I'm happy that you're here to read this new post! This is the
fourth part of the Mrs. Clyde miniseries. Parts one, two, and three are necessary for you to read to understand
what's going on in this chapter. If you would like to support my blog so that
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After receiving the upsetting news, the couple gets ready for the
day. Rose Marie throws out the newspaper with the headline about Lucille's
return heavily crumpled. Theodore finds his wife in her boudoir room when he
goes to search for her. Looking at him in her mirror, Rose can tell that he
doesn't want to be left alone. She smiles softly at him and gets up from her
vanity. She reaches for him and Theodore opens his arms in welcome. They hug
each other for a few moments and then Theodore leads Rose out of her personal
rooms to his personal rooms. They walk in silence only holding on to each
other. Rose Marie recognizes that they are heading to Theodore's music room. He
opens the door and they walk inside. Theodore separates himself from her. He
walks over to his vinyl records and grabs Mississippi John Hurt and puts it on
the record player. When he turns around he sees Rose sitting on the leather
couch. He smiles at her. If only he had a camera with him so he could take a
picture of her. Theodore pins the idea of having a camera in his music room in
the back of his mind for another time. Walking over to her, he lounges on the
couch and pulls Rose Marie on top of him. She giggles at Theodore's antics and
snuggles into his chest. They stay like this with the music being the only
noise in the room. An hour has passed when someone knocks on the door to the
music room. Rose Marie removes herself from on top of her husband but takes one
of his hands in her's. He squeezes it.
"You may come in," Theodore calls to the person outside
the room.
The door opens and Albert walks inside. His face is neutral but
his eyes show his worry. He walks closer to the two sitting on the couch. He
doesn't speak to them for a bit. He wants to stall what has brought
him to disturb the peace of the Clyde's.
"Two investors have arrived to speak with you about the
recent findings of the former mistress. They are in the library of the front
wing," reports Albert.
"I see. I guess I'll go speak with them," Theodore says
with a fake carefree smile.
Rose Marie holds onto his hand and stands up with him. Thinking
that she is doing this as a way to comfort him, Theodore smiles and kisses her
forehead. He tries to move out of the room without her but Rose holds on. Theodore
looks at her and raises an eyebrow in question.
"I should be in the library with you," challenges Rose
Marie.
Theodore sighs but a genuine smile comes
on his face, "You should be there with me. Let's go meet our guest.
Albert, please turn off the record player."
"Of course, Theodore," answers Albert.
Rose Marie and Theodore leave the music room to go to the library
and Albert follows the order she was given. The walk to the library is quiet
with only two pairs of footsteps being heard through the hallway. The daylight
from the windows composes a song of happiness and bliss. Not a dreary cloud
interrupts the joy the day display. It would be perfect to stroll in the garden
but somber news awaits them as Rose Marie and Theodore stand outside the library
door. Theodore pats Rose Marie's hand that is resting on his arm. With nothing
left to stall what's next, he opens the door and they both go inside.
The investigators are at the wooden table in the middle of the
library. They stand to nod their heads at the couple. Theodore and Rose Marie
walk closer to the table. Theodore pulls out a chair for Rose to sit in first
and then he pulls at the one beside her to seat himself. He gestures at the two
men to sit back down and they do so. The look of surprise is obvious on their
faces as they had not expected the current Mrs. Clyde to be here for their
visit.
"I believe you are here to tell me more about this morning’s
news?" questions Theodore.
Theodore tightens his hand around Rose Marie's hand. Neither he
nor Rose Marie shows any sign of
nervousness to the investigators. There is nothing to worry about yet and
everything will be fine, Theodore repeats this over and over in his head. The
library is quiet for another minute before one of the investigators starts.
"As this morning paper said, Lucille Clyde was found recently
in a small boat that was not far from the shore. Because you filed her as a
missing person and identified another deceased woman as Lucille the case must
be reopened. The process should not take long and you need not worry about
being taken to the police station, " he pauses and looks at Rose Marie,
"You will need to show up in court however so it is best to leave any
distractions at home."
