Chapter Eight
Twenty four hours had passed since Elizabeth had awoken for the first time. She only managed to stay awake for five minutes until she fell back into a deep, somewhat fitful, sleep. Now a day later, Elizabeth awoke and felt a lightness in her eyes that would help her fight off the drowsiness that always pulled her back into a dreamless sleep.
William and Grace had excused themselves recently, returning home to get some much needed rest, and left their daugher under the watchful eye of Nurse Carter. And indirectly, to Charles Kensington, who was currently refusing to leave her side. Although the Thatchers felt it was tied to his deep feelings for her, really it was his desperation to ensure she didn't try to implicate him in any criminal action, as he recalled a failed attempt to physically force her to submit to him.
Elizabeth sighed deeply and turned to focus in on the person seated next to her. "Charles?" She asked, confused. "Is that really you?"
Charles momentarily panicked, realizing he was about to find out how much Elizabeth recalled about the chaos leading up to the accident.
"The one and only. Why do you sound so surprised to see me?" Charles settled his nerves and managed to suavely respond to Elizabeth's inquiry.
"I...I don't understand. I haven't seen you since I began Teacher's College and you began your studies at Queens." The look Elizabeth's face was plainly genuine and Charles' mind started spinning with ways he could use this situation to his advantage.
"Well...yes. But we've seen each other a great deal in the past year. Don't you remember?" Charles coaxingly looked her way, anxious to hear her response.
"Yes...no….I...don't quite know, actually." Elizabeth let out a giant sigh as she struggled to recall anything through the haze that was currently stuffed tightly in her mind. She felt she was drowning in nothingness until a faint feeling of familiarity began to appear as flashes of memories began to ignite. "I remember graduating...and applying for a teaching position far out west...and then….nothing." Elizabeth was slightly sitting up and staring at the wall behind Charles, looking very lost in her thoughts.
"Are you sure that's the last thing you remember, Elizabeth?" Charles asked.
``Yes. It is. Please tell me what's going on Charles? Why am I here?" Elizabeth started to panic and lightly touched her hand to the large white bandage wrapped around her head. `"Please…!" Panic was slowly turning to desperation.
Charles attempted to stall her emotional unravelling and grabbed her hand in his, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Dear Elizabeth. It's October 22nd, 1911. Two days ago, you were in a car accident as you were leaving your sister Viola`s wedding."
"Wedding?" Elizabeth sounded generally surprised. "Who did Viola marry?"
"A man by the name of Sir Lionel." Charles replied.
"Sir Lionel? Hmmmm...can't say I recall any of this." The worry was still etched in Elizabeth`s features, but her panic was temporarily under control.
"But...what about teaching? How could I be in Hamilton in October, the beginning of the school year, if I should be teaching out west?" It was then Charles realized how deeply Elizabeth felt about her chosen profession and how greatly she had been anticipating her venture into the wilds of the Canadian rockies.
"I`m sorry to be the one to tell you, again, Elizabeth...But you were rejected for that coal mining town`s teaching position. You accepted a prestigious offer here, locally, but alas…"
"Alas what, Charles. Spit it out!" The fire in Elizabeth was back as she verbally sparred with her friend.
"You caught pneumonia, Elizabeth. And nearly died, for goodness sake! You had to ultimately turn down the local teaching position as your health was greatly sacrificed. You weren't fully recovered until shortly after the New Year." The news hit Elizabeth forcefully, and she appeared to slowly digest the information, continuously sporting a confused scowl on her face.
"And you...how do you explain your presence in my life?" She looked at him disbelievingly.
"When I started working for your father...actually. He would invite me to dinner rather often and you and I wound up spending a great deal of time together. So much so...that…" Charles was cut off in mid-sentence, Elizabeth's curiosity getting the better of her.
"What...so much so what...what are you getting at?" Elizabeth's impatience had reached its limit.
"So much so...we got engaged last month. I asked you to marry me, and you said yes." Charles couldn't stop the words as they were tumbling out of his mouth, but he let them fall as he wasn't one to let a good opportunity pass him by.
Elizabeth felt physically struck in her chest region at Charles' revelation that they were intended to marry. Her eyes widened in horror as she struggled to conjure up the faintest memory of this man's proposal. Surely if they were in love, as most couples were when they got engaged, she would feel the faintest recognition of such. Elizabeth suddenly felt the need to decree, "I have no recollection of our relationship, Charles. I would hope this is not a joke you are trying to pull over on me."
It was then Charles momentarily excused himself and walked around the bed to pick up the paper that Mrs. Thatcher, hours earlier, had been reading. He flipped to a specific page and held it in front of Elizabeth, watching her eyes take in the picture presented to her. The picture filled up a quarter of the page and showed the two of them kissing in the middle of a dance floor. "This was taken two days ago at Voila's wedding. You had just told me how you wanted our wedding to be as grand as your sister's and then...you kissed me, for all to see." He smiled sweetly at his altered version of the night's events.
