Review
All My Children, January and February 1977
Review
All My Children, March and April 1977
Review
Review
All My Children June and July 1977
AUGUST 1977
All My Children
Written by: Agnes Nixon
Produced by: Bud Kloss
After getting Linc to promise not to permit her to be hooked up to a machine if she should lose consciousness and thanking him for being her husband, lover and very best friend, Kitty Tyler drifted off to sleep and to her death.
In the last week of her life, Kitty had scolded Myrtle Lum for putting matters relating to the Boutique to one side in her anxiety to spend all the time she could with Kitty. Kitty went on to say that she was trying to make Myrtle into a real “shop lady” because she intended to give her the Boutique for being the mother she never had. Emboldened by the kindness Kitty had shown her, Myrtle took it on herself to tell Phoebe Tyler about Kitty's condition to spare Kitty and Linc what time was left to them without Phoebe's interference.
Once again, Nick Davis had spent the night with Erica Brent despite his repeated vows to confine their relationship to business. The following morning, smoke from a kitchen fire attracted Mona Kane's attention when she dropped by and she set out to rouse Erica, finding her in bed with Nick. After Nick extinguished the fire, Mona threw down the dress she had altered and brought to Erica and told her daughter and her long time friend Nick that she will leave it to the two of them to clean up. Nick realizes that even if there had been no fire, Mona, whose visit was obviously expected by Erica, could hardly have missed the sight of Nick's jacket and tie draped so conspicuously over the back of the sofa downstairs. He accused Erica of setting him up and when Mona refused to talk with him on the phone, he went to see her at Charles' office. Mona told him she did not know if she could ever forgive him for using Erica, refusing to buy his story that it was a truly adult relationship.
When Phoebe Tyler heard of Kitty's death, she called her brother's house only to learn that Brooke was not with her parents. She accused Benny Sago of conspiring to keep Brooke's whereabouts from her and finally Benny told her that her niece was with Dan Kennicott. Phoebe obtained a phone number from Dr. Joe Martin and telephoned, summoning Brooke back with the news of a death in the family. After Kitty's funeral, Phoebe attempted to get Brooke to toe the line and tried to forbid Dan Kennicott from entering her house but Brooke threatened to tell Dr. Charles Tyler that Phoebe had bought an expensive camera and recording equipment in order to enable Benny to gather evidence compromising to Charles' efforts to secure a divorce. After Phoebe backed down, Brooke bragged to Dan that she had her aunt eating out of her hand and though Dan might call it blackmail it was no worse than what Phoebe was attempting to do to Uncle Charles.
Kitty’s death reminded Mona that life was too short to bear grudges and she and Nick resumed their friendship. Donna Beck, in her turn, allowed Chuck to convince her that they should take their happiness while they could and she agreed to marry Chuck, asking only that they waited until the fall so that she could get her High School Diploma. When Nick learned about Chuck's engagement to Donna, he went to see Tara and Phil, warning them that Donna seemed to be very possessive with regard to little Philip. He told them that they had failed to exercise their rights and responsibilities as parents and offered to pay for a housekeeper until Tara recovered it if would enable Tara and Phil to push to get little Philip back under their roof. He urged them to do something quickly unless they wanted to see their son "brought up by a hooker."
Without telling Tara, Phil went to see Chuck. When Chuck refused to pressure little Philip into returning to the Brent home and reminded Phil that the custody arrangement whereby Tara and Phil were permitted to raise the boy was only a verbal agreement, Philip threatened a court fight with no holds barred, claiming that Donna was unfit by virtue of her past to bring up the boy. Phil refused to enter into a proposed alliance with Phoebe Tyler to prevent Chuck's marriage to Donna but when he heard that Phoebe had learned - from Erica Kane - that Donna had been visited by Estelle LaTour, an active, working prostitute, just off Locust Street in Center City, he thanked her saying she had given him just the information he was looking for.
When Myrtle Lum thanked Frank Grant for a floral arrangement sent as a tribute to Kitty in the name of Dr. and Mrs. Grant, Frank angrily confronted Nancy and accused her of trying to pull a fast one. Nancy laughed at him and when he grabbed her, she slapped him. He kissed her and they wound up making love. Nancy told Frank she still loved him but Frank insisted nothing was changed, saying he was sorry that it happened. Nancy was insulted at his apology and cried hysterically when he left.
The following day, Frank learned that action on his divorce had been postponed indefinitely as the judge who was to handle the case had suffered a stroke and there was no way to tell when the case could be rescheduled. He took his anger out on Caroline Murray, insisting that he should have been told that Paul Martin, his attorney, was trying to reach him. - Caroline was unable to locate Frank when Paul called, not knowing that he was with Nancy at the time. - Jeff Martin guessed from some remarks Frank had made that he made love to Nancy the night before and warned Frank that he had to consider the possibility that Nancy might be pregnant.
Frank called Nancy and insisted on seeing her, leaving Nancy to fantasize that Frank wanted to return to her. When Nancy realized that Frank was afraid she could be pregnant, she taunted him saying he was worried that she might slap him with a paternity suit and ruin his little set up with Caroline. She told him she could take care of herself and ordered him to get out.
After talking with Little Philip and learning that Phoebe had told the boy that Donna was a "real bad" person, and faced with Phil's threat to start court action, Chuck talked Donna into agreeing to marry him right away. He got her word that she would say nothing to anyone, even Caroline Murray, her roommate. The following day he told Donna that he had found an apartment that had to be seen immediately and after they arranged to take the place, he and Donna took off in Chuck's car to find a Justice of the Peace.
