FLASHBACK: 'Another World' The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice (Part 17)

Eliot Carrington's (James Douglas) scheming wife Iris (Beverlee
McKinsey) saw in Russ Matthews (David Bailey) an excuse to
 relocate to Bay City...to keep her husband's wandering eye in check.

ANOTHER WORLD: The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice

The Soap Box
Vol. IV No. 7 July 1979
by Bryna Laub

(continued from Part 16)

Iris was upset to learn that Alice would soon be free and neatly managed to put her in an uncomfortable position. Discovering that Russ had recently achieved remarkable success with drug therapy on inoperable heart patients, Iris pressured Eliot into enrolling Dennis in Russ's therapy program, necessitating a move to Bay City. Alice would either have to leave Eliot's employ or face seeing Steven and Rachel together. Alice initially chose to remain in New York but Dennis' pleas that she see him through treatment overcame her determination to stay away.

Miraculously, Dennis began to respond almost immediately to the therapy and upon Russ's guarantee of a full cure for the boy, Eliot told Alice he was laying the groundwork for a divorce.

Even though Alice was now living at her parents' home and only staying in Eliot's hotel suite when he was away, Iris sensed Eliot had fallen in love with Alice and suspected an affair. So she arranged with Mrs. Goddard to have Eliot's suite "bugged" to keep tabs on their relationship.

Steve Frame (George Reinholt) and
Rachel Clark (Victoria Wyndham)
married on June 15, 1973.

Steven's divorce went through without complications and he and Rachel together told Jamie that Steven was his real father but they had been unable to be married when he was born. Jamie, who adored Steven, was overjoyed.

To Steven's amazement Rachel then insisted their wedding ceremony take place on the terrace of his house, on the exact spot where he married Alice. She further requested they honeymoon in his house on St. Croix. When Mary Matthews complained to Steven that Rachel was doing this to hurt Alice, Rachel denied the charge, explaining she was trying to replace bad memories with new, happy ones and to show the past couldn't hurt them anymore. So Steven agreed.

Rachel's joy was complete when Gerald made a quick trip back to give her away, this time in the marriage of her dreams. And of course Alice was humiliated and miserable on that day, remembering her own wedding and suffering the pain of knowing she had lost Steven forever.

Accepting the inevitable, Alice let Eliot know that if he were free, she would be receptive to a marriage proposal. So Eliot hired John to go ahead with any divorce terms he could work out. To Eliot's delight, John discovered Eliot's "ironclad" contract with Mac was only good within the United States. If he were willing to write his column from anywhere else in the world, Mac couldn't control his career. Eliot gave John the go-ahead to file for the divorce and asked Alice to think about living in Europe.

Steven was determined to keep Alice out of his thoughts and make this marriage work for all their sakes. But Rachel, finally having what she wanted, was unable to leave well-enough alone. As long as Alice was in Bay City she made Rachel uncomfortable and Rachel wanted her gone.

Rachel began to spread rumors that Alice was having an affair with Eliot, rumors which were quickly traced back to Rachel. Steven discovered this and warned Rachel to leave Alice alone. But Rachel then found a box of baby things tucked up in back of a rarely-used storage closet and maliciously sent the box to Alice. Jim and Mary intercepted it before Alice saw the contents but she eventually learned what Rachel had done. When Steven heard about it, he was furious and demanded Rachel apologize to Alice. Rachel tried to convince him it was an innocent error in judgment but she realized she had gone too far. Steven was pulling away from her and she couldn't draw him back.

The last thing Rachel needed now was for Gerald to return to Bay City. But Gerald did come back, smarting under the loss of all his money and an ill-advised investment scheme in California. He went to Steven asking him to back him another business, after all, he was his father-in-law. When Steven refused, Gerald became angry, blurting out that Steven owed it to him for it if weren't for him, he wouldn't be married to Rachel and have his son with him. Steven listened incredulously to Gerald's story, asking only if Rachel had been part of the trap. Gerald assured Steven she was not, but Steven wasn't convinced.

George Reinholt as Steven Frame and Jacqueline
Courtney as Alice Matthews Frame.

Steven went home to confront Rachel, refusing at first to believe she hadn't planned the whole scheme with Gerald. She frantically explained how it had happened, admitting Gerald told her months later but before they were married. When he asked her why she hadn't told him then, she replied she had no more assurance he would have believed her then than he did now. Steven seemed to accept this, or at least to consider it.

However, Steven was now having serious doubts. He confided to Lenore that when he was with Rachel he loved her but as soon as they were apart, his doubts immediately surfaced and with them came thoughts of Alice. He was becoming obsessed with the idea of talking to Alice, to explain everything to her. Lenore tried to help Steven by telling Alice it was Gerald who set them up but Alice replied it didn't matter. The end of their marriage came when she learned Steven was with Rachel while she was losing their baby.

After Alice had turned down several attempts by Steven to set up an appointment, her sister Pat finally persuaded her to see him, if only to put all the ghosts of their relationship to rest. So Alice agreed to a short meeting in Eliot's suite, telling herself this would prove once and for all that she no longer loved him and he had no hold on her.

But when Steven gently and painstakingly explained each step in what had happened, how it began as an innocent protective white lie which grew into an entrapping web of lies, Alice found herself wavering. Then Steven explained Gerald's setting them up so Alice would find him with Rachel. And when Alice told Steven what she had heard, Rachel talking about how close they were that day she lost her baby, Steven told Alice what she would have heard if she had stayed only a moment longer, how that closeness was only in Rachel's mind.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Steve and Alice finally talked about the day Alice left Bay City in a conversation that took place in Eliot's study on October 8, 1973.



EDITOR'S NOTE: Stay tuned for Part 18 of Another World - The Story of Steven, Rachel & Alice.

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