Granduncle William (!)

Granduncle William and Candy (Korean manga version)

The powerful patriarch in the Ardlays was always known as William A. Ardlay. Family members, including Sarah Lagan (I was told that it is officially “Lagan” in the Italian version), addressed him as Granduncle William or simply Granduncle. Candy was no exception even though she had known Albert as a friend for years. To her, the name William A. Ardlay was a solemn name. In her letter to Dr. Martin, she said this name was いかめしい. (CCFS Vol 2, p. 246)

Yet, I believe when Candy was alone with Albert, she treated him like an old man and often teased him as “Graaanndpa” (as discussed in Candy and Prince on the Hill (Part 8)). She justified her odd behavior in her letter to George that she wanted to pay back Albert. 😝😋

On the other hand, Candy had mentioned in various occasions that Albert actually looked younger than his age. Not only that, she had troubles accepting that Albert and Granduncle William as the same person. She said so herself in her letter to Archie (CCFS Vol 2, p. 257). Besides, she wrote to Archie that Albert, being the family head, had no time to talk much. I suppose she missed talking to him, so was it her complaint? 😅

Right after Albert’s important confession, Candy hadn’t been able to switch her mindset yet. She still addressed him as Granduncle William in her first letter after the shock. She found it hard to believe Albert was Prince on the Hill, let alone Granduncle William! 😆 She sounded as if Albert had split personality. 😲😂 (CCFS Vol 2, p. 286)

Nonetheless, as Albert continued to open up, writing long heartfelt letters to Candy, she began to change. In her last letter to him (CCFS Vol 2, pp. 317-322), she actually addressed him as “William Albert Ardlay, or alternatively, ちっちゃな (Little) Bert”.

Before I go on, I’ve got wonderful news. There is an unofficial English translation of CCFS prologue by locksleyu. Like I’ve always said, locksleyu also explained in another post that  あのひと (Anohito) simply means “that person”, which is gender neutral. Guess what? He mentioned if he does get to translate Anohito one day, he might consider “my darling”. 😍

I must say his idea is absolutely brilliant! 👏 If I have the liberty to translate ちっちゃな Bert, I’ll translate it to a more endearing name like “Cutie Bert” or “Sweetie Bert”. 😘 Do you have any better suggestion?

By the time Candy wrote this long letter to Cutie Bert, I suppose she had finally accepted Albert, her Prince on the Hill, as who he really was. He was the ultimate decision maker in the family, the heir with the absolute authority in the entire clan. For example, he was the one who selected a new family doctor. He was the man who had the final say whether Archie and Annie could marry each other, in spite of all the obstinate protests from his aunt and other relatives. Could any of them say no to him? 🙄 The answer is no, of course. 😀

Come to think of it. The man with such a dignified position actually gave Candy his permission to call him Cutie Bert. In the aforementioned letter, Candy promised this would be the last time she called Albert “Prince on the Hill” and “Granduncle William”. We know he had asked Candy not to call him prince in a letter, so I think he must have made another request during the day trip, and the reason was obvious. The name “Granduncle William” sounded so distant and formal. 😕 😆 On the other hand, Candy referred to him as Cutie Bert again and again, from the beginning to the end of her letter. 😝😜 Can you imagine their relationship by then? While the name Granduncle William inevitably evoked reverence and respect, Cutie Bert had the exact opposite effect… 😌 😏 Therefore, I have a feeling that when Candy signed this long letter with love and gratitude, she was ready to embrace the future with this young man. 👫

Now, back to Candy’s letter to Vincent Brown, she reminded Anthony’s father of their first encounter. They had met outside the chapel because she hadn’t had the privilege to attend the funeral. But things had definitely changed as discussed in my previous post. Candy wrote she had more opportunities these days to spend time in Chicago mansion, Lakewood and likely other places.

And what did Candy do during her stay? She chose to talk to Rosemary a lot. Why? 🤔 I think it was because Albert had always loved Rosemary. It’s only natural Candy liked Rosemary too. After all, Rosemary was Anthony’s beloved mother. The point is, Candy was comfortable enough to walk around Ardlay’s properties, possibly alone, taking her time to talk to Rosemary. 😘

What struck me though was why Candy signed this letter as Candice W. Ardlay. Many thanks to Reeka, Antlay, and Candy Bert for your marvelous comments / guesses to my previous post. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have the answer. 😛 😉 Yet, if Candy was engaged to Albert, it only makes sense that her adoption had been annulled, so she wouldn’t sign her name as “Miss Ardlay”, like she did to Sarah Lagan, Sister Gray, Eleanor Baker, etc.

Like Reeka, I also had the suspicion that Candy was already married, and she could put Vincent’s Christmas card on the mantelpiece. 🙂 It could also be the first Christmas as “Mrs. Ardlay”, but I couldn’t shake off the question why Candy referred Albert as “Granduncle William Albert” in this letter to Vincent.

Nonetheless, if I’m not mistaken, she’d never called Albert that before. She used to call him Granduncle William or simply Granduncle just like the others. Yet, I think Candy could combine Albert and Granduncle into one person, at long last. ❤ And we can tell from her writing that Candy was now close to this great man in the family, who continued to share his past stories with her (sharing his sandwich — his childhood). That is, he was ready to embrace his destiny together with Candy.

Because of him, her status had undoubtedly changed. Moreover, I believe Candy intentionally added the detail that Granduncle William Albert regarded Vincent with respect. It was like Candy was trying to tell Vincent that “I used to be an outsider, just like you, Mr. Brown. But not anymore. Hence, you’re most welcome to visit anytime you like.” 😉

Hence, one possible reason was that Candy named Albert as Granduncle William Albert to remind Vincent who was really in charge in the family. 🙄 🙂

Thus, my safe guess was that Candy’s engagement had been announced, and her adoption was in the process of being annulled. 😛 🙂 Does this make sense to you? 🙂

Last but not the least, in her 30s, Candy looked at the family picture taken during the opening party of the Lagan’s luxurious resort in Miami, Candy thought of Albert as Granduncle or Granduncle William with exclamation marks (CCFS Vol 2, p.199), just like the title of this post, as though she was surprised this was how how she had addressed him during that party. 😆

I figure this signifies that Candy had LONG stopped calling Albert (her husband) as such. What do you think? 🙄 I’ll continue to talk more about this family photo in a new post. Please stay tuned. Thanks for reading this lengthy post. Have a wonderful weekend! ❤ ❤ ❤

After publishing the post last night, my friend Yue 月 on Twitter showed me something extremely interesting today 😀

She got the Italian version of CCFS, and she took a picture of Candy’s letter to Vincent Brown as shown below, in which Candy wrote “trovarci”, which means “visit us” 😉

Yue 月 attempted to translate the Italian sentences to English for us:

“I heartily hope you visit us at Chicago’s residence and some day I’ll be very happy, in roses season, walk through Lakewood’s Roses Portal…”

I wasn’t entirely sure before because the Japanese wordings are somewhat ambiguous. Candy wrote お訪ねください (please visit), which might have several possible meanings (1) please visit (someone)… (2) please visit me… (3) please visit us… 😕 🙄

But now, given the text from the Italian version, it’s highly likely that Candy invited Vincent to visit her and Albert. So, what do you think? Does it mean it was Mrs. Ardlay who was writing this letter to Anthony’s father? 😀 🙂