Chapter 29
Lucas was convinced that something big was happening in Hope Valley but from his jail cell it was impossible to determine what. The high barred window looked out over a grassy area behind the building, where nothing ever seemed to occur. He should know, he had spent a lot of time standing on the cot peering out. Being locked up was so hard for him, not being able to walk about and live normally was something he never thought he would have to suffer.
There had been a flurry of activity all around for the past hour or so, new Mounties appearing as they checked in to the office and then went off to carry out their instructions, whatever they may be. The Mountie on duty was typing up what must be a report, constantly referencing the notes that were handed to him on a frequent basis. Outside he recognised the voice of Constable Harter, his words barely audible through the closed door as he was giving orders to others.
Then there had been the shouting earlier, Bill Avery's voice one that he had been able to discern. What was the wily judge up to? He hadn't been around since he had been brought in so something must have demanded his attention elsewhere. But Lucas was feeling confident, knowing that whatever they found out there were people in place to ensure that it never reflected on him. The certainty that his mother would be arranging for his release gave him an air of bravado. Nathan Grant and his men would pay for what they were doing to him. He kicked the bars and called out to the Mountie seated at the desk, "Hey, how about some coffee over here?"
Jim Buchanan looked up from the page he was typing, his face blank. Lucas had not encountered him before as he had been injured when they arrived at Hope Valley Station and then he had travelled to Brookfield with the children to oversee their protection. He had, however, met Helen Bouchard and was very much looking forward to the reunion between mother and son. If he could sell tickets for it he was sure he would be a rich man. Smiling to himself he stood and walked over to the cell where Lucas slouched against the wall, his mug held out through the bars in front of him. As he approached he gave a mock bow, "My pleasure, Monsieur Bouchard. Would you like cream and sugar with that?" Lucas grimaced then shoving his mug at the Mountie he turned and flopped down on his cot.
He closed his eyes, once again trying to imagine himself any place but here. But his thoughts kept coming back to all the things that had gone wrong. Why was everything and everyone against him, he wondered. The sound of the school bell ringing in the distance made him think of Elizabeth. Had he loved her? He had certainly been attracted to her. But he knew that would never have been enough without her money. He had read up on her after he heard the story of the widowed heiress living in a frontier town. He remembered the chap who told him about her, Billy Hamilton, a rather pathetic little chancer full of bluster but not very clever with it. So fascinated was he by the tale of Elizabeth Thatcher that he let the man win a few hands while he finished telling it. Money well lost he had thought.
Thinking no more of it after that, he almost forgot he had told his mother about her until the day she came to him with a plan. The perfect way for them to be part of the big time, she said. Helen Bouchard was a con artist, there really was no other way to describe her. As had been his father until he was killed while fleeing a trap set up by The Mounties. From a young age Lucas had been involved in the grifts they carried out and then with the death of the senior Bouchard he had been expected to step up to fill his shoes. It wasn't easy. His mother had high expectations and somehow he never seemed to get things right. Her anger at him was only second to her hatred of The Mounties for what they did to his father.
He had to admit, it all seemed so simple when she explained it to him. All he had to do was to come to Hope Valley and woo Elizabeth Thatcher. If she had done nothing else positive for him in his formative years, his mother had at least taught him the skills of an educated and charming man. Once he persuaded Elizabeth to marry him he would have control of her fortune and, just as importantly, his mother would have the perfect carrot to dangle in front of the heads of the big crime syndicates….access to Thatcher shipping. Worth more than gold for the smuggling operations to the United States.
His thoughts were disrupted when the Mountie appeared again, a lukewarm mug of coffee pushed back through the bars towards him. "Tell me, Constable, is Nathan Grant still in town? I haven't seen him in here and given our history I would have expected him to relish the opportunity to question me himself." Jim Buchanan looked at him with a wry smile on his face. "Oh yes, he is still here. But I believe he has had far more important people to deal with than you Mr Bouchard. Your turn will come when he is ready." Lucas was taken aback. He had expected Nathan to want to grill him about what had been going on at the warehouses, taking delight in watching him squirm under a barrage of questions.
Shrugging to himself he placed his mug on the floor beside the cot before laying back down. Perhaps part of his pleasure was coming from making me wait, he thought. Well, he could play that game, let them see just how untroubled he was by everything going on. He cast his mind back to some of the battles between the two of them, so easy for him as he had never cared about being honest while the righteous Nathan Grant always faced the struggle of doing the honourable thing. He knew he was winning the battle and then that damned prisoner transfer incident happened. The sight of Elizabeth's arms wrapped around Nathan was like a blow to his stomach, the thought of what his mother would have to say about his failure just too much to bear.
