A while ago, when I was chatting with QuevivaCandy, she mentioned Candy’s letter to Vincent Brown, Anthony’s father, in Candy Candy Final Story (CCFS). QuevivaCandy and her friend think this letter gives us important clues to Candy’s whereabouts, and they believe Candy had already moved back to Chicago.
It’s interesting, right? 🙂 I’m going to conclude the series by sharing my thoughts about this particular letter (CCFS Vol II pp. 251-252). 😀
Candy first thanked Vincent in her letter for his Christmas card. At first glance, since it follows Candy’s letter to Dr. Martin (also written around Christmas time), readers can easily assume it was sent during the same period (not long after Candy had relocated to Pony’s Home). However, just like we have reasons to believe Terry’s ambiguous letter wasn’t necessarily sent after Susanna’s death, we can also find hints in this short letter to Vincent why we think Candy might have left Pony’s Home, perhaps living somewhere close to Albert. 😍
Back to the letter, Candy then recalled her first encounter with Anthony’s father. She had been forbidden to attend Stear’s funeral, and Vincent had found her outside the chapel. In light of this, readers might be misled into thinking Candy wrote this letter within a short time after Stear’s funeral. Yet, what she wrote afterwards makes us believe otherwise, as shown below:
この頃、アードレー家の本宅やレイクウッドで、アンソニーのお母さま、”ローズマリーの肖像”とゆっくりと対話する機会がふえました。
These days, the opportunities to unhurriedly talk to Anthony’s mother, “Rosemary ‘s portraits”, in Ardlay’s main mansion and Lakewood, have increased.
Candy also said there were many Rosemary’s portraits. Note that Candy used the particle や (ya) (see the highlighted word above), which implies Ardlay’s main mansion and Lakewood were two examples from a longer list. If Candy had used と (to) instead, then Candy meant she had seen the portraits only in the two places mentioned.
That is, Candy might have chances to find Anthony’s mother’s portraits elsewhere. 😉 Hence, someone might have taken Candy to other places where she could see some more portraits. Could it be other Ardlays’ properties? 🙂
As discussed in my earlier post, The day her life changed (Part 4), when Albert drove Candy to Lakewood one day, it was her first time to enter the Ardlay’s memorial hall in Lakewood, where she could see plenty of ancestors’ pictures. Candy had even declared that, compared to the other Rosemary’s pictures, the most beautiful one was inside that memorial hall, in which the young mother was carrying baby Anthony.
The keywords were “these days” and “without hurry”. Candy wrote to Vincent that recently she had many more chances to admire Rosemary’s portraits, even taking her time to talk to Anthony’s mother. This could mean that Candy had moved back to somewhere in Chicago, or at the very least she could visit the family mansion in Chicago, Lakewood and so on, either for quite a few times lately or that she could stay for a long time during each visit.
We know Candy had only spent a few hours with Albert in Lakewood as described in her letter to her prince (shown in CCFS epilogue). Therefore, for some reason, Candy could often go visit Ardlay’s places lately. The question is why? 😮 🙄
Also, in this letter to Vincent, Candy wrote she had heard that Albert and Rosemary had been dear to each other as brother and sister. Guess who had told her that? Must be Albert… or perhaps Aunt Elroy? I don’t know. 😉 😆
Then Candy went on to write that Granduncle William talked about Anthony’s father with respect and shared his memories with her with nostalgia, using present tense! 🙄
Albert had definitely related to Candy about Rosemary and Vincent during their trip to Lakewood, and he had also written something about his past relationship with Rosemary in letters, but the fact that Candy used present tense here means that Albert could spend time with her on a regular basis nowadays, sharing his past stories with her too (highly likely more than once).
Remember in the beginning of this series (Part 1 and Part 2), Candy complained to Albert in her letters that he hadn’t spent enough time with her? That she had wished he could talk to her a lot?
Come to think of it, does it mean something had happened between them after her last letter to him (the letter with love and gratitude as shown in the epilogue)? 🙄 What do you think? 🙂
Last but not the least, before Candy ended her letter, she wrote
ぜひ、シカゴのお屋敷もお訪ねください。
そして、わたしは、いつかばらの季節、レイクウッドのばらの門をご一緒に歩けたら、と願っております。
おしゃべりしたいことがたくさんあります!
Please also visit the mansion in Chicago.
And one day during the rose season I wish to walk around the rose gate in Lakewood with you.
I have many things that I want to chat with you!
Although the way Candy wrote she could simply mean to ask Vincent to also visit the mansion in Chicago, but don’t you think Candy sounds like she invited Vincent to come visit her in Chicago? 😕 😛 Or, she asked him to visit the principal mansion with her? As one of my friends said, Candy probably asked Vincent to visit Albert because she knew Albert missed his dear brother-in-law. Even then, it speaks volumes about her relationship with Albert. 😀
Nevertheless, Candy did explicitly say that she wished to walk around the rose gate in Lakewood with Vincent.
Ever since Anthony’s death, Candy hadn’t returned to reside in Lakewood as a family member anymore. Some time after her shocking discovery of Albert’s true identity, she had even moved back to Pony’s Home. Every time she visited the Ardlays, she was like an outsider. Even she herself implied she hadn’t had the privilege, as a family member, to attend the funeral services, neither Anthony’s nor Stear’s. However, this time, she sounded like she truly belonged to the family, no longer an outcast, and that she could go to Lakewood anytime she liked.
Not to mention that the rose gate had always reminded her of Anthony, but now she could directly mention that gate without feeling sad. This seemingly confirms that this letter was sent after her visit to Lakewood with her Prince on the Hill, the trip when her guilt of causing Anthony’s death had been lifted because of Albert.
Finally, Candy said she got lots to talk to Vincent. Guess what? I have a strong feeling she was going to talk about her story (love story?) with Albert (perhaps even about Prince on the Hill? 😛 ). She would likely talk a bit about Anthony and Rosemary too. Really, what else would Vincent be interested? 😮 🙂
Though Candy still addressed Albert as Granduncle William (possibly because that’s how the others addressed him), I believe Candy was close enough to Albert these days that every time she came to the mansion she could walk around without haste, talking to Rosemary’s portraits as long as she would like. 😀 As a matter of fact, I can’t help wondering why Candy was talking to Rosemary this much? To thank her that she had set a good example for her little brother, that he had decided to marry for love as well? 😍😘
Overall, Candy’s tone was upbeat, filled with confidence that she had the right to go to both the family mansion in Chicago and the villa in Lakewood anytime. Little did she sound like a girl who was mourning the loss of love and waiting indefinitely for someone in New York. 😝😆😁