- Chapter 5 -

Sunday had arrived. Albert left shortly after a late breakfast, saying he had some work to do and would be back in a few hours.

Candy busied herself with the day's chores, all the time wondering out loud to Terry what they should do during the day. Terry was busy with the Harper's Review and was secretly joyed that a collection of Robert Frost poems had been featured1 "Good for you, Frosty…your dream of being published in your homeland is coming true!" he thought to himself.

"Do you feel like going out today…I think we did a lot of walking yesterday…" Candy started.

"Hmmm? Oh…well…I feel fine, if you want to go out, dear…" Terry replied, engrossed with Harper's but still paying attention to her.

"You sound like an old married man!" she laughed. The emphasis he had put on "dear" sounded so charming and comfortable at the same time.

"I'll be your old man, if you allow me, Candice…" he retorted affably, putting down the magazine. "Do you need any help?"

"No…I don't want you exerting yourself…why don't read aloud to me while I finish?" she asked, finishing with the dishes. She could never tire of his voice.

"My pleasure…dear…" he said, poking fun again.

So they wiled away a couple of hours until early afternoon; Candy doing housework and Terry reading articles and poems from Harper's and a couple of Katzenjammer Kids comic panels from the Saturday Evening Post. His comic intonations had Candy laughing; he was so good and funny at doing different voices. By the time she had finished with the housework, Candy, whose eating habits were closely regimented against the clock, started to feel hungry.

"Hmm…I don't know what to do about lunch…shall we go to the park again? I'm afraid to cook for you…I surely will end up giving you some sort of stomach problem, which is the last think you need." she mused.

"It looks like a wonderful day, like yesterday…I would fancy to go out with you again." Terry replied. The last couple of days had been the best he had spent with her, since the summer in Scotland.

"Great! Let me…" Candy started, but stopped when she heard the door knock.

"Are you expecting somebody?" Terry asked, curious.

"No…not really…" she said, heading towards the door and opening it. Three smiling faces greeted her and entered the apartment.

"Archie…Annie…Patty!" Candy exclaimed. She had totally forgotten about their weekly Sunday outing for lunch. Equally surprised were they, seeing that she was not alone, that none other than Terry was there!

"Candy, what is Terry doing here?" Patty shyly asked, since Annie didn't even dare ask. Annie clutched Archie's arm, because she knew what young Cornwell was about to do.

"How could you have the stomach to come for her, after everything that has happened! After all she had suffered for you!" Archie was turning red and burst towards Terry to punch him, so angry was he to finally see the source of Candy's recent unhappiness. Grandchester had risen to meet him in kind.

Candy tried to stop him "Archie, please…Terry is convalescing from a serious knife wound!" Upon hearing her, Archie stopped, since he knew she was serious. He also noted that Terry had a few bruises on his face.

Terry, however, was waiting for him to exchange blows, since he was just as or even more of a hothead than Archie. "And why do you care so much about that, you Fop?"

"Who are you calling a Fop, Mister-Stuck-Up-Good-For-Nothing?" Archie retorted.

Now Annie and Patty were trying to hold him back, while Candy tried to hold Terry back "Terry…please! Your wound is going to open up" she pleaded, desperate. In that very moment Candy realized how big and strong Terry was, and how small and petite she looked against him…Terry's hand looked like a tiger's paw.

Terry allowed her to stop him, because he didn't want to hurt her in his fury. But that didn't stop his tongue. "At least your brother was good for something…"

"I won't allow you to make jokes at Stear's expense!" Archie roared, indignant.

Upon hearing Stear's name, Patty started crying, "Oh Stear, why aren't you here to help us?"

"Nobody is making jokes at your brother's expense…I am just mocking you!" Terry was aghast at himself that he had brought Stear into this and for having made Patricia cry.

"Terry, Archie, PLEASE!" Candy exclaimed "You both are acting like a pair of toddlers fighting over a piece of candy!" she admonished.

"Archie, please, why don't we go…we can come back another time, alright?" Annie said, trying to console Patty.

Everyone heard the knock on the door. Candy was startled, since she was not expecting anyone else. She went towards the door and opened it. Her surprise was even greater, when she saw the elegant silhouette of Eleanor Baker standing there.