He'd had to run then. To the gambling dens in Vancouver, drowning his sorrows with whisky and women until there was no longer any credit left and his debt to the mobsters had grown so high they were coming after him. Until Mei Sou appeared and the next deal was struck with his mother. The thought of what happened then caused him to laugh, making the Mountie glance up from his typewriter with a quizzical look. Lucas ignored him, closing his eyes once again as he remembered the force with which Helen Bouchard had marched in to save the situation.
So back he came to Hope Valley, with the falsified tale of going to help his friends build a school in Louisiana. Then his mother took the lead on how to deal with Elizabeth and get her on their side. It didn't take much. She had done her homework, with help from an inside man at Mountie Headquarters, Andrew Hargreaves. Once the belief that Nathan had been responsible for Jack Thornton's death was planted they just sat back and watched Elizabeth do the rest. Her growing hatred of Nathan Grant and the RCMP was a pleasure to observe. He had been quite proud of his performance then, the verbal sparring with his rival giving him great enjoyment.
Then, of course, there was the manipulation of Allie. Made up stories of his lonely childhood resonating with her and creating even more resentment in the Mountie. It was all so easy. His final move was to be the death of the pair while he and Elizabeth were getting married in Hamilton. But his plan had been thwarted. He sat upright, wondering if he had missed clues from Elizabeth that should have forewarned him of the effect the departure of Nathan and Allie would have on her. On his plans. Was that the start of it all unravelling? Whatever happened, it was the speed of her descent into madness that surprised him and, yet, there was still a conniving manner about her that didn't disappear. He never quite knew whether she was who she seemed to be.
Feeling a stiffness in his neck he stood up, rubbing it as he paced back and forth along the length of the cell trying to work out what he could have done differently. All that work for nothing, he thought. Still he had managed to set in motion the deal brokered between his mother and both crime syndicates. Rocco Perri's ruse for the smuggling operations in one warehouse and the other under the control of Shue Moy for the trafficking of Chinese immigrants. When he questioned the treatment of those people he was assured that it was all being done fairly. Was it his mother or Mei Sou he confronted? Did it matter? They were definitely cast from the same cloth, liars through and through.
Shuddering, he remembered listening to his lover's last moments. How foolish he had been to believe that she ever really cared for him. Now feeling vindicated for not going to her aid he told himself that she got exactly what she deserved for using him in that way.
He was still shocked to find himself in here. Hope Valley had been his for the taking and then it all fell apart. From the moment one of the gamblers failed to arrive and he involved the Australian in the game things went wrong. So worried was he of the consequences of messing up, something you did not do to the men he was dealing with, that he was glad to have a solution right in front of him. He couldn't have been more wrong. But he wouldn't be safe until he could get far away from here. Once again his thoughts turned to France and the possibilities that lay there. He could lie low with family in St Germain de Confolens for a while until he worked out what to do. The casinos in the south would then offer rich pickings now that the country was recovering from the war.
The sound of a wagon pulling up outside brought him back to the present. There was a loud commotion and then finally he heard Nathan Grant's voice rise clearly above the rest. "Escort her into the other cell. Be careful, she can be a bit vicious." Then he laughed, "You found that out didn't you Gabe!" Who on earth were they bringing in here. Was it Elizabeth? No, if she was being taken anywhere it would be the infirmary, her mind so far gone now that only strong medication would sedate her. Or opium, something he had been happy to help her obtain in recent years.
It was clear that whomever they were bringing in was not coming voluntarily as loud scuffling could be heard as the prisoner was dragged up the steps to the door of the Mountie Office.
Then, obviously unable to bear it any longer, he heard Nathan Grant again. "Right, if this is how you want it then this is how you will be treated." A scream rang out and then Lucas heard a voice that chilled him to the bone. No! It couldn't be!
He moved across to the edge of the cell, his eyes on the door as it opened. Nathan Grant entered with Helen Bouchard slung across his shoulder. As he strode across to the cell opposite he looked at Lucas, an expression of satisfaction on his face. "Well, isn't this nice, a family reunion for The Bouchards." Lucas felt his legs give way as he dropped back onto the cot, his eyes locked on his mother's. The fury on the woman's face told him that this was not part of her plan. He also knew that in her mind it would all be his fault.
