Laura knocked once on the heavy door, then smiled up at Remington. "How do I look?" she asked, doing a pirouette.
"Like a woman who's just made mad, passionate love," he told her, stealing another kiss. "But you might want to rebutton your blouse," he suggested.
Laura glanced down at her chest, feeling her cheeks redden as she realized that she'd missed a button in her haste to put the garment on after leaving Remington's apartment. The door opened, and she quickly ducked behind Remington to finish her task as Mariana smiled at him.
"Mr. Steele. May I help you?"
"We'd like to see Mrs. Davenport's brother in law," he told the maid, blocking her attempt to see who was with him.
Laura suddenly appeared at Remington's side. "Would you tell- Harold that we're here, please, Mariana?"
"Of course," Mariana said, stepping back to allow them entry. "He and Mrs. Davenport are in the gallery. If you will wait here, please?" she said, leaving them in the foyer.
Laura straightened Remington's collar, smoothing the fabric of his jacket over his shoulders. "You're as tight as a drum again," she commented, rubbing his tense shoulders.
"Hmm," he agreed. "Too bad you can't administer the 'cure' again," he said with a rueful smile.
"Later," Laura promised as a stressed Daniel entered the room.
"Harry," he said, sounding relieved. "Laura. Thank goodness you're here. This simply isn't going to work. That woman is- impossible. You have no idea what she's planning in that vapid little mind of hers. Whatever reason you had for coming back, I'm delighted that you found it. Another five minutes alone with Effie and I wouldn't have been responsible for-" he stopped rattling on as he realized that they were both staring at him. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"You might not be glad we found a reason to come back, Daniel, when you hear what that reason is," Remington said.
"Such melodrama, my boy. Out with it. At the moment, I'd welcome any interruption."
"You left something at Remington's apartment when you were there, Daniel," Laura informed him.
"I did? And you brought it back? How thoughtful-" he was saying as Remington held up the photograph. "Of you," he finished, taking the picture from Remington to look at it before sliding it into his pocket. "Thank you. It's the only photo I have of-"
"Of your brother?" Remington asked. "The one that Mrs. Davenport insisted that I was the image of? That you said I bore a FEW similarities to?"
"I think that we- that Remington deserves an explanation, Daniel," Laura told him.
"Harry-" Daniel began, then glanced toward the gallery. "We can't talk here. Effie might overhear, and until you know the entire story, I think it's best to keep her out of it. Let's go out to the garden, shall we?" He turned and went to the parlour.
Remington and Laura followed him through the double glass paned doors, out of the house and into a formal garden. Daniel led them a distance from the house before he stopped. "An explanation," he said.
"The truth, Daniel," Remington said, and Laura heard the edge in his tone. She slipped her hand into his. "I'm tired of the lies."
Daniel looked at Remington for a long moment, as if trying to read his thoughts. "Harry, my boy, I'd like to explain, but where to begin?"
Remington gave a derisive laugh. "How about starting with all of the years that I've wondered who my father was, where he was- and all the time, he was right there, beside me-"
"Harry," Daniel began again, but Remington wasn't listening.
"And what was all of that - fast talking at the Earl's? Why let me think that HE was my father? Were you ever going to tell me the truth? Dear God, Daniel-!""
Laura saw the confusion on Daniel's face as he tried to understand what Remington was saying. "Rem," she said gently, but he wasn't listening to her. He was recalling the pain of a lost, frightened little boy, forced to make his own way on the streets when he should have been held warmly in the bosom of his family.
"I never suspected that you were my father, Daniel. Not once."
"Because I'm NOT your father, Harry," Daniel said quietly. "Although there have been many times when I wish I had been."
Remington looked at Daniel in angry confusion. "You're not?"
"No."
"It couldn't have been Clyde," Laura pointed out. "He spent the two years prior to the year we THINK Remington was born HERE, in Los Angeles."
"So he did. But he WAS your father, Harry." Slowly he drew out the photograph again and looked at it. "Clyde married Effie for her money. It wasn't something he was proud of- and over the course of time, I think he came to love her very much. But those first ten years were a bit- rocky. On his part, at least. I'm not sure Effie ever realized how close her marriage came to ending during that time. Due in no small part to Effie's father."
"What did he have to do with-"
"He didn't trust Clyde- didn't like him very much. But the old man adored his daughter- spoiled her terribly. I don't think he ever denied her anything she wanted."
"Including Clyde," Laura said.
"Especially Clyde. From what I heard, Effie told her father that if he didn't agree to their marriage, she'd leave. The one and only time anyone can recall her standing up to anyone, about anything. Clifford- Giles Clifford, Effie's father- finally gave his blessing to the marriage, but insisted that they live with him. He even made a place for Clyde in his law practice."
