Cinderella
"Keep being a good girl, and God will bestow his grace upon you."
Those were the last words my Mama spoke to me. I was six at the time and she had been sick for a while when my governess brought me to her room. Two days later, Mama was no more.
I tried to be good. I really did.
...
In the following months, everybody tried to move on, to pick up the pieces and keep our home running. Everyone, from Jacque the steward, to the lowest of the servants. Everyone except Papa, as the days, not to speak of months, passed, he became more and more sad, more and more distant from everything he had once held so dear. And finally one day, he left.
I didn't understand it. I neither could nor would understand the pain my father felt, and what it did to him. What I did understand was that his departure marked the end of those six gloomy months that had followed Mama's death, and the beginning of a glorious time of freedom and joy.
...
The following two and a half year will always stand as some of the happiest in my memory. While I had to continue studying with my governess, I was also allowed to play with the other children who resided on the grounds. We swam in the lake, climbed the trees and had epic snowball battles in the gardens that surrounded the house, and when nighttime came, we would gather around the big oak wood table in the kitchen and my governess would tell old legends and fairy stories that left us in wide-eyed wonder.
Nevertheless, after thirty wonderful months, he returned. My father was back, and with him, he brought a new wife and two new daughters.
Mother was… strict… That is really the best way to say it.
She had barely entered the house, before she started to change everything. The food was not good enough, so we had to get a new cook. She had the house completely redecorated with new carpets and furniture from top to bottom. The gardens never became the same again. I swear she drew poor Jacque almost completely insane with her many demands for changes of staff and routine.
As for me: Well, in the beginning it was not too unbearable. Mother mostly ignored me. While I was no longer allowed to hang around in the kitchen, I could still find time to see my friends. For a while I didn't realize the changes she made, but they were most definitely there. The quality and quantity of my clothes became poorer and poorer, and slowly she started excluding me more and more from my father's company. Moreover, she made me do various chores around the house. Chores that in no way should be handed to a daughter of the house and which certainly wasn't something her own daughters should do.
It was a slow process, so for the first two years… I was happy.
I was content with having my father back and having two new sisters to share the long hours in the schoolroom with.
Giselle and Charlotte, as my sisters are called, were raised strictly and in a rather narrow minded fashion. They were taught not to think of their own happiness in any matter, but rather on how their choices would reflect on their family. This mentality showed in all they did, from their luxurious and beautiful clothes, to the graceful and majestic yet timid way they carried themselves. For Giselle this was easy. She was by nature the true lady her mother was trying to raise, and Charlotte and me as younger sisters would try to mimic her in every small movement. It wasn't an easy task, but I was not expected to master the art of ladyship, so I got away with a lot of small mistakes that would have made Mother swing the belt over Charlotte. Poor Charlotte, where Giselle was truly calm and graceful, Charlotte was a bundle of energy and seemed to have two left feet. It surely didn't help that her voice seemed to get stuck in a rather high octave whenever she spoke or laughed loudly, something she had a habit of and that Mother never took kindly to.
But as I said, they are my sisters, and, for the first two years, we managed to share our days despite the different treatments we got from Mother, and was it ever different. Giselle and Charlotte were always well dressed and wore five different dresses every day. They would wear one, from when they got up in the morning and till it was time for lunch, one from after lunch to the afternoon tea was served in the orangery, then another change for a dress they would wear until just before dinner and then one to wear at the dinner table and until it was time to go to sleep, and finally they had several nightgowns to chose from when they went to bed. Besides that, they each had different dresses to ride in, a number of parasols, shoes and hats. A sudden extra dress change could suddenly be necessary if father brought guests home or if there was a party to attend. As for me, I had one dress per day, one nice dress that I wore to church every Sunday and in the afternoons if Father brought a guest home. I also had an evening gown that, despite being a hand me down from Giselle, was good enough to wear when we had guests over in the evening.
...
One of the first chores Mother gave me was to wake my sisters up in the morning, bring them their breakfast and help them get dressed. It was such a morning that Giselle very quietly admitted to me that she was a little jealous of the freedom I experienced. Looking back, I can see what she meant. My sisters had to be ladies twenty-four hours a day; they weren't ever allowed to forget their place or their rank in society. I was still allowed to 'run along and play with my friends', scrape my knees and get dirty. I only realized why I was not ordered to stay away from the servants' children, when Mother collected me from the schoolroom and brought me to the kitchen. It was because she thought I belonged among them.
From that day on I was no longer allowed to be at the dinner table. I ate in the schoolroom with my sisters or in the kitchen with the staff. My evening dress was taken away and I only wore my good dress to church, where Mother reluctantly had to let me sit with the family.
...
And so, my life changed again. Every morning I was up at the crack of dawn or before, depending on the season, to help around the kitchen to get plates ready for my family. Then eight hours of classes followed and then I was back in the kitchens until dinner, after which I was free to play two or three hours until I went to bed around nine o'clock.
Day after day, year after year.
