Emma strolled down the street towards Loren's store. She couldn't help but sigh every now and then. Her life was beginning to be almost, just almost perfect. All of a sudden, Emma crashed into Gilda, who was walking very briskly.
"Oh, sorry Gilda," Emma said. She brushed her skirt and began to walk away.
"Emma! Wait." Gilda rushed up to her. "Look, I've been thinking. Maybe its time we left this town. I'd like to go to Philadelphia and perform there. I think it'd be nice to go there now. In fact, that's a great idea. I should go make arrangements."
"But...but Gilda, so soon?" Emma said. "Can't we wait a little bit longer? I mean, you don't always get a chance to stay in a nice area compared to the city...."
"Emma, Emma, Emma. My dear, you are so native. Now come along, we got some planning to do." Gilda hurried off, muttering to herself.
Emma felt her heart falling to the ground. She couldn't leave....she loved Matthew with all her heart and couldn't bear to leave him again..and if only he asked her this one question....
A few minutes later, there was another knock on the Sully's door. Another elegant lady entered the room. Her silvery hair was beautifully set off by a lovely burgundy hat that matched the rest of her ensemble.
"Mrs. Bell! What a pleasant surprise!" Michaela exclaimed.
"Won't you sit down? How is your son doing? Has he been following my instructions?"
Daphne smiled uncomfortably. "Oh, yes. To the letter if I have anything to say about it. I don't mean to offend, but having come from a family of doctors...my father, my brother and my son...I can definitely attest to the fact that they indeed make the worst patients! But to answer your question...my son is considerably better...which is why I'm here."
"Is everything all right?" Michaela asked.
Daphne paused, obviously in distress.
"I was wondering if you could spare...Vic..Gretta for a little while this evening. Ryan was asking for her." To which she added under her breath, "...though I can't imagine why..."
Michaela was curious, but merely said. "Of course. I'll go get her."
"Thank you." Daphne said, as Michaela quickly went to get Gretta.
Gretta came down the stairs, and nearly froze as she saw who waited for her.
"Mrs. Bell?" she said tentatively. "What's wrong? Is Ryan...Dr. Bell all right?"
Gretta paled visibly. She would just die if anything terrible had happened.
"Come along, dear." Daphne said, motioning Gretta to come with her. Gretta looked to Michaela, who nodded her head. And Gretta left the house with Daphne.
As Daphne and Gretta approached the Chateau, they ran into Emma.
Making small talk, Emma mentioned Gilda St. Clair's plans to go to Philadelphia.
Daphne's face became livid, frightening Gretta even more.
Gretta said. "Mrs. Bell. You still haven't told me what this is all about. Is your son all right? Nothing bad has happened...has it?"
Daphne relaxed a bit, when she realized how the situation must appear.
"My dear child. For some reason, I can only imagine, my son wishes to see you. He is recovering nicely, but he really should not be out and about just yet. He told me that if you hadn't come to visit this evening, that he was going to come and see you himself...regardless of any risk to his health. I simply would not allow that. Now I have brought you here. You may stay as long as you like, short of spending the night. That would not be proper. If the hour is late, I shall arrange for an escort. Until then...I'm sure you know where his room is. Go. I have a few things to discuss with Miss St. Clair."
Gretta hurried to do Daphne's bidding, while Daphne started over to see Gilda St. Clair, who had apparently chosen not to keep her promises to Colorado Springs. "Well, if Gilda won't honor her commitment to Colorado Springs, I simply won't allow her to play her games in Philadelphia...not in MY town! Daphne vowed.
Gilda St. Clair returned to her hotel room after sending Emma on her way, ready to take a relaxing bath after her very trying day.
No wonder she couldn't find Colleen! The little dear had gone off to Philadelphia. Gilda vaguely recalled that there was a medical school or something in the city for women. Well, no matter. She had almost convinced Colleen once to go on the road with her, and she could do it again. Come to think of it, if she was in medical school, it would facilitate Gilda's plan of asking Colleen to be the troupe doctor even better. With a smile, she set to work unpinning her hair.
After Mrs. Bell dropped off Gretta in front of the hotel, she headed back to her room.
Gretta, meanwhile, lingered in the nearly empty lobby, studying her reflection in one of the many mirrors. The simple but pretty pink dress she wore was one of the new ones she had recently gotten from Denver, and her delicately crocheted shawl looked quite nice with it.
After straightening one of the combs holding her heavy coil of hair off her face, she turned to go to Ry...Dr. Bell's room. Why he wanted to see her she had no idea, but she was immensely curious.
With a sigh, Alex removed her boots and carefully lifted her feet onto the couch. She was nearly five months along, and now really saw the value of the daily rests Nathaniel insisted she take. She laid a gentle hand on her stomach and smiled when she felt the flutter of the baby's tiny kick. She had just recently begun to feel the baby move and was hoping that Nathaniel could soon feel it move as well.
Gretta slowly approached Dr. Bell's room. So many thoughts in her head...she was so terribly confused. She knew she had to make things right with Ryan....with Nicholous...with Johann.
With some trepidation, she went to knock on the door, but it was slightly ajar, so without thinking too much she simply entered. The sitting room was empty, so she found her way to the bedroom. That door was open as well.
Gretta silently walked in.
Ryan was asleep, snoring softly due to his congestion. He lay, actually almost sat, on the bed, propped up on too many pillows. He was surrounded by several books, as well as several copies of the Gazette and newspapers from Philadelphia. He held an open book in his lap. Gretta wasn't sure, but she thought it may have been written by his mother.
" He looks terribly pale...", Gretta thought. She caught herself staring at him.
Gretta blushed, then withdrew from the bedroom to close the front door.
