth that he had been seeing Celeste Wentworth for a few months now and they had just started officially courting. "Honestly Elizabeth, I'm afraid that Victoria has been so depressed, I've been reluctant to share with her about Celeste and I," Phillip shared with the bright eyes of new love.
Just then, Benson arrived with the Thatcher car. He was right on time. Elizabeth said her goodbyes and left with a promise to be in touch, if everything went according to plan.
Elizabeth looked at her watch and saw it was almost 4 o'clock. She had just enough time to make the call when she got home.
Later the same day
Elizabeth arrived at her parent's home from the Lockwood Estate, to find Little Jack in the company of his grandmother. After briefly chatting with them, Elizabeth turned to her mother and asked, "Mother, I am home for the day now, however, I have a phone call to make. Do you mind watching over Little Jack for a few more minutes? Once I have finished my call I will come and take him off your hands. I know how active he can be sometimes."
Grace quickly responded, "You take care of whatever you need to, Elizabeth. My precious grandson and I are having fun here in the family room." Grace smiled and softly tilted her head towards the study, "In fact, your father came home from work early today. Don't tell him I told you, but he left the office in Charles' capable hands and came home to spend some quality time with us." Grace paused and in a soft, sad voice, she continued with, "I hope you know your father and I will miss you both when you return to Hope Valley. We have enjoyed having you home with us and getting to know Little Jack."
Elizabeth smiled tenderly and gave Grace a hug. "Oh, Mother, we will miss you and Father when we leave, but we have a whole life out West waiting for us. I look forward to you and Father making the trip West to visit us. My home is small but comfortable, as Father can attest to."
Grace didn't promise they would come West…but she hadn't said a firm no, either. Elizabeth had hope.
Since her father was using his study, Elizabeth went into the family room to use the phone.
She quickly dialed a familiar number and smiled when the receptionist answered, "Hamilton Shipyard. Norma speaking. How may I direct your call?"
"Hello, Norma. This is Elizabeth Thornton calling. I was wondering if Charles was still at the office?"
"Hello, Mrs. Thornton. How lovely to speak with you. I will ring Mr. Kensington's office."
It wasn't long until a familiar voice greeted her with, "Good afternoon, Elizabeth. I must say, this is a pleasant surprise." Although Charles knew Elizabeth was in town, he had not seen her yet. Elizabeth had sent him a letter before leaving Hope Valley to thank him for his brave honesty about Lucas and let him know that the problematic relationship had ended. At that time, she had indicated she was coming to Hamilton and hoped to see him, under more pleasant circumstances.
Charles continued with, "I do hope there is nothing wrong?"
Elizabeth quickly responded, "No, Charles, we are all well." Elizabeth suddenly felt a little awkward asking her childhood friend for this kind of favour. Nevertheless, she pressed on. "Charles, I am calling to ask you a favour. Before you say anything, please hear me out."
As always, Charles had proven to be very gallant and listened intently to Elizabeth's plan. She remembered feeling overjoyed when Charles agreed to take Victoria Lockwood on a double date. Phillip Lockwood was one of his closest friends and if he could help Victoria get reintroduced to life, he would do his best. After all, Charles had been the first one to share about Victoria's ordeal, so she had recently been on his mind and as a long-time family friend he was in a good position to be the best person to assist.
Elizabeth mulled over her now cold tea, as she continued to remember.
{Friday}
Elizabeth called Phillip Lockwood and confirmed it was all set. He and Celeste would set up a time and place to meet up with Victoria and Charles. She explained Charles had been delighted to help.
Phillip was thrilled. Not only did his sister have a new opportunity to put the past behind her, but there was no one he trusted more than Charles. He would call Charles and set the plan in motion. Actually he had thought of Charles before, but Victoria had been in no mood to listen to her older brother. The suggestion needed to come from Elizabeth for Victoria to consider the idea with new eyes and new hope.
It wasn't very long after her discussion with Phillip, that Victoria called Elizabeth. She thanked her profusely and confirmed they were going out the next night.
She excitedly told Elizabeth, "They arranged a short notice date for Saturday evening. It was a simple dinner out at the Country Club, where we are all members, so a reservation was easy to come by, even on a busy Saturday night."
Elizabeth smiled as she considered two very high-society gentlemen arranging a very last-minute dinner date. Under normal circumstances, that would have been very gauche behaviour and no woman with an ounce of self-respect would ever accept such an offer. Although she didn't say anything to Victoria, she suspected Phillip wanted the rushed date, so Victoria didn't have time to back out.
Victoria softly admitted to Elizabeth, "After all this time I am nervous, but excited. Charles is well known to the family, so I know I will be comfortable in his company."
Elizabeth promised Victoria a trip to Suzanne's bright and early Saturday morning. She definitely needed something new for this event. She prayed Victoria would find something suitable to wear for dinner. If worse came to worse, she would just loan Victoria her new dress. Elizabeth knew her mother would understand.
In the meantime, Elizabeth was only too happy to spend the remainder of Friday afternoon and evening, at home with her family. Her mother was very proud of the way Elizabeth stepped in and helped Victoria take her first step towards recovering from the past.
Grace looked at her daughter and said, "You know, Dear, you have given Victoria a real gift of friendship. I think you may have a future as a matchmaker. I don't think you could have chosen anyone more suitable than Charles."
Elizabeth chuckled at her mother's comment and replied, "Oh, I will not be doing this on a regular basis, but I do hope everything works out tomorrow night. In the meantime, I'll be making another trip to Suzanne's."
Grace replied, "I'm so glad. It will do you the world of good to get out and have some fun."
Elizabeth smiled, excused herself and went upstairs citing, "If I'm going to be out early in the morning, I had best get a good night's rest."
Up in her room, she planned her outfit for the next morning. She decided to wear her new white blouse with lace insert and her deep pink skirt she had brought with her from Hope Valley. That should be adequate attire for the morning.
With that, she retired for the day, in anticipation for a bright new day ahead.
Special thanks to Mamabethany for her help in producing a chapter that was far more difficult than it should have been to write! :)