Rose Marie tilts her head upwards looks back at the investigator,
"I'm sure that my husband and I will have no trouble showing up at court
that day."
"I'll receive a letter in advance for the court date
correct?" Theodore directs his question to the other investigator.
"You will Mr. Clyde," he answers.
"If that is all gentlemen, I'll escort you out,"
instructs Theodore.
The investigators follow Theodore outside the library to the grand
foyer. Rose Marie leaves as well but heads to their bedroom to wait for
Theodore. Immediately upon getting there, she heads to the phone to call Bonnie
in the staff wing. Rose instructs Bonnie to tell Theodore where she's at and
that she wants to speak to him in private. The call ends and Rose Marie sits on
the large bed waiting for him. She mindlessly looks at her painted nails until
she hears the door open and looks up to see Theodore walking into their room.
Holding out her hand he takes it and sits beside her. They both process what
has just happened.
"I apologize for taking so long. I called my lawyer, Robert
Williams, and asked him to come by this afternoon to figure out how we're going
to handle this predicament," he says.
"Teddy, I want you to tell me everything I need to know about
this reopened case. What happened on the day Lucille went missing?" she
asks.
Theodore lets out a long and tired sigh as he rubs his free hand
across his forehead and through his hair. Understandably, he doesn't
want to talk about his last moments with Lucille but his current wife needs to
know the whole truth. The past has come back to disrupt his life and
he wants Rose to be by his side when he confronts it.
"Lucille wasn't at the mansion when I saw her the last time.
She had taken a liking to spend time at the boathouse I bought her as an
anniversary gift. My guess is that it is easier to spend time with her lovers
there in private instead of at the mansion. I hadn't
seen her for nearly two weeks and I couldn't continue living like that so I
went to visit her," he pauses and his eyes gloss over in memory of what
happened next, "I didn't bother to call out to her and walked through the
boathouse looking for Lucille. I found her in her powder room. She looked on the edge and as if she'd been drinking."
Theodore closes his eyes and continues, "When I demanded why
she wasn't coming home she simply laughed at me. She said she wanted to
celebrate because she found out she was pregnant. I was devastated because I
knew the baby wasn't mine. I did, however, feel sorry for the child, I was there to tell Lucille I wanted a
divorce. She wasn't expecting me to say that and I told her that I would be
back with some papers my lawyer gave me to discuss how to settle our
separation."
He looks at Rose Marie and sees that she has a look of admiration
on her face. He gives her a weak smile and breaths heavily through his nose.
Licking his lips, Theodore rubs a hand on his pant leg.
He hesitates, "Upon my return to the boathouse, Lucille was
dead in her bedroom and I panicked. I wrapped her body in a thick blanket and
hid her body in one of her favorite boats. I tampered
with the boat so that it would sink once it’d been out on the water away from the
coast. It was pure luck that it was the time of day where most people were not
at the beach. I knew that I was going to be questioned for Lucille’s
disappearance so I filed a missing person report to the police the following
day. This lead to my friends, colleagues, and Lucille’s former lovers calling
the mansion and sending letters wishing for updates on the investigation. I
spent the next weeks dreading the news of Lucille’s disappearance being
connected to me as the cause of it. When the police found a drowned woman’s
body at sea I identified her as Lucille. The unfortunate woman resembled
Lucille greatly and I thought this may be my only chance to stop the constant
coverage of my personal life.”
Theodore has a wistful look on his face as he
lets out a sad chuckle. Rose Marie does her best to hug him and Theodore
responds by reciprocating the hug. They stay like that for some time before
Theodore kisses Rose on the forehead and straightens up.
“With the news of Lucille’s actual body being found and the case being reopened, I’m afraid
that people are going to believe that I had something to do with her death. I
know that I shouldn’t have hidden her body but what was I going to do? She had
killed herself for no reason! It couldn’t be because I wanted a divorce? Could it?” he looks at his wife.