Dr. Joe Martin had to tell Philip that he was unable to talk Chuck out of considering having Donna, as his wife, raise little Philip and went on to tell Phil that his talking with Chuck might even have made matters worse. Joe told Phil that all Chuck's resentment over the past few years of the sacrifices he had made had come to a head and Chuck felt that he had done enough and it was time he started thinking of himself for a change.
Philip urged Joe not to tell Tara about Chuck's outburst as he and Joe hoped that Chuck would reconsider between then and October, the date they believed Donna and Chuck would be married. Philip had been about to cancel a trip to Kentucky for a police training program but changed his mind in the hope that there was no real urgency and if he did not push to get Paul Martin started on the court action. Chuck would get his resentment under control.
Dan Kennicott had left town for a trip home to his family's farm. He made an unsuccessful attempt to talk Brooke into accompanying him on the trip but was only mildly disturbed by Brooke's statement that though she would miss him, she wasn't going to promise to stay at home and pine away in his absence. She did tell him that he had nothing to worry about where Benny Sago was concerned but when Benny invited her to accompany him to a Rock Concert she all but agreed to go when Phoebe called Benny to say she had to cancel his night off in order to have him help serve a dinner party in honor of Tom Cudahy and she expected Brooke to attend along with Chuck.
Phoebe was unable to locate Chuck all through the day of the scheduled dinner, learning only that he had signed himself out for the day and had his relief cover for him at the hospital. While trying to trace Chuck, Phoebe went to Charles' office and referred to certain pictures she had in her possession as evidence of adultery on Mona and Charles' part. When Mona told her she would be laughed out of court, Phoebe mentioned Charles' pajamas and Mona realized that Phoebe was responsible for the theft. Mona said only that the pajamas were brought into her home for someone else, but Phoebe told her to "keep it for the judge."
When Erica learned of Phoebe's threats and the name Mark Dalton, Erica's half-brother, who wore the pajamas when he stayed overnight with Mona after having injured his foot, she went into a tailspin, begging her mother not to allow Phoebe to involve her in a court case whereby Erica, as her daughter, would be publicly humiliated. Mona was shocked at her daughter's selfish attitude and told her she was not the only person in her life. Mona went on to tell Erica that if she was so concerned for her reputation, she suggested that Erica live her life a great deal more discretely than she had done in the past.
Nick got a rise out of Tom Cudahy by going to see him at the Goal Post and accusing him of playing dirty pool by hiring his hostess Erica away from him without consulting him first. Tom told Nick it was a free country and Erica came to him saying she wanted to make a change and he saw nothing unethical in his conduct. Nick characterized Erica as a rash, impetuous young woman who would be better off staying at the Chateau, and asked Tom to think about what he had said before taking her on. Tom's answer was that Erica was a big girl and he had already taken her on but he would think about what Nick had said.
Tom phoned Erica at the Chateau and asked to talk with her about what they had discussed - Erica's coming to work for him, but said that he couldn’t make it immediately as he was having dinner at Phoebe Tyler's that evening. Nick was present and noticed to his amusement that Erica was worried about her new job and what Tom might hear from Phoebe Tyler.
At the Tyler mansion, Phoebe apologized to Tom for the lack of a foursome at dinner and Tom mentioned that he had seen Chuck earlier in the day at a Real Estate agent's with his fiancee. He said that the two were up on Cloud Nine and told him they had just that minute rented an apartment.
Chuck calmed Donna’s last minute jitters and they went into the magistrate's office only to learn their marriage license required a twenty-four hour waiting period to be valid. So they returned to the apartment they had rented and Chuck left on Donna's insistence that he prepare little Philip for the new living arrangements which would begin the following day. After Chuck left, Phoebe arrived, having obtained the address from the realtor.
A phone call from her husband making it clear that he wanted out of their marriage made Ellen Shepherd realize that she was being unrealistic in hoping to hang on to him after he had walked out on her and their daughter Devon to live with a younger woman and she sent for Paul Martin telling him she would give him her power of attorney to arrange a quickie divorce. Mark Dalton agreed to take Devon on as a music student but made it increasingly clear that he was attracted to Ellen. She insisted that they were both lonely and vulnerable and admitted that she was embarrassed to be seen with him as he was so much younger and she was afraid of making a fool of herself.
Ellen Shepherd was looking for a job and Paul Martin had promised to speak to Myrtle Lum about a place at the Boutique. When Nigel Farnsworth called on Myrtle with some complimentary tickets for his play as he had promised, he learned of Kitty's death. When Myrtle told him she couldn’t bring herself to work at the Boutique Kitty left to her in her will and was thinking of leaving Pine Valley, Nigel asked her to "come away with him" — to Scranton.
When Paul learned that Myrtle was thinking of selling the Boutique, he suggested to Ellen that she buy it with her father's backing.
SEPTEMBER 1977
On a visit to San Francisco, Christina Karras learned that her former fiancé had run into his ex-wife, Edna Thornton at a free clinic and he told her that Edna was working on Geary Street in a diner. Chris called David and told him that she followed his suggestion that she look up Hadley because she was certain that she had no lingering romantic feelings for him. She told David that she would return to Pine Valley as soon as she looked up another friend whose address she had just gotten that day. When Christina saw Edna, she learned that the man Edna left David to marry was then dead. Christina told Edna that David was working at Pine Valley Hospital and as she left, Edna walked over a little girl who asked whom the lady she spoke to was. Edna told the child it was “Santa Claus” and said they were going to find her daddy.
When Christina got back to Pine Valley, she accepted David’s proposal of marriage. David gave Christina an engagement ring and told her that he had been invited to a symposium in Japan. He suggested that she go with him and they make it a honeymoon trip. Christina said that she wanted to resume her practice as a pediatrician and would like to be well re-established before they were married, but more than that she wanted an old fashioned wedding. David was very understanding and they planned the wedding for Thanksgiving.
