After talking about Rockstown again and again, it’s about time for me to talk about what happened afterwards. 🙂
In Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), it wasn’t clear if Terry had learned of Candy’s presence in Rockstown when he had been at his rock bottom. His mother knew that though, and months later, she even sent an invitation card to Candy to see Terry perform Hamlet at Broadway, which Candy cordially declined and explained in a letter that she had gone to Rockstown not because of Terry.
So, do you think Miss Baker had ever informed her son about talking to Candy in Rockstown? I guess she probably wouldn’t do it. After all, it wasn’t something Terry would be happy to hear.
But how about Candy and Albert? Is it a topic that both of them would avoid bringing up?
For sure Albert had been behind the scene, directing the whole Rockstown episode by leading Candy to meet with Terry. I suppose Albert likely knew the outcome too, as shocking as it might be to him.
Nonetheless, in CCFS, somehow Albert discovered Candy’s drawing of him. A poor one that had made Dr. Martin laugh so hard, and then the doctor had drawn her a portrait of Albert. It was so much better, so she had used his drawing later to look for Albert all over Rockstown. Both drawings were titled with the words “Missing person” in Japanese.
Below is an excerpt of CCFS (from the spoilers):
I glanced at the “portrait” which I could see a part of it in the jewellery box. It makes me smile spontaneously, I took it out.
The portrait of Albert-san which Dr. Martin has drawn for me.
To search for Albert-san who had disappeared suddenly, Dr. Martin has drawn the likeness for me. Because the likeness I drew was so poor and didn’t look like him.
Later, Granduncle William, who liked it very much, had displayed my “totally bad likeness” in his office.
I heard that even Georges commented seriously; it could be a masterpiece beyond price …
The question is, how did Albert find out? By chance? Or did Candy show him?
Either case speaks volumes, doesn’t it? 😉
First and foremost, why did Candy keep that bad drawing anyway? She could have thrown it away after getting a better one from Dr. Martin, but she had kept it, until one day Albert found out about it, which implies that she wasn’t ashamed of her action and her wish to find Albert back then.
I think Albert was discreet and gentleman enough not to poke around Candy’s personal belongings. By the time they reunited in Lakewood, revealing that he was the mysterious Uncle William, they no longer lived together. I don’t think Albert would step into Candy’s private bedroom anymore. It was inappropriate even though they used to share the same bunk bed for a very long time. Hence, for Albert to find out the poor drawing by chance, Candy might have somehow slipped it out? Or do you think she actually put it up on display somewhere? 😛
On the other hand, if Candy decided to show Albert her poor drawing, did she also explain why she had attempted to draw him? Would she relate to him how much she had missed him back then, so much so that she wanted to find him even in a strange town?
Regardless of how Albert discovered her drawing, he wouldn’t be unaffected, don’t you think? He must be touched to know how much Candy had longed to see him. What would he say to her? Would he give her a hug and reassure, “Candy, you don’t need to look for me anymore… I’m not going anywhere.” 😉
Above all that, Albert actually liked Candy’s poor drawing very much, and he even displayed it in his office! Note that he could have kept it in a drawer or displayed it somewhere in his own bedroom. But his office? Where he would meet his clients, his business partners, his secretary or his subordinates? Now, that says something about how much Albert valued Candy’s drawing, doesn’t it? I think he spent more time in his office than his bedroom, and he probably put up the portrait in his workplace, a childish drawing to say the least, to remind himself how much Candy cared about him.
What surprises me though is that Candy let Albert do that! What if people saw her drawing and asked Mr. Ardlay “who drew that?” or “who is this guy in the drawing?”? I mean she was totally aware that people might laugh at her poor drawing, and she could have protested and stopped Albert from showing that to others, but she didn’t. Don’t you think it means that their relationship was more than friends by then? She didn’t mind people finding out about them at all as long as Albert was proud to “show it off”. 🙂
George’s remark is hilarious, but at the same time it means that he perfectly understood the reasons why his young master treasured this poor drawing very much. That’s why he said it was “a masterpiece beyond price”. 😛
Finally, if Terry was Anohito in CCFS, do you honestly think that Terry would let Candy keep a portrait of Albert (though drawn by Dr. Martin), especially knowing why she had drawn Albert in the first place and what she had done in Rockstown? 😉