Accordingly, Della had hurried back to the office. Finding Mr. Garner there, she handed over his deed, and bid him farewell. Then she sat down at her typewriter and wrote out the following:

To Mr. Mason,

Please accept this letter as my formal resignation, effective immediately. In order to minimize any inconvenience, I have fully instructed Mr. Jackson as to the management of the office. I remain grateful for the opportunity to have been in your employ for the past several years.

Sincerely,

Della Street

She signed the letter and placed it in an envelope, and addressed the latter. With a heavy heart, she went into the law library.

"Mr. Jackson," she said in a flat voice. "Due to personal circumstances, I am going to be moving out of Los Angeles in the next several days." Shock registered all over the law clerk's face. "Therefore, please come along. I need to show you certain things, so that you can help Mr. Mason properly when he returns."

"Of course, Ms. Street," Jackson stammered. "I am so sorry to hear that you are leaving. I am certain Mr. Mason will be, too."

Ignoring the comment about Perry, Della merely thanked Carl Jackson, and proceeded to show him where she kept the office accounts, gave him the combination to the office safe, and instructed him how to arrange his employer's schedule. She then handed him the envelope with her resignation letter and asked him to give it to Perry upon his return. Going back to her office and gathering up her personal belongings, she magnanimously suggested to Carl Jackson that he take over the space instead of sitting at his small desk in the law library. Repressing the desire to look into Perry's office one last time to reminisce, she put on a stoic face, walked into the reception area, and bid a stunned Gertie goodbye. Then she hurried out of the Brent Building as quickly as her high heels allowed.

Returning to her apartment, she ransacked her closet and pulled out all the skirt suits and elegant evening gowns which she had accumulated throughout the years. Going down to the corner thrift store, she exchanged them for an array of cotton print dresses and linen blouses which were more suitable for life in the country. After she had stuffed these into her suitcase, cashed out her bank accounts, mailed short and vague notes to her closest friends telling them of her intention to leave Los Angeles, and informed her landlady that she was moving, she went to the bus station and bought a one-way ticket to Treeland.

As Los Angeles disappeared from view, Della leaned against the bus's windowpane and berated herself. It was not as if she had not been warned. One of her instructors in secretarial school even had had a motto which she included in almost every lesson: 'Successful businessmen marry socialites, not secretaries'. It had been hammered into Della and her classmates, over and over, to always remember that their role in a company was a professional one. They had been informed that, for single young ladies, it was the easiest thing in the world to look at a well-off, sharply dressed, and intelligent young man and to start having hopes which were totally unfounded. Della had listened, and thought that she had accepted and internalized such lessons. However, this part of her education had evaporated from her memory almost as soon as Perry Mason had hired her.

She could not even blame Perry. Nothing about his behavior towards her could have been reasonably interpreted by an outside observer as romantic interest. There had been times when she had thought that the smiles he gave her were warmer than those that he bestowed on the rest of the world, and that his face seemed to soften more in her presence than when he was speaking to others, but such circumstances were likely the product of her own overactive and wishful imagination. No, her sad situation was the product of her own faults, and hers alone.

And it seemed as if she would have a lifetime to rue her foolishness.

I'm sure you're all wondering how Perry will react when he gets back to town and finds that Della is gone. But he still has a few days of vacation left, so in the meantime, let's go back to Treeland and see how Della is forgetting about Perry (or not!)...

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