After David had left for Japan, Edna showed up at the hospital and Christina refused to tell her where David lived but learned sometime after that Jeff Martin had given Edna directions to David's cabin. Christina hurried out to the cabin to find Edna unpacking. When Chris said that she had no right to be there in David's absence, Edna claimed she was still married to David.
Myrtle Lum had left town with Nigel Fargate who was winding up his tour and his career in show business with a promise to Linc that he and Myrtle would be married. Linc gave the couple his blessing and made arrangements for Ellen Shepherd to take over the Boutique.
Ellen had admitted to Mark Dalton that she was in love with him but because of the difference in their ages, Ellen was twelve years Mark's senior, and the resentment shown to her by her daughter Devon, insisted that they had to be circumspect privately and publicly. Devon had told her mother of a letter from her father claiming that Ellen's lack of understanding drove him to his affair with a younger woman and his abandonment of Devon. After seeing her mother and Mark's affectionate kiss, Devon cancelled her arrangement to take piano lessons from Mark. Mark was unable to tell Ellen that his sympathetic understanding of Devon's attitude was due to the parallel between Devon's and his own half-sister Erica's need for a scapegoat for their feelings of rejection.
Mark tried once more to get Erica to accept him as part of her family but Erica was moved to rage and then tore when Mark visited her at work. The Goalpost's owner, Tom Cudahy, walked in to find Mark comforting Erica and refused to credit Mark's and Erica's insistence that there was nothing between them. Erica learned from Mona Kane that Mark's wealthy step-father did not know of Mark's illegitimacy and threatened to see that he learned of it, no matter what the consequences, if Mark did not promise to keep his distance.
Nick David was annoyed when he viewed a television program Erica had arranged for the opening day at The Goalpost during the course of which she not too subtly put down The Chateau. However, he was furious when he learned that his best bartender, Bruno, had been pirated away by Erica.
Donna Beck and Chuck Tyler had been married and Chuck arranged for Brooke English to take little Philip over to their apartment to be there when they returned. Chuck learned that Tara had had a miscarriage and had not sent for Philip, feeling that his return would only make him miss out on a police training program and would not help. When Tara sent for Chuck, not knowing that he and Donna were already married, she begged him to promise to give little Philip back when she was well. She had a relapse and Chuck was told that she had Septicemia.
Phil was finally sent for and as Nick drove him back to Pine Valley, Phil learned that Tara lost the baby and that Chuck and Donna are married. When Phil got to the hospital, he realized that Tara was delirious and had been talking with Chuck as if she and Chuck were still married and Philip had been killed in Vietnam. During a shouting match in Dr. Tyler's office, Nick had to step in and separate Phil and Chuck. Phil went to Donna's apartment to look in on little Philip. That day was the first scheduled day of school and when Donna learned about it from Dan Kennicott, she tried to take the boy to enroll but he refused to go. After telling Donna she would not allow the boy to have his own way, Chuck spoke to him but Donna overheard the boy say he wished Donna was gone and his mother was there with them. Phil suspected that little Philip had been giving Donna a hard time but she denied it. Phil told her that Tara was hallucinating, believing she was married to Chuck and the boy was still nursery school age. He wrote himself up to threatening a custody suit.
When Chuck returned to Pine Valley Hospital, it was to see Tara suffer a sharp pain in her chest, the first signal of a pulmonary embolism. Phil had been told that Tara had weathered the crisis when her fever broke and no one was able to locate him when it appeared that Tara is dying.
Jeff Martin was with a very distraught Chuck when Tara spoke, insisting that her late mother was in the room with her and had come to comfort her and take her with her. Meanwhile Philip had come very close to telling Donna, at her apartment, that little Philip was his illegitimate son but remembered his promise, though he expressed surprise that Chuck had not told Donna about his threat to go to court to seek custody of the boy. He told Donna that he had nothing against her or her marriage but he meant to go through with his threat, naming Donna as unfit to raise the boy if that was the only way. After Phil left, Chuck phoned Donna, looking for him, and told her that Tara was dying.
The medication which had been administered to dissolve the blood clot finally began to work and Donna watched Chuck come alive the following morning as he realized that Tara would live. Tara woke to see Chuck and thanked him for being with her, saying she could never let Phil go to court because she couldn't bring herself to subject little Philip to that. She asked Chuck to try to persuade little Philip to come back to live with her, saying it would be what the boy wanted if Chuck could make him understand. Chuck said she was right all along, that she should never have been denied her own son and that he would bring the boy back.
Benny Sago was visiting with Donna when she got a call from the school nurse who told her that little Philip was complaining of a stomach ache but she was convinced that he was merely trying to get out of school. Once Donna spoke with the boy, however, she gave him her word that she would pick him up. After she hung up, Benny told her that the kid was trying to pull a fast one as he had been allowed to do at Phoebe Tyler's and the best thing she could do was to call the school back and tell the nurse she would not be there. When she called, the nurse told her that little Philip was having an asthma attack and she left to get him.
When Chuck came home, the boy was watching television and Chuck told Donna that the asthma was psychosomatic in origin. He also told her of his decision to return custody to Tara and Phil. Donna was upset, claiming that it was her fault for being a lousy mother and then Chuck was taking the boy away from her. Chuck finally convinced Donna that he married her because he loved her and they would plan to have a child of their own.