A few days of quiet in Hope Valley was certainly welcomed by everyone after that. The Mounties were diligently working their way through all the evidence that had been accumulated and were surprised by the number of detainees who wanted to talk or "do a deal" as they put it! Of course, that did not include the Bouchards who had remained silent in their cells, not even speaking to each other. There had been an initial period of shouting, for an hour or so, before they both crawled up on to their cots and struck reflective poses as it became obvious that their minds were working hard to find a way to save themselves, even if it meant throwing the person in the cell opposite under the wagon. That neither felt loyalty to the other was exactly what they were hoping for. Nathan found it amusing and was quite happy to let them stew like that for now, although the temptation to move Helen Bouchard out to one of the cells in the warehouse was getting bigger every day.
Upstairs in the other Mountie Office the priority was to identify exactly who the corrupt Mounties were. Bill had brought back evidence that Andrew Hargreaves' list had in fact been a red herring, offering just enough information to make them accept that there were a number of officers who were in the pocket of the syndicates without being correct in the details. Fortunately, the few at Mountie Headquarters who were privy to Bill's initial report realised quickly that there were too many errors on the list. Mounties who they knew would be the last to take a bribe or succumb to blackmail and threats were discreetly questioned and discounted.
The extra Mounties who had provided security on Bill's journey back were here to continue that work. It was felt that keeping the investigative team away from Mountie Headquarters or, in fact any regional offices, was necessary until they ascertained just who could be trusted. A small team had been left back there to provide any other information required. They worked hard, looking first at those who weren't mentioned on the list but had been involved in the same operations. It was a difficult task, one made more onerous by the knowledge of just how much damage it would do to any officer's career to be falsely accused, no matter how quickly they were exonerated.
That there were some on the list who did actually belong there was another problem. Weeding them out and then following the trail to find who else had been turned took meticulous investigation. Gabe was glad that the Mountie from Clearwater had been honest when confronted. The thought of wrongly accusing a fellow office not something he wanted to dwell on had that been the case. His testimony had proven a good starting point in how they questioned other officers, with an understanding how in some cases, rightly or wrongly, they felt there had been no other option but to comply with the mobsters' demands.
A storage room at the hospital had been cleared out and turned into a private ward for Elizabeth until arrangements could be made on where to move her. Guards were posted on the door and only a select number of people allowed to enter. Nathan, Bill and the Canfields were the exceptions to the medical staff who were treating her. Bill had been through this before, having seen her breakdown after she discovered that Nathan and Allie had left Hope Valley. As hard as it had been to watch her go through it then, this time it was more of a personal battle within himself as he struggled to balance out his feelings of sadness with his abhorrence for what she had put so many people through. He wasn't sure he could forgive this Elizabeth, so instead he found himself grieving the old Elizabeth who would never be coming back to them.
After consulting with Faith and the psychiatric nurses, Nathan had offered Charles and Elizabeth's sister Julie the opportunity to visit but for the time being they felt it was perhaps too much. For them and for her. Julie, Tom and Charlotte were all concentrating on Little Jack, although no details of the incident with his mother had been revealed to him. It was agreed with The Coulters that he should be told that she was ill and would be going away soon for specialist treatment. The boy was philosophical about it. His memories of a happy and healthy Elizabeth were few. It was to Rosemary he looked for the love that a mother brings and she was very quick to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere.
Charlotte embraced both boys equally, making sure that Patrick knew that he was just as much her grandson as Little Jack, for which Rosemary and Lee were so grateful. Their family was just that, their family, no matter what history each brought with them. Lee had made a special box for each boy and in it was kept all the mementos they had from their birth parents. Photos were placed by the boy's beds and they were remembered in nightly prayers just as much as those who were in their lives now. When Charlotte saw her own photograph added to the group on the boy's dresser it brought tears to her eyes. From darkness comes light, she thought to herself.
Charles had stayed for one more day. Nathan knew how much he was hurting and wanted to make sure that he was in a better state before he went back to Hamilton. And so in the early evening a few days after Elizabeth's drama he found himself standing at the door to Cat Montgomery's boarding house hoping he could find the words he knew would give comfort to a good man. To have loved someone for so long, through so many trials, was a courageous thing and not something he was sure he could do. He hoped that Charles would find someone to return his love one day. He was proof that it could happen.