"Things didn't go well, I take it?" Remington asked.
"From Effie's point of view, things were perfect. She had Clyde, and still had her doting father. But Clyde felt- hemmed in, unable to make a move without his father in law questioning it. There was a young housemaid- from Ireland. Meg Harrigan."
"Harrigan?" was Remington's doubtful question. Harrigan-Harry, Remington mused. Daniel hadn't named him for HIM at all- but had tagged him with a shortened version of his mother's last name.
"Harrigan," Daniel confirmed. "From Clyde's description, she was a lovely little thing, always smiling, happy, willing to help a friend. Clyde said he took one look at her and fell in love. But leaving Effie was something he couldn't even consider. Especially with all of the press surrounding his first major case. It would have been a terrible scandal- and would have destroyed Effie."
"He loved them both, didn't he?" Laura realized.
"Yes. In different ways at that time. What he felt for Effie was a need to protect her, take care of her, and not see her hurt. His feeling for Meg- I think if they had met in a different place, he might have made her his mistress- but being in the same house, around each other so often, neither found themselves able to resist temptation."
Remington had moved away from them, his expression thoughtful as he listened, so Laura asked, "Didn't Meg know that Clyde had no intentions of leaving his wife?"
"He said he'd told her as much- and she seemed to understand. She made no demands on him, was incredibly circumspect. After the case was finished, Effie wanted to go away for a while, just the two of them, and as usual, Clyde was unable to say no." Daniel paused for a moment to glance in Remington's direction before continuing. "When they returned from their trip, Meg was gone, leaving only a note that she was homesick for Ireland and her family."
"And he just let her go?" Remington asked.
"Effie's father suffered a stroke within days of their return and Clyde was unable to do more than make a few discreet inquiries of friends in London, with no results. All anyone could tell him was that Meg Harrigan had, indeed returned to her family, and wanted nothing to do with him any longer." Daniel looked at the house. "So Clyde bought this house, and rededicated himself to making his marriage to Effie work."
"And he didn't know WHY Meg left?"
Daniel shook his head at Remington's question. "No. Not until Giles Clifford's death a year later. While going through the books, he found a cancelled check made out to Meg on the day she had left the house to return to Ireland. And there was also a letter, signed by her, saying that she would make no claim on Clifford's estate either for herself or the child she was carrying. The child of Clifford's son in law, Clyde Davenport."
"She must have gone to Clifford when she discovered that she was pregnant," Laura theorized. "And knowing how unhappy it would make Effie if she were to find out, Clifford paid her way back to Ireland to her family."
"Did Clyde -" Remington stopped for a second. "Did he ever try to locate her?"
"He made a trip to Ireland -ostensibly on business. He found Meg's family, but all they would tell him was that Meg had died within days of her son's death. One of her cousins finally admitted that her parents had been ashamed of their daughter having a child out of wedlock and had put the boy up for adoption."
Laura placed a hand on Remington's back as his head fell forward and his eyes closed at Daniel's words. Unwanted, unloved- her heart went out to him as she easily pictured the lonely little boy he must have been. Those blue eyes opened and met hers as he drew a deep, ragged breath. "Go on, Daniel. How did you get involved?"
"Since Clyde couldn't say in Ireland and look for you himself, he hired a private investigator to try and track you down. But the man took his money and didn't do anything, really. The, when Clyde and I talked after meeting again at Valmont's, he told me about Meg, about his son. I told Valmont that I was going to the Continent for awhile, but in reality, I went to Ireland, did some digging- but I still came up empty handed. After I stole the Monet for Clyde, and helped him with the alarm system here, I returned to England, and while I couldn't devote all of my time to searching, I had friends in Ireland who continued to look. They managed to trace you until you ran away from the last foster home, then lost track of you again."
Remington tugged at his ear. "Caught a boat to England," he confessed.
Daniel shook his head in amazement. "You couldn't have been more than ten years old."
"Probably. Told the man taking tickets that I was going to meet my mother- and he believed it. He even got me on the train to London."
Laura squeezed his hand, and asked Daniel, "How did you manage to find him after all that?"
"Luck. Blind luck. I was walking through Brixton when someone picked my pocket. Smooth as silk. Lightest touch I'd ever seen."
"Not light enough, apparently," Remington recalled. "You knew what I'd done quickly enough."
"Ah, but it takes one to know one, my boy," Daniel reminded him before finishing his narrative for Laura. "I chased him down, prepared to give him a good lecture- only to find myself looking at the image of Clyde in his youth. I was- stunned, and terrified of letting him out of my sight again."
"What did you do?"
"He bribed me," Remington told her. "With the promise of all the food I could eat and a warm, dry bed to sleep in." He looked at Daniel. "Did you tell - my father that you'd found me?"
"Yes, I did. And he wanted to come and bring you back here."
"Why didn't he?"
"I talked him out of it," Daniel admitted slowly. Seeing Remington's eyes narrow, Daniel continued to explain. "Harry- at that point in your life, what would you have done if he HAD appeared out of the blue and told you who he was?"
Remington thought back to his feelings at that age. Rage, anger, he'd lashed out at everyone and everything. He'd run away from Daniel's flat more than once in those early days, when Daniel had gotten a bit too "paternal" for his liking. How many times had he yelled, "You're not my bloody father!"? he wondered. But he'd always gone back when he'd gotten hungry and cold, always to Daniel's welcoming smile. "Probably run like hell."
"Precisely. I thought I could ease the way for him, that there would come a time when he could come to you, tell you who he was and you'd accept him without the anger that seemed to be your constant companion in those days. Then you went off on your own,- he was furious with me for letting that happen. But every time I heard from you, I tried to let Clyde know how you were doing- he wasn't pleased that you seemed to be following in MY footsteps instead of his - blamed me for that. Rightfully so, I'm afraid. I suppose, in hindsight, I might have handled it differently."
"You gave me to tools I needed to survive in the world that I was used to, Daniel. Without those tools, I would never have managed to get where I am today."
Laura smiled at Daniel. "You said once that I'd created a world famous detective out of thin air- but you played a part in helping create the flesh and blood version, Daniel. Did Clyde know about- that his son was- Remington Steele?"
Daniel nodded, and then sighed. "I said we hadn't talked after I sent him the original Monet. That wasn't true. I called on him while I was in town on my first visit to Harry- you remember- when we brought down that Hoskins character? I told him that Harry was calling himself Remington Steele now- and urged him to come to see you. But he was afraid of Effie's reaction if she were to find out- and she would have, if she'd ever seen the two of you together."
Laura glanced toward the house. "Then- Effie doesn't know about- any of this?"
"I think the better term would be "didn't know", Miss Holt," Effie said from the shadows, and all three of them turned around at once to look at her.
"Effie," Daniel said, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to have suspicions that I've had for thirty years confirmed, Harold- I suppose you prefer to use Daniel now."
"Mrs. Davenport," Laura began, her hand outstretched to the little woman who stood there, returning Remington's gaze evenly.
"I knew that Clyde was involved with that young woman, but I also knew that he would never have given up Father's money to leave with her."
"Then, you knew that-"
She nodded at Laura's question, but didn't take her eyes off of Remington. "That Clyde married me for my money? Yes, I knew. But I loved him anyway. And I think that- as -Daniel said, he learned to love me just a much. I think that's why he told me to come to your agency if I ever needed anything," Effie explained. "He wanted us to find each other. I lost our only child before he was born," she said, and smiled sadly as Daniel frowned in surprise. "Clyde never told you about that, did he? It was a year after Father died- We never talked about it, but I know that Clyde was devastated by that loss. Even more than I was." She moved closer to Remington, who smiled, uncertain of her intent. "If I had known about you- If we could have found you- things would have been so very different. You look so much like him. So very much," she said, lifting a shaking hand to his face. "It's almost as if he were still here."
"Mrs. Davenport," Remington said, but she shook her head.
"Effie, please- Remington. After all, I suppose I'm your- step mother, aren't I?"
"Yes," Remington said. "I- suppose you are." He kissed the back of her hand, then pulled her into his arms for a hug.
Effie turned to slip her arm through Laura's. "Why don't we go inside and have some wine?" she suggested. "Get to know each other a little better."
"Excellent idea, Effie," Remington agreed.
As they moved off, Effie turned to look at Daniel. "Are you going to join us, Har-Daniel? After all, I have to thank you for rescuing Clyde's son- and for stealing the Monet for me."
"Ah, Effie," Remington said, "About the Monet-"
"I know. Daniel told me that you'd found it. I can't tell you how relieved I am to know that." Remington shot Daniel a look, and then gave up as Effie turned her attention to Laura. "So, Laura- I may call you Laura, mayn't I?-how long have you been in love with Remington?"
Shaking his head at Laura's surprised reaction to Effie's question, Daniel laughed and slowly followed them into the house. He might stick around after all. With Laura and Harry around to provide a buffer between himself and Effie, it might not be so terrible. And if he'd read the tell tale signs from Harry and Laura correctly, their little "discussion" had evolved into something else entirely. He'd stay- for awhile, anyway, chuckling as he entered the parlour to hear Effie ask another question.
"So, when are you getting married? I LOVE weddings. And I insist that you have it here. The garden is the perfect spot for a wedding, don't you agree, Daniel?" Her surprising flash of insight was apparently long gone, Daniel decided as he sat down.
And Effie, God love her, was never going to change.
The End