David Thornton’s plane set down early from his return trip and Christina was out of her office when he called, so she had no opportunity to warn him of Edna's presence in his cabin. When Edna told him that the Mexican divorce she obtained was not worth the paper it was written on and he might as well relax and enjoy it, he told her to save it; that if that was true he would get a divorce that was legal. Just then little Dottie came in and Edna introduced her as his daughter. David refused to believe Edna and ordered her out of the cabin, but she persuaded him that they couldn’t leave so late at night and told him that the little girl was very ill. David said she did not appear sick to him but they could stay the night. He left to see Chris and together they went to Linc Tyler for his advice.
Later that evening, David returned to the cabin to seek out a copy of the divorce decree which was sent to him while he was in Vietnam, and found that Edna had changed the lock on the door, claiming she had no extra key because it was too expensive. Edna had been charging her food in the nearby store, claiming to be the doctor's wife. She said it would be a cold day in Hell when she left as she had finally got what she was after. When Linc read over the document David brought back, he told him that it was not legal and that for the present he was still married to Edna.
Mark and Ellen had quarreled over Ellen's decision not to see him anymore. Ellen at first tried to reason with her daughter Devon and refused to give in to what Mark characterized as blackmail, Devon's threat to move back to St. Louis with her father, but when Paul Martin brought the news that Ellen's divorce was final and Devon’s father, Adrian, intended to remarry immediately, Devon was convinced that she had been betrayed by Ellen's having kept from her that her father had intended to obtain a quickie divorce. Mark said that he, himself, could have demanded plenty from his mother and that Devon was acting exactly like Erica Kane, a reference that completely escaped Ellen. However when he insisted he would talk to Devon himself, Ellen told him if he tried, she would never forgive him. When Paul entered to take Ellen to dinner and left for a moment to see to his car, Mark told Ellen angrily that she could go where she damn' well pleased and he hoped she would be as miserable as she deserved to be. The following day, Devon apologized to Paul Martin for her rudeness to him and said she was sure her father didn’t know what he was doing right at the moment. Happy that Ellen had told her that she would not he seeing Mark, Devon insisted that she was sure her father would come back then. When Ellen pointed out the illogic of what she was saying, she dropped it saying that Mark was just too young for her mother. Ellen told Devon she was probably right about that and she guessed that they wouldn't have made a very permanent two-some.
While Caroline Murray had been out of town caring for her mother who had a stroke, Frank had become very fond of a little patient, Roberta Jones, whose social caseworker turned out to be Nancy. Caroline was sensitive to their association in the child's case but Frank assured her it was just a coincidence. That evening Jeff brought Nancy to dinner at The Goalpost and Erica pretended to be very upset that the only table she had was one adjoining Frank and Caroline's. Nancy inquired about the state of Caroline's mother's health, saying her illness must have been sudden because Caroline didn't mention it the night she came to visit Nancy.
When Frank went to Caroline's apartment after dinner, he insisted on knowing what Nancy's crack was all about and learned that Caroline had asked Nancy if she was still in love with Frank. Caroline said she tried to tell Frank she had visited Nancy but was unable to reach him at the time. Caroline did not know that Frank returned to Nancy's apartment on that very evening and made love to his estranged wife.
When Tara called Donna and Chuck's apartment and asked to speak to her son, Donna lied to her, saying the boy had just left for school. Chuck heard the end of this conversation and learning the details, told Donna she had no business doing that. He had little Philip call Tara, saying it was a misunderstanding, but the boy made matters even worse by happily telling his mother that Donna had informed him he could live with her and Chuck if he wanted to. So Chuck hurried right over to the hospital to explain to Tara that he hadn't even had a chance to talk to the boy yet.
After Chuck left, Donna called Estelle and begged her to meet with her. Estelle learned that Donna was determined to get pregnant immediately to try to save her marriage. Estelle tried to talk Donna into giving her marriage a chance on its own, but, to herself, Estelle wondered how she was ever going to be able to tell Donna "the truth."
Linc went to the cabin and offered Edna on David's behalf, three years of alimony payments if she would consent to an immediate divorce, pointing out that no judge would find in her favor when she deserted her husband while he was in Vietnam; that she could lose everything. Edna reminded him of her little girl and maintained she could prove the child was David's, citing the fact that her daughter was an epileptic and epilepsy ran in David's family.
OCTOBER 1977
Estelle LaTour had been unable to bring herself to tell either her friend Donna or Donna's new husband Dr. Chuck Tyler that she knew that Donna would never be able to bear a child. Ty, Donna's former pimp, had seen to it that Donna would not run the risk of pregnancy when she became part of his Locust Street "stable" at the age of 14. The sterilization was performed by a shady doctor on Ty's payroll when Donna required surgery for Appendicitis. Estelle was barely able to forestall Ty's successor, Billy Clyde, from telling Donna by claiming that the owner of a bar had some money for him. He was led up to it by saying that Ty had been convinced that Donna would never marry because of the lousy home life she'd had. When Billy Clyde returned, Estelle had gotten rid of Donna, begging her not to come to visit her on Locust Street again. Estelle forgot herself so far as to tell him he was not to dare say a word to Donna and he reacted by asking who she thought was going to stop him.
Benny Sago was present in Phoebe Tyler's attorney's office when he told her that her co-called evidence was tainted and that she could be subject, together with Benny, for prosecution for abetting Benny's break-in to Mona Kane's apartment and wiretapping. Upon her return home, Phoebe continued to insist that Benny perjure himself and when he refused, she fired him, ordering him to leave the premises immediately and retrieve his possessions later. Benny left on an evening of drinking, visited Estelle, and learned about Donna's condition.
