Chapter 6

In one of the huge parlors of the Lakewood mansion, four people were seated while a soft piano melody filled the atmosphere. A beautiful young woman with long brown hair and honey-colored eyes, dressed in the latest Paris fashion, was exhibiting her talent on the white keys of the musical instrument. On one side, sharing the same sofa, two elderly women were watching her in amazement, while in front of them, with the orange flames of fire in the fireplace behind him, was a thoughtful young man with blond hair and clear sky blue eyes, sitting in an elegant armchair.

At the other end of the parlor, a beautiful young girl with black hair and blue eyes, standing in the doorway, was observing the scene carefully.

Her gaze didn't go unnoticed by the young pianist. How could that woman achieve what hundreds of women all over the country had been longing for? Not everyone had the ability to be engaged to the most coveted bachelor in the country. William Albert Ardlay, without a doubt, was the youngest and most handsome multimillionaire of the time, and all women of marriageable age had been watching him, his life and his romances. However, Albert had never appeared in public with any woman. Never, until Josephine showed up. That young woman of twenty-five had managed what hundreds of women had tried: to be engaged to William Ardlay. How had she done it? Nobody knew exactly, but it was very clear that Josephine had the imposing status to belong to the high society for ever.

Actually, however, very few people knew that Josephine had been exclusively educated to marry a multimillionaire. Ever since she was a little girl, she had learned how to move in society. She was excellent both at planning social events and simply attending them. She always knew exactly what to wear, how to put her make-up, what jewelry to use, how to talk with the wives of the businessmen, and she could even manage very well in a business meeting if she had to attend there. She had been educated to please her beloved, both in business and personally.

Annie kept observing that scene, when suddenly a thought flashed in her mind: Josephine had been educated to please a man like Albert in everything, so she had to change her own tastes. She would; that's what she had come to this world for: to marry a multimillionaire. Of course; how hadn't she seen that before? She knew very well all that stuff...She had been a victim of that upbringing herself. Her own mother had educated her in that way. Since she had been adopted, Annie had never stopped having all kinds of lessons with the best teachers in the area, and so she had learned very well how to move in Archie's world. Even though she was grateful for that now, she still remembered how bothered she was with lessons in good manners, art and culture, and even economics and politics. She had to learn everything so that she would not ridicule her future rich husband. That's why Annie was not surprised to see Josephine as a kind, charming, cultivated woman who could talk about various subjects and even accompany Albert in his business meetings. She had been educated for that, just like Annie, and just like many daughters of wealthy families.

But who exactly was Josephine Peterson? Had it always been her only dream to marry a rich man? Annie, no matter how much she was observing her, couldn't decipher that. If Josephine ever wanted to be someone else, or if she ever had beautiful and pure dreams that had nothing to do with money or social class, it was impossible to know today. The life she was leading had undoubtedly consumed her, and Josephine was who she was; a beautiful woman of the American high society.

Those thoughts led Annie to turn her eyes to the two women who were sitting on the parlor sofa. They were smiling and whispering between themselves while they were looking with admiration at the young pianist. Anybody who saw them would think that they knew each other all their lives. However, it hadn't been more than a year and a half since they had met for the first time.

Jane Peterson was the typical mother who would do anything to marry well all her daughters. Annie could see that right away. Besides, it was no secret that Jane had managed to marry her four oldest daughters in the last two years, all of them to handsome millionaires. She still remembered how the press had exploited the news. All the newspapers in the country had the famous headline: "The matchmaking mother". Yes, Annie knew very well all this...Her own mother had pressed her so many times to marry Archie as soon as possible. Everybody knew that marrying an Ardlay was something extravagantly sensational, and she was sure that Jane Peterson was no exception...

"Annie...Annie!" she heard someone calling her from a distance, suddenly interrupting her thoughts.

"Archie! What are you doing hidden over there? And why are you whispering?" she asked, approaching her husband who was hidden behind some plants at the foot of the stairs.

"Come, I want to talk to you!" said Archie, holding his wife's hand and dragging her towards the library.

"What's the matter, Archie? What do you want to talk about?" she asked, entering the library. It had been a long, long time since she had last seen Archie like that, with that playful and mysterious look. It reminded her of those golden days at St. Paul's college, when they were just children.

"Shhh! We have to speak lower; they might hear us..."

"But who might hear us, Archie? We are alone in the library. Please calm down and tell me why you act like this." Annie was getting more and more impatient. If there was something she couldn't endure, that was uncertainty, and Archie was being mysterious.

He put a finger on his mouth to indicate to her to keep silent. After making sure that the music from the piano was continuing, he sat at the desk and asked Annie to sit on the opposite side.

