With André and Kristen gone, the woman posing as Mimi wanders through the immense palazzo and finally arrives in the library. She sits in an overstuffed green chair and puts her feet up on the table. Everything is going perfectly. She has already sown the seeds of doubt in André’s mind, she could tell that by his reaction to her words. But Kristen, she will be a problem. Better to get her out of the way as soon as possible.
Restlessly she gets up and begins to pace around the room, absent-mindedly scanning the bookshelves. Suddenly a title catches her eye: The Subtle Art of Revenge. She pulls the book down from the shelf and steps back at once as she hears a soft click and the entire bookcase begins to rotate towards her....
“Then it was Marlena who was sent back through time... again?” Josh asks.
“John seems to think so, yes,” Tessa answers. “Apparently she was there one minute and, well, gone the next.”
“DiMera’s behind this, isn’t he?” It is more a statement than a question.
“That is what John believes.”
“Does he have any idea where Stefano could have taken her?”
“Unfortunately, no. He’s on his way here now.”
There is a pause. “We’ll find her,” Josh declares. “I don’t know how, but we’ll find her.”
“Speaking of happy couples, look at this one Abi, ‘The Wedding Feast.’” Maggie May indicates one of the paintings to her daughter.
“Mom...” Abi stares at the painting, scrutinizing the woman’s face. “It almost looks like Marlena!”
“You’re right, she looks exactly like Marlena! Funny, I never knew Marlena had any Italian ancestors.... oh, no!”
“What’s wrong?”
“The man she’s with... it’s Stefano!”
“Is she asleep?” Stefano asks Mimi who is returning from Marlena’s quarters.
“Yes, she was very tired after the feast,” Mimi replies.
“Ah, and what a lovely evening it was,” Stefano remembers fondly. “But now she must rest. She has an exciting day to look forward to tomorrow!”
“If the wedding is as spectacular as tonight’s celebration,” Adriano comments, “then I’d say we all do!”
“She seemed so... confused,” Cristina remarks. “As if she had no idea what was going on.”
“I am sure she was merely in awe,” Mimi responds. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I shall retire now. It has been a very long day.”
“Is that why she seemed so lost?” Cristina asks as Mimi leaves.
“Ah, Cristina, you are too observant,” Stefano tells her. “Very well, I shall tell both of you the truth. But you must never repeat what I am about to say to anyone, do you understand?”
“We haven’t told anyone the truth about you and Mimi, have we?” Adriano reminds him.
“Who would believe us if we did?” Cristina points out.
Adriano laughs. “That is true.”
“Marlena seems to be suffering from amnesia,” Stefano finally says. “It is perhaps a result of the...” He looks around and lowers his voice. “...time travel....”
Alone in her room, Mimi looks at the ring she took from Marlena’s finger. What place can there be for her here? Marlena has amnesia... if she does not remember how much she hates Stefano, how can she help but fall in love with him? No, there is nothing more for her here. Stefano will no longer need her, now that he has his beloved Marlena... but perhaps there is something she can do for him, for his daughter. Perhaps there is a way to save Kristen after all, she thinks as she slips on the ring. Even if he will never know....
Cristina looks at Adriano, then back at Stefano. “Then she comes from the twentieth century too?”
“What was that?” Stefano asks, hearing a noise nearby.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Adriano says.
“Probably a rat,” Cristina suggests.
“I loved her dearly,” Stefano continues, “and ever since I arrived here I have been searching for a way to bring her back. Now she is finally here with me, and no one can tear us apart....”
In an adjacent corridor, Giangiovanni motions for Emilia to be silent, and the two of them tiptoe safely away.
“Did you hear that?” Emilia asks in disbelief.
“He said they came from the twentieth century,” Giangiovanni says. “I do not understand, but that is what he said.”
“I KNEW something was not right with those two!” Marianna exclaims as the della Scoiattola sisters approach. “But time-travellers?”
“And the Contessa di Evani comes from their time too!” Emilia explains. “No wonder she seemed out of place.”
“Did she come on her own?” Annamaria asks.
“Stefano said he had been searching for a way to bring her back to him,” Giangiovanni replies.
Emilia considers what he has just said. “I would like to speak with this Marlena di Evani....”
“Josh, you’re never going to believe this,” Maggie May shouts breathlessly as she and Abigail rush into the laboratory.
“You said you never knew where Stefano ended up, didn’t you?” Abigail asks.
“That’s right, but what--”
“We know where he is,” Abigail begins.
“And we’re afraid he has Marlena with him.”
At that moment John comes in.
“John!” Abigail exclaims. “Marlena, is she with you?”
“No... what are you doing here?” he asks.
“Then it’s true,” Maggie realizes aloud. “John, Marlena’s with Stefano in fifteenth-century Tuscany!”
Mimi pauses before the door of the Palazzo diMera. She had first gone to the DiMera mansion in Salem where she learned that André and Kristen were on honeymoon here in Fiesole. Now that she is here, she is uncertain as to how to explain it all.
The door opens and Mimi finds herself looking at a face which mirrors her own!
A moment passes before realization dawns. “Lisa?”
“Hey sis,” Lisa replies, a smile spreading slowly across her face. “It’s been a long time.”
To be continued....