"Oh!" they both cried out at the same time. Eleanor didn't have the slightest clue that Candy lived in Chicago. All that Watson had told her was that he had tracked Terrence down to an apartment, where he was apparently staying with friends. Now everything made sense to her. Candy did not want to say anything out loud, still keeping the promise she had made to Terry. "Madame …Eleanor Baker, right? …would you like to come in?" she asked, warmly.

"Yes, thank you…" she replied, equally warm. She knew right then and there that Terry was safe.

"Mother?" Terry asked, upon hearing Eleanor's voice.

"Terry? Oh, my son!" she exclaimed, quickly moving towards him.

"Son!" Archie said, too star struck at seeing his favorite actress in the flesh. Annie and Patty said "Oh!" at the same time, taking their hands to their mouths.

"Oh Terry, bless the Heavens, you are fine…Divine Providence, oh my son…" she said, hugging him, tears in her eyes, relieved, although the bruises on her sons' face worried her slightly.

"Mother, please…" Terry was uncomfortable to have to be in the presence of others while he saw his mother again. He also could not return the hug in full because of his wound.

"Terry, don't talk to your mother that way…can't you see how grateful she is to have found you?" Candy chided.

Another knock was heard at the door. "Candy, are you expecting anybody else?" Archie asked.

"No…Albert should be back by now, but he's got the key…" she said, going towards the door again. She opened it and this time her blood froze.

"Great Aunt Elroy!" she squeaked. Candy was pushed aside by Eliza, followed by Neil who gave her an evil, triumphant look .

"Well, well, well, Candy, how bold of you…living with Terry! I shouldn't call you the Lady of the Stables anymore, I am going to call you the Lady of the Night." Eliza said, without sparing a minute to thrust her jab.

"Hush, Eliza, you have no idea what you are talking about!" Archie argued, irritated with his cousin.

"Archibald!" scolded the Great Aunt.

"Elisa, I will not allow you to talk down to Candy that way…when are you ever going to stop bothering us! I see that you continue to play the part of a Lady, but there is another name for what you really are…ah! And I see you brought your sniveling little coward of a brother….what a pair of jokers from the misfit deck!" Terry said, defending Candy verbally and seething hate towards the Leegan siblings.

Archie had to admit to himself that Terrence got it right this time.

"Have you forgotten the show you gave at John Barleycorn's, you whino?" Neil hassled.

"At least I have a good reason, which is what I don't think we can say about you." the aristocrat retorted.

"John Barleycorn's? Well, now I side with you, Terry…" Archie said, shocked.

"But what in the Name of all that is Holy is this! Candice White, you certainly have outdone yourself this time…what sorry excuse do you have now? I am going to tell William this very instant to once and for all take you out of his will and out of our honorable family. And who is this…this…" The Great Aunt was furious, but for the first time she saw the distinguished, chic lady in front of her.

"I am Eleanor Baker, Madame, the mother of Terrence Grandchester." Eleanor said, with her soft, refined and modulated voice. Out of all those present, only she was the calmest, despite what was happening. She felt that something interesting was about to happen.

"Eleanor Baker is Terry's mother?" Eliza and Neil said at once.

"Eleanor Baker?" Elroy asked, impressed. She wasn't sure what was going on now, the only thing she had clear is that Candy effectively was living alone in an apartment with at least one man, and that she was not going to tolerate.

"What is going on here!" Albert's voice rumbled, shaking the place up. Everyone fell silent. Not because he had yelled, but because his voice, strong and clear, had the same impact Terry's did when he was acting. A voice that could captivate, a voice that commanded attention.

The Great Aunt Elroy could not trust her ears and turned around to see for herself. Eliza and Neil did so as well, to see who was 'the other man' with whom Candy was living with. Neil didn't waste a second to keep mudding up Candy. "You see, Great Aunt, here is the other man Candy is living with…imagine how cheeky she is and how ungentlemanly they are, living a ménage a trois…Great Aunt? Great Aunt? What's the matter, say something!"

Silence permeated the apartment for a few seconds, perhaps the only sounds to be heard was the beating of several hearts: some excited, some perplexed, some angry. Elroy could not believe what was happening. The only person who knew what was coming next, other than Albert himself, was Terry, and he was eager to see how it was going to play out. He protectively and possessively put his arm around Candy, which terribly provoked Neil, who boiled internally at the sight.