“I don’t know Teddy. Only Lucille knows. But I do
know that I’m going to help you prove that you had nothing to do with Lucille’s
death and are innocent of whatever false crime someone tries to pin on you,” she reassures Theodore.
A hopeful smile comes on Theodore’s face at Rose Marie’s dedication to helping him. He places kisses all
over her face and Rose giggles. The couple spends
time reassuring each other that they will be able to handle the upcoming
investigation. A knock is heard outside the bedroom door.
“Theodore, Robert William is waiting for you and Rose Marie in
your study,” Albert notifies the couple.
“Thank you, Albert. May you also tell Lois to make our coffee and
bring it to my study, please?” asks Theodore.
“No problem, Theodore,” Albert goes to do what is asked of him and the couple gets up to meet Robert.
Theodore leads the way and opens the door to his study. They enter
and Robert has a concerned smile but his
eyes lighten when he sees that Rose Marie is there as well.
“We’ve yet to meet, I’m Robert Williams,” he holds out his hand to
shake Rose Marie’s which she does, “I’m sorry I haven’t been by. I have been
busy with other clients but I’m happy to
finally meet you. I wish it was under
different circumstances but that’s life.”
“It’s good to meet you too, Mr.
Williams,” Rose Marie smiles at him.
“Robert is just fine,”
“Then just call me Rose Marie,”
“Excellent. We’ll have to get your story
straight, Theodore, and I’ll need a cup of coffee before we get to work,”
“Albert should bring us some soon,”
They all sit down on couches with Rose Marie and Theodore
sitting beside one another and Robert sitting across from them. Their conversation
is light with Rose Marie learning about how Robert became Theodore’s lawyer and
friend. This leads to Rose inviting Robert to the next friendly gathering at
the mansion and he easily accepts. Albert knocks on the door before opening it
to show that he has brought the coffee. They all thank Albert for the coffee
and he excuses himself from the study. After a few sips from his mug, Robert
places it down and asks Theodore to tell him everything that happened around
the time that Lucille went missing. Theodore goes on to explain how he
confronted Lucille at her boathouse, her revealing that she was pregnant, him
telling her he wanted a divorce, leaving briefly only to find that she killed
herself, and him hiding Lucille’s body out of fear by sinking it in her
favorite boat.
“The most obvious hurdle is how you hid Lucille’s
body. But because Lucille committed suicide there has to be a reason why she
did,” Robert questions.
Rose Marie looks to Theodore, “Do you know if
Lucille visited anyone before her death?”
Theodore scoffs, “The only person who knew of
Lucille’s whereabouts were Lucille and maybe Edith. I say maybe because just
like I, Edith lied too often because she was too devoted to Lucille’s taste.”
“Well, are Lucille’s things in storage?” she asks.
“They should be in the storage rooms in the front wing,” Theodore
answers.
Rose Marie pitches an idea to the other two, “I don’t think it
would be a stretch to look through
Lucille’s things to find anything that would cause her to commit suicide.”
“Looks like we know where to start,” Robert finishes his coffee
and stands up, “Lead the way, Mr. and Mrs. Clyde.”
Having already finished their coffee, Rose Marie and
Theodore gets up and leads to the front of the mansion. The walk to the storage
rooms is filled with the possibility of the information they’ll find in
Lucille’s things. Entering the storage room that holds all of Lucille’s things,
they gather all relevant planners, letters, a calendar, and her personal journal. They decide
to split up the work with Robert going over the planners and calendar, Theodore
reading over the letters, and Rose Marie reads through Lucille’s personal
journal. They’re quiet for some time just as they go over what Lucille’s last
days on Earth were.
“I just realized that Lucille has beautiful
handwriting but reading it feels harmful to my eyes. What were her grade school teachers thinking when
looking over her work?” asks Robert.
Theodore comments, “Style over content. Edith, I
believe, usually drafted anything official but outside of that she just wrote
whatever she felt and didn’t bother to look over
what she had written.”
“I found entries
of Lucille feeling under the weather and going to a doctor to find out why.
