Chapter 32

Marion was awaiting eagerly, for the arrival of the man who had made her heart beat quicken every time he turned his eyes on her. His whole presence enthralled her beyond anything she had experienced with other men so far. Could it be the fact that he was making it as hard as it can be, to get to know him? Or that despite him being single, sometimes she thought he must be the most unavailable man she had ever met. Oh, the mystery...the challenge. She bit her lip as she kept staring outside the window. The guests had started to arrive. Mostly they were her parent's friends. All being excited to meet John Barrymore. She couldn't care less. She chuckled to the thought, how inappropriate to think that. But it was true. Her mission was Terrence Graham. No one else mattered.

She had visited the theatre a few times. Dragged him out, insisting to entertain him a spot of lunch. Trying her best to know him. Like a bee, she buzzed around him, hoping to drink of the nectar of his azure stare when he spent it on her. Actors she knew were a flaky bunch, saying one thing one day, and doing another the next. But not him. Terrence Graham was his own master. No one made him do anything or say anything he didn't want or hadn't agreed to.

She had taken extra care of her appearance that evening. Wearing a fitted black Chanel dress with a drop waist and feathered skirt, heavy eyeliner round her blue eyes, lips like red velvet roses, she was happy with the way she looked. She wanted to look perfect when he arrived. She hadn't stopped gushing about him to her parents. With some clever planning, she had persuaded them to throw that soiree. Having the bait of John Barrymore, she would get to spend the night with Terry. There were many quiet corners, she had hoped to get him alone. She sighed. Her friend Rose had arrived with Christian. He had grabbed her, right there on the driveway to kiss her like a man in love would. She rushed to the door. In her mind, she hoped to have her man kiss her so...

...

Since the night Isabel and Archie had found each other, they had stayed inseparable. It was completely against his nature but Archie found himself not being able to resist the pull and the passion he felt was coursing his veins when he was around her. To have an affair outside his marriage was something that never had crossed his mind before. Everything he felt and everything he did were newfound experiences for him. Charting in unknown waters without a map...did not come without its headaches. Especially when every day he had to talk with Annie over the phone.

Those moments he disliked more and more. To lie to a woman, his wife who held from the other end of the line with all that those phone calls entailed. Each pretending to the other, fearing...

Annie tiptoed between her eagerness to hear how he spent his days away and the fear of finding out he actually had a great time without her. Archie complaining about the weight of work, the weather, the highbrow of the British. Thank God for Candy he would tell Annie. Yes, he spent time with her and her friends, taking him around London. Of course he preferred to stay in, but how could he refuse to Candy?

You know how your friend is...

Thoughts unwelcome weighted upon his brow making him feel uncomfortable in his own skin. However, the moment he would meet with Isabel, all that melted away. The nights they spent in his bed. The mornings came with her between his arms, feeling her warm body stretching next to his. All day he would carry in his mind those first kisses, the soft, half asleep ones, that carried her breath on his neck and waked everything up inside him. He hardly managed to unglue himself to get ready for work.

He kept the affair as discreet as possible. His pretend was that she was teaching him to dance. Which ironically kept in line with their first encounter, when she produced her business card and he had taken offense by it. Sitting under a tree, with her head resting on his lap, and her stare lost within the rustling foliage above them, she had joined him into laughing when he recalled their first meeting. He had been such a klutz...

Yes...a sweet klutz...

He also enjoyed the level of anonymity London provided him. He didn't feel as guarded as he had in Chicago, to act and behave according to the strict rules of the upper society circles they frequented with his wife. Isabel was with him as a friend when he would join Candy to social evenings with her circle but they also found time to spend the two of them in more secluded locations where they were freer to behave like a couple. It was always an act of balance between what he felt for this woman and his need to show her those feelings and the proper behaviour of a married man that was expected from him when they mingled amongst people who were ready to judge.