"I now see the reason why you have been against Candy all these years…" Albert said, sadly, to Elroy.

"Why do you allow this bum to talk to you like that, Great Aunt!" Eliza asked, exasperated.

"Great Aunt, I am not going to allow him to insult you!" Neil lunged at Albert to hit him, but Albert expertly stopped Neil's hand with one of his own. "Well, well…" Albert said "are you going to bite the hand that feeds you?"

"Great Aunt, what's the matter?" Archie now asked, surprised that grumpy Great Aunt Elroy was for once silent and petrified. He also was surprised that Mr. Albert talked that way and that the Great Aunt said nothing.

"Why do you allow this….this…" Eliza started, not knowing what to call the young lion in front of her. However, her eyes looked at him with haughty disdain. Albert's eyes bore into hers like an eagle plunges it claws into its prey. For the first time in her life, Eliza was subjugated with just one look.

"Elroy, you should give infinite thanks to what Candy has done for me. From now on, I will not allow anybody to lift a finger against her or even deign a bad thought about her. If that were ever to happen, I swear that I will exercise my right as the head of the family and come down strong and hard on the offender."

"But what absurdities does this bastard emote, and how does he know your name?" Neil screeched.

"Hush, Neil!" ordered Elroy, her voice trembling.

Archie came over closer to them "Why does Mr. Albert talk that way, Great Aunt?" he asked.

"You know him?" she asked. Now her nightmare was complete…the story was turning more and more complicated.

"But of course…he has always been Candy's faithful friend…and thanks to her, ours too. Anthony and Stear met him as well." he replied, still confused as to what was going on.

"Archie, you knew he lived with Candy? Well, I didn't know you tread so low as …" Eliza started, trying to stir the beehive up more and make matters worse for Candy.

"Eliza, silence! I will not allow you to talk that way about…" Elroy raised her voice to Eliza, a thing she had never done in her life.

"About whom, Great Aunt…why are you defending Candy now and why does this man say he's the head of the family!" Neil interrupted, demanding.

"BECAUSE ALBERT IS WILLIAM ALBERT ANDLEY, THE GREAT UNCLE WILLIAM, THE MAXIMUM AND ONLY HEAD OF THE ANDLEY'S!" she finally said.


After the Great Aunt's proclamation, the stunned witnesses who were in Candy's apartment started to disperse. Albert had said to Elroy, "Aunt, please go to the mansion with Eliza and Neil and wait for me there…we need to talk." She immediately obeyed him without further ado; the Leegan siblings still reeling from the announcement. Eliza, especially, felt like a hot air balloon whose fuel source had been shut off and had subsequently fallen to earth violently.

After they left, Albert apologized to his nephew Archibald, to Annie and Patty and introduced himself to Eleanor Baker. He had found her quite spectacular. He gave Terry a warm handshake with a secret wink and finally said to Candy, "Little one, I know you have many questions now about everything that has happened here today….please let me speak with Elroy and Leegans first and I promise you that when I come back later we can spend all the time you want talking about it, is that alright?" Candy just nodded. She still could not believe everything she had just heard. It was like receiving a birthday present, a Christmas gift and a Pandora's box all at once.

Albert gave Archie a warm hug and said to him, "I promise you that I will answer all your questions, we shall talk privately soon." He kissed Annie and Patty fraternally on the cheeks. The girls also could scarcely believe that Mr. Albert, Candy's friend was the famous and mysterious Great Uncle William. With this, he bid them farewell, since his need to talk to Elroy and the Leegans was pressing.

Earlier, when he had returned with George and before he had chanced upon what was happening in the apartment he shared with Candy, he had seen his Aunt's car. He knew right then what was going on, and had said to George, "I do believe the time has come, George...please wait for me here..."

When he left the apartment, he looked for George, who was close by, awaiting him discreetly. He walked towards his second man and said, "Well, it's done…now we need to go back to the mansion, because I have pending business with Elroy and the Leegan siblings."

George had nodded silently, feeling relieved. The years of hiding had ended; although now it meant that William Albert could no longer be the wayward traveler he preferred to be.