"Well, my lady, I summoned you here to talk about a very important matter that concerns us both."

"You summoned me? You'd better say you kidnapped me," smiled Annie. No doubt Archie had the Cornwell blood. She had seen that warmth and sympathy only once in her life, and it was in a person who was no longer among them for more than three years...

Archie ignored his wife's joke and continued.

"I called you in order to have you participate in the project 'Helping this pair of fools'."

"Helping whom...?"

"This pair of fools..." repeated Archie naturally while he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Archie, explain it to me better; I don't understand anything."

"Patience, patience, my fair lady..." replied Archie with a slight smile, winking at her. "I'll explain to you: I want you to help me reconcile Albert with Candy. I want those two to stop being so blind and realize once and for all that they can't live without each other. And if we have a bit of luck, all this madness of my uncle's wedding will be called off."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No. Why do you ask that?" Archie's smile became more obvious. He knew very well that his wife's first reaction would be exactly that, but he also knew that Annie was dying to do something to help her best friend.

"Archie, darling, I know your intentions are good but I'm afraid I have to tell you that this is impossible. Albert is already engaged to Josephine, and I hate to be the one to tell you that, but didn't it occur to you that maybe your uncle was engaged because he really loved her?"

"Yes, I thought about that...But I refuse to believe that after having watched him for years pining for Candy, he marries another...And now more than ever, after having seen him so thoughtful since Candy was gone...Wouldn't you like your best friend to be with the love of her life?"

"Of course I would, darling...But I don't want Candy to suffer more than she should...It was enough to see her cry all night because of an unrequited love...I would feel worse if she deluded herself in vain..."

"I know what you mean but I promise you we'll do everything possible so that this won't happen..."

Annie kept looking at him doubtfully. She didn't want to see her friend suffer for life and even run the risk of losing her faith in love but neither did she want to encourage her to go after someone who was out of her reach...

"My love, keep in mind that we'll do everything as discreetly as possible," continued Archie, with his eyes fixed on her. "But please don't ask me to stand aside and watch my uncle do what might be the biggest mistake in his life. What if the one he really loves is Candy? What if he happens to be confused? What if, after all those connections with the high society, he is lost in a labyrinth and can't get out of it? Haven't you thought about that, Annie? Please, my love...Don't ask me to ignore everything that is happening and look away; I can't do that...I couldn't bear to see him ruin his life...And I also know that you couldn't bear to see your best friend suffer...Come on, Annie, we have already seen her twice with a broken heart. Don't ask me now to accept that again with no objections..."

Annie remained silent for a few moments, watching carefully her husband with her eyes half-closed. Then she let out a deep sigh, with a strange sparkle of complicity in her gaze...

"What do you have in mind?"

.

Soon I'll see Pony's Home! thought Candy on her way to her beloved place. Thanks to the little altercation she had with Albert before leaving, she had completely forgotten to ask the chauffeur to take her to the orphanage. And then she was so upset that she didn't want to turn back. Therefore, she had no other choice but to ask a farmer who was passing by to take her as far as he could in his cart. Fortunately for her, the farmer left her just three hundred meters away from Pony's Home.

"Miss, it's a shame I can't get any closer but my farm is in the opposite direction. Please be careful; it's not good for a lady like you to walk alone, without any protection," the farmer told her when he came to an intersection on the road.

Candy got off the cart and after thanking him with a smile, she started walking without complaining. She was already used to walking by herself, even longer distances than that. She still remembered that time when she had to travel alone as a stowaway on a ship from Europe. Nobody could ever go against Candice White, and she knew that very well.

The sky was still clouded, a cold wind was blowing around her and the drizzle was gradually turning into sleet. But at that moment the weather was the last thing she cared about.

Miss Pony, Sister Lane...I'm back! Are they well? Why was it so urgent for me to come back? Oh, my God, I hope nothing bad has happened...

Precisely ten months ago Candy had left Pony's Home to go back to the mansion with Albert. She remembered that in those days Pony's Home was full of workers who, together with architects and engineers, were remodeling the building. It was all Albert's idea. After he had purchased the land from Mr. Cartwright and put it in Candy's name, he wanted to expand the place so that more children would have the privilege of a warm place to live in, good food and an excellent education.

She was so excited to see her dear mothers and her beloved children that she didn't even notice when her feet started to hurry up. The cold froze her cheeks, the sleet wet her fine clothes, but she didn't care about all that. She only wanted to see them, hug them and kiss them; to make sure they were well...