There is also mention of her unpleasant feelings towards multiple individuals but that doesn’t matter. The words
are smudged but the name and number of the doctor are in here.” Rose Marie announces.
Robert asks for the day Lucille
wrote the entry. She tells him and Robert along with Theodore look through the
papers they have. Both men make a sound that confirms what Rose found in
Lucille’s journal. It seems that Lucille was diagnosed with an ailment and it
was serious enough for Lucille to fall into a depression that led to suicide.
They will only be sure once they hear from her doctor.
“I’ll call Dr. Lee to see if she’ll be willing to
shed more light on what was wrong with Lucille. Is there a phone near here?”
Robert looks to Theodore.
“Yes, by the closest staircase to us there is a phone you can use,” answers Theodore.
“I’ll be right back,” Robert leaves the storage room
talking with him Lucille’s journal. Rose Marie and Theodore enter a light
conversation before Robert comes back. It takes around 15 minutes before Robert
returns with his briefcase at his side. He slips
into the room with a grin on his face.
“Dr. Lee agrees to visit the
mansion tomorrow to shed some light on the medical issues Lucille had,” reveals
Robert, “For safekeeping, I thought it best if everything related to Lucille’s
final days go with me.”
“Makes sense to me,” Theodore and Rose Marie gather
the useful letters and planner to hand them to Robert.
“I’m guessing you already have the journal in your
briefcase?” Rose Marie nods her head to the said
briefcase.
“Yes, Ma’am,” Robert opens it on one of the flat
surfaces in the room and puts the evidence
inside, “If all goes well with Dr. Lee, this court case shouldn’t take very
long.”
As Robert talks,
Rose Marie and Theodore put away the other papers and do some minor cleanup of
the storage room. With everything done, the three of them leave the room. With
the days business finished Theodore and Rose Marie walk Robert to the front
door. With final goodbyes said he leaves and Theodore takes Rose’s hand.
Pulling her husband along Rose leads him to her parlor room. When they get
there Rose calls Lois in the Staff wing to ask him to make a light lunch and
bring it to them. Once she’s done talking to Lois, Rose offers to play a game of
poker while they wait for their lunch. Theodore tries
to tell Rose Marie that they should eat lunch in their dining room
but Rose Marie already grabbed a deck of cards and holds it out to him. Not
wanting to have a pointless fight, Theodore goes to sit at the table that sits two and starts shuffling the deck.
Smiling at Theodore for choosing to relax, Rose gives him a small kiss
on the lips and sits in the other chair. And they started the game of poker.
They’re in the third poker match when Lois comes
into the parlor with a cart. Stalling their poker game, they move the cards and
Lois places their lunch on the table. Theodore
and Rose Marie say thank you to Lois. Lois leaves the cart and exits the room. The couple says grace and then begins to eat lunch.
They’re in comfortable silence until Frank rudely interrupts their meal. Rose
Marie and Theodore share a look with each other but turn back to Frank. Frank has
a look of twisted confidence which confuses the couple.
“I want to let you know that from this day forth I
quit,” Frank giggles, “I will also be
speaking against you, Mr. Clyde, at court. Jack will be there as well to speak against you with me. There’s no need to worry
about my things from the Staff wing as I have already moved them out. I simply
wish to tell you to be ready for court; goodbye.”
Without waiting for either Rose or Theodore to say
anything, Frank leaves the parlor and slams the door
shut. They are left in shock because of
Franks actions. What could Jack and Frank possibly say to discredit Theodore?
Why do they want to do that? Is it something that they had planned beforehand?
The pair can feel their anxiety rise because of what just happened. Rose Marie
holds out her hand for Theodore to ground her. He takes her hand in both of his
and they’re quiet. The only sound in the room is heavy breathing as Theodore squeezes
Rose’s hand. They both manage to calm down and finish their lunch. Once they finish
they place the dirty dishes in the cart that was left and Theodore calls Lois
to come to collect the cart that is left next to the door. Lois enters the parlor
and Theodore tells him that they will be out for dinner so there is no need to
worry about food. Lois is dismissed and told to let Peter know that he will be
needing a car out and ready at the front of the mansion in 30 minutes.