Undaunted, Phoebe told Mona Kane at Charles' office that as the divorce hearing was scheduled for the following day, she was determined, if her husband did not contact her by seven o'clock that evening to say that he had withdrawn, to go to the very conservative head of the Pine Valley Hospital board of directors personally with the pictures she had Benny take and demand that Dr. Tyler be dismissed to avoid scandal. Phoebe spent the interim drinking heavily and when the time came, asked her son Linc to drive her to keep her appointment. Knowing that Phoebe's license had been revoked, and refusing to drive her himself, Linc wrestled Phoebe's car keys from her and left, advising her to sleep it off. After he left, Phoebe fished in her purse for a set of keys to Brooke's sports car and set off, only to be stopped by Phil Brent and his new partner when she was speeding and ran a red light.
At police headquarters, Phoebe's refusal to submit to a sobriety test, the roadside one Phil's partner administered was definitely not in her favor and her obvious condition resulted in her being booked and ordered held for a hearing. Faced with the prospect of a night in jail, Phoebe called Charles to beg him to rally round ... to the extent of $500 bail. With understandable relish Charles refused to lift a finger but as Linc happened to be with him, Phoebe's luck held and he took the phone, telling his mother that he would be down immediately.
While Linc was arranging bail, Phoebe capped the evening's performance by telling Barbara Barrett, an alert roving reported representing the local TV news station, that the entire mess, could be laid “at the feet of my roving husband, Dr. Charles Tyler." The quote was repeated along with a graphic still picture on the Evening News.
Benny heard about the debacle from Brooke and was on hand, when Phoebe woke the following morning, with a tray and sympathy. Phoebe was maneuvered into taking Benny back, with a raise, and set out for court to defend herself. When her posturing, accusations of spite on the part of the arresting officer, and claim that she suffered from Labyrinthitis and was attempting to procure medication for symptoms of vertigo, accounting for her unsteadiness, failed to impress the judge, she toppled into Benny's arms in a theatrical faint. The judge waited her out and insisted that she choose whether she would serve her sentence of seven days in jail at one time or on three consecutive weekends, to begin the following weekend. Forced to the wall, Phoebe gave her answer as the weekends but insisted that she would fight the actual incarceration up to the Supreme Court, if necessary.
Unknown to her daughter Devon, Ellen Shepard and Mark Dalton were again seeing one another, although circumspectly. When Mark voiced his opinion that their lives would be easier if Devon herself should fall in love, Ellen told him that she was afraid that was what had happened, but unfortunately Devon's choice seemed to be Dan Kennicott. Devon had told her mother that she discovered that Brooke had been two-timing Dan with Benny Sago. She was more than tempted to tell Dan after Brooke called her a sneaky little eavesdropper, and insisted that Dan would believe her, rather than Devon, and ordered her to keep her hands off "her property."
Devon watched as Dan, after telling her that he has gotten a D on a very important exam and was in danger of losing his scholarship if he didn’t work extra hard to make it up, left to celebrate with Brooke the fact that "at least he didn't flunk."
When Benny Sago was bar-hopping and trying to set up a job for himself after having been fired by Phoebe, he had asked Erica at the Goalpost if the place could use some help. When Tom Cudahy heard that Erica had told Benny there wasn't a chance, he became annoyed and reminded her that it was his place to decide who would work for him.
Benny had also brought news from the Chateau about Nick and a stunning blonde, evidently an old friend and Erica realized it was Claudette Montgomery just as she and Nick walked in together. Tom had to remind Erica that there were patrons to be seated when she sat with Nick and Claudette. The following day, Nick told Erica that he was considering hiring Claudette as his hostess unless Erica herself decided to return to work at the Chateau. Claudette Montgomery was an old rival of Erica's who was jailed for drug pushing, for a time involving the Chateau in some very nasty publicity.
Dr. Frank Grant considered out loud to Jeff Martin whether he should "bite the bullet" and tell Caroline Murray himself that he made love to his estranged wife, Nancy, before she did. Jeff advised against it, saying that Nancy was not vindictive and just wanted to see Frank sweat a little because of his treatment of her. Frank let the matter drop and finally convinced Caroline that her jealousy and insecurity were akin to Donna's feelings toward Tara; that she should learn from her own advice to Donna not to make herself miserable over a relationship that didn’t exist anymore.
When Edna Thornton was reminded by her small daughter that she hadn't gotten her medication for the day and she heard that the child was feeling ill, she told Dottie not to take her medicine; that they would hitch a ride into town and her daddy would take care of her. Edna set David up to turn her down when she called him to come out to see Dottie so that the seizure, when it came, would play better. Edna mentioned to a local farmer who gave them a ride that she was David Thornton's wife and was told that David was the man's personal physician and a fine doctor. She had also nailed down a job as a manicurist at the "Beauty Spot," whose clientele numbers a good many doctor's wives, by dropping David's name and mentioning that though she was married to him she wanted to work to keep herself busy.
When Dottie had a Grand Mal seizure followed by a repeat of the episode a short time later, David admitted, when pressed by Christina, that he believed Dottie was his daughter. After Chris made it clear that she would welcome the child, he tried to get Edna to agree to a divorce, giving him custody, only to have Edna insist that it was a package deal and threaten to leave town with the little girl, sick as she was. David learned that Edna deliberately risked the little girl's life and, after talking with Christina, he finally agreed to move in with Edna and resume the appearance of a marriage in the hope that eventually a marriage in name only would pall and she would give up Dottie.
Donna had refused to accept even the lab test findings that she was not pregnant and had been shopping for baby clothes after having insisted stridently, in the presence of Tara and Dr. Frank Grant, that Chuck wouldn’t admit that Dr. Clader was wrong, remarking how doctors stuck together.
Mark Dalton and Ellen Shepard were planning to be together in New York as Ellen had to make a buying trip for the Boutique. Devon learned that the following day was a holiday at the college, Founder's Day, and asked her mother if she could go along on the weekend trip, causing Ellen to cancel her plans with Mark. When Brooke and Dan quarreled because he had to prepare a project in order to make up his low mark on his Structure's exam, conflicting with Brooke's plans for a football weekend, Devon stepped in, offering to type for Dan and insisting she had no plans for the weekend. After Devon told her mother she had changed her mind, Ellen called Mark back and she started packing again.
Acting on information supplied by Nancy Grant, Joe Martin had flown to Texarkana to confront the man he spoke with a day earlier on the phone who had denied that he could tell him anything about Tad, the child Ruth and Joe had grown to love after he was abandoned by his parents. The man's name was Ray and he was an intinerant worker from Tennessee. Ruth had insisted that he pursue the matter and make it clear in person that they only wanted his permission to adopt the boy.
Dr. Joe Martin and his wife Ruth have quarreled over the fact that he returned to Pine Valley after breaking off contact with Ray Gardner without obtaining a release from Gardner that would enable the Martins to legally adopt their foster child, Tad. When the boy guessed the reason for Joe's trip, Ruth allowed him to accompany her to the airport to meet Dr. Martin's plane and Tad had to be told then and there that his sister was living with another couple across the country and his mother had since died. Dr. Martin refused to consider paying Gardner $10,000 but Ruth finally convinced her husband to allow her to phone Gardner while Tad was at school to offer $5,000. In her anxiety, Ruth had inadvertently revealed that Tad was living in Pine Valley.
At Erica Kane’s insistence, Phil Brent checked on the circumstances of Claudette Montgomery's parole and learned that she had violated her probation agreement by leaving for Costa Rica upon her release from prison after serving time for drug pushing. He told Erica that Claudette was subject to immediate revocation of the present agreement if she was found to be in possession of even less than an ounce of grass.
Erica arranged a "buy" but Brooke English alerted Nick Davis who saw Erica take possession of a small amount of marijuana at the Chateau, and finding the packet was in Claudette's purse after Erica had planted it there, slipped it into Erica's own handbag. Nick learned later that Phil had had to stop Claudette and check her out after an anonymous phone call to police headquarters.
When Nick stormed into Erica's house, she told him hysterically that she was arrested for speeding and possession, a misdemeanor first offense for Erica, when she had second thoughts and was trying to drive back to the Chateau before Claudette was arrested. Erica broke down and told Nick that she did it out of jealousy and insisted that she was in love with him.
Dr. David Thornton had been considering "kidnapping" his daughter Dottie when he realized he couldn’t go on being virtually blackmailed into living with his wife, Edna, in order to ensure that she would not leave town, taking Dottie, an epileptic child who had been dangerously neglected by her mother. His former fiancee, Dr. Christina Karras had been trying to keep David from making such a move, which would mean they would have to take the little girl out of the country and jeopardize both Chris' and David's medical careers. Christina had agreed to go with David to Bermuda for a "honeymoon." Christina and Thornton had planned to marry around Thanksgiving before Edna turned up in Pine Valley with the news that her divorce was invalid.
Dr. Jeff Martin was aware of their plans for the trip and that Edna believed David would be in Bermuda for a convention of surgeons. In love with Christina himself, Jeff was hopeful that Nancy Grant's conviction that Chris was merely grateful to David to his kindness to her and was mesmerized by him and concerned for his troubled daughter, was the truth. Nancy, Chris' roommate, had urged Jeff not to give up on Christina. Edna tricked David into inviting her for a cocktail at the Chateau. When David saw Jeff and Christina dining together, David’s jealousy hit a roof.
In her own desperation at having to serve her weekend sentence for reckless driving without the liquid "comforts" of home, Phoebe Tyler set up a scheme to have her chauffeur Benny Sago bring liquor to her under the guise of "medication." When a soon to be retired police matron got wise, Phoebe attempted to bribe her, first with money and then with an offer of a cushy place in the Tyler household staff. The woman answered that she was a professional police woman, "I don't do windows."
When Mark Dalton’s mother ran into Mark and Ellen Shepherd on their weekend in New York and arranged a private talk with Ellen, she suggested that Ellen break off their affair saying Mark had a brilliant social and professional career she would prefer not to see hampered by an aging wife. Ellen attributed Mrs. Teller's rudeness to vanity rather than concern for her son and told Mark she was ready to stand up for her love for him, but back at Mark's apartment in Pine Valley, Ellen encountered one of Mark's moon-struck young students and she left Mark to return home, telling her father all the circumstances of her relationship with Mark when her deception toward him and her daughter Devon was about to become apparent.
Devon and Dan Kennicott attended a college dance after her help with a term paper enabled him to restore his shaky scholarship, but the following day Brooke managed to get Dan to skip work at the Zodiac bookstore for an expensive dinner, paid for by Brooke, at the Chateau and an overnight stay at the Tyler's while Phoebe was safely locked up.
Linc visited Phoebe and told Charles that she was begging to have him attend her, adding that it was obvious that Phoebe was exhibiting withdrawal symptoms and had refused to see the prison doctor. Charles urged Phoebe to make use of the time she was forced to be without liquor to conquer its hold on her, making it clear that a marital reconciliation was out of the question but pledging all his personal support if she would try to get her life in order.
Erica talked Nick into attending her court appearance with her, and claimed it had all been worthwhile if it had brought them back together. At Charles' office Nick told Mona he loved Erica in his own way, after Mona remarked it was obvious to her that Nick missed Erica for the time they were apart. Nick admitted he cared for Erica beyond the label of "chemistry" he had always put on their relationship and also conceded his fear of marriage. For her part, Erica turned down a date with Tom Cudahy, whom she had always kept in reserve, saying she was engaged, unofficially, but it was only a matter of time before it was on her terms.