Knocking firmly on the door he wasn't surprised to see the man himself answer. All the other guests were Mounties and they were still hard at work piecing together the information that had been collected. Cat had spent the last 24 hours fussing around Greg Aldritt, providing him with enough sustenance to heal a troop of Mounties. Nathan had no doubt that the constable was not averse to receiving such attention and could perhaps be delaying his recovery just a little as he enjoyed it. He wouldn't be surprised to see his name atop the list of applicants for the position of Mountie to Hope Valley once the role was being decided, although Nathan had other ideas that still needed to be discussed.
"Nathan, good to see you. What can I do for you tonight?" Ever the well-mannered gentleman Charles held out his hand to shake Nathan's before pushing the door open for him to enter.
"I know you are leaving tomorrow morning so I just wanted to take a few moments to wish you well and check if there was anything else you wanted to ask me before you depart. Settling down in the front living room Charles looked pensive, carefully formulating his words before answering. "I appreciate this Nathan. To be honest, I am still quite shocked at the events and not sure that I have it all figured out in my head."
Nathan nodded, "I can understand that. I am still working my way through what Elizabeth said, trying to see if there was some way we could have helped her before it came to this. As I am sure you will appreciate, my focus at the time was split in many ways. Seeing someone point a gun at my wife is not something I ever want to experience again." Charles could sympathise with the struggle Nathan was going through and found himself admiring him more as he recalled the calmness with which he had handled the situation when first his wife and then his daughter were the subject of Elizabeth's volatility. "You are a better man than me. I'm not sure I could have remained as steady as you did."
Not wanting to dwell on what had happened and aware that each of them would have questions over the incident for some time to come, Nathan quickly changed the subject. "What now for you Charles? Will you stay in Hamilton and keep working for William Thatcher?"
Again Charles took his time. "That is precisely what I have been mulling over in my head. The answer is that I'm not sure."
Nathan waited patiently, watching as the man tried to organise his thoughts. "I guess a huge part of working for William Thatcher was because of the closeness it gave me to the family and through them to Elizabeth. None of that matters anymore." His despondency was evident in every word he spoke. "This is going to seem strange for me to say but in some way I would love to stay in Hope Valley, despite all the memories of Elizabeth it brings. The people here are special. How they have kept going through so much adversity is an inspiration and I wonder if being here would be good for my soul."
Nathan nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. Despite everything that had gone on since he returned, being in Hope Valley had been a catharsis for him, perhaps the final piece of belonging somewhere that had been missing in his life. He thought he could see it in Cecilia and Allie too. "You would be very welcome. A man with your business talents would be an asset to the town and you can see how much the people here have embraced you. You won't get a better welcome anywhere else."
For the first time in days Charles smiled. "It is very tempting, Nathan. But I am a shipping man and I don't see any boats here!"
Nathan laughed, appreciating the brief moment of lightness. "That is true. So where would you go?" He was sad at the thought of this good man feeling so lost. Looking across he saw himself had he not had Allie to give meaning to his life and love to his heart. He wished he had the answer for Charles but it was something he needed to find himself.
"I was thinking of Australia. Shipping between the coastal cities there is becoming a big business, plus there is a lot with England and China. Perhaps it's time for me to make a complete break and forge a new path in life." As Charles spoke more about the opportunities in a young country like Australia, Nathan felt relief to know that he was looking to the future with some optimism. It was not going to be easy and there would certainly be times when he doubted what he was doing but he knew that a man with the integrity of Charles Kensington would succeed wherever life took him.
After a final farewell and a reiteration that Hope Valley would always welcome Charles back, Nathan took his leave, heading first to the Mountie Office to see how his team were doing before going home to spend time with his family. They were the reason he was able to do what he did, see what he saw and yet still not lose faith in the goodness of people. They were his lifeline and after the past few weeks he needed them more than ever.
Cecilia had just finished clearing the table after dinner when she noticed Nathan had disappeared. Looking out she could see him sitting on the bench in the corner of the garden. She knew he was troubled and she wanted to find out how she could help him. Pulling two mugs down from the cupboard she began preparing some fresh coffee, ready to join him out in the cool night air in the hope that he would unburden himself to her.
Allie had gone to visit Emily, the very much needed chat and laughter while they ate their meal having bolstered her mood enough that she felt ready to spend time with her friend. It was difficult enough for a young woman who had grown used to city ways to come back to a small town like Hope Valley. She should know as she had done it herself. But for Allie there was an added burden. Unwittingly she had been caught up in all the drama that had engulfed both Hope Valley and Brookfield in recent weeks, something that her friends were unable to understand. That she had coped admirably with everything thrown at her went without question, but it was the aftermath that worried Cecilia. Those dark times in the early hours of the morning when the "What Ifs" plagued your mind. The endless thoughts of how a situation could have been if just one thing had happened differently. The worry about whether you had done the best you could, even if the outcome had been good. The faces of the people you felt you had let down and then the nightmares as you recalled those who had failed you.
