Did Candy find her happiness? (Part 2)

After my friend Yue Chan read my last post, Did Candy find her happiness? (Part 1), we had some discussions. She then said,

“Terry tried to force Candy to forget Anthony, but Albert embraced her sorrow because it was his own. ❤️”

Yes, indeed. I couldn’t have agreed more. I’m glad she let me quote her. 😊 ¡Gracias, Yue Chan! 😘

Now that we have mentioned their unforgettable embrace in the forest, I’m going to talk about the second highlight of this day trip to Lakewood — Albert gave Candy a private tour to the memorial hall in the villa, where they hung plenty of portraits of Ardlays’ ancestors.

In the old Candy Candy novel, Albert sent Candy a postcard from São Paulo, Brazil. It was brief, mainly about the hot weather and that he had bought her many souvenirs. He also promised he would try to pay her a visit when he returned.

The letter that followed this postcard was from Candy to Albert, which was about Stear’s memorial service in Lakewood. I made a mistake in my previous post. Candy said they used the fireplace in the orphanage in this reply, not her previous letter. Anyway, she wrote that she was happy to see Albert after a long time. She also indicated that she had returned to the Pony’s Home slightly more than half a year, so my guess is she wrote this letter some time in October (using the manga timeline).

Since Candy had seen Albert last on her birthday, approximately five months had elapsed?

Thus, in the old novel, when Albert returned from Brazil, he couldn’t make time to visit Candy. When they met again, they were in Lakewood with others, including Archie and Patty. That day, Albert unlocked the memorial hall, and even Archie had never been in that room before till that sombre occasion. I have reason to believe this room was always locked, and not everyone was allowed to enter.

My friend Yue Chan gave more details when comparing the two novels. It’s a must read, especially if you understand Spanish! As for me, I’ll now go back to the day trip to Lakewood described in CCFS epilogue. In Candy’s mental letter to Anthony, she wrote that this was the very first time she stepped in this memorial hall.

For sure Candy had attended Stear’s memorial service in CCFS because she had written a letter to Madam Elroy to thank her for the permission (if you remember, Candy wasn’t allowed to attend Stear’s funeral).

On the other hand, the memorial service in CCFS took place before the engagement party of Archie and Annie. Back then, it’s clear that Candy was completely unaware that Albert was actually her prince. In other words, the service wasn’t held in the memorial hall as described in the old novel. Hence, I can safely deduce that this particular room is being protected from others, including Archie. Come to think of it, it was a place to hang the portraits of the ancestors, so perhaps only the heir had the key?

If so, this signifies how special Candy was to Albert. In CCFS, he let her in, telling her stories about his late sister Rosemary and her struggles with her family because of Captain Vincent Brown. Albert praised his dear sister for being gentle but strong, etc. There was nothing about their elopement as mentioned in the old novel.

I suppose Candy could also see the portraits of Albert’s late parents even though she didn’t say anything about it. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this implies Albert brought Candy home to meet his parents. 💕😍 The story about Rosemary was to reassure Candy that if necessary, Albert would be just as strong to fight for her.

Those who are familiar with CCFS know that Albert had written a heartfelt letter about himself during his business trip in Brazil. Apparently, he had been so preoccupied with work that he couldn’t sit down to write until 2 AM! Yet, he had penned a long letter to Candy, even sounding quite emotional near the end. What a contrast to a simple postcard in the old novel!

Although some readers found Albert a little too sentimental, I actually like him that way. He was willing to show Candy his vulnerable side, which was a significant step. Now, imagine yourself to be the recipient of this letter, how would you react reading such an honest and grateful letter from your handsome prince? 🌹

In addition, like the postcard in the old novel, at the end of this lengthy letter he promised to visit Candy when he returned. On top of all that, he wrote he would definitely investigate what really made Candy happy.

If I were Candy I would be dying to see my Prince on the Hill in person again. How about you? I might write a letter even longer, pouring out all my feelings, etc. But Candy deliberately withheld her feelings. She’d rather talk to him face to face as indicated in her short reply, which was basically a protest from her. 😁 That makes sense too, considered she must be missing him terribly.

So in CCFS, Mizuki (Keiko Nagita) granted her wish. Albert indeed paid Candy a surprise visit. Does this remind you of the last letter in the old novel, in which Candy wanted him to surprise her by showing up at her door tomorrow? 💑 As I mentioned before, in the old novel they haven’t had a chance to spend much time alone ever since the revelation on the hill.

In comparison, Albert had opened up himself a lot more to Candy in CCFS, and he also introduced his family to her. It’s unclear when he formally presented his badge back to Candy as his gift, but some people believe this happened on the day they were in Lakewood. All of these combined essentially mean that the young heir was ready to invite the beautiful woman to be a part of his life, to be the lady of the house. 💕❤️

Another highlight of the trip is that he returned the diary to Candy in the very room she had discovered his true identity. Do you know the return of her diary is only in CCFS? As discussed before, the diary represented nothing but her crush on Terry back in London.

I gather this occurred before Albert drove Candy back to Pony’s Home. 😊 She understood his unspoken question, no doubt. The lady had to make a choice: William Albert Ardlay or Terry Graham? (Note that it’s a fact in CCFS that Terry had abandoned his family name Granchester.)

In my opinion, overall, Albert’s actions in this Lakewood trip surpass his invitation to Candy about traveling together one day (old novel). What do you think? 😊

And Candy’s answer to Albert? She wrote in her lengthy reply to his question about where her happiness was:

今が、わたしの幸せです。

Literally this can be translated to “Now is my happiness”. I have explained in another post before that this sentence puts the emphasis in “now”, so it means “now and only now”. In fact, this sentence also implies her preference about “now”. In other words, she’d rather choose “now”, not her past (i.e. her diary). It can’t be more obvious whom she had chosen. I hope you understand what I mean here. 💓💕 See you in Part 3. For your interest, my friend Yue Chan has translated this post to Spanish, El Portal de Yue-chan: “¿Candy encontró su felicidad? (Parte 2)”. 💖