Ever After (Unfinished Fairy Tales #3)(31)
I do okay with the egg-collecting, thankfully. Some hens are uneasy—Mary tells me they want to hatch the eggs, while others are more docile. I also help clean the coop. Several boys and girls arrive later; they appear to be in their teens. I act quiet, keep my head down, and they leave me alone.
When we return to the cottage for lunch, Bertram is standing outside, pacing to and fro. His eyes light up when we approach.
“Everything fine with yer, Prin...Kat?”
“Nothing to worry about,” I say, lightly punching him on the shoulder. A punch from me would have the impact of a mosquito bite to him. “But thanks for coming to check up on me.”
“He came because he wanted a square meal,” Mary says. “The kitchens refused to give him fourth helpings ever since he was old enough to demand them.”
“Aw, it wasn’t so,” Bertram protests. “They had guests that day so Cook couldn’ spare more. ‘Sides, I gotta check up on Kat. His Highness would never forgive me if anything happened to her. Last time she got attacked in the street, he went white as a sheet.”
Mary glances at me, a curious look in her gaze. She must be wondering what the prince’s relationship with me is. Bertram also realizes he has said too much and tries to change the subject.
“Joel ain’t back for lunch today?”
“The school provides meals. I told him he could come home if he wants, but most other children take meals there, so he doesn’t want to stick out. Besides, it’s a long walk.”
I’m gratified to learn that Joel gets half a day of school with other servants’ children, and in the afternoon he runs errands. I’m surprised that he is allowed an education when compulsory education isn’t enforced, but Mary tells me it’s easier when the servants are educated. They can do more when they are able to read and write.
I wonder how Princess College is doing now. Before I left, I had decided with Edward that we would push for compulsory education for children, since my original idea of the Eight-Hour act didn’t do much for them. Once I get out of here, I’m going to march down to Princess College and see what I can do.
* * *
When Bertram leaves, whistling a tune, I help Mary clear the dishes and wash up.
“What do you think about Bertram?”
She raises her eyebrows. I had expected that she would be more malleable compared to Amelie, since she suffered from domestic violence and had to go through a divorce, but she seems tougher than I thought. Later I was to learn it has to do with pride. “Is this about his infatuation with my sister?”
“Sort of. Just curious—not that I’m asking her to accept Bertram, it’s entirely her choice, but I was wondering of the possibility of them getting together.”
She hands me a dripping dish for me to wipe dry. “Amelie can be stubborn, but I think she will come around. The problem is with Bertram. He needs to develop his affection. Right now it’s more of an infatuation.”
“What do you mean? Bertram has liked Amelie for ages.”
“Do you know the one time he presented her a bunch of flowers and it gave her allergies?”
“Oh.” Edward had told me that story on our journey to Northport, and I only felt amused at that time.
“They need to spend more time together, and if Amelie believes that Bertram is the man for her, she will accept him. I’ve told her I didn’t know my ex-husband well enough when I married. You see, it isn’t only my divorce that has made Amelie reluctant to have a relationship.”
“Can you elaborate? I mean, explain to me.”
“When we were children, my father had an affair.”
I almost drop the plate. “But… but…”
“And it’s not because he didn’t love my mother. As a matter of fact, he was so in love with her that it made him feel weak. So in order to appear more manly, he decided to take a mistress. It wasn’t hard for him, my father was good-looking,”—if Mary and Amelie inherited his looks, then I can see why—“and there were plenty of scullery maids in the kitchen who would gladly tumble in the hay with him for a silver coin. Or even free. My mother knew, but she never scolded him for it. There was this time that my mother took ill, and my father risked infection by staying with her. My mother would always be grateful for him for that.”
She looks at me pointedly. “That is why when I met my ex-husband, I thought he wouldn’t have this problem. He was so confident, so sure of himself. But even though he didn’t need infidelity to prove his manliness, he did seek other women. There was a mistress who demanded more money than he could afford from his pay, so he started to gamble. When he gambled away our house, he took to alcohol. He became a monster.”
As I listen to her pour out his story, I can’t help feeling how lucky I am. Edward never gave me cause for infidelity, nor do I think he would ever doubt his ‘manliness.’ I’m also surprised that Mary is willing to tell me so much, but I have the sense that she is lonely.
“Have you ever thought of finding another man?”
“I’ve had enough of he-creatures for a lifetime,” she answers. She looks just like Amelie when she speaks. “But I won’t forbid Bertram courting her, if she would have him. I made sure she wouldn’t allow herself to be trampled on.”