Rose Marie looks to Theodore for wanting to go out.
He explains that he wishes to leave the mansion for the evening with just the
two of them. Rose voices her understanding and they both get ready for a cool
night out in the city. They meet back up in the grand foyer and walk out to the
awaiting car. Peter hands Theodore the keys to the car and Theodore thanks him.
Climbing in, the couple drives off to the
city. The rest of the afternoon and evening is spent going around the city and
distracting themselves from the news of their upcoming court visit.
Theodore and Rose Marie drift from one part of the city to the next only stopping long enough to sit down somewhere and
eat dinner. Their city adventure is
filled with fun little moments like a street artist drawing their portrait and
coming across a blues band playing in the park. It's fun being a part of the nightlife but the unease of earlier events keep
popping up in Rose and Theodore’s head.
As more shops close they decide to
return to the mansion. The drive is quiet with Rose holding the drawing of the
two of them in her hands. She gazes down at it and likes how the artist drew
them. Rose wonders if she and Theodore will be able to do this again with the
fear of others thinking that Theodore killed his last wife. It feels like Dr.
Lee is the only one who can be their guarantee of proving Theodore innocent.
Theodore parks the car off to the
side of the driveway near the driver quarters. They get out with Theodore leaving
the car unlocked and the keys inside the car for Peter. They make the long
travel to their personal rooms to get ready for bed. Done with getting ready
they both get into the bed and face each other. Rose gently places her hand on Theodore's
face and rubs light circles on his cheek. He sighs in happiness and kisses her
hand.
They start to talk about their
marriage. The conversation leads to possible children and finally ends in love.
They whisper to each other even though no one can hear their discussion. It
felt good to focus on only the two of them. The problems of tomorrow aren’t on
their mind right now. Moving closer together the choice to get a bit more
intimate before fully falling asleep.
The following morning is the usual routine
of calling or writing to whoever they needed to speak to that day. Theodore and
Rose Marie makes a light breakfast with Albert telling them that with the late
morning Robert and Dr. Lee will be arriving. Thanking him for the news, Rose
Marie and Theodore get ready for receiving their guests. They both get dressed
for the day in their fitting rooms and stay separate for a few hours. Rose
Marie goes to her day room with Bonnie accompanying her. Theodore and Albert
work in their study focusing on Frank’s departure from the workforce. Albert
shows him a list of possible new employees to replace the last three.
Done within
her day room, Rose felt hungry again and
asks Bonnie to help her make something to eat. Eating her late morning snack,
Rose Marie’s thoughts drift to the meeting that will be happening soon with the
doctor and Robert. She politely dismisses
Bonnie from the breakfast room as Rose doesn’t feel up to having a
conversation. Left alone, Rose’s thoughts move
to what Lucille could have been diagnosed
with. Finishing up with her food, Rose cleans up after herself as Albert enters
the kitchen.
Taking over cleaning up for her, “Mr. Williams and
Dr. Lee is in Theodore’s receiving room. They haven’t started the talk yet so you should go ahead, I’ll handle cleaning
up.”
“Thank you, Albert,” says Rose Marie.
She tosses
a quick smile at him and leaves the kitchen to go to Theodore’s receiving room. Rose makes her way quickly so as not to make
the others wait too long for her. Getting
to Theodore’s receiving room; Rose Marie lightly knocks on the door and enters
the room. She sees Dr. Lee drinking from a teacup
with Robert sitting near her with a pen and notebook. Dr. Lee and Robert say
hello to Rose Marie as Theodore waves her over to sit next to him. She says hello
back to their guests and thanks to them for waiting for her.
Now that everyone was
settled in, Robert starts questioning Dr. Lee. The questions range from how long she’s been Lucille’s doctor
to when her visits became more frequent. Dr. Lee
answers all of them. Rose Marie, Robert, and Theodore are happy that Dr. Lee
gave permission to record everything she is revealing to them. Theodore asks if
Lucille was at any point pregnant during the time of her visit. He is relieved
to hear Dr. Lee say that Lucille never was as far as she can recall. Rose Marie
rubs Theodore’s back in reassurance. She thanks, Dr. Lee for that particular
information.
