Madame Maude was an impressive looking woman, she was rather large and was
so tightly corseted that she creaked like a ship in full rigging. She had a
large, rather heaving bosom that seemed to comment on all things. The woman
could have been a shelving unit, for she had both table breasts and table
bottom. She gowned herself in heavy fabrics, and lavish designs. She had
spectacles that hung from a relatively long chain from her neck and she
carried a bulging folio filled with the newest fashion plates. She arrived
early at the Queen's quarters to discuss their charge. The only thing
Madame Maude learned about their ward was her majesty's complete and utter
indifference in the case. With her majesty's other daughter her majesty was
animated making suggestions about color and cut and generally making her
presence known. With this daughter her majesty did not discuss the fashions
and the colors that were "in" this year, she just looked at all the plates
with a general air of indifference. Madame Maude wasn't exactly relishing
the idea of meeting this second daughter; the first one was a twit, spoiled
rotten and wanting her bodices cut much too low for a girl of her age. She
was worried that this one would be worse. The other daughter entered the
room. What a surprise, thought Maude, this one has brown hair. Rather nice
coloring, pink cheeks, dark lips, decent figure rather on the hour-glass
side of things. A pretty girl overall, and obviously not in the habit of
being around her mother, Madame noted. Her dress was simple and homemade,
but pretty, Maude trusted that she would have good taste.
She was right, the girl did have good taste, and unfortunately she did not want to show off her endowments. The girl had a very nice largish chest, why ever would she not want to show it off? With this daughter it was age appropriate, as she was on the marriage-mart. The girl had very simple and elegant taste, preferring to wear the dress instead of having it wear her. Princess Odelle wanted everything as simple and elegant as possible, preferring that the amount of fabric and the fabric in question, tell of the wealth of the kingdom. She did not like ornamentation. She did like lace, and that cunning new trim just in from Paris. She would not let Maude go as big as she wanted to with her wardrobe.
Maude was ecstatic. This princess needed simply everything! She needed morning gowns, and evening gowns, and day dresses, and riding habits, and walking frocks, and traveling frocks, and undergarments, and corsets and dressing gowns. Oh it was simply too much. And, of course, everything made from the finest materials the world had to offer. There were dressing gowns of the finest Chinese silk, and night gowns of fine lawn and silk ribbons, and velvet riding habits with the finest calfskin boots, and embroidered ladies slippers. Oh Maude was salivating over it, and it would cost a fortune. Madame Maude thanked her lucky stars that she had chosen dressmaking over prostitution; though god knows that didn't prevent her from a little dabble now and then.
With that Madame Maude took a last sip of her tea, gathered her papers into her folio and took her leave of the house of Manderfeld; with a credit line of however much she needed to complete the wardrobe.
"Well," said the Queen, "you certainly have expensive tastes."
"Yes, I suppose I do. But Madame Maude did rather push me a little."
"Remind me to tell your father that when he remarks on the drain of the treasury." "Yes mother."
"You may go."
Odelle quite simply was overwhelmed. She had never had thought of having so many clothes in her life. She continued down the hall. My goodness, there would be balls and fetes and hunting parties, and musical afternoons now. She had to stop for breath. There would be formal dinners, and state holiday appearances. And one day, at one of the balls or fetes, there would be a foreign prince and he would fall in love with her! She looked up into the mirror sitting atop an occasional table, and smiled. And he wouldn't care about Felicia, stupid blonde Felicia. She continued down the hall, she needed to talk to Maura.
Three days later Odelle's clothing started to arrive. Each of the four dresses were wrapped in pale pink tissue paper and came in its own individual white cardboard box. As they arrived they were brought up to the Rose Room, where a delighted Odelle sat looking them over.
When the first boxes came Odelle was reading and Maura was embroidering. At the knock both women looked up startled, "Well aren't you going to answer it?" Maura asked. "I suppose so though I have no idea who that could be," Odelle glanced up at the mantle clock, "it's only eleven o'clock. Come in."
The door opened and a liveried footman entered carrying two large white boxes, "The man that brought them, highness, said that more would be coming by the end of the day. He said that they were from Madame Maude." He put the boxes down on a low ottoman and left. Odelle looked at the boxes strangely as if she expected them to get up and wander away.
"My dear, as much as I hate to interrupt this staring contest; I fear that as you cannot see through the boxes you must open them or suffer."
"Oh, Maura I can't open them."
"What ever do you mean child? You are speaking complete and utter nonsense."
"If I opened them, Maura, it would make them real. I don't think that I want to wake up from this dream"
"Go on. Open them. If it is real, is it the worse thing that could happen? No. Go on open the big box I promise you, you won't regret it."
