When Laura's ball gowns came back from the cleaners, Teresa was careful to hang them in the front of the closet - minus the white one. She took the plastic off the white one and hung it where she originally found it. Not that she expected Laura to notice such a small detail, but Laura had her lucid moments, and it wasn't worth taking the chance now that she was so close to success.
A few minutes later, Teresa walked into the family room.
"I love this movie," Laura muttered.
Teresa glanced at the TV and smiled when she recognized it. "Apparently so, you've watched it several times. Your ball gowns are back from the cleaners, but we need to choose which dress you will wear and find the perfect shoes."
"Oh, I don't care which shoes I wear."
"I do. I want you to look your best. After all, you have a date with your husband."
Laura finally took her eyes off the movie. "I do?"
"The invitation is for you both, unless Mr. Connelly said he isn't going."
"No, no, he hasn't mentioned it to me at all. He'll probably forget."
"Should I call to remind him?"
Laura thought about that for a moment. "I do have his cellphone number, but I never call him."
"He might like it if you did."
Laura stood up, made certain she had her balance first, and then walked to the door. "My dear, you live in a dream world where romance is alive and well. I assure you, it is not."
Teresa quickly followed her employer out the door and down the hall to the stairs. "I sincerely hope you are mistaken about that."
"You are young still. See that you guard your heart well and that you do not become bitter like me."
"Yet, Amanda Black said Mr. Connelly once loved you."
Laura stopped and turned to face Teresa. "Darling girl, he only says that to convince them he is capable of loving."
"But you still love him, I know you do."
Laura laughed, turned back around, walked across the living room, and started up the stairs. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"You did."
"I must have been drunk."
Teresa rolled her eyes and continued to follow. "You don't love him?"
"I truly do not. Mathew imagines himself something he will never be - a great lover. Oh, he has the looks and the charm, but…" She opened the door to her bedroom and went in. "I thought he might grow out of his need for conquest someday, but he has not. It is a pity, really, for if he had been more of a man, he might have pleased my father, and then this whole business about the inheritance would be unnecessary."