So far in this Love Triangle series I’ve been trying to show various evidences in the manga or Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS) that Candy had moved on in her life, and Terry had become her past. At the same time, I believe Candy had developed some strong feelings for Albert by the time she found him again in Lakewood. Why? As mentioned in Love Triangle (Part 4), after the emotional reunion, she spent the rest of her time in Lakewood with Albert alone before George came to pick her up the following day. It seems that the two spent more than a day together because they wanted to make up the time they had been apart.
I suppose George didn’t come until late afternoon because Albert had been napping while Candy was working on an extremely long flower chain. This scene conveyed that Candy and Albert were so comfortable in each other’s company. By the way, why did Albert nap? Was he that sleepy that he couldn’t help but succumb to his drowsiness? I have written a short story “Afternoon Nap” about that. 😉 In any case, Albert felt no need to hide his fatigue from Candy, and she didn’t mind him napping behind her. I think she was used to hearing his rhythmic breathing while sleeping (after sharing the bunk bed for more than a year). 😛
Also, Candy didn’t give that long flower chain to George nor take the flower chain back to Chicago with her, so I assumed she made that for Albert. She wouldn’t spend all that time for nothing, would she? 😛 She had also made a small one for his pet skunk after all. Remember Candy had made a flower chain just before Old Mr. McGregor passed away? It seemed that she liked doing that to someone she was fond of. 🙂
In addition, in the following manga scene, Albert just rescued Candy from being forced to marry Neil, and the two of them were again having some private moments up on a tree.
While gazing at Albert with a dreamy look, Candy secretly admired Granduncle William for being charming and young. She used the adjective 素敵 (suteki) to describe his look, which means lovely, dreamy, beautiful, great, or fantastic. The link below also gives you an idea of when to use this adjective:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Suteki
The relatives also used “suteki” to describe the young family patriarch, so I think Candy meant Albert was handsome, and she used this adjective twice as if she wanted to emphasize how good looking he was. Candy would be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to Albert.
Would any girl admire her brother or a family member this way? 🙄
Deep inside, Candy might have suspected something too. In her unsent letter to Terry, she wrote,
…
Yes, Terry,
Granduncle William was — Brace yourself! Albert-san whom you also know!
Can you believe! It’s terrible, isn’t it?
I have met him also in London!
Moreover, I even left my diary to the care of him, the diary in which I wrote my feelings perfectly honestly, when I left the Saint Paul’s Academy —.
Therefore Albert-san knows as much as I do, how much I … you.
How we met each other, and by little and little …, everything about it.
Albert-san, I wonder how he reacted when he read that diary. Neither of us can mention about it even now …
I’m glad he didn’t want to be an actor. Brilliant poker face! He could have become your biggest rival. Albert-san didn’t tell me he recovered his memory right away either … he is still veiled in mystery.
I’m inclined to believe Albert had read her diary in Africa, but even if he had read it after regaining his memory, would it make much of a difference? Albert knew Candy’s feelings for Terry absolutely well, so what did she mean by “how Albert reacted when he read that diary”?
Also, there must be a reason why Albert hadn’t informed Candy of his recovery right away, and if I were Candy, I would have wondered why. Could staying with her a little longer be the reason? If so, what did that imply? 😉
Young Candy had quite a handful of admirers, and she was fully aware of that, so she probably guessed that Albert also had developed feelings for her. Although she knew Albert had her diary with him, she didn’t bring it up, and neither did Albert. She used to tell Albert everything about Terry, remember? So from what point had she decided not to talk to Albert about Terry anymore? It was like she didn’t want to give Albert an impression that she still missed Terry, or what do you think?
At any rate, my gut feeling tells me that Candy wanted to talk to someone about Albert but couldn’t (she might worry her foster mothers if she talked to them), so even when she was supposed to write to Terry (though not intending to send the letter to him), she couldn’t get Albert off her mind. For details about this unsent letter, please read Part 2 of this series. Or, you can read the last part of this series, Part 8.