Episode 56
Episode 56: Late June, 1876
Scenes 1 and 3 written by Heather
Scene 1: The front foyer of Belleterre, late morning. Cole and Madison have just come in, carrying suitcases.
Madison: You really didn't have to help me with all this, Cole. I could have carried it over by myself.
Cole: Nonsense. What if some thug was hiding out in the woods behind your cabin? You could have been attacked, Madison.
Madison: Very unlikely, but I thank you for your help. You saved me from an extra trip.
A knock sounds at the door. Madison sets the suitcase she'd been carrying down and goes to answer it. She smiles good-heartedly when she sees Jack.
Madison: Good afternoon, Dr. Jackson. What brings you here?
Jack: Actually, I have come to talk to you, Miss Taylor. May I come in?
Madison steps aside and lets Jack pass into the foyer.
Jack: Hello, Cole.
Cole: Hello, Jack.
Madison: Shuts the door. Now, what is it you came to see me about, Dr. Jackson?
Jack: I heard just this morning that Mr. Marshall is hosting an Independence Day ball. The entire town is invited, as I'm sure you know.
Madison: Nods. I first suggested the idea to Mr. Marshall about a month ago. I thought it would be a grand event. Wouldn't you agree, Cole?
Cole: Eyes Jack suspiciously. Yes, I suppose.
Jack: It would be an honor if you would allow me to escort you to the ball, Miss Taylor.
Madison: I would—
Cole: Cuts her off. Not so fast, Maddie. Shouldn't you be asking me for permission to be escorting my sister to such an event, Dr. Jackson?
Madison: Cole, that's so old-fash—
Jack: Cuts her off. No, he's right. He turns to Cole. May I escort your sister to the ball, Mr. Branden?
Cole: Let me think abou—
Madison: Cuts him off. Yes!
Both of the men turn and stare at her.
Madison: Quietly. It would be a privilege to attend the ball with you, Dr. Jackson.
Jack: Wonderful!
Cole gives Jack a sideways glance and his sister a dirty look. Madison smiles at him mischievously.
Jack: Well, I'm sure we will discuss this further, Miss Taylor. I have a patient to see. Good day to you both.
Madison lets Jack out and goes back to her brother, who is still fuming.
Madison: I never thought you could be so overly protective, Cole.
Cole: Well, let's just say I don't want to see the most important person in my life to get hurt again.
Madison: She kisses him on the cheek. Thank you for your concern. Now, let's take these bags up to my room.
As Madison and Cole start up the stairs, Robert emerges from a hallway to the right. He looks up after Madison, then at the front door. He clenches his fist and pounds the palm of his hand, then mouths a curse before turning on his heel and striding angrily down the hall.
Scene 2: Louisa sits with Gabe in a spacious, unassuming office in Philadelphia. Several works of art adorn the walls. Louisa holds a thick sheaf of papers in her lap and several rolled canvasses rest against her chair.
A well-dressed man enters the room.
Man: So sorry to keep you waiting. My name is Professor Lundy. You must be Miss Hewitt.
Louisa: Remains seated, shakes his hand. Yes, it's nice to meet you, Professor Lundy. This is my father, Dr. Gabe Hewitt.
Prof. Lundy: Nods. Dr. Hewitt. I trust you both enjoyed your tour of the Academy.
Louisa: Yes, very much.
Prof. Lundy: Jack never wrote how he met you.
Louisa: We were introduced. I've been studying with friends in the town in which Dr. Jackson now practices, but he discovered my artwork one day when he required stiches.
Prof. Lundy: Oh?
Louisa: I don't think it would be prudent of me to tell you how he came to be in that condition, but he had heard I had a little experience with a needle. I happened to be working on one of my paintings when he came in.
Prof. Lundy: Well, I'll have to press him further about that little incident. Now, let's have a look at your work. May I?
Louisa nods and hands the professor her sketches. He takes them, rounds his desk to sit down, and begins to shuffle through.
Prof. Lundy: You capture your subjects well. They are not only accurately drawn, but you manage to put so much emotion into one image. This one, for instance. He holds up a sketch of Olivia. This was a private moment and she did not know you were there. Had she just suffered a loss?
Louisa: Yes, her baby girl. That is one of my newer sketches.
