It’s been a while since I last updated my blog. How are you all doing? I’ve been preoccupied with real life responsibilities lately, so thank you for your patience and understanding.
I think it’s time to continue this series, which I began in October last year. If you don’t remember much, you can start with my first post, Candy and Prince on the Hill. 🙂 Again and again, I have mentioned that Candy Candy, even Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS), is mainly a story about Candy and her prince. Yes, she had fallen in love with Anthony and then Terry, but fate (Mizuki) had separated Candy from them. While Anthony died from a horrible accident, Terry had to leave Candy for a woman who had sacrificed a lot for him. No matter how you look at it, Candy had eventually survived both heartbreaking incidents, and Albert was the only man who had stayed with her till the end (as her prince, shown in the CCFS epilogue). 💗💕
Come to think of it, after the breakup with Terry, this Broadway actor was no longer a part of Candy’s life. He had no idea what had happened to her, like Candy’s being fired by the hospital, Stear’s death, Albert’s disappearance, Neil’s forced engagement, her shocking discovery of Albert’s true identity, her return to Pony’s Home, etc. Nor did Candy comprehend what hell Terry had gone through until she was led to Rockstown. Yet, despite his misery, she had remained firm of her decision in New York. She left Terry then, and in her letter to Terry’s mother months later, Candy had clearly indicated she wouldn’t see Terry again because of Susanna.
Of course, Susanna wasn’t the only reason why Candy avoided Terry. but Candy didn’t have to tell Miss Eleanor Baker the entire truth. 😉 😛 As a matter of fact, Candy had moved on, and Terry would not affect Candy so much anymore (see my recent posts To truly love someone… or Old Candy Candy Novel). Those who insisted the blank pages before and after Terry’s ambiguous letter in CCFS must have carried some meanings have to think again. According to my friend Yue 月 on Twitter, these blank pages no longer exist in the official Italian version of CCFS. Those who can understand Spanish might like to read Yue 月’s perspectives in Foro Andrew concerning this topic.
Anyway, in Part III of CCFS, in many Candy’s letters to different people and in her retrospection, we can tell she had mixed feelings when it came to Albert, who was her adoptive father. Even Albert himself knew Candy was angry because he hadn’t told her the truth of their relationship much earlier. However, as explained in Why angry, for so long?, it seems absurd that her anger had lasted for such a long period of time. 😉 Even in her letter to George, she claimed she had to pay back Albert for keeping his identity a secret. She still teased Albert as “Graaandpa!” as if he were an old man even though she was fully aware that he was upset about it and had even asked her, “Forgive me at last~~~”. 😮
Don’t you find Candy a bit odd, if not out of character? 🙄 Shouldn’t she be grateful or at least pay some respect to Granduncle William? After all, her legal father had purchased the land and even financed the reconstruction of Pony’s Home! You know the orphanage was really none of his business, but apparently Albert wanted to make Candy happy. 🙂
Besides, hadn’t Candy always liked Albert the vagabond as her big brother, even risking her own reputation to live together with him so that she could take care of him until his recovery? So what had happened to the sweet orphan girl we are familiar with? 🙄
In light of all this, you can tell Albert was never a father figure to Candy (she openly wrote to Archie that she couldn’t accept Granduncle William and Albert as the same person), and by the time she discovered their adoptive relationship, Albert wasn’t a brother to Candy anymore. Just like the song I have shared in Old drawing from last Christmas, it was “all his fault” 😛 that Candy couldn’t help falling in love with her best friend. 😆 To me, poor Candy was a typical girl suffering from unrequited love, and as a result, she vented her feelings and frustrations to Albert because she knew him all too well. He wouldn’t be mad at her or shun her.
Yet, in spite of her long lasting anger, her feelings for him hadn’t faded with time. One day, when Albert suddenly showed up at Pony’s Home, Candy described her reactions to seeing something different about him that day. For unknown reason, he had inexplicably appeared so young, like a boy / lad (少年), to her that very instant. Then Candy immediately explained that though she liked teasing Albert as an old man from time to time, he actually looked much younger than his age. After that, she went back to describe her reactions, that her heart skipped a beat (ドキッとした) due to seeing something different about him. This phrase could also mean one’s pulse races, one’s heart beats rapidly, and so on, not unlike “heart pounding like a drum” in English. 😛
ドキッとするような美人に会って見たいもんだ。
I would like to meet a beautiful woman who makes my heart beat.
Has your heart ever skipped a beat (pounded like a drum) when you notice something different about your brother’s or father’s appearance? 😛 😉 Come on, be honest! 😆
Not to mention that ever since Albert’s important confession to be Candy’s prince, Candy was back to normal and resumed being very nice to Albert. In one of her letters to him (in the epilogue), she even declared that she wouldn’t ever call him “Graaandpa!” again. What’s more, she said アルバートさんを耐えさせません！(I’ll not let / allow Albert-san bear anything!)
Do you know that in Daddy-Long-Legs, just before Judy ended her love letter to Master Jervie, she wrote “And I shall never let you be sorry for a single instant.” Sounds very similar, don’t you think? 😀 😉 If Candy indeed regarded Albert as her adoptive father or big brother, would she say something so protective? 😉
I’ll conclude this series in Part 9. Please stay tuned. 🙂