There were few bright spots, but they were there and they meant the world. I can only ever be thankful to Father for insisting on continuing my education, Mother wanted to drop it, as the teachers she hired wanted more payment to teach three girls instead of two. But father stood his ground and insisted that I got my education even if it only was to ensure me a career as governess later on. This is the only time I've ever heard him raise his voice against Mother. At any other time it was his faithful steward Jacque who would watch over me and make sure I was never kept working outside of my schedule and he got me a bed in the room behind the big oven in the kitchen, so that I never had to freeze at night. Sometimes he also managed to get me pieces of the sweet desserts served to my family in the dining room. It was first recently I learned that the treats, I shared so secretly with my roommates, all came from Giselle's plate, sneaking them to me were one of the many ways I felt her support through the years. Another came when Charlotte started calling me by that dreaded nickname which soon would be the only name I had to my family.
...
It started on a bright day in the middle of April. Winter was over and a good spring cleaning was in order. I was helping cleaning out the chimney, when I was suddenly called up to help Mother with a flower arrangement. On my way up I passed Giselle and Charlotte. I heard Charlotte's voice loud, clear and high-pitched calling out from behind me: "Look at how dirty you are Daniela. You look like a… a… a Cinderella, yes that's it. Daniela is Cinderella…" I rolled my eyes and hurried into the living room, it was typical of Charlotte. Mother greeted me with a simple: "Hand me those roses… Cinderella."
Soon everybody used the name, and I accepted it, because… what else could I do? But when I helped my sisters change dresses, when we were alone in their room, Giselle would never address me as anything else than Daniela and, eager to be like her sister, Charlotte soon dropped the nickname too, at least in private.
...
And so we come to the part of my story that everybody seems to focus on, the ball. Gossip had been going around for a while, before the king finally confirmed the rumors by sending out invitations to all of the big houses, inviting all unmarried daughters to the castle so he could choose a bride among them. Mother was of course ecstatic. She had been keeping from giving a clear answer to any of Giselle's admirers in the hope that something really good would show. And now the chance seemed to be here. For Giselle, who at eighteen, was at just the right age to catch a husband, and for Charlotte who despite only being fifteen years old was old enough to catch the eyes of young men.
Giselle and Charlotte themselves mostly seemed excited about the prospect of going to a ball at the castle. Giselle told us about it, while I helped them get dressed. She had been there a few weeks earlier when she made her debut in the social life. It had been a beautiful ball she told us. Entranced by her story, I accidentally exclaimed: "That sounds wonderful, Giselle. I wish I could go with you and see it all." Charlotte, being Charlotte, immediately followed my wish up by telling the maid, who was handing me different pins and ribbons to style her hair: "Go ask Mama if Daniela can come with us to the ball!" The maid was out before I could even try to stop her, ten minutes later I was called to mother's room.
When I entered her room, she sent me a very displeased look and then slowly said: "So. I understand you want to go to the ball." Without even waiting for an answer, she told me that it was out of the question, that I didn't have an appropriate dress and that I would only embarrass them all and ruin my sisters' chance of impressing the king.
And so she sent me down to my room behind the kitchen, where I found that all of my roommates very excited and… giggling, they led me to the big washing hall were we washed our clothing and the staff took their baths. They told me to hurry and then handed me over to the four maids whom were usually in charge of helping Mother with her baths. They worked quickly and soon I was bathed, dried and rubbed in sweet scented oil that I recognized as Charlotte's favorite. Someone knocked on the door and one of them whispered in my ear: "They're out of the house, hurry." Then they led me up stairs, where they had found a dress hidden away and forgotten in the back of Giselle's wardrobe, as well as a pair of slippers, decorated with pearl embroidery, from Charlotte's room. It all fit well, and as soon as they could put my hair up, I was led downstairs to the hall. Jacque waited for me. He offered me his arm and smiled kindly down at me as we walked out the door. "I've hired a cab, Little Mademoiselle," Jacque told me "It'll bring you to the castle and bring you back home at midnight. Remember, you must be on time so your mother doesn't find out." With those words, he helped me into the waiting cab and turned to the driver: "When you return, come around to the back and get the rest of the payment." The driver nodded and we drove off.
...
The ball was amazing. The ballroom was huge and tastefully decorated. Nobody seemed to notice me at first, just another pretty face in the crowd, but then a man asked me to dance. He was a tall, handsome man in his mid-twenties. As we danced, he started talking casually to me: "Are you enjoying this little gathering?" I smiled and bowed my head in a nod: "Yes, very much so. Though at first I was afraid I would end up a wallflower." He chuckled: "I would think myself a terrible host, if I allowed that to happen to such a beautiful woman." I blinked. I hadn't realized whom I was dancing with, but I had to compose myself before he realized my befuddlement, so I just said the first thing that came to my mind: "I don't think Your Majesty would be capable of such indiscretion." Once again he laughed and we danced together for as many dances as we could afford without seeming tactless.