Archie wasn't particularly keen to join the soiree that evening. Though it was supposed to be a small affair, just by knowing who their host was, meant that he and Isabel would have to behave accordingly. He had to admit, that the pretend he kept up for two weeks now he found more and more difficult to keep. Slowly the couple was retreating from the company of others, preferring the company of each other. But he hadn't have the chance to catch up with Terry for a week now. Apart from a brief moment when he lent him the car and told him that he was certain of Candy carrying feelings for him, his attempts to bring him closer to his cousin hadn't borne fruit.

On the contrary in fact. Candy seemed to be closer to Christian and Terry was never much out of Marion's sight. He and Candy were behaving like a couple of friends at best. The role of matchmaker wasn't something he had envisaged for himself. This trip in London was an ongoing experience of firsts. He disliked Christian and did not trust him one iota. While knowing, especially now having an affair himself, that it wasn't his place to judge Candy's choice of a partner, he also knew of what his cousin and Terry had a long time ago, it had been the real thing. He and Annie were witnesses of Candy's secret yearning for him. It was only after Albert's passing that they both realised a change in her attitude. A desire to break away from the routine she had built around her all those years, to go out in the world and live one day at a time without keeping any regard for consequences. When he arrived in London, being surprised as he was to find her living like a bona fide flapper girl, in hindsight he should have expected her to do so.

—

He and Isabel came out of the car, with smiles like flowers on their faces. It was difficult for Candy to pinpoint what she felt when seeing her cousin in such good spirits. Two sides of a coin, if she was to describe it. Because she felt happy for Archie but she also felt sadness creeping up inside her for her friend Annie back home. Surprised as she was, she could not deny that feeling.

Happiness sometimes came at a cost of someone else feeling sad.

"Marion...always charming," Archie commented as he kissed her hand. "My dear friend Terrence...I'm assuming he's not here. Unless you decided to welcome all your guests at the driveway."

"Oh Archie, stop teasing poor Marion." Isabel pulled him closer to her.

"Archie, forever the gentleman..." Candy commented, trying to hide the sarcasm in her voice. Sounding smooth but hitting below the table. Archie's snipe remarks made it even easier for Candy to bring herself to the moment. She was certain, all that was intended for her. Archie turned to her, seemingly not affected by her comment.

"Darling...Rose...!" he exclaimed and kissed her on both cheeks, while throwing a side glance to Christian. Archie was used by now to Christian's absent minded look on his face. Was he ever present on his own accord to any of those gatherings or was he dragged by Candy to them? Archie wondered for a second. In this occasion he had to agree with him. He would have been a happier man if he had the evening to himself and his girl...The thought of Isabel as his "girl" made his face feel warm.

They acknowledged each other as niceties went, and they all followed Marion's lead inside Sir Lewis' mansion, where they were all greeted enthusiastically by Marion's parents.

—

Terry pushed the pedal, speeding through London. He had just reached Highgate. On purpose, he had chosen a road well-travelled in his youth. The sight of an impressive mansion was coming into sight. His paternal home. Nothing had changed. The lush grounds surrounded by beech and oak trees, the magnolia tree in front of the mansion... everything stood the same. He hit the break, bringing the car to a stop. He stood there, staring. Uncertain whether he wanted to get out of the car or not. He knew it was not making sense but by he keeping himself in the car, he felt protected from the memories he felt coming like black clouds in his mind.

In the distance, he could see the white wooden bench under the magnolia. Many times he sought its shade, under which sitting on that bench, with his back propped on the tree trunk, he would bury his head on those old Shakespeare books, shutting himself out of the misery of his real life. His stepmother did not hide her contempt towards himself. Nor did she refrain from letting him forget he was an unwanted, worthless piece of trash. Merely a dog they had kept for charity. Especially after his half siblings were born, his position had become even more precarious.