Upon Albert's departure, Archie, who was now less irritated with Terry, addressed himself to Eleanor Baker. "Madame, Archibald Cornwell Andley at your service…may I please introduce my beloved cousin, William Albert Andley's adopted daughter, Miss Candice White Andley…I would also like to introduce my sweetheart, Miss Annie Britter and my brother's sweetheart, Miss Patricia O'Brien. I dearly miss that he is not here to personally extend his introduction to you." he said in his wonderful, courtly voice and lovely manners, which were immediately acknowledged and appreciated by Eleanor.

"The pleasure is mine, young Master Cornwell, ladies…" she replied, equally charming. All those present were captivated with the woman's grace and exquisiteness. She truly embodied the definition of a star.

Candy did not wish to interrupt Archie's introduction by telling him that she already knew Eleanor, preferring that either Terry or Eleanor herself tell him directly. She still remembered the promise she had made to Terry and as far as she was concerned, it still stood. Archie then said to Terry, "Terrence, I want to apologize to you, and before your mother I want to ask you forgiveness if I ever have offended you. You know that I am at the ready to defend Candy, which I believe is a sentiment we both share…"

"No worries, Archibald…I believe I too owe you an apology…it is about time I stop acting like a school boy and more like a man, like your brother."

They both shook hands with a lot of sincerity.

"Well, I think we can postpone our weekly lunch until next week…we have had a lot of excitement here today, don't you think?" Patty suggested, always sensible.

"Please, you should still go…truth be told, Candy needs some distraction…she's been tending to me all week…besides, I need to have some private time with my mother…Candy…you don't mind, do you?" Terry asked.

"No, Terry, of course not…but…" Candy started. She did not know what to do, everything had happened so fast.

"Candy, we can wait for you downstairs while you figure out with Mrs. Baker and Terry what you need to do…then you can come down and let us know…" Annie suggested, finally finding her voice.

"That sounds like a good idea." Eleanor said.

The trio said their goodbye and Terry, Candy and Eleanor were left alone. Eleanor took Terry in her arms again in a motherly embrace. He at first did not know how to correspond her, but finally gave into the embrace, his face thankful. Candy shed tears of joy seeing them together.

"Please, child, come here…" Eleanor murmured to her, opening the embrace to receive Candy. Candy went towards them, overjoyed. The three of them shared a deep embrace, familiar with Eleanor, intimate between them. "God be praised, Terrence, that I have found you safe and sound…and with her…the Lady of your heart." she sighed, thankful.

Candy separated a bit from the embrace, while Terry admitted, "Well, mother…perhaps somewhat safe and not so sound…"

"Not so sound? Why?" Eleanor asked, worried.

Terry continued, before Candy could say it. "Mother, I am recuperating from a knifing I suffered here in Chicago...Candy has been taking care of me..."

Eleanor felt her stomach turn over, but she kept her reaction internally so that her son would not be tormented by it. "Then, you truly have an angel looking after you, and her name is Candy…" she said "…but we have to think about your recuperation…from what I witnessed here today, Candy's family isn't too pleased with what has happened…and I can understand their point….she's an unmarried minor…why don't you come with me so that I can take care of you…"

Terry wasn't very thrilled with that idea. He was quite content living with Candy they way they had been since the incident.

"Your mother is right, Terry…" Candy seconded, "…Besides, I can always go take care of you wherever she is staying…"

"I am staying at the Congress Hotel2 and I have come here for whatever stretch of time I need to...Terry, believe me, I won't do anything to separate you from your Angel…"

"Very well, then…" he accepted, reluctantly.

"I have a chauffer here in Chicago, and he can come for you at any time." Eleanor offered to Candy.

"Madame Baker…" Candy started.

"Eleanor, please, child…."

Candy was thrilled to hear the gorgeous woman call her that way, "Eleanor, we are going to need to buy Terry some more clothes, because we have only been able to get him one set only and I know he's been a good sport about it, but…"

"Let's not worry too much about that, we can go shopping soon to remedy that situation...we can all go shopping, what do you think?' she offered. She could hardly wait to treat Candy to whatever she wanted.

Candy cheered up and turned to look at Terry. He still wasn't very happy with the way things were going, but he knew it was the best decision, for now. "Sounds fine to me." he finally said.