Rose Marie takes a deep breath
before she questions Dr. Lee, “Is it okay if I ask you what Lucille was
diagnosed with that lead her to her poor health?”
Dr. Lee turns her full attention to
Rose Marie, “Lucille was diagnosed with leukemia. During that time, I tried to
call and inform Mr. Clyde about Lucille’s ailment. I only heard from a female
staffer that he was away on business. Soon after, I got a call from Lucille
herself and was told to stop calling the mansion.”
Everyone but Dr. Lee is shocked to hear
that Lucille had leukemia. If there was a good reason to choose death over
life, being diagnosed with leukemia is a painfully understandable reason. Rose
Marie still doesn’t like the type of person Lucille was, but she would never
wish for her to die in such away. The room is quiet and no one talks for a
bit.
Theodore looks Dr. Lee in the eye, “Are you willing
to testify in court? Having you there will help clear up any false
theories.”
“I see no problem in testifying,” she agrees.
“Thank you for testifying for my client Dr. Lee,” Robert holds out his hand to
shake hers.
“As long as it doesn’t conflict with my schedule I don’t have a problem,” Dr. Lee
stands up, “I believe you have everything you needed from me?”
“Yes, of course, let me escort you out,” Robert
leads the way out of the receiving room.
Theodore and Rose Marie accompany them to the foyer
and say their goodbyes. Now that it’s the afternoon they go to their personal
kitchen to make their lunch. The couple stays together the entire time. They
walk through Cynthia’s garden even as the colors of the plants are dull because
of the weather. It’s clear they are both in an optimistic
mood but, Theodore is still worried about what Jack and Frank will say at the trial. Rose Marie does her best to keep
him in good spirits and Theodore thanks her for her efforts. They move at a
slow pace but the evening does come and
they have to brace themselves for the upcoming day.
It’s finally the day of the trial and the gardens
are now bare of any color. It's cold so early in the day but it has been growing
cold since Rose Marie arrived at the
mansion. What if the reason for all this happening is her fault? Theodore says
he’s at his happiest now that she’s here but the predicament with the staff and
return of Lucille is proof to her that she can only bring him pain. Rose sits
alone in her day room with a plate of fruit, tea,
and a muffin. She’s dressed and ready to
leave but if asked she’s not ready to leave. Robert promises that the trial
will go fine; Theodore will be fine, everything having to deal with Lucille will
be over. She gradually finishes her breakfast, thinking that the slower she
eats the longer it will take for them to leave. All that is before her is empty
and there isn’t anything else to stall her because she hears a knock on the
door.
“Mrs. Rose Marie, Mrs. It’s time for you to leave,”
Bonnie’s voice causes Rose to get up.
“Thank you, Bonnie. Would you please clean up in
here while I am gone?” Rose Marie seizes her coat and puts it on and exits her
day room.
Bonnie answers, “It will be clean once you return.”
“Thank you,” Rose makes her way to the foyer and
sees that Theodore is waiting for her.
Reaching him, she kisses him on the lips and holds
onto his arm as they exit the mansion with Albert following behind them. Peter
is waiting out front with the car and
opens the doors for Rose and Theodore to get in. Albert opens the front
passenger side for himself. With everyone in, Peter starts up the car and heads
to the courthouse.
The ride isn’t long but Rose Marie closes her eyes
and leans on Theodore’s shoulder. She hears the quiet
conversation but she doesn’t want any part of it. It takes more than 30
minutes to get there and Theodore softly calls Rose Marie’s name to get her out
of her daze. Smiling up at him, Rose surprises him with a quick kiss and leaves
the car. Theodore follows her and sees that Robert is having a smoke not far
from them. Walking over to him, Theodore goes to greet him. They talk for a bit
as Peter drives off to be out of the way of the courthouse. It will be some
time until the session starts but they still have to wait for Dr. Lee to show
up. She does show up with Albert and Rose Marie going to greet her. They talk
outside the building in the cold until they have to head inside as it grows
closer for the session to start.