The verbal and physical abuse from that bitch were eating his mind and soul away. Locked for hours on end, enduring the darkness of the damp cellar, feeling his body on fire from the beatings. She used an old cane to beat him up. Thin like a whip. He remembered the sound of it, ripping the air before it hit his legs, his hands, his bottom, his back. She was going to beat some discipline into him. He had bad habits, an airy head, flowing in the clouds and a mouth of a dock worker. Inherited by that whore of a mother he had. She had fallen pregnant in an attempt to snatch Lord Grandchester, one of the sought after bachelors of London's high society, with links to the Royal Family. Thankfully, Richard, his father had seen sense, and had not fallen in her trap. Instead, that trollop left to seek the fame she wanted on the theatre planks of Broadway.

He lit a cigarette. The flash of a silent lightning in the distance reflected in his eyes who had turned cold. As he was growing up, his behaviour had turned more delinquent. There were no more clouds for his head to flow into. His mouth had turned fouler. The beatings had become harsher, leaving his stepmother, panting, being out of breath. Silently, with the naivety of his young years, he had hoped she had dropped dead. He became more aggressive, hoping on an even more severe punishment. There was no word to his father. He was absent a lot of the time. He may have had the wedding everyone approved, but his eyes had never looked carefree. It would be useless to say to him anything anyways. He wouldn't have believed him. In those rare occasions when he tried telling him about the abuse, he brushed everything away with a flick of his hand, asking him not to bother him with nonsense. Instead, he took her side.

One day, he remembers it well, his step brother James was crying because he could not find his toy train. It was early January, just a couple of weeks before Terry was to turn thirteen. He always knew how to make himself scarce, but lately he had become even more successful in doing so, by having found the brandy his father had stashed in his study. Having already been for a good couple of hours hidden underneath his father's big mahogany desk, he already had downed a couple of measures. The drink burned his throat but he liked the numbness his body felt after. It matched perfectly with the state of his soul. He could hear James' cries. He was driving Mildred, his stepmother mad. He stayed there for a while, being amused by the frustration in her voice, so he decided to come out of his hiding spot. A smirk was drawn on his lips when he saw her puffed up, flustered face. She didn't need much else. Was he the culprit behind the missing toy train? She shook him violently by his collar and dragged him in his room. She threw him on the floor, and started with manic moves to look for the toy between his things. A rain of clothes, books, toys were thrown in the air behind her. He felt his anger rising, like the steam inside a boiling kettle. The moment she stopped to look over an opened book by his bedside, he could hardly hold himself.

"Hamlet? You're reading Hamlet?" She had asked without waiting for an answer. Her sight fell on his mother's inscription on the first page - With Love to Richard, E. As if that trollop knew about Shakespeare. I wonder how many she screwed to be as famous as she is. A second after she burst into shrieks of laughter. She reminded him of a pack of hyenas he had seen in the zoo. By that time, he could see nothing in front of him. Only that manic laughter piercing his ears.

"You'll pay for this..." he had managed to say, not recognising his own voice.

What will you do? Beat me? She replied, her lips turning to a sardonic smile, her voice dripping with ridicule. He rushed towards her like a bullet. It was all a matter of seconds when he lifted his hand up which fell into a loud slap across her face. They both remained frozen for a few seconds. He reeked of alcohol.

"You're drunk, you little piece of shit..."

He didn't put any fight when she produced the cane which hung by the belt of her skirt. The beating, he received without one noise coming out of him. His eyes only stung with tears of hate. He could hardly walk when she threw him in the cellar.

The next week his father broke him the news. He was going on St. Paul's boarding school. He wasn't permitted back home till he finished school. He enrolled on the day of his birthday.

He flicked the cigarette out of the car. Heavy, menacing clouds were gathering in the distance. His blue stare had turned into steel, letting no emotion out. He sped, leaving the memories of his youth behind him, hanging over his father's mansion like those storm clouds.

—-

He arrived just a little before Robert Hathaway and John Barrymore entered the crowd in Sir Lewis' mansion. Everyone was already there. Marion greeted him at the door. She looked picture perfect. Excited as heck. He wondered for a moment what is he doing with her, but frankly he felt flattered. Under other circumstances, even if you asked him whether he'll find another girl tickling his interest, he himself would be absolutely flabbergasted, but now with Candy showing him he was just a friend for her and nothing more, he had got frustrated. Annoyed even. Marion did everything to keep him interested.