"Who's there?" Ryan called hoarsely, "Mother?"
"It's me, Gretta." She replied, hoping he didn't realize how long she'd been there.
"Please come in."
Ryan's voice was soft. He was on the verge of laryngitis. Gretta came into the bedroom and sat in a chair near the bed.
"I have something for you." He said, handing her a small, neatly wrapped box.
"Open it." He commanded.
Gretta did so. It was a beautiful gold locket. Gretta was perplexed.
"It...it's lovely...but...why?"
Ryan said, "I might have guessed you hadn't told anyone else that it was your birthday today. You were going to just let it go by without a second thought."
Gretta blushed. He was right, she hadn't told a soul, not even Matthew, or sweet little Katie. Gretta smiled.
"Thank you, Ryan, but surely that wasn't the only reason you wanted to see me..."
Ryan looked into Gretta's eyes. "No...there's more." Ryan said. Gretta became as pale as Ryan was. She hoped this wouldn't be more bad news...
Emma stood outside the door of the suite she shared with Gilda St. Clair. She could hear the heated discussion going on between Miss St. Clair and Mrs. Bell.
Daphne pointed out that Gilda had promised to perform in Colorado Springs at least once before she left, not to mention opening an opera house...and what happened to the concert of readings and song that the two of them were to do together. Had that all been simply talk?
Gilda tried to talk her way out of it, but Daphne produced the contract that Gilda had so casually signed regarding the program.
Sure, Daphne had tricked her into signing it...Gilda had thought it was an autograph request...to which Daphne said, "Prove it."
"All right." Gilda said, "Although I could easily contest it...I am a reasonable woman. I will give these humble townsfolk what they want, but then, I'm off to Philadelphia, where you will leave me alone."
Daphne said, "Of course, dear. Now you get to work on your repertoire...and I shall start to work on mine. Remember, I am highly influential in Philadelphia. It would do you well not to cross me. Good day...we shall talk tomorrow."
Emma was ecstatic. They would be staying in Colorado Springs for at least a little longer. That would give Matthew time to say all the right things...and Emma could certainly help him along.
Daphne brushed past Emma with a hasty greeting as she left Gilda's room.
"Oh Emma!" Gilda called from inside. "Please come in...there's been a change of plans..."
"Teresa!" Jake came walking into their house. He was tired, and very hungry.
"Oh, Jake! How are you feeling?" Teresa called out from the kitchen.
"Just worn out," he answered back.
Teresa came out of the kitchen and kissed him on the cheek. "Come, dinner is ready."
They both walked to the dining area, where Teresa had prepared a simple, yet tasty meal of cornbread and stew.
Jake breathed in deeply. "Ahh, smells delicious." He sat down and began to pile his plate with food.
"Jake, have you thought about what we are going to do about the holidays?" Teresa asked.
"No. I just thought we might stay home, have a wonderful Christmas...why?"
"I was thinking...i was just wondering if maybe I could invite some of my family over to celebrate the holidays with us," Teresa said.
Jake slightly choked on his stew at her words.
"Your...your family. Does this include your grandmother? I mean, she hates me.." Jake said.
"Well, that's true, but she can't do anything now. We're married," Teresa answered slowly.
Jake sat there mumbling to himself. "All right, all right. Send a letter or something to your family. After, they're now related to me..."
After Daphne left Gilda, she debated whether to go back to her son's room, but decided against it. She felt she had really been unfair to Gretta, after all...she was only a girl. How could she know what had happened? Victoria Ryan really had nothing to do with her father's...transgressions... And as much as Ryan thinks he knows...he also had nothing to do with the actions of his father...
And there was another issue; Daphne was afraid that if she pushed too hard to separate Ryan and Gretta, it would result in drawing them together, but if she did nothing...well! "Perhaps Loren could use a little company tonight...before it gets too late..." Daphne decided to forget about her problems for the moment, and turned around and went off to visit her friend.
"Gretta!" Ryan said, noticing her sudden pallor.
"Are you all right? You really don't look well. Perhaps we should talk another time."
The color finally returned to her face as Gretta said.
"I'm fine, Ryan. I'm just very frightened. My brother is serious about my returning to Switzerland. I still don't know what to do."
Ryan took her hand. "Nicholous has spoken to me. He put that fact in no uncertain terms. Now my question is...do you still want to stay here?"
Gretta paused for a moment. She couldn't lie.
"Ryan, I've gone over it in my head so many times. My life in Switzerland is so...unresolved. I was going to tell you and Nicholous, that I would return there to put things right with the memory of my father...my hus...Johann... "
The tears began to flow.
"But Nicholous was so unreasonable...he...I told him I would never go back to Switzerland as long as he lived."
Ryan continued to hold her hand.
"I'm so confused. I don't know anymore...I want to go back to Switzerland, but on my terms, not his...I don't want him to force me back with him...but I have no real reason to stay here..."
"Unless..." Ryan said.
Gretta was curious.
"I have a proposition for you. You don't have to answer now...in fact, it might be better if you waited to respond."
"Proposition?" Gretta was confused.
"Actually, a proposal."
Ryan paused for a moment.
"Marry me."
Gretta paled yet again, this time even swaying a little.
"Marry you?...But...umm..."
"I told you not to answer now." Ryan said calmly, hiding his disappointment at her reaction.
"It is an option you should consider. I can provide for you, and even see that you get back to Switzerland...on your terms. Think about it. I'll give you...six months." "Oh, Ryan...I..."
"Consider it. I will await your answer."
Gretta would do just that.
Just then, someone pounded on the door.
"Dr. Bell! Open this door! I know my sister is in there!"
Gretta heard her brother's angry voice. She looked at Ryan. "Should I open it?" She trembled.
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