Letters to Juliet

Chapter 4

Letters to Juliet

Chapter 4

Sitting in the sunroom of his Boston luxurious residence, William Albert Andrew put back his cup of coffee on the white-coated table on which was waiting a substantial breakfast. He opened the morning newspaper and began to turn few pages. He ended by stopping on one in particular, and a smile of satisfaction appeared on his slips. That time, he was not interested by the stock prices but by an article devoted to a certain young comedian whom he had very well known in the past. The said article headlines said: « TERRENCE GRAHAM IN LOVE!!! », followed with a fly-on picture of Terry. The troubled look he displayed did not leave any doubt on the veracity of the journalist's indiscrete revelation. Albert was exulting while reading the tell that detailed the event:

"Ladies, wear you dark veils and take out your handkerchiefs, the young comedian, the Broadway star, the one who makes faint hundreds of admirers on each of his appearances, Terrence Graham, is IN LOVE!!! Yesterday, on the end of the day, on the pier 88 of the Manhattan harbour station, as we were following for our newspaper the Russian countess Anastasia Pavlovitch's trip, the unusual behaviour of a person who seemed to us familiar, caught our attention. We quickly recognized the famous comedian in this person who was running after the boat Le France and who was belting out as he sent desperate signs to a young unknown woman, passenger on the ship. In front of our dumbfounded eyes, we've attended a display of cries and shouts of joy, a real change to which we were not used to. We can testify this: the sad-faced-actor is able to have feelings! He looked so happy that he did not even try to throw our cameras to the sea. We attempted to ask him some questions but he eluded them with an eloquent smile then left the station with a cheerful path. Obviously, we immediately looked for the identity of that Miss "Candy", whose name had been pronounced by him several times. We suspected that she was the same person who had been evoked few weeks before during his visit at Nightingale-Bradford College, visit that had turned into a scandal and led the sudden leaving of the young actor. (see our article of april...). After consulting the French shipping company, we did not find any person named Candy, but a certain "Candice White Andrew, heir of a rich family of Chicago. We've been able to get in touch with a member of her family who lives in New York, her cousin, Eliza Leagan, who just got engaged with the wealthy weapons dealer, August Withmore. That latter seems to have an opinion very severe opinion regarding her cousin:

"Miss Andrew is a fortune-hunter! She seduced Mr. Graham during their studies in England, then, she became infatuated with my Brother, Niel, who got the good sense to cancel their engagement before it was too late. She is a devious person who had been able to ingratiate our Great Uncle who adopted her. I bemoan the fact that Terrence Graham fell again into the affective trap she set for him. He will regret it bitterly. She brings misery wherever she goes. Besides, she is at the origin of my young cousin's decease, Anthony Brown and she..."

It was enough!!! Albert, enraged, threw the newspaper on the ground. That Eliza will see it coming! That girl was a real pain, an endless source of evilness! She could not prevent herself from shamefully lying about Candy! He had always felt little esteem for her but he had to admit that it was not contempt that he felt for her now but a real aversion, a disgust for everything she represented: her mediocrity of mind, her awkwardness, her vanity, that her perverse soul maintained narcissistically until leaving behind her, sickening mud that revolted him and made him ashamed. Ashamed above all , for sooner having not put an end to her malfeasances. Him, who had always tried to keep the balance into the family, was realizing, may be a bit too late, the unrecoverable nature of his cousin. Several times, he had given her a chance, but what she had just said in the newspaper had sealed her fate.

His appetite ruined by what he had just read, he left his breakfast and walked to his office with the aim to phone his far-too-much-zealous cousin. It was high time for him to make her understand to leave Candy alone if she did not want to incur his wraths. He was even disposed to the supreme punishment: the definitive exclusion from the family! He did not even care the Great-Aunt could chock with rage. Candy did not deserve such treatment. The Leagan and consorts would have to make their mind to it or renounce to their privileges. His decision was without appeal!