Tara Brent had kept her son's teacher's report of his disruptive behavior from her husband Phil after Chuck and she attended a Parent's Night at school with the boy. The following day, Phil had to go in search of little Philip who had left school after recess to play truant for the remainder of the day, when he learned he was to be kept after school. Phil located the boy, who had been playing pin-ball machines with the money Chuck had given him and refused to bring him back to Tara when he called her, returning him instead to school to face the music. Once again Phil and Tara quarreled when she pointed out that Phil's working hours kept him from attending Parent's Night and learning about little Phil's behavior at first hand.
Ruth had reported to Joe that she spoke with Gardner, assuring him that she was careful to give nothing away. Later in the day, Kate Martin found Ruth to report that Tad had had a phone call at the Martin home, from a woman with a southern accent and when the boy took the phone, a man inquired for him by name and then hung up. She said she was able to convince Tad that the call was a mistake but it was obvious to both she and Ruth that Gardner had located the boy. Gardner called area codes systematically, through long distance information.
Caroline Murray was trying on a gown for her wedding to Frank Grant when Nancy walked in to the Boutique, Frank and Nancy were officially divorced. Nancy gave Caroline her best wishes but was overcome emotionally after leaving the Boutique. She also became dizzy as she stood up abruptly when she ran into Lincoln Tyler at lunch time. Frank had not told Caroline about the evening he made love to his then-ex-wife Nancy and his concern that she might have become pregnant after their many months of estrangement. When Nancy assured him she could take care of herself, Frank took his customary easy way out, agreeing with Jeff Martin that Nancy, though claiming to still love him, was not vindictive.
Billy Clyde was determined to make Donna Beck Tyler’s life miserable. Her former pimp, Tyrone, had told Billy that Donna had her tubes tied. He tried to reach Phoebe Tyler. Donna was showing Edna Thornton her apartment when Chuck returned from obtaining Dr. Clader's report of a second set of lab tests which were again negative. After Edna left, Chuck told Donna, once more telling her that he believed as she did that she was pregnant, but urged her for the baby's sake to allow Dr. Clader to examine her again in person. When she finally gave in, Donna was told that though she had the subjective symptoms of pregnancy, he could detect no objective signs. Clader recommended a wait-and-see attitude but Donna grasped the prenatal instruction booklets he offered, saying that in six months time her baby would be the sign.
Phoebe made an arrangement to meet with Billy Clyde to find out what information he wanted to sell her at a high price. Benny found out about their plans to meet and warned Chuck who in turn made plans to waylay the two.
Ruth had Joe phone Gardner and their suspicions were confirmed. Gardner insisted on speaking with Ruth and gave her a hard luck story about needing an operation for his new "wife" and insisted she send $5,000 by certified check and he would sign the papers later. Ruth told Joe she thought Gardner was crude but he seemed honest. When Joe absolutely refused to send the money without consulting Paul, Ruth said she would take the money out of her own savings.
December 1977
On the morning of the day that Dr. Jeff Martin was to be best man at Frank Grant's wedding to Caroline Murray, he learned that Frank's ex-wife Nancy Grant's suspicions that she might be pregnant with Frank's child had been officially confirmed by Dr. Calder. Nancy refused to accept Jeff's insistence that Frank had a right to know, maintaining that the child was hers alone; that she was determined to have and keep her baby. Jeff sadly observed that when Frank did learn eventually about Nancy's condition, he was likely to believe that the baby's father was Carl Blair, the man Frank believed to be Nancy's lover, despite her denials in the past. Nancy rather bitterly conceded the logic of what Jeff was saying, but moments later confided to Jeff that she felt sure that when Frank saw the child, he would know it for his own.
Ruth Martin had accepted Paul's proposal that he visit Ray Gardner personally, in Texarkana, with the $5,000 Ruth had promised to send, to represent Joe and Ruth as their attorney and make sure that Gardner signed papers which would clear the way for the legal adoption of Tad, the son Gardner had previously abandoned. In the meantime, Gardner had become impatient when he failed to receive the money in the mail and he borrowed plane fare from the woman he was living with, intending to abandon her once he had gotten his hands on the promised sum, and more.
Kate Martin was shocked to find Gardner on her doorstep and she and Ruth tried to stall for time in Joe's absence, in the face of Gardner's insistence that he see his son one last time and his story of being broke, without shelter, and unsuitably dressed for the Eastern climate. Kate was tempted to allow Gardner to stay for the night until Paul returned by the first available plane, but Joe returned from the hospital and refused to hear of it or to provide funds for Gardner's lodging elsewhere, Kate believed that the decision about Tad's seeing Gardner should be up to the boy. When Tad was asked, he reacted with terror, and Ruth and Kate promised him they would not allow Gardner near him.
Gardner showed up at the Thornton cabin, having struck up an acquaintance with Edna at a local diner, and when she agreed to allow him to get some rest for a few hours, she woke the following morning to find that he had stayed overnight on her couch. Just then David phoned and Edna had to hang up when she feared that Dottie would mention "cousin" Ray's presence to David.
Ruth and Joe Martin were called to the phone at the Grants’ wedding reception to learn from Dan Kennicott that Tad had returned from a stay at a friend's house to find Gardner waiting for him at the Martin home. They rushed back to find that the boy had not been hurt, other than being cuffed around, but that Gardner hds attempted to intimidate him into urging that Ruth and Joe did as he wanted.
