Mary Laura Wood

            On Friday morning I woke up a little earlier than usual. I think it was because I was excited about playing my guitar with the new machine for the B string.

I worked out the chords for the first two verses and part of the chorus of “Joujou a la casse" (Dolly to the Trash) by Serge Gainsbourg.

During song practice I found tuning the B string easier although I still had to tune it a bit after every song. It doesn’t seem to throw off the E string as much now.

I had wanted to finish washing the floor under the credenza in the kitchen but by the time I finished shaving, showering and doing the dishes there was no time. If only I could stop cleaning myself I would have more time to clean other things.

For lunch I tried one of the freeze dried meals that I’d gotten from the food bank. I guess for astronaut food the pepper steak and rice with sauce was okay.

In the afternoon I didn’t take a bike ride because I was behind on my journal.

I tried to set up the webcam that I’d bought the day before and found that the Aver Live Streamer Cam 313 required both the download of a driver and streaming software. I found a site that offered the download but halfway through I realized that I should probably be using software from the Aver company site and so I cancelled it. Aver had me download some “assist” software that was supposed to help me get everything I need for one of their products. Once I had that it didn’t seem to help. The Quick Guide in the box said I needed something called RECentral and so I downloaded and tried to install it but after more than an hour of all of this hoop jumping I finally got a message telling me that I needed a 64 bit computer for the streaming software while I have a 32 bit computer and so it’s not compatible. For a while I thought that maybe there had been an option for a 32 bit computer and that I’d just downloaded the wrong one but I concluded that I was wasting my time. I packed up the webcam in its box and set it aside with the receipt for my next trip downtown so I could return it and get my $100 back.

Some websites had referred to the Aver webcam as “plug and play. I plugged in the new Logitech mouse that I’d bought the same day and it worked right away. That’s what I call plug and play. Maybe I’ll try to find a Logitech cam somewhere after I get my money back.

I grilled two more pork chops because I’d only had room for four on the pan the night before. I had one with a yellow squash, a small potato and some gravy while watching two episodes of “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

In the second episode of the series we see that the Count Edmond Dantes now has established the team that came into being in the beginning. Jacopo is the count’s very agile and dangerous but diminutive and mute right hand man Jacopo and also Rico, the former Spanish soldier who joined the count in the middle of duelling with him.

Jean, the French consol to Spain, accompanied by his son Albert comes to see the count. Jean has been dismissed because French pirates have been attacking any Spanish ships with rich cargos. The count tells Jean that he and his team will immediately go to Marseilles to investigate but Albert insists on coming too in order to clear his father’s name. The count and his team pose as drunken sailors and enter a waterfront tavern. The count kisses the barmaid and a man named Marcel argues that she is his until the count give him wine. After the count buys drinks for everyone and draws their attention to the bar, Marcel turns out to be one of the count’s friends who are the eyes and ears of the docks. Marcel sends them to another tavern where the pirates may be drinking and there they meet a drunken sailor named Jacques. The count offers him a drink but Jacques insists on buying and pays with Spanish gold. When Jacques leaves they follow him to a ship called The Mistral. They still don’t know if it’s the pirate ship and so they go back to the inn to question the bartender for the name of the ship’s owner. Inside they are attacked and have to beat up a few sailors. The bartender is reluctant to name the owner of the Mistral until Jacopo throws a knife very close to him. The owner is a man named Rousse and so they break into his house where he is meeting with his partner Farnell. Farnell runs for a gun that is mounted on the wall and Albert throws a sword to kill him. The count and Jacopo go to the Mistral and leave Rico and Albert to watch Rousse. But suddenly Albert pulls a gun on Rico and reveals he is Rousse’s other partner and in fact the brains behind the operation. The count, Jacopo, along with Marcel and his men board the Mistral only to find it deserted. In the hold they find Rico and Albert bound and gagged and they are ambushed by Rousse and the pirate crew. The count says he knows that Albert is Rousse’s partner. Rousse tells Albert he is taking over the operation. Albert tries to run but is shot in the back and orders the ship to sail with plans of disposing of the count at sea. But the count has already notified the police. He whistles and they arrive to arrest Rousse and the pirates. The count later lies to Jean that his son died honourably.

In the second story Grand Duchess Therese of Luxembourg receives General Ludovic in her palace. She has been away since she was still a child and now her father is dead and she is ready to take his place. Since none of her subjects know what Therese looks like as an adult the general plans to have her cousin Madeline replace her so he can rule behind the scenes. His men have taken control of the palace and Therese is held prisoner out of sight. The general plots to sign a treaty with Russia so that Luxembourg will become a puppet state to serve Russia’s interests in Europe. Ludovic has arranged for a loan by the international banking house of the Count of Monte Cristo. The money will pay the army while the general consolidates his position. He suggests to Therese that whether she lives or dies depends on her future behaviour. The general meets with the count and introduces him to the fake duchess. The count is invited to stay at the palace and before he leaves the fake duchess he conveys to her a message from the Duke of St Germaine, who wanted to let her know that Janelle has had twins. She says she will write to Janelle to congratulate her. When the count is alone with Jacopo and Rico he tells them that the duchess is a fake, since the real duchess would have known that Janelle is a horse since she gave her to him. The count forces one of the palace servants to reveal where Therese is being held. The count evades the guards and climbs into Therese’s window and she reveals the details of the general’s plot. The count returns to his chamber and finds the general waiting for him. The count claims that he admires his ambition and willingly signs the papers for his loan to Ludovic. When the general leaves he explains to Jacopo and Rico that he was just buying time. But then they learn that there are guards everywhere to keep them from leaving. The count has Jacopo put a quilt against the bottom of the door. He soaks it withy brandy and lights it aflame. When the guards see the smoke they come in the room and are knocked out. The count goes to Madeline’s chamber and warns her that she is tempting the guillotine with her neck. She argues that since the count has approved the loan it puts the general firmly in power and so there is no danger to her. The count reveals that when he signed the loan he did not use his banking signature. He convinces Madeline that it is in her best interests to help the real duchess and so she reveals that she has been taken to her game keeper’s cottage. Madeline provides three horses for the count and his men. The cottage is full of soldiers but the acrobatic Jacopo surprises them and creates a violent diversion while the count and Rico attack from the front. The duchess is freed. When the count comes to break the news to the general they fight until Ludovic surrenders. The grand duchess assumes power, Madeline is forgiven and the count says Luxembourg will get the loan.

The duchess was played by Maureen O’Reilly.

Madeline was played by Canadian actor Mary Laura Wood, who was in the films “Payroll” and “Holiday in Spain”.  Unlike many Canadian actors Mary went to London rather than Hollywood. At the age of twelve she stole the show at a local play in Mount Allison, New Brunswick. She enrolled in the Mount Allison Conservatory of Music as a piano student and won first prize at the Dominion Music Festival in Halifax when she was fourteen. She went to Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh for the theatre program and in her final year won the Memorial Award for her contributions to the Drama Department. When she moved to London in 1946 she became the understudy to Betsy Drake in the play “deep Are the Roots”. When Drake dropped out to marry Cary Grant, Mary got the part. Later she was understudy to Vivian Leigh in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and took over the lead when the play went on tour. Her first movie was “Valley of the Eagles” in 1951. When she retired from acting she returned to New Brunswick and bought  a cottage by the sea. She died in 1990 at the age of 66.