A/N: See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.
Chapter 4: Liz Fights Back
Liz basically remained on autopilot throughout the next few weeks. To say that she was shocked, hurt, and devastated by William's and Priscilla's sudden departure was the understatement of the century. Liz felt as though her whole world had come crashing down all around her. The one thing that helped her keep her sanity was Gail's upcoming wedding. Helping her only daughter out with all the wedding arrangements helped Liz keep her mind off her inner turmoil. And when Gail's wedding day arrived, Liz put on a brave smile, and in fact she was truly determined to be happy that day for her daughter's sake. Gail had asked Liz to be her matron of honor, which meant the world to her, and on her daughter's special day, Liz couldn't have been prouder of her. But when she and Emmet came home that evening, all the feelings that she'd managed to keep suppressed throughout Gail's wedding came rising to the surface. As soon as they got home, Liz went into her bedroom, laid down, and just let the tears flow.
It wasn't long before Emmet heard the sound of his sister softly weeping, and he gently knocked on her bedroom door.
"Come in," Liz said quietly.
Emmet walked into Liz's bedroom then, sat down on the side of her bed, touched her shoulder, and gently asked, "What is it, sis? What's the matter?"
In that moment, Liz turned and sat up on the side of the bed next to her brother, and she grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on her nightstand and dried her eyes. Then she said, "Oh, I guess it's just me being an overemotional female."
"I wouldn't say that. It is true that women are emotional, but that doesn't mean that it should be dismissed or overlooked when a fellow's favorite sister is hurting."
Liz smiled and laughed a little and said, "I'm your only sister, silly."
"Well, yes, but you're still my favorite."
"Thank you," Liz said quietly.
"Come on, Liz. What is it? What's got you so upset?"
"I'm not 'upset,' so to speak. I'm…overwhelmed. So many things are just hitting me all at once. Gail's all grown up and married. I can't believe it. It feels like it was just yesterday that the doctor told me I was pregnant, and now, here she is, all grown up, graduated from college, married, and starting a career in education this fall."
"I know. It's amazing how fast kids grow up."
"I think what's making all of this so hard is…I honestly believed I would be sharing this day with William. I so wanted him to be there with me as I watched my little girl getting married. This may sound silly, but there was a small part of me deep down inside that believed, or at least hoped, that we would be getting married ourselves someday."
"That's not silly at all. William fooled us all, Liz. He led you on, and there's no excuse for it. It was downright cruel of him to lead you on the way he did, only for him to just suddenly abandon you without a word."
"Yes, it certainly was. I just can't get over it. It was so strange. When I went to report his sudden disappearance to the police and they looked into it, they told me that there was no record of him or his daughter ever having lived at that address. It was as if they'd never been in England at all. It just doesn't make any sense."
"I know it's hard, Liz. I know how deeply you came to care for William, and also for his daughter. But you cannot torment yourself like this. Even though it is difficult, you simply must find a way to forget about him and move on with your life."
"It's funny. In the beginning, I really did believe Frank cared about me, and just look at what he put Gail and me through. And to Hyacinth, I'm just an object at her disposal to be used whenever she wants to talk to someone over tea or coffee, or whenever she wants to drag someone into one of her little schemes to try and climb the social ladder. And now with William, a man I was more in love with than any other in my life," said Liz as tears filled her eyes, "it turns out that I was nothing more than a joke. He was probably just using me to give himself a good laugh. Tell me something, Emmet. Do I have the words, 'I'm a fool; feel free to take advantage of me' stamped across my face?"
"Of course not. What you do have is a very big, gentle, patient, generous heart, and tragically, we are living in a terribly cruel world, filled with mean-spirited people who have no qualms about taking advantage of gentle, patient, generous souls like you. Oh Liz, I know that William broke your heart, just like my ex-wife Jackie broke mine when she left me for another man. And I know it feels like you'll never be the same again, but you will be. It'll just take some time."
"I guess you're right," Liz said with a nod. "Thanks for coming in here to cheer me up, Emmet."
"That's what brothers are for," Emmet assured her, and then he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "It's been a long day. Why don't you lie down and get some rest?"
"That's a good idea," Liz agreed, and then Emmet gave his sister a side hug, got up from the bed, and left. Once Emmet was gone, Liz changed out of the nice lilac dress she'd worn to her daughter's wedding into a nightgown, and she crawled under the covers and quickly fell asleep.