Prof. Lundy. It is very good. May I see the paintings?
Louisa: Of course.
Louisa hands the man her painting one by one as he unrolls and looks at them. He nods in approval at each. When he is finished, he rounds the desk again. Gabe and Louisa stand. He extends his hand to Louisa and shakes it.
Prof. Lundy: You are a very talented young lady and it is my belief that you would be a valuable asset to this Academy. I'm sure you will want to discuss this with your father, but I hope you'll be able to join us come September.
Scene 3: Liberty Creek, afternoon. Mrs. Pendergast, Greta, and Emily sit around a table in the apartment above Jack's clinic, sharing quiet discussion over tea.
Emily: I couldn't believe it when Maddie told me that Jack asked her to the ball yesterday! After all she's done to him, he still treats her like a human being and not some kind of monster.
Mrs. Pendergast: That boy's been more smitten with that girl than a fly with molasses since he first laid eyes on her.
Emily: Well, who knows... Maybe those two will eventually end up a happily married couple, like me and my Thomas back home.
Greta: What does your husband do for a living, Emily?
Emily: He works for a friend of Maddie's father, Dr. Reginald Ashton.
Mrs. Pendergast: Sounds like a right fine job.
Emily: It is. In exchange for Thomas' help in his offices, the doctor has bought us a house. He's the godfather to my dear Marie. I feel I owe both him and Senator Taylor my life.
Greta: What do you mean?
Emily: My parents were slaves on a cotton plantation in Mississippi. Senator Taylor and Dr. Ashton worked together to help many slaves become freemen through the Underground Railroad. Two of the ones they were able to save were my parents. I was born a few years after this had happened, of course.
Mrs. Pendergast: Sounds like your folks were pretty lucky.
Emily: That they were... But enough about me! I want to know all about Jack fancying Maddie.
Mrs. Pendergast: He's bein' a gentleman about it all, o' course. Takes everything in stride, never gave up. He made more house calls than my Hezekiah ever did. I think it's so he could have more opportunity to run into Miss Taylor. I think she rejected him near every time but he always returned optimistic.
Greta: I may be new in town, but it's easy to see. Dr. Jackson always seems to be here to greet Madison when she comes to visit me. I think they make an adorable couple.
Emily: I must say, I do hope Maddie decides to let Dr. Jackson court her. She deserves happiness after all she’s been through. Looks at the clock. Oh my! I seem to have lost track of time. I am very sorry, but I must be going. I promised Maddie we'd go for a stroll this afternoon. She wants to show me where her cabin is... was.
Greta: We understand. She gets up to walk Emily to the door. Come back and visit us anytime.
Greta walks Emily downstairs and past the clinic, where Jack is sitting at a desk, doing paperwork. He looks up and smiles.
Jack: Good afternoon, Mrs. Stowbridge.
Emily: Smiling. Good afternoon, Dr. Jackson.
As Greta opens the front door, she pulls Emily aside.
Greta: Whispers. My aunt and I have been devising a plan to get those two together since the very beginning. Now that you’re here, you can help us in our mission.
Emily: Speaks quietly, smiling. Count me in.
Emily leaves, and Greta turns to go back upstairs. She glances in at Jack, who has gone back to concentrating on his paperwork. She smiles mischievously to herself and begins to ascend the stairs.
Scene 4: Lake Liberty, a short time later. Four horses roam by the shore while Nick, Tess, Sally, and Freddie roam through the shell of a house in the midst of construction. Workmen sit some distance away, under the shade of trees, eating lunch. The house has a roof, staircases, fireplaces and chimneys, three completed floors, and framing for all walls, doors and windows. Each floor is slightly smaller than the one below it, allowing for the wrap-around porch on each level to have part sun and part shade. The lakeside wall of the house, the front, faces northeast. The lake stretches southeast another half mile, across a half mile, and northwest another mile and a half.
Nick: The morning room will be in this northern most corner, and the kitchen in the opposite corner. There will be a drawing room on this front wall and another in the southwest corner. The main dining room will be on that northwest wall.
Tess: Among several other rooms. And the Fourth ball will be here this year, on the ground floor. The kitchen is already closed in. Mrs. Anders is already planning how she'll prepare all the food for the day. Let's go upstairs.