Robert gets Dr. Lee to follow him and Theodore to an
area that she cannot follow. Albert pulls her attention away from that as it is
time for them to enter the courtroom. Finding seats near where Theodore is, calms Rose Marie some but she doesn’t like
that she isn’t by his side. The courtroom is buzzing behind her however she
can’t take her eyes off Theodore. She can tell that his shoulders are tense.
The judge comes into the courtroom and the session starts.
Rose Marie watches as Robert puts forth his statement.
From what Rose Marie can hear, it seems that the case is going in
Theodore’s favor. As long as it keeps going this way there is nothing to worry
about. It’s going well and the jury seems to be under the belief that what
happened to Lucille had nothing to do with Theodore. She can breathe easily
with this type of atmosphere in the room.
“My former employer, Mr. Theodore Clyde, murdered
his deceased wife Lucille Clyde!”
Everything went black the moment Rose heard that accusing
statement. She can’t tell whether it was Jack or Frank who said it. The shock
of those words has left her unable to see and hear what is going on in the
courtroom. From what she can feel, the courtroom is energized will positive and hostile energy. Rose can tell that
there are now people who are looking at Theodore with accusing eyes. She tries
to keep her breath stable as to not draw attention to herself. Theodore has to
stay calm; she has to keep calm for him.
“Mr. Clyde, please answer the question,”
Who said that? Was it the prosecutor? Did the judge
say that? Why is it can’t see anything? Rose Marie can’t make her ears hear
what is going on. How long has this session been going on?
Rose thinks she hears Robert’s voice. He must be
putting forth the evidence they gathered to prepare for the trial. Hopefully, it’s enough, it has to be enough.
Theodore is speaking again. What is he saying? She hasn’t had trouble listening
to him this badly before. She can only pick up some broken words and sentences.
The sound of rushing blood is the predominant sound that Rose Marie can hear. A
woman is speaking now. It has to be Dr. Lee since Robert seems to still be
talking. Dr. Lee will confirm that Lucille would want to commit suicide. Then
she and Theodore can go home. Lucille will be out of their lives. It will be
over soon. They will go home. Voices that she didn’t recognize started talking.
Rose’s breathe speeds up. What’s going on? Are
they questioning the authenticity of the evidence? Will this be dragged out?
Rose Marie’s heartbeat pumps far too fast in her chest and makes her
uncomfortable.
“I rule that what happened to Lucille Clyde nearly
four years ago was suicide. The court is
adjourned,” the judge dismisses the court.
Light rushes to Rose Marie’s eyes. Without noticing
it, she had her eyes closed the entire time. Tears gather on her bottom
eyelashes as she tries to contain a smile. Theodore is safe. It’s over, it’s
all over. There is nothing to keep them here any longer. Albert's hands Rose Marie a tissue and she thanks him for it. Lightly she blots her
eyes to not mess up her makeup. He helps her up and they leave the courtroom to wait for Theodore outside. Making
their way out, some photographers took her picture but Albert positioned his
body to block most of it.
Once outside, Rose Marie takes deep soothing
breathes as Albert goes to get Peter to bring the car around. It’s already dark
out because of the time of year. The noise happening inside the building flows
out as Theodore exits from there. He spots Rose Marie and quickly gets to her. Rapping an arm around her,
Theodore gives Rose a kiss on the forehead and takes in her scent. A honk from
a car has the couple look to see that Peter has stopped in front of them.
Albert gets out and opens the back doors to let them in. They get in with
camera lights flashing behind them. The drive feels longer than this morning
but they eventually make it back to the mansion.
Leaving the car, Theodore and Rose
Marie makes their way inside the mansion. There’s unspoken energy around them
and they wait until they are in their bedroom to fully turn to each other. When
they do both lean in to kiss. In their happiness, they continue to celebrate on
their bed.