Odelle stood up and walked over to the ottoman and selected the smaller box, and brought it back to the couch where she had been sitting. She slowly lifted the cover to reveal a pink silk dressing gown with white posies embroidered along the hem and a sheer white lawn night gown with pink posies embroidered at the neckline. It was a beautiful ensemble and Odelle would look ravishing in it.
"Oh Maura isn't this simply to die for, I mean look at it. It's the most perfect shade of pink..." she gushed on. Maura didn't stop her, she hadn't she hadn't seen her charge so animated in months. Odelle ran out with the ensemble to go twirl in front of a mirror. When she finally returned she pounced upon the second box, and practically tore it open in her haste to get to the contents. This box contained a beautiful royal blue riding habit complete with jaunty hat and curly feather, calfskin riding boots and gloves.
That afternoon Odelle entered the Rose Room from a walk with her friend to find that three more boxes had arrived. Odelle motioned for Rebecca to sit down so that she could see the newest things. Odelle picked the smallest box again on the assumption that good things come in small packages. She brought it over to a small settee and lifted the cover. Instead of the one or two things wrapped in pink tissue there were many small packages. She picked up a package and opened it. Two beautiful white gloves were revealed. She picked up another package: white gloves with one button at the inside of the wrist. She began to open the other packages. Gloves. All of them, gloves. There were satin elbow gloves for evening gowns, gloves with ruffles, gloves with buttons, gloves of lace, gloves of blue, and gloves of green. Gloves of every color that you had ever seen! Odelle and Rebecca looked over the myriad of gloves spread over every surface, "Odelle it appears that you have a pair of gloves for every purpose except gardening" Rebecca said sorting through a pile of gloves on her lap. She had on two different gloves, on her left she had an elbow length white satin and on her right a wrist high pale blue. "Yes, I do believe you're right... I wonder when the stockings arrive", Odelle laughed.
"Well go on aren't you going to open the other boxes?"
"Oh, no, what if they hold slippers? Or stockings? We'd never find our way out!"
The girls collapsed laughing on to their chairs. When they finally recovered, Odelle grabbed one of the boxes and brought it back to her chair. She lifted the lid and spread apart the tissue paper. With a squeal of delight she lifted out a pale blue morning dress trimmed with lace, it perfectly matched one of the gloves Rebecca was trying on.
"Oh Odelle imagine the affect it would have with a wide brimmed straw hat outside in the garden! Oh I should so love to paint that!" the girls continued to gush on about the dress, until one of them remembered the other box. They opened the remaining box and found inside a frothy pink sleeveless confection that seemed to be an evening gown. They were in raptures over it.
Over the next few weeks Odelle's wardrobe continued to arrive. There were gorgeous dresses of forest green velvet, and broad brimmed picture hats. There were ermine muffs, cloaks lined with mink, gloves and boots lined with soft rabbit fur, and big fur hats. Odelle gloried in her winter wear; she would be so warm this winter. There were summer muslins lined with lace in pale colors. There were frilly undergarments and corsets galore. There were nightgowns and day gowns and evening gowns and dress for all times of day and weather. There were also hats, so many different types of hats and all going with a specific dress. She had as many hats as she had dresses, maybe more. The Princess was in awe of her filled to brimming closet adjoining her suite. All in all she was as prepared for all circumstances as one could be with out the etiquette classes.
The day after her clothing started arriving a small odd man arrived at Odelle's quarters. The man announced himself as Henri and was sent by the queen to teach her court etiquette. Every other day from that day forward Odelle met with Henri in the ball room. Here she learned the proper curtsy for dukes, earls, counts, viscounts, knights, and kings. Then they would adjourn to the library to go through lineages. She learned that earls were a relatively new title so they could only trace that back to a certain century, and so on and so forth. She also learned that of the nobility she could only marry certain people; she learned that even if she wanted to she could not marry a viscount or a knight even though they were titled and owned land. She learned that princesses were supposed to marry unmarried kings, princes, dukes, or at the worst an earl and that was only if none of the others were available in any given time. Three weeks after Odelle began lessons a date was given for her coming out ball. Six weeks hence.
Answers to life's most burning questions: Kaio: Yes, Zorian and Trystan did remind the king about his other daughter. Teigre: I'm glad you find Fiametta's preconceived notions believable, but I just thought it was funny. All: This whole story is my tongue-in-cheek version of a fairy tale and I have no idea where it's going.
She was right, the girl did have good taste, and unfortunately she did not want to show off her endowments. The girl had a very nice largish chest, why ever would she not want to show it off? With this daