Mark Arbour

Based on your charming personality, I would suspect you'd have no trouble at all finding someone willing to choke you. :-) And I say that lovingly.

Elizabeth is Byzantine with her methods, with a little something on everyone, and a scheme everywhere. I think what makes Wade successful at combatting her is that he knows this, and he devotes his efforts to anticipating what she'll do.

Good point. This is a war. The good news for Wade is that his mother now has to worry about Nana. That should keep her busy.

I love it when Sharon wanders into the forum and comments. Granger is a very animated, social person who has been trained to be stoic, and is in a role that requires him to be largely isolated. I think that he craves the kind of stability and satisfaction a loving relationship can provide, but I think he also likes the new and exciting. It's hard to imaging this being the profile of someone who is faithful in a relationship. What Calvert brings to the table is that he is, similar to what Sharon said, devoted to Granger, and he probably sees Granger's strengths and weaknesses even more clearly than Granger does. Their relationship seems very stable, as they know and understand each other, and make allowances for the flaws of the other. They're basically like an old married couple. No wonder you think Calvert is boring.

"I felt as though you had allowed me to personally slap Elizabeth." LMAO. Now that's satisfying, to have such a vivid impact on a reader!

Like Dan Savage, when I get questions like this, I turn to experts. I've got a guy on my team who is a good reference source for this stuff. No, it's not Jeremy. :-) I'll let you know what he says in the forum. In the meantime, I did allude to breath control during Robbie's trial in France, as Neil was into that. (See: Man in Motion). I didn't really get into the experiential part of it, though.

I don't think even Wade would have guessed things would go down that well when he learned she was going to force that land deal out into the public.

I'm sure those things are all on the Senator's mind. I think it's interesting how Elizabeth consistently underestimates Wade and his ability to anticipate her moves. It just shows how little she truly understands her oldest son.

You're welcome! And thanks for your nice comments. By the way, you can get e-mail notifications when a new chapter is posted simply by going to the main story page and clicking on "follow this story".

Glad you like it! I've actually been on a roll, so there are a few chapters in the pipeline. Hopefully no more delays like I've had this past few month.

Thanks! I know there are readers out there who follow along and don't post comments in the forums or post reviews, so it's really refreshing to have someone come out (uh, so to speak) and do just that.

I think that Elizabeth without all the money will be significantly less menacing than she is now. Still, you're right, I think she'll still be a threat, but just not one that inspires fear.

I was laughing so hard when I read this. It was most definitely so true. I am glad they were able to make Elizabeth look bad, not that she needed any help. Her attorney's are already looking like idiots and she will probably need a new one soon. As for Jason... he probably got paid big money to stand there and lie about the whole thing. Nana won her independence, but I think the biggest loser (besides Elizabeth) maybe Senator Danfield. Great Chapter Mark and thanks for the surprise early posting. LOL. Remember that Jason actually told Wade he was going to have to do this, to reveal the land deal. That was part of the deal he struck with Elizabeth, the one that let him walk away with close to a million dollars.

Thanks. I have to say, I liked this one.

I think that, in the end, that's why people like Elizabeth Danfield never fall completely. There are too many people she has dirt on for them to let that happen.

Glad you liked it. Yeah, writing about that election hasn't been fun, which is why it's kind of playing softly in the background.

November 27, 2000 Escorial, CA Wade Once again, I was thankful for my amazing schedule this semester. This was the big day, and even though I had shitloads of work to do, at least I didn’t have to skip any classes. I let that train of thought worry me a bit. We were coming up on the end of the quarter, where final projects and exams would hit fast and furious. At the same time, my mother had declared war on me, and had vowed to make my life a living hell. I wondered how many dist

LOL. Thanks. I was just giving you guys a bad time. It is a tangled web. We'll have something new to think about in the next chapter or two.

A review! They were pretty sparse on the last chapter. My whining there is a bit reminiscent of a character in a different story. ;-) George really doesn't have the luxury of waiting around. He's a busy boy. He's got people to see, things to do, and men to ....

Actually, the time and effort it takes to do the chapters are the inverse of that. It takes me about three times as long to do an Odyssey chapter as a Paternity chapter.

Interestingly enough, Dynasty was actually "based" closer to Escorial. While officially set in Denver, the house they used in the show is the Filoli Estate, which is close to Palo Alto, and was my loose inspiration for Escorial.

September, 1797 “Our Portuguese friend is back early this morning, my lord,” Calvert observed. “He should have just stayed here,” Granger joked. Da Colma had spent the entire day with them yesterday, joined for the most part by Cochrane. He had not left until well after sunset, and had been fairly inebriated after a good supper and lots of wine. “I’m glad he did not,” Calvert said softly, so only Granger could hear. Granger bit bac

I don't miss hockey at all, because I haven't given it up. Try this: go to a hockey game at either a local college/university, or a junior league game. True, it's not the NHL, but they games can be good. They're also a lot cheaper to go to. And most important of all, your attendance will actually make a difference to those young guys, who often look up at relatively empty stands.

But of course, when one is halfway around the world, that authority can be less, uh, intimidating. Granger mused about that himself, that he wasn't all that convinced that an order from the government would be enough to compel Bertie to return. I can just hear it now. "But for my health, Your Majesty, I would have returned at once. I fear to have embarked on a ship would have meant my certain demise."

Falcon Crest was my favorite of the '80s night time soaps. I don't think that Angela Channing was any more caring about her family than Elizabeth Danfield is. I think she would have a certain level of respect for Elizabeth and her evil ways.