She knew that Nathan had spoken with their daughter for a long time after the incident with Elizabeth, something she had left them to do alone as their involvement in this whole affair had a history of which she was not a part. There were things that only the two of them would understand, some circumstances that you had to have been there for to truly see the impact it had on events that followed. It had been their battle for so long and she was merely a pawn that Elizabeth had chosen to use to try to defeat them.
Afterwards Allie had come to her, expressing amazement at how calm her mother had remained with a gun pointing in her direction but still wanting to make sure that she was okay and not traumatised by what had happened. There was no way she could describe to her the horrors that she had seen or make her understand that as frightening as it was to have been facing possible death here, the difference this time was that she had people around her who made her feel safe and confident that good would prevail. That Allie had willingly put herself in danger was something Cecilia was both proud of and horrified by, but she would expect no less from the daughter of Nathan Grant.
Stepping outside the back door she could see that he was deep in thought and it was only when she gave a small cough that he looked up. The smile he gave her was enough to melt her heart but seeing that it didn't reach his eyes almost broke her. This man gave so much to everyone else and yet the torment he carried inside him was something that few ever realised. She sat down beside him on the bench, giving him the steaming mug before placing her hand on his leg. Looking up into his eyes she spoke quietly, not a demand but just the words she needed him to hear. "Talk to me Nathan. You don't have to carry all of this alone anymore. Just as you are there to help me through my troubles I am here for you."
Nathan remained silent but his hand reached down to cover hers and so she knew it was enough right now for her to just be here. Sipping on her coffee she looked up at the almost perfect sky, a deep sapphire blue sparkling with diamond stars under a waning crescent moon. She loved the peace she felt here, the comfort she took from her husband's touch highlighted by the stillness of the world around them right now.
"I keep going back over everything about Fort Clay and then all that happened with Elizabeth. Wondering if there was something that I missed, berating myself for being such a fool to fall under her spell." He began slowly and Cecilia waited, knowing that it would take him some time but glad that he was willing to talk. Moments passed and she could almost hear the wheels in his head turning, trying to put some order to the disarray of emotions he must be feeling. Patience, she thought, patience.
When he started again his words poured out in a torrent, one tumbling over another as he cleared his mind of all the anguish he was feeling. "I was dealing with a lot at the time. My sister had died a few years earlier and my brother in law was nowhere to be found, not that he had been around very much after Allie was born anyway. Allie was so little when we lost Colleen and my mother tried hard to look after her, struggling on for a long time until it all became too much for her." He paused again for a moment, his eyes staring out into the night. "I knew I had to do something, so had taken a leave of absence to help before I was due to take on a new assignment in Cape Fullerton. One day I woke up and realised that I couldn't do it. I needed to take over responsibility for Allie and that meant an easier placement where I could be there for her as much as possible."
Cecilia was surprised to feel Nathan's hand grasp hers tightly, the emotion of what he was remembering pouring out of him. "I was offered Fort Clay, training other Mounties in tracking, where I would be able to provide some semblance of home life to my niece, as long as I could arrange for help when my duties took me away. It wasn't what I had worked for but it was the best on offer at that time so I jumped at it." That she already knew all this part of his history didn't matter, he needed to get these thoughts out and clear the fog in his mind. "It was fine at first, everything went smoothly and I actually found myself enjoying it. There is something about watching other men absorb your words and then apply those same teachings in a practical sense that gives a satisfaction at the end of the day."
"During the rainy season we undertook other missions as the terrain there was so unpredictable that Headquarters deemed it too dangerous. We had a new commanding officer, Andrew Hargreaves, and he was determined to prove himself by showing that we could work longer in the year. So he decided to set up an extra training programme and was unhappy when I told him that I wasn't willing to go against current Mountie thinking. I knew the topography around there and explained just how unstable it was at certain times. He wouldn't listen." Nathan looked out into the distance and Cecilia knew he was seeing the area surrounding Fort Clay. When she saw a dark cloud pass across his eyes she felt his pain as he pictured the scene of the landslide where Jack Thornton died.