Feeling almost lightheaded from bliss, I went over to the wall, making sure to stand by a window so I could see the watch on the clock tower. I had not been standing there for long, when I heard a way too familiar voice from behind me: "Excuse me, Mademoiselle, but you seem to be wearing my dress." I whirled around to face my older sister, whom was smiling pleasantly to me. She spoke quietly to make sure no one would hear her: "You should have told me of this, Daniela. I wouldn't have told Mama, and I could have helped." I just stared at her and apparently, she took my silence as approval to continue: "I know just the dresses for you to wear. You know that light-blue one I wore at Gaston LeFou's gala last summer? And for the third installment of this ball you should wear something really nice, I have just the one. It's gorgeous and will go really well with those golden satin slippers of Charlotte's, you know, the ones with the crystal butterfly decorations." She gently took my hand. "I better go now, Mama would be very cross if she found us together." And then she dashed off leaving me rather taken aback by her sudden appearance.
I glanced out the window and saw that it was almost midnight. I hurried out of the ballroom, not sensing anything but the need to reach my cab and get home in time. I didn't even notice the king calling out behind me, and I was well on my way home before I saw him following the cab. I got the driver's attention and told him to let me off by a small door in the garden wall, and then I hid in the dovecot 'till the king and his men rode of. When I entered the house, Jacque had made sure that a few maids were ready to help me back in my old clothes.
...
Next morning Giselle told me that Father had chopped open the dovecot with an axe and my roommates swore they had heard him muttering something about me as he went to get the axe. For the first time in my life I was scared, no terrified, of my quiet and distant father. In their own chambers, Charlotte let me know that she was not happy with being kept in the dark, but with a bit of persuasion she was in on the plan. The dress Giselle had chosen for me was hanging ready in the wardrobe, and after a quick transformation, I was off to the ball.
...
Once again the king devoted most of the evening to me. I spent a bit of time with my sisters. Just having fun with them was something I had not been able to do for years and I suddenly realized how much I missed them. At midnight I hurried out to my cab. When the king tried to follow me, I escaped him by hiding in an old pear tree in the garden. Just as I entered the kitchen, after changing back to my own clothes, I heard the pear tree hit the ground. Next morning, I quietly left my parents' breakfast on their nightstand and slipped out of their chambers. I'd rather face Mother's wrath later, than face my father.
...
But I still went for the third installment and it went even better, than the former two, except that I lost my shoe on my way to catch my cap.
The next morning the king arrived at our doorstep, looking for the girl he had met at the ball. Mother hoped to make him marry one of my sisters, as the only clues he had to go by was that the girl always disappeared in our garden and a small slipper she had lost on her way out.
...
I was asked to bring refreshments for the guests. As I entered the room, Giselle had already tried the shoe and realized it did not fit, as her foot was too broad over the toes. I saw mother hand Giselle a knife: "Cut your toe off. When you are queen, you won't need to walk." After that, everything happened really fast. Giselle took a step backwards, away from mother and yelled at the top of her lungs: "NO! I WILL NOT CUT MY TOE OF JUST TO FIT A SHOE!" Everybody in the room gasped, because this was not behavior anyone would expect from my sweet and polite sister. Giselle straightened her back and corrected a fold in her dress, she eyed me with a smile and then turned to address Father: "I think Daniela should try the shoe now, after all she is the middle child." Now the king broke in and asked my father: "Middle child? Didn't you say you had only two daughters?"
My father could not have looked more embarrassed than he did when he answered the king: "My first wife had a daughter, whom we call Cinderella, but it can't be her…" My world fell apart in that moment. 'My first wife had a daughter.' I didn't hear the king order my father to bring me out, it was Giselle, who with a gentle hand on my back pushed me to step forward, take the shoe and put it on. Somewhere behind me, my father was trying to explain my state of dress, while Mother shrieked that I had not been at the ball. This prompted Charlotte to exclaim: "And why shouldn't Cinda… I mean Daniela go to the ball? She is our sister… even if she is kind of weird…" she trailed off, "What with working with servants and all…" I barely heard Mother shush Charlotte as I stood there, staring at the beautiful slipper, that was sticking out under my work dress. 'My first wife had a daughter'. Father didn't see me as his child at all. Helplessly I looked up at the king; he smiled gently down at me and drew me into a warm embrace. "Don't worry, Daniela. I'll take care of you." His voice became harsh and cold when he addressed my father: "Your daughters will accompany their sister to my court! You and your wife will be allowed to remain free. Live your lifeas you please, as long as you never come near my family again!" Then he and his men led me and my sisters out of the house and into our new lives.
...
My husband has been very gracious to me, and arranged very favorable marriages, with good men for my sisters. Jacque left my father's service shortly after my wedding, as did most of our old staff. Losing her daughters drove Mother almost insane, she had poured her life into securing their future and now that that was out of her hands, she tried to make up for it by completely taking over the household and micromanaging every detail. As a result, she became almost impossible to work for. We sisters tried to find new employment for the staff, and managed mostly to do so. Giselle found an open spot as a steward in one of her husband's households, which she offered Jacque. We often spend our summers at that chateau and Jacque remains, as always, a loyal confidant for all three of us sisters.