Throwing this soiree, it was her idea. She had concocted it in his dressing room one of those times she came to take him for lunch. Of course she didn't say to him in those words...but she did put this whole event as an honour to have the great Barrymore for the theatre society in London, as well as helping to put bums on the seats...as she put it. "John, doesn't need help, you know." he had replied to her.

"Oh, please Terry," she reciprocated drawing her vowels, "have you realised what a waiting queue will mean for the play? Don't matter that the house will be full, the anticipation to find a ticket while you're on a waiting list...they'll make them go crazy." Her eyes glazed, looking lost as if daydreaming. He blew the smoke from his cigarette. "You're something else, you know that?" He said, while taking his hat and cane, to leave for lunch.

So yes, he realised it may not have been entirely fair on Marion, but if Candy knew...her polite smiles and side looks...were pushing him away.

"Terry, you look smashing, if I may say so..." she exclaimed, with a face that was beaming. He had worn his sharpest tuxedo, was fresh saved and had his hair cut in the barbers, he felt good. Her exuberant ways though, threw him for a second.

"Thank you." he said just when he returned to normal, and let another pause before he returned the compliment. "You look quite fetching yourself."

"Oh! Why, thank you Terry!" She acted surprised. "Even if I had to force it out of you..." She said with a mocking disappointed tone on her voice. She put her arm around his, before he could reply to her comment, turned her blue eyes on him and burst in a smile. "I'm teasing you, relax..." She whispered.

As they entered the big arched door to the salon, every theatre aficionado and theatre professionals, patrons, they were there. Candy was there, looking exquisite he had to say. His eyes fell on Christian, standing by her side. Archie on her other side and that woman - his woman? - It certainly looked so...

Marion escorted him to the main area, where she could introduce him to who's-who of London's theatre world.

"My oh my...Marion has snatched our Terry..." Archie whispered while he brushed Candy's shoulder with his the moment Terry passed in front of them. She kicked his foot, reacting to his comment.

"They can do whatever they like." She replied to him, between her teeth.

Terry after a while, talking and introducing himself, approached Sir Edward and his wife.

"Father, mother, this is Terrence Graham. One of the lead actors in the Stratford troupe I was telling you about."

They both bore genuine smiles. "So finally, I meet the great Terrence Graham!" Sir Edward said.

"Oh, you are exaggerating sir..."

"On the contrary Mr. Graham. According to my daughter, she has painted you with more greatness than you know." He said and winked to Marion, who's face looked flushed all of a sudden. Her mother however, was shocked.

"Edward! You are making both your daughter and our guest looking very awkward."

"Nonsense! All Englishmen, including Mr. Graham, can take a good joke." Terry broke into a laugh.

"I do appreciate a good sense of humour, sir." He said back.

"In honesty, now. We are all honoured for having you all here. We are very excited that such a renowned troupe with John Barrymore on the lead decided to open Hamlet here in London."

"We are just as honoured to play here Sir Edward." Terry said, before Robert and John entered the mansion. Sir Edward moved with quick strides to the entrance of the house. Terry followed and stopped in front of Candy.

"Hello Rose." he said, before taking her hand to kiss it. She removed it as soon as he felt her smooth skin beneath his lips. They both smiled.

"Christian..."

"Hi Terrence! How do the rehearsals go?" Christian replied to Terry's acknowledgement.

"I believe they aren't as hectic as your days after your exhibition opening but we are getting there."

He greeted Isabel with a same kiss on the hand, before turning to Archie.

"Terry! Long-time no see pal." Archie exclaimed. "Looking great my friend!" He added before patting Terry on the shoulder while he was glancing at Candy.

Her green eyes, outlined with smudged kohl, looked mesmerising and that pale blue see through dress with the fine linen body slip on the inside did nothing to calm him. He turned his eyes quickly back to Archie. "Coming from someone looking as dapper as you...I count this as a compliment Cornwell."