When Ruth recognized the number Gardner had left where he could be reached as the telephone at David's cabin, she went there. Edna insisted that she was alone and told Ruth that Dottie was very ill, but at first rejected Ruth's offer to look in on the little girl, saying that after she was unable to reach Christina Karras, she finally got another doctor to see Dottie. Edna's efforts to reach Christina resulted in suspicion about Chris' whereabouts which were confirmed when she called David and recognized Chris' voice on the phone from his hotel room in the Carribean. Overriding her bitterness was Edna's genuine concern for Dottie, and with David's promise to return home, she followed his advice to have a Dr. Quinn see Dottie in the interim.
Gardner immediately stepped into the room as Ruth and Edna came from seeing to Dottie and though Ruth was unconvinced about their story of old friendship, she promised to get together the money Gardner demanded by cashing in an insurance policy. Ray had upped the ante, tearing up Joe's check and insisting only $10,000 would compensate him for not seeing his son again and his treatment at Joe's hands. Gardner told Ruth he would get in touch with her when he had found a room somewhere so as not to burden "this lovely lady" Edna any longer. He mentioned that he had found work so that Ruth would know that he intended to stay around for awhile. - Unknown to Ruth, Nick Davis had bought Gardner's sob story of being a widower whose son was being cared for temporarily by a very reliable local family; true, if somewhat distorted. He had hired Gardner on as a kitchen helper at the Chateau with Gardner's promise that he intended to settle down in Pine Valley for a good long time.
When Ruth told Joe that she felt she had to give Gardner the money in the face of his threat to stay on in order to get rid of him, Joe told her that some of the things she had been doing were absolutely irrational.
Benny Sago had been instrumental in putting an end to Phoebe Tyler's scheme to buy information from Billy Clyde which he had guaranteed would mean the end of Chuck and Donna's so far happy marriage. Acting on a warning from Benny, Chuck, Linc and Phil Brent walked into the roadhouse where Phoebe and Billy Clyde had met and sent Phoebe packing. Chuck then warned Billy Clyde that if he ever tried to cause trouble for Donna again, he would see that he was prosecuted for the episode in Center City when he drugged Donna. After Chuck and Linc left, Billy Clyde told Phil about the operation which Ty told him he had performed on Donna by his "house physician" during surgery for appendicitis, and that even Donna herself was not aware that she was sterile.
When Phil told his wife Tara about Billy Clyde's claim, Tara insisted that Phil tell Chuck despite his doubts of the truth of the story. She was frightened that if Donna couldn’t be pregnant, she was showing symptoms of something else, and to allow those symptoms to continue to mask Donna's true condition might be endangering her health and even her life.
Phoebe Tyler had called her son, Linc, to urge him to appeal to the judge who sentenced her to three weekends in jail for reckless driving. She claimed that after having spent one weekend locked up, the palpitations she had been experiencing should be taken for proof that she was too ill to serve out the remainder of her sentence. When Linc told her that the judge insisted that upon her recovery she would be expected to continue her sentence, Phoebe lurched out of the room and fell down a flight of stairs.
Phil reluctantly set up a meeting with Chuck, which was cancelled when Chuck had to attend his grandmother, Phoebe, when she suffered her fall while drunk. When Phil finally told Chuck, he was told that Chuck was convinced that Billy Clyde was a liar, just out to cause trouble for Donna, and that he himself was sure that Donna was pregnant. Chuck insisted that Phil promise not to mention it to Donna, and Phil, feeling that he had done all he could, agreed.
Charles had told Mona Kane, his secretary, that he believed that Phoebe was malingering but he and the staff were giving her the benefit of the doubt for the present. After Charles left the office, Phoebe called to ask Mona to come to her room at the hospital and begged Mona as an act of "Christian charity" and by way of a Christmas present, to forgive her all the unjust things Phoebe had done to her. She told Mona she was convinced that she has only a few short months to live and wanted Mona and Charles to be happy, with her blessing, if Mona would "give Charles back to me" for the few brief moments that remained. As Mona protested that she couldn’t "give" Charles, Phoebe overrode her words, going on to say that Charles could help an
Mona’s daughter, Erica, had confided to her that Nick Davis had asked Erica to move in with him, asking Mona in the name of her friendship with Nick, to appeal to him to put aside his wariness at marrying again. Mona saw Nick, but came away with the conviction that whatever his reason, ultimately Nick was right that marriage between himself and Erica would be a mistake. Erica was furious with her mother and pushed her out of her house bodily, but after she let Nick know how disappointed she was that the beautiful pearl necklace which was his Christmas gift to her was not an engagement ring, she said she was still in love with him and wouldn't dream of breaking off their relationship.
Dan Kennicott had finally broken off with Brooke English after she had once more lied to him about dating someone else. Though they had left it that each would date other people but would continue to see one another, the cooling process had set in and Dan had begun to see more and more of Devon Shephard. Devon's mother, Ellen, had continued to see Mark Dalton, telling Devon at one point that she was dating Paul Martin. As Paul was out of town, intending to see Ray Gardner at the time, Kate Martin was warned by Devon's grandfather and became part of the conspiracy to permit Ellen and Mark to see one another without Devon knowing. The need for deceiving Devon gave way in the face of a letter Devon received from her father, announcing that he had married the young woman he left Ellen for. After the first shock, Devon apologized to her mother for the months she had been bitterly maintaining that the blame for the split-up was Ellen's and she could mend the marriage anytime she chose. After reviewing her conduct and attitude toward her mother, she told Ellen that she had no right to dictate to her and wished her all the happiness she was capable of finding with whomever she chose.
After talking with Tara and letting slip her relationship with Nick and its duration - going back to before Erica's divorce from Phil Brent, Nick's son -, Erica staged a slightly hysterical scene for Tom Cudahy and got the day off. She phoned Nick and arranged to cook an intimate dinner for him, insisting he be at her place early. After she hung up, she finished packing a suitcase.
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