Chapter 21 - BEATRICE ALDER FINALLY SPEAKSLacey met Beatrice at eighty-six.
Not at mansion.
Neutral conference room in assisted residence.
Nora present.
Beatrice’s lawyer.
No Catherine.
Lacey insisted.
Beatrice entered with cane, silver hair, sharp eyes.
No dementia shield.
She looked at Lacey and began crying.
“Lucy.”
Lacey’s face hardened.
“My name is Lacey.”
Beatrice nodded quickly.
“Lacey.”
They sat.
Beatrice tried:
“I loved you.”
Lacey raised hand.
“Start with what you did.”
Beatrice flinched.
Then told.
Catherine’s illness frightened.
Beatrice had lost sister to untreated postpartum psychosis decades earlier? This can explain fear but careful. Let's create: Beatrice's sister had severe postpartum psychiatric crisis and was hospitalized after dangerous episode. That trauma shaped her.
She saw Catherine’s intrusive thoughts and panic.
Assumed worst.
Jonathan minimized.
She believed temporary removal necessary.
“Why no court?”
“I thought court slow.”
“I thought Catherine would manipulate.”
“I thought I knew.”
“You thought you knew better than everyone.”
“Yes.”
“What happened when police called?”
“I panicked.”
“Why not bring me?”
“Harold said arrest.”
“I thought Jonathan would lose career.”
“I thought Catherine would never forgive.”
“I thought… if you stayed away briefly, we could solve.”
“How long did brief last?”
Beatrice cried.
“Forever.”
“Twenty-six years.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Norwoods?”
“Through reports.”
“Did you know Catherine searched?”
“Yes.”
“Jonathan?”
“Yes.”
“You watched your son search for daughter you knew was alive.”
Beatrice broke.
“Yes.”
There was no explanation adequate.
“Why?”
“Because after adoption, telling truth meant destroying them all.”
“You destroyed them anyway.”
“Yes.”
Lacey’s anger remained.
Beatrice said:
“I told myself you were happy.”
“You did not know me.”
“I received school reports.”
“You monitored.”
“Yes.”
“That is not knowing.”
Beatrice looked down.
Lacey asked:
“Did you ever plan take me back?”
“At first.”
“Then Norwoods bonded.”
“Then I thought removing again cruel.”
“So strangers got benefit of stability after you denied my parents.”
Beatrice whispered:
“Yes.”
She had no defense.
“Did money motivate?”
“No.”
“Family reputation did.”
“Control did.”
“Fear did.”
“Not inheritance.”
Lacey believed based documents.
“Are you sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Do you expect forgiveness?”
“No.”
Better.
“Why ask meet?”
“So you could see I am not ghost.”
Lacey stared.
“I didn’t need.”
“You’re right.”
Beatrice handed envelope.
No money.
Letter to Jonathan written but never sent:
confession dated five years after disappearance.
She almost told.
Didn’t.
Lacey took for father history.
At door Beatrice said:
“Catherine was ill.”
“But I was wrong to decide illness made her less mother.”
Lacey turned.
“That should have been learned before you stole child.”
Beatrice closed eyes.
“Yes.”
Lacey left.
No hug.
No forgiveness.
Outside she called Catherine.
“I met.”
Silence.
“How?”
“Awful.”
“Useful.”
“Do you want me?”
Lacey paused.
“Yes.”
Catherine drove to meet at café.
Not home.
Not dramatic.
Lacey sat with coffee.
Catherine arrived.
They looked.
Lacey said:
“She says she loved me.”
Catherine’s face twisted.
“She probably did.”
“That makes me furious.”
“Me too.”
They sat.
No solutions.
Catherine did not use moment to claim mother.
May you like
She simply stayed.
That was enough.
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