Candy gave a small, happy clap and said, "Let me tell the gang….I also need to leave a note for Albert...I can talk with him later, since I don't know what time he is coming back."

"Go on, child…" Eleanor said.

Candy left and Terry and his mother were alone.

"Terry…you don't need to say anything right now…just let me to say that I know your heart is heavy and I know whom can make it light again… just allow me to help you get better…please don't send me away from your side…I will not pressure you in any way, just let me help you…" she said, touching his brow lightly the way she used to do it when he was a child. It pained her to no end to see bruises on his handsome face.

Terry shuddered at the memory that his mother's touched had evoked. He saw himself as a young boy again, in his mother's arms, being unconditionally loved. "Yes, mummy…" he replied, tenderly.


Albert and the Great Aunt Elroy were in the Andley Mansion study. It was originally his father's and it looked just as he had left it when he passed away, so long ago. It was masculine and organized, the aroma of fine leather and tobacco imbued in the atmosphere. It had been witness to so many deals that had been closed there, all successful. His portrait as well as those of other Andley's past, some painted by Sargent and others by Peele, observed them silently. Elroy was still moved to see William Albert; to finally confirm herself that he was safe. But the young man's fury and disenchantment was evident in his steely gaze from behind the desk.

"Aunt, it really has pained me to no end to see with my very own eyes how you treat Candy…and to see how you have believed the Leegan's lies, the malicious lies they have conjured to bear false witness against Candy."

Elroy shifted uneasily in her chair; she had realized how wrong she had been about Candy all these years.

"William…dearest…please…" she appealed.

"Aunt, I know that shouldering the burden of the family has been very heavy for you, and I sincerely and deeply thank you for everything you have done and endured all this time. But that task has now come to an end. I have returned to fully take the reins of the family and to formally and publicly become the head of the Andley's. If Candy's presence is so abhorrent to you, I just ask you to be courteous to her…I am not one to make you oblige…but I do not want to ever hear a single word against her…she has been the only one who has enabled me to come back to the family…she alone. She is the sweetest, most innocent, honest and frank person that you will ever meet, Elroy, and she is more than worthy to carry my last name….worthier than some of the other family members…" Albert said, very solemn.

"I think…I think that I need to retire to Lakewood for some time…all of this has been very unexpected and somewhat overwhelming for me…" she said.

"As you wish, Aunt…I am moving in the mansion as of today, with Candy…and, if they agree to my personal invitation, Terrence Grandchester and his mother. They will be my guests until Terrence can travel again."

"So it shall be, William…I would…I would like to speak with Candice before I leave for Lakewood, please…" Elroy asked.

William Albert's eyes softened. "Aunt…I am positive she will be most open to that…"

"But please, William…please go easy on Eliza and Neil…" she begged.

"As opposed to them, I do not go out of my way to cause harm…but let me make this clear to you, as I will to them, I will not allow them to continue mortifying or hurting Candy. Besides, I believe it is high time that they understand what their real position in this family is." Albert said tersely.

Elroy showed some signs of anxiety. "Oh, William…please…."

"I am sorry, Aunt Elroy…since nobody bothered to make it clear to them all these years…you and Sarah had had enough time to do so, and now, time is up…"

Only the tick tick tick tick of the Bucellatti desk clock was heard for the next few minutes.

"Very well, William…I take your leave now…" she answered, defeated. There was nothing she could do now.

"Go on, Aunt…and please tell Eliza and Neil that I wish to see them right away."

Elroy gave a slight nod in respect to the young man, whom she now had to defer to in each and every way, her age notwithstanding. After a few minutes, the Leegan siblings entered the study, their heads held low. Even Eliza knew that she had nothing in her favor and could not curry William Albert they way she had her mother and Great Aunt Elroy.

"Eliza, Neil, please sit down." he started, "I truly regret that we have to meet under these circumstances. I don't even know where to start. Perhaps you can explain to me, in your own words, why the seething hatred towards Candy? I can understand that if you do not like somebody, you don't go out of your way to have a close relationship…but to defamate, set traps, go scheming and plotting with such virulence against a creature who has not done absolutely anything to malign you…the truth is even I am at loss…"

Neil started blubbering, whilst Eliza just bit her lower lip.