Taking the main staircase, the four make their way to the second level where Tess leads them again to the front of the house.
Tess: Right in the center here will be our bedroom, with a nursery to the left and Nick's office to the right. Then a library on the northwest wall and my office in the back corner. There'll be several other sitting rooms, a sewing room. Children's rooms will be on the third floor, with a large playroom. They'll remain unfinished for some time yet. The nursery is all we'll need for a while.
The four walk onto the balcony and look out onto the lake while leaning against the railing.
Sally: You'll have a beautiful view. I'm envious.
Nick: As I recall, the master bedroom at Roxbury has a wonderful view of the ocean. And you'll be a viscountess, with maids to answer to your every whim.
Sally: Actually...
Nick: What? Speaking of which, why have you two not returned to England yet? You'll want to be there for some of the season now that you have titles.
Freddie: We're leaving in the middle of July with Phil and Eleanor, and the season will be almost over by the time we get back. I haven't told Uncle Charles yet, and I don't want you telling anyone else...
Nick: What is it? You're not going the way of your father, are you?
Freddie: Becoming a lecher or giving up an inheritance?
Nick: Well, both, but I was referring to the latter.
Freddie: No. Sally and I have discussed it. Titles and all that go with them are not for us. We still hope to live at Roxbury, but for a different reason.
Nick: Well? Spit it out!
Freddie: Ever since Uncle Charles wrote about the weak member of Parliament that area had, I've been thinking.
Nick: Not politics?
Freddie: I'm afraid so. I'll run the first chance I get.
Scene 5: England, afternoon, the next day. Charles, Mary, and Grace have just returned home. Grace wears clothes fit for being presented to a queen.
Mary: Good Lord, Charles, if Her Majesty ever knew.
Charles: If you keep fussing about it, Grace's age will cease being a secret and soon become a rumor. It is done.
Carey: Comes running down the staircase. So, how did it go?
Charles: Picks up the mail from the hall table. Just as it was supposed to.
Grace: May I go change?
Charles: Yes, of course. Oh, wait. There's a letter for you.
Grace: Takes the letter. Thank you.
Carey and Grace go upstairs to Grace's bedroom. Grace stands opening her letter as Carey starts helping her out of the dress.
Carey: Concerned. It's from you secret admirer, isn't it?
Grace: Smiles, reads the first page. Yes.
Carey: What are your feelings for this man, Grace? I hope you're not forming any sort of attachment, because you know nothing can come of it.
Grace: I don't know. I think I'm... I think I might be beginning to...
Carey: Oh, Grace, please...
Grace: I can't help it, Carey! It's just so confusing!
Carey: What is? Are we even talking about the same thing
Grace: I don't know. Partly. Last night, at that party, I was dancing with Mr. Moody... Paul... and I looked up at him. He was smiling at me, just like he smiles at everyone, but that time...
Carey: Oh, just say it.
Grace: I think I'm in love with Mr. Moody, and I think I have been for a long time.
Carey: Sighs and covers her face with her hand. You can't be, Gracie. This wasn't supposed to happen. It's all my fault.
Grace: No, it isn't! It isn't anyone's fault. But... but that's not all. I think I might love my secret admirer, as well. All his letters are so... I don't know. But I don't know if I love either of them. She begins reading the letter again, moving to the second page. Oh, my! She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand.
Carey: Please, no. Let me see.
Grace absently hands Carey the letter, then collapses on her bed in her underclothes and stares at the ceiling, appearing confused and blissfully happy.
Carey: Mumbles. This cannot be happening. She quickly skims the entire letter, then reads more carefully at the end. "Miss Marshall, it is not my intention to shock or insult you, but I can go no longer without voicing my true feelings. I love you, Miss Marshall." Carey lets the letter fall onto the dressing table. Of course! Mumbles. I should have spoken to him sooner.
Grace: What did you say?
Carey: Nothing. I have to go. There's an... errand I have to run. I want you to think about all this long and hard. This cannot be pursued, and you know it, so you must think about what else you can do.
Preparations are made for the 4th of July
ball More develops between Grace and Paul. Will
it add to Carey's concerns or alleviate them? Nick is surprised by the visit of a woman from
his past
© 1998, all rights reserved.
Get your own Free Home Page