"Miss Pony! Sister Lane!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, and as soon as she saw the cross of the old church, she started running. But what she saw astonished her exceedingly. In front of her stood a majestic two-story building at whose centre was the remodeled church. It was the same as always, but much more beautiful, with twenty rooms at least on each side. She had heard that the construction had finished and that the orphanage was not as small as it was before, and that was why her mothers had asked for teachers and nannies to help them take care of the children. But Candy had never imagined how big and beautiful everything had become. It was incredible! Her little home was now an institute for children with no family.

Seeing such a work, her eyes couldn't help filling with tears...She was so happy...Albert had always been such a kind and wonderful man... Always helping those who needed it the most...

Albert...I didn't love you in vain...

"Miss Pony, Sister Lane!" She kept running and screaming, as loudly as her lungs allowed her.

"Candy!" exclaimed a nun who was looking through the window that moment. "Miss Pony, hurry up, it's Candy!"

"Candy! Candy, my darling Candy!" cried a chubby elderly woman with glasses who came out with the nun to receive her little girl who had come back home.

"Miss Pony, Sister Lane!" Candy kept crying out, while she threw herself into the arms of her mothers, with tears in her eyes. "Oh, how I've missed you! Miss Pony...Sister Lane..."

"Candy...Our mischievous and sweet Candy..." said the two women in unison, with tears in their eyes too.

"But why are we staying out here?" said Miss Pony in a moment, as she was doing everything possible to break their embrace. "Let's go inside where it's warmer. We'll show you your room. Sir Ardlay had a room made especially for you...Did you know that, Candy?"

"Sir Ardlay?"

"Yes, Candy...You have to see it; it's beautiful. Come on, you have to change these wet clothes. We don't want you to get sick. We'll prepare a hot chocolate for you. Would you like that, Candy?"

"Yes, yes..." she answered quietly, while trying to dry her flushed cheeks.

Candy entered that room which would be hers and had been especially built for her. It was of a medium size and quite spacious, with a huge double bed at the centre, and two bedside tables on each side of it. In front there was an elegant wooden wardrobe. Beyond, at one end of the room, she saw a desk with a chair facing a huge window with a beautiful tree in view, very close to it. What a coincidence...thought Candy with a smile on her lips. Albert, you always think of everything, don't you...? But why do you have to be so wonderful? Tears came into her green eyes again. She didn't want to cry, but how could she help it? Wherever she looked, she always found something that reminded her of him...She took a deep breath and took off her clothes slowly. She opened the wardrobe which was empty, unpacked her suitcase, putting everything in place and she dressed in a pair of warm trousers, black boots, and a wool sweater which Miss Pony had knitted last Christmas. She let her hair loose and delicately combed it, trying to dry the parts the sleet had moistened. And when she was ready, she left the room.

She walked through a long corridor. Her room, together with that of the teachers, was far from the rooms of the children. Therefore, at that moment there was absolute silence, so much so that it almost seemed as if she were walking through the aisles of a church. How silly I am! she thought giving a light tap on her forehead. Of course I am in a church...

Smiling to herself, she entered a room that by the way it was furnished, seemed to be the living room of that section. It had three armchairs and a sofa, placed on an enormous carpet and arranged in a semicircle, in front of a fireplace that was lit up that moment. The warm crackling of the fire could be heard. A little further, there was a coffee table, with several books on top of it. And behind the armchairs she could see a large window with long lavender curtains. There was nobody in the room, but just now Candy realized how cold she had been when she had walked those three hundred meters, so she didn't hesitate to stop in front of the fireplace for a moment to warm a little her hands and body.

A sound at the door called her attention, and she saw three unknown women whose age seemed to be between forty and fifty years old. They must be the teachers, thought Candy.

All three women were dressed in elegant long dresses of the latest fashion. The one on the right had brown hair, a little grey and wavy, and intense sapphire blue eyes. She was very slim, and by the wrinkles of her face she seemed to be the oldest of the three. The woman in the middle had straight blond hair, grey eyes, and wasn't so slim as the first one. And the one on the left was the shortest of the three and seemed also the youngest. She was rather chubby, with curly red hair and big green eyes.

Candy remained motionless, observing them carefully.

"Hello! You must be Candy, right?" asked the oldest of the women, in a voice that sounded broken with emotion.

"Yes...Good afternoon...And you are...?"

"Candy..." interrupted Sister Lane who had just come in. "We'd better sit down. Here is your hot chocolate. Would you like anything else?"

"No, thank you, Sister Lane," said Candy gratefully, holding the cup.

The three women went straight to the only sofa of the room. Sister Lane and Miss Pony sat in two armchairs close to the window, and Candy sat in another one, located at the other end of the room, in front of them.

"Candy..." began Miss Pony, "let me introduce these ladies to you. Vivienne Abbott, Caroline Walker and Ashley Lee..." She pointed at each one of them. "They are...friends of your mother..."

"Mother?"