"Well…I see that the guts and audacity you had against Candy have suddenly dried up…allow me to refresh your minds here…these are the misdeeds that I know of, as I am sure there are more that I am not aware of: you exercised influence to have Candy be made a lowly servant instead of being Eliza's companion, Neil destroyed some of Anthony's -God rest his soul- rosebushes and blamed Candy for it, you placed Sarah's emerald brooch amongst Candy's personal effects to make it seem like she stole them and have her sent to Mexico as punishment; you succeeded in turning Great Aunt Elroy against her…In London, Neil and his so-called gentlemen friends attacked her and goodness knows how far you would have gone if Terrence Grandchester didn't intervene to save her…and Eliza…Eliza you were capable of putting Candy and Terrence in a compromising position, making them seem as if they were carrying an illicit affair…not being satisfied with what I have just recounted, you kept bothering and pestering her here in Chicago, going so far as getting her sacked from St. Joan's using MY surname, since it isn't even yours to exercise…"

"But…we are family…" Neil timidly said.

"Ah, yes…I forgot about that…Candy whom by law is an Andley and carries my last name, and is my heir, has had to suffer injustices at the hands of the Leegans, whom don't even have Andley blood coursing through their veins…"

"What!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

"I am sorry I am the one to do this, but the time has come for you to know the truth…Sarah, your mother, is not my blood sister…the only blood sisters I have are Rosemary, who is my full blood sister, and the Alistear's and Archibald's mother, who is my sister by mother only…"

Eliza and Neil sat there, stupefied.

Albert continued, "Your mother was the daughter of my mother's first husband. Sarah's mother died shortly after her birth. Her father remarried, to my mother. She took Sarah in as her own flesh and blood. My mother became pregnant and had Stear's and Archie's mother. Unfortunately, my mother's husband passed away shortly after this. A few months after widowing, she met and then married my father, William Andley Jr….and that is how both girls became part of the Andley family…my father, always generous, adopted them as his own and gave them the Andley name…much in the same way that I adopted Candy…out of this marriage, Rosemary was born first, and after some years, I was born."

"My birth, however, was never quite known to the older girls, because by then they were in boarding school at St. Paul's. When I was born, my father had unexpectedly passed away a few months earlier and my mother died in childbirth…and I was the only Andley heir at that point. My grandfather, William Sr., was alive, but he was in no capacity to handle the family business; unbeknownst to everyone except for my father, mother and Aunt Elroy. My father had been quietly taking care of my grandfather's estate publicly, but it was never revealed why, other than that he preferred that my father do so and people assumed he was just an old eccentric. He lived under medical care in a separate house here in Chicago. It was at that time, with my father and mother dead and I a young infant, that Aunt Elroy took the reins of the family, helped by a young George Johnson. She decided to let the legend of "Great Uncle William" go on, even after he passed away, and to keep me away from the burdens of running the family until I was old enough. Only Elroy, my sister Rosemary and George Johnson knew of the secret. Neither your mother nor the Cornwell's mother, who is actually my half sister, knew I existed. Perhaps now it doesn't sound very logical or sound, but at the time it seemed to be the best course of action…"

Eliza and Neil still couldn't believe what they were hearing. Everything that they had known to be true wasn't.

"Now, what am I going to do about you two? Candy at least has proven to be a dignified representative of this family and I am I proud to have her as my heir...but you, you haven't given me a single reason to continue considering you as part of the extended family. You have only known to abuse the Andley surname for your own selfish purposes."

"Eliza, if it is your wish to marry the first man who asks for your hand, I will not intervene. But I want you to consider what can you do in this world that is of some benefit, like a real lady should…Neil, young man, I cannot believe that you are so vacuous, spending money as if it were water and coveting what is not yours…so I give you a week to decide what it is you are going to do with your lives and to show me some interest in becoming real members of this family…"

…That is all…" Albert concluded.

"Yes, Uncle William…" they replied, the drubbing having served its purpose.


1 Authors note: This actually occurred in 1920, but for purposes of this story, I am playing around with the dates .

2 A grand, historic hotel in Chicago, operating at the time this story is set and still operating in Chicago today.