"There were no trainees there at this time, they were due a few weeks later, so he pushed me out by assigning me to work on a mission to find cattle rustlers in the area. You already know this next part of the story. I found and then arrested them before they crossed the border. What I didn't realise then, but know now, is that Andrew Hargreaves was being paid to keep the Mounties away from where they were operating. The whole reason for the extended programme was to keep everyone occupied and give the rustlers and smugglers free rein over the surrounding territory for a longer period. The day I went out and caught them he had been called in to answer some questions on his new programme and so wasn't able to force me to search in a different direction from where it now transpires he knew they were going to be."
Sensing the tension rising in Nathan she moved closer, brushing her fingers against his arm to let him know that she understood. "To say he was furious would be an understatement but even so I was surprised to be called up before a disciplinary board. I had caught the criminals, for god's sake"! Cecilia was surprised to hear her husband blaspheme. She knew he was not perfect but equally that it was not in his nature to get himself angry enough to ever do that. Still, she said nothing.
"So they sent me to Fort Simpson. It was hard on Allie. Everything was so new to her and just as she was finally beginning to settle we had to move again. She hated it." He paused there and Cecilia could see that he was struggling with what he had to say next. "I didn't know Jack Thornton, although some of my colleagues had fought alongside him in the Northern Territories. I didn't even hear his name until after the accident at Fort Clay. When I realised he was the one who had replaced me and that he had left behind a young wife with a child on the way I didn't know how to feel. I was angry and distraught. I couldn't sleep, barely ate, neglected Allie until I finally realised that the only honourable thing I could do was to come here to Hope Valley and watch over his wife and son."
For the first time Cecilia went to speak, "Nathan, you know…" He interrupted her quickly. "Yes, I know the facts now tell me it wasn't my fault but at the time all I could feel was guilt. When Elizabeth shouted out the other day that it should have been me I could understand, because for a very long time that is exactly how I felt."
He stood then, walking a few steps away from her, hands behind his back. Cecilia stayed sitting, letting him do this the way that he needed. "I don't know if I was searching for something or wanting to make up for her loss but from the minute Elizabeth walked into my office I think I was obsessed. So great was my need to atone for what I saw as my sins that I let it take over my whole life. I wanted to tell her about Fort Clay and yet something held me back. Did I sense something even then? Of course, now I realise that for most of that time she already knew, that it was all a game, her pleasure from our pain!" She could hear the struggle in his voice. Nathan was not a man to think badly of anyone, always wanting to believe that redemption was there for them if they could just take that first step on the right path. But with Elizabeth he had reached his limit.
Quickly he continued, "I was a fool and deep down I knew it. Lucas Bouchard treated it all as a game and I let him. At least that is what I tell myself now. At the time I thought I wanted Elizabeth, I needed Elizabeth, but more importantly I had to make sure that he didn't have her. I thought he wasn't good enough for her. Now I find that all the time she was playing me, using a child to hurt me." He brushed his hands through his hair as another thought struck him, "Two children! How could anyone do all of this to their own child?"
Finally Cecilia knew it was time for her to speak. "My love, you have nothing to regret nor any guilt to assuage. Everything you did was motivated by goodness and love. I saw it in your eyes when you looked at Little Jack. You loved that boy, you still do. You have the power to look after him, teach him the things his father would have, be a mentor to him as he grows up. Not because you feel it is your duty but because that is who you are."
When Nathan went to speak she shook her head, needing to finish. "As for Allie, she will be fine. That girl has so much of you in her, so much of her mother. She is a Grant and if you had a family crest then "Honour and Courage" would be the motto emblazoned across it. I look around Hope Valley and see nothing but respect and love for you. That doesn't come just from the Red Serge you wear. It is because you have earned it with these people and continue to deserve it every day."
Taking a deep breath Cecilia had one last thing to say. "Then there is Elizabeth. You fell in love with an illusion, fuelled by honour and guilt. She was and still is evil enough to have exploited that and use it for her own delusional purposes. You know it wasn't real. I know it wasn't real. But at the time there was nothing to tell you differently. It is easy to feel sympathy for her now as we look at what a sad creature she has become but she chose her path before it came to this, you need to remember that. Not everything in life is going to be a beautiful story, no matter how much you wish for it to be."
She could see the weariness in Nathan's eyes, the struggle was not over but she knew that he was strong enough to come through it and she hoped he knew that she would be alongside him every step of the way. "Life isn't perfect, no matter how much we try to make it so. Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in being able to rise up every time we fail. As long as we do that together then we will be fine."