"I haven't seen your gentleman friend in quite a while," Hyacinth said pointedly the following Saturday morning while pouring Liz a cup of coffee. She and Richard were sitting together at the kitchen table as Hyacinth brought her coffee to her – in a beaker, naturally – and gently set it down before her.
"If it's quite alright with you, Hyacinth, I'd really rather not discuss William right now," Liz told her rather firmly.
Wanting to ease the tension, Richard looked over at his wife and said, "Yes, Hyacinth, I think it's best if we change the subject."
However, as usual, Hyacinth didn't listen. After she took her seat the table, she said, "It certainly is odd the way he just took off and left like that, isn't it? It's most suspicious. One would almost be inclined to think that perhaps he was involved in some kind of illegal activities."
"Hyacinth!" Richard scolded.
It was then that finally, after all these years, something just snapped inside Elizabeth. She was a remarkably generous and patient person; in fact, it had often been said in by others that Liz had the patience of Job to put up with Hyacinth the way she did. But even people with Elizabeth Warden's remarkable level of patience had their moments when their extraordinary patience finally ran out.
Ordinarily, Liz would never dream of actually saying this to Hyacinth, but today, she truly had had enough and Hyacinth had officially pushed her too far. Liz looked straight at Hyacinth in that moment and told her truthfully, "With all due respect, Hyacinth, you're one to talk about possible illegal activities. Your sister Violet's husband worked as a bookie for years before it was legalized. You brag so much about Violet and Bruce and their fortune, but you never stop to think that they acquired it through illegal means. So you're really not in much of a position to set yourself up as judge and jury of anybody else's life considering what happens within your own family, now, are you?"
To put it mildly, Elizabeth's little speech to Hyacinth left everybody in the kitchen that morning absolutely stunned – even Elizabeth. Liz was shocked that those words had actually come out of her own mouth. She couldn't believe what had just happened. She couldn't believe that after all this time, she actually did fight back for once. Naturally, Richard and Hyacinth couldn't believe it either, although Richard was certainly having himself a good hearty laugh inside. In that instant, Richard stared at Liz in utter admiration, even awe, much in the same way that Liz had stared at Richard the one unforgettable time he'd dared to raise his voice to Hyacinth and put a stop to her ridiculous antics at a telephone booth.
At long last, following a deafening silence, Hyacinth asked, "Elizabeth, what in the world has happened to you? What has this William fellow done to you? All these years, you've been utterly hopeless in social situations and not even my bright and brilliant example as a hostess has been able to help you. And let's not even talk about what you've done to my poor china over the years. But even with all your faults, you did have one thing going for you. You always had your morals. Now, ever since this William person has come into your life, you've just gotten out of control. You allow him to kiss you in the most inappropriate places, at the most inappropriate times, and you haven't cared one tiny bit about what that sort of thing could be doing to your overall reputation in this town. You've even allowed his influence to corrupt your behavior with me in the context of our friendship."
"What friendship, Hyacinth? All you ever do is give me orders. All I ever do is listen to whatever's going on in your life. You have never listened to what was going on in mine. Friendship, like any other relationship, is supposed to be give and take, fifty-fifty. I'm always there for you. I'm always doing whatever it is you want me to do. I'm always listening to you. Name one time, just one, when you have been there for me."
"I'm there for you constantly! Am I not continually inviting you over here for coffee and tea and my candlelight suppers? Am I not continually giving you the benefit of my expertise in the social graces? And might I remind you, Elizabeth, that you have broken my china cups and beakers over and over and over again. It takes a very kind and generous person to constantly invite a friend over to her house who is always breaking her things. And what's worse, given your behavior with William over the past few months, you have sullied your reputation. Yet out of the graciousness and generosity of my heart, I still allow you to associate with me."
Liz let out a sad sigh then, and she looked at Hyacinth and said, "You know what, Hyacinth? If it's such a chore for you to be my friend, I'll make things very easy for you from now on." Liz then got up from her seat, looked down into Hyacinth's face, and told her sincerely, "From this moment on, our friendship is over. I shan't come over for coffee, tea, or candlelight suppers anymore. I shan't be associated with you in any way, shape, form, or fashion whatsoever. You are officially free from me, Hyacinth. May you be happy over here in your house with your Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles, Hyacinth, because I assure you that without me in your life, those periwinkles are in fact the only friends you will have left."
Without another word, Liz quickly walked out the back door, leaving Hyacinth and Richard behind, just sitting at their kitchen table in an utterly stunned silence.