When Ben and Arlene are formally charged, they are at odds and so are their mothers; but the shock is too much for Carrie, she collapses and is rushed to the hospital.

Arlene is understandably bitter when Ben is released on bail (Meg and her money come in handy) but Ray Slater comes forward, promising Arlene he will do all that he can to help her.

Meg hits upon the perfect defense strategy for Ben. She has managed to retain Mark Belder, the famous lawyer, to defend Ben (despite her son's wishes to the contrary). Diminished responsibility is the plea she decides will get him off. Right or wrong, Meg is determined to save Ben -- even from himself.

Cal faces turmoil on many fronts. Her concern for Ben, for Betsy, and her growing fear that something is going wrong with her involvement with Rick. Joe tries to comfort her, Meg warns her that she is a romantic -- and they are always hurt by the world. Rick, in his way, tries to warn her about himself but she pays no heed.



Rick is on the horns of a dilemma: does he want to be Cal's husband, Meg's lover (with its rewards and strings)... or neither? He honestly doesn't know, but how he wishes he did.

Betsy moves into the riverhouse despite its memories and she accepts Jamie's offer of a job. Ben comes to see her there. She rebuffs him, but he pledges his love and his desire to do what she wants him to do.

Later, Ben tells Cal that if Betsy would take him back, he would plead insanity and let Belder get him off, but now he wants to learn if he can depend on himself. He knows he can always depend on the family.

Meg is not so taken with Ben's problems that she is blind to the threat posed in her campaign to have Rick for herself. She sets in train a strategy to try to wear Cal down: she refers to Cal's "crush" on Rick, and older man.

Charles chooses to belittle Joe, making snide remarks about his doctor and referring toh is advice as two-bit psychology, accusing Joe of trying to strip away his few remaining pleasures. On Charles's insistence, he and Felicia go to see Eddie Aleata. As she looks at Eddie, Felicia's face betrays the stirring of longing she feels. Charles is quite upset when he looks at her.



When Charles reminds Felicia that she once said she was ready to be a full woman, a full wife, but now... he cannot satisfy her needs, Felicia hastily demurs, saying that the intimate part of her life is not important to her; Charles is happy to believe her.

She fails in her attempt to paint out her frustrations and is horrified to find herself sketching Eddie; worse, when she looks in the mirror she sees herself as withering away and undesirable. Her inner voice reminds her of Eddie, Eddie. ...She may be able to deceive Charles, but how much longer can she deceive herself?

Arlene's Revenge

Ray Slater arranges Arlene's $6,000 bail -- for a price -- but not before insuring that she will be good and grateful. The price is not cheap: it never is with the Rays of this world.

Temporarily free, Arlene hastens to her mother's bedside and soon Ray arrives, too. Carrie neither likes nor trusts her daughter's benefactor, but she agrees with him that Arlene should "cop a plea." Arlene wants to fight, to make sure she isn't left holding the bag for Ben if he goes free, but for Carrie's sake, she agrees.

At a meeting with the court's representative who will make recommendations to the judge, Arlene (who can imagine nothing worse than jail) drops a bombshell: Ben's divorce papers were forgeries, she says.

Rick's dilemma may be forcibly solved for him. Meg, crying out how much she has been hurt by him, gives him an ultimatum: either he breaks off with Cal immediately, or she will tell Cal about their affair. Rick does not take kindly to her threats, but he is quite neatly boxed in by them.

Ben begs Betsy to accept all the money he had earned working for Sara, nothing he offers her comes from Meg. Betsy's efforts to steel herself against him are about to dissolve under the onslaught of his persistence when his chances are destroyed in one fell swoop: she is asked to testify in Ben's behalf and suspects trickery. Poor Ben must face his sentencing without hope of getting Betsy back.



Almost as a last request, Ben asks Cal to tell Betsy for him how much he loves her. Before being sentenced, Ben addresses the bench. He forfeits all chance for an appeal when he accepts full responsibility for what happened, and he apologizes to Arlene, begging the court to let her go free. Meg is horrified, and Betsy heartbroken, when the judge pronounces sentence: Ben will have to serve from one to four years in prison; Arlene is given six months' probation.

Joe Cusack suspects that Carrie's illness may be caused by a weakened aorta, although it is too soon to be certain. Arlene is, of course, quite worried about her mother, and she blames herself for causing Carrie so much concern. Carrie knows her daughter, and she confides in Jamie that, although Arlene has a lot of spunk, she is not as tough as she pretends -- what she needs is to be loved and cared for. Deep down, Carrie feels she has not much longer to live and she asks Jamie to make her will. She wants to make sure that Arlene will receive what little she has.

Ray Slater expects his payment for helping Arlene. When she rebuffs his advances, he is at first angry, but then he tells her he can wait. For something he really wants, he can be very patient.

What Price Freedom?

Arlene chafes at the strictures placed on her by the probation officer. Carrie reminds her that she should be grateful for probation; but Arlene feels that the price for it is too high. They both get very excited during this talk and Arlene is horrified to see Carrie have an attack.

Felicia's and Eddie's mutual joy over some tapestry reproductions excludes Charles, to his displeasure. The tapestry of their lives is becoming more intricate, more interwoven, even though Eddie silently tells himself not to be a fool: Felicia and he can share the beauties of art -- and that is all.

Meg pulls no punches in her effort to break up Rick and Cal: he breaks off with her daughter or the money for Schuyler Mountain will not be forthcoming. He mentions to Arlene that tonight he must do the hardest thing he has ever done in his life. When Cal comes to the club to tell him she will not allow her mother to interfere in her life, Rick forestalls her, saying there is something he has to tell her.



When it comes to the point, Rick is not a match for Meg. She holds all the aces. He breaks off with Cal, who is devastated by his announcement, but she will not give up: someday Rick will come back because he still loves her, as she loves him.

Rick, for his part is not pleased by a visit from Meg. Has she come to gloat? He loathes her for what she forced him to do.

Meg is not glorious in victory. She has lost her children... and now Rick is the only thing left that she does want, and she has not the strength to bear another failure, another loss.

Eddie wants to take Cal away from Rosehill for a while. A cruise on the Ariadne would help lift her spirits. His own spirits would do with some lifting. He and Felicia can no longer pretend there is no great attraction between them, drawing them ultimately toward what involvement? They have one beautiful moment of complete understanding. It will not be easy, but they must end before they have begun.

At Tom's insistence, Betsy calls their parents, in England. She will got to visit them for a while, but she fully intends to return to Rosehill for the birth of her baby.

The baby is of prime importance to others besides Betsy. Ben feels, no matter what rights he may have forfeited, that the baby will always be his; he asks Sara to protect Betsy and the baby from whatever plot Meg may come up with to gain control of them.



At the same time, Betsy is facing up to Meg. Meg's offer of her home and the best medical care available, are of course declined by Betsy. Meg then threatens Betsy with legal action if the young woman attempts to wipe out the baby's true heritage. If Meg wants a fight, she may well be very surprised. Betsy will give her a fight, alright, a fight she says Meg will never forget -- if she dares even think about Betsy's baby. Betsy has changed: she is now a woman to be reckoned with in her own right.

Ray Slater offers a job to Arlene and the only payment he wants is for her to love him the way she loved Ben. Ray then offers to buy into the Schuyler Mountain project, to Meg's surprise. At her refusal, he smiles and tells her never to say never.