Birdsong outside her window woke Della the next morning. She opened her eyes and smiled. It had been the first good night's sleep she had had since the day she had read Mrs. Mason's letter in Perry's apartment.
Jumping out of bed, she leaned out of her window and let the breeze caress her face. Looking down at her hand, she admired the sapphire accessory which proudly crowned her left ring finger. The memory of that same ornament had caused her so much pain over the last fortnight, as she imagined Isabella Scalding wearing it; but now that it was hers, it rejoiced her heart every time she glanced at it. It meant that she would soon belong to Perry, and he to her! There was no longer any fear that, in the future, they might go their separate ways. Once their wedding vows were sealed, only death would be able to part them.
Quickly dressing, she emerged from her room. She was only half-way down the stairs when she heard Maggie asking,
"I never understood how you could get him off when he had already confessed to the police!"
"Ah, but California law clearly states that corpus delicti must be proven by the prosecution independently of a suspect's confession. In the case you are referring to, the defendant's confession was the only indication that a crime had been committed…and, as you likely know, it was later revealed that my client was mistaken in believing that he had killed a man."
"Only you would think of that, Mr. Mason!"
"One day, as an intelligent and well-versed lawyer, you will also think of it. And, young lady, since I am going to be your brother-in-law, you should start calling me 'Perry'. Surely you don't call your brother's wives 'Mrs. Street', now do you?"
"No, Perry," Maggie said happily.
"Good morning, everyone!" Della said brightly as she walked into the room. Perry's smile grew broader at the mere sight of her.
"To quote a private detective we know, 'Hello Beautiful'," the attorney said. Coming over to her, he took her hand and, pulling her towards himself, pressed a quick kiss on her lips.
"Good morning, Counselor," Della replied playfully. "Did you sleep well?"
"Yes. You?"
"Very well. How long have you been up?"
"About an hour."
"And I daresay you have been teaching law all that time?" Della asked, looking at Maggie and the mound of newspapers her sister had piled onto the coffee table.
"You surmise correctly, Ms. Street. It's quite a pleasant task, considering the proficiency of my pupil." Perry Mason glanced at the twelve-year-old. "Speaking of which, I think Maggie would greatly benefit from the summer program that the university hosts for middle school students interested in law. It starts next week, and might be a slightly more interesting way to spend July than memorizing a copy of California's penal code. Assuming that your parents consent, of course."
Maggie's eyes lit up and she looked pleadingly at her mother and father.
"Please? PLEASE may I go?"
Mr. and Mrs. Street glanced at each other, and then Mrs. Street slowly said,
"Considering the fact that Della will be there to keep an eye on you, I think you may."
For an instant, Della smiled as she realized that her parents believed her enough of an expert on surviving the city to be trusted with her younger sister's safety; but another consideration promptly erased the happy expression from her face.
"Oh dear!" she murmured.
"What is it, darling?" Perry asked, alarmed.
"I gave up my Los Angeles apartment when I moved back home! I need to start looking for a new place immediately, otherwise neither Maggie nor I will have a place to sleep next week!"
"That's hardly a problem," the lawyer replied in a completely unconcerned tone. "Your fiancé happens to own a Beverly Hills mansion which is about ten minutes away from the university's campus. Since he is not going to be moving in until after the wedding, you and your sister can stay there and have the run of the house for the summer. We'll just go through a few furniture catalogs today and call in the orders to the store so that the house will be comfortably furnished by the time you set foot in it. Then you can put in whatever finishing touches you wish over the next several weeks."
"You are too generous," Della murmured gratefully.
"Not at all. In a very short time, you will be my wife, and everything I own will be yours anyway." He brought her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her fingers. "And now, that you no longer have to fret about your accommodations in Los Angeles, could you possibly do me a small favor?"
"Of course, my Perry."
"Would you join me as I place a phone call to my mother? If you remember, she asked to be informed as soon as our betrothal became official."
"In that case, we are already more than twelve hours tardy!" Della cried out. "Let's go." Lowering her voice so that only Perry could hear, as they went into the kitchen to use the telephone there, she murmured. "But we won't mention how much trouble her mishearing caused. And since we only told my family that I accidentally misunderstood that you were going to be married to someone else and never mentioned that I came to that conclusion after reading a letter, we don't have to worry that they will ever reveal that fact to her."
The defense attorney nodded gratefully as he picked up the receiver and began to dial a number from memory.
"Thank you, dearest. I was hoping we could spare Mom that knowledge. She would be horrified." Straightening up, he began to beam with pride as he said into the receiver: "Mom? It's me. Mom, she said yes!" He listened for a couple of minutes, and then held out the phone to Della with a broad smile. "She wants to speak to you."
Ms. Street took the receiver.
"Mrs. Mason, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Gracious, Della, please call me 'Mom'! So you are the young woman who captured my Perry's heart!"
And with that, the two women proceeded to have a pleasant chat for over a quarter of an hour.
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