The visual evidence Elizabeth was looking at completely froze her, rendering her unable to respond to the strange history she was being advised was part of her recent past. In her heart, she would never have given up so easily trying to secure a teaching position far from Hamilton.
Elizabeth felt the need to try and call Charles' bluff by asking, "If we're engaged, then where is my ring? It appears my finger is bare…" She held up her hand to provide evidence of her statement.
Her eyes widened in further shock as Charles reached into his inner jacket pocket and produced a diamond ring, holding it in front her Elizabeth to let her admire the light catching off its smooth edges. Charles gently grabbed her left hand and slowly slipped the ring onto the intended finger, its recipient left staring open-mouthed at the action. "Now..." Charles exclaimed. "All is right in the world."
Elizabeth didn't exactly share his sentiment on the matter.
William and Grace Thatcher were home at their sprawling estate, hurriedly packing Elizabeth some clothes and toiletries that would help make her hospital stay more comfortable. As Grace was rummaging around through Elizabeth's suitcase, making sure she hadn't missed anything important, she happened upon a photograph that had been carefully placed in a hidden storage compartment in the roof of the box. As Grace turned the photo over to see what it was, a sob escaped her lips and and she threw her hand up to cover her mouth in surprise. Her fingers hovered over the sight of her daughter smiling back at her, complete contentment shining from her eyes, as she stood beaming beside an equally happy group of children. Grace immediately realized they were standing in front of the town's new school, a school that wouldn't have existed if it weren't for the generous donation and time of the man who proclaimed his love for Elizabeth, something she knew from the letters that Elizabeth ensured were sent back home weekly.
Something changed within Grace upon seeing this photo. It acted as a catalyst to bring complete understanding to her daughter's conviction that she was pursuing a calling, one that she had felt for a long time, and one that her parent's had merely entertained as pure fancy.
Clutching the photo to her chest, Grace hurried to the stairs, anxious to share her discovery with her husband. She was hoping it would have the same effect on him as it had on her. As Grace approached William's office, she heard a familiar voice speaking to her husband and she stood outside with bated breath, trying to hear what was being said.
"Elizabeth is fully awake now. However, it appears she has no recollection of any events past her graduation from Teacher's college." Charles was speaking as if he were providing business updates to his boss rather than updating a father on his daughter's current duress.
"You're saying, Elizabeth has no memories past last spring? No Hope Valley? No Jack Thornton?" William was surprised at this news and his mind was spinning with the implications of such information.
"Yes. Absolutely. And just so you know, I have taken it upon myself to inform Elizabeth of the events that did transpire…" Charles tried to continue.
"How did she take the news? Did her memories start to return?" William was desperate for a breakthrough in his daughter's condition.
"She seems alright with it. I told your daughter, Elizabeth, that her and I are engaged. That we are in love. And that she never taught in Hope Valley...seems the town rejected her application and a sudden case of pneumonia prevented your daughter from doing much of anything last year...except for falling for me." Charles sneered and looked at William obnoxiously, prepared for the response from a man he had much experience dealing with.
"How dare you!" William responded thickly. "Why would you do such a thing?"
"I have my reasons." Charles replied. "And if you even think about trying to change my version of events, you will sorely regret it."
"You can't possibly expect me to sit back and play along with a sick, twisted concoction such as this. I won't stand for it Charles! What has come over you? How could you be so delusional?" William was frantically trying to understand how his trusted business confident could turn against him and his family so quickly.
"You will, William. As I said, you will regret it if you don't follow my lead. I'm sure the authorities will be none too pleased to learn of your involvement in a little matter that is currently breaking headlines across the country…" Charles momentarily paused as William looked at him with utter confusion. "Your involvement with the counterfeiting ring?"
"What involvement, Charles? I'm sure I have no idea what you speak of." Mr. Thatcher spoke truthfully and had never felt as helpless as he did in his moment, the threat of his livelihood being held in the balance by a man who was also trying to manipulate one of his own.
"It would be a shame if some of the records that I've been keeping were to make their way into the hands of the North West Mounted Police. I'm meticulous with details, you've said so yourself, and I have ensured that any and all traces of any criminal activity wind up directly...in...your...hands." The glint in Charles eye quickly transformed to a malicious squint as he quickly exited the office, excusing himself from the Thatcher's residence.
Grace, wide-eyed and fearful of the conversation, hesitantly made her way into her husband's study and looked at him with utter panic. "What did Charles mean? What's this about you and a counterfeiting ring? William...please. You musn't keep me in the dark about this...whatever happens to you...affects me and our girls equally as much."
"It appears Charles is playing a dangerous game, my dear." He approached his wife and gently pulled her into his warm embrace, squeezing her tightly with all of the love and care he could muster. "One I won't let him win. After all...I'm a Thatcher. And we don't back down from challenges...Even when everything we hold precious and dear is on the line." William continued to look out at the space that Charles had momentarily occupied, his eyes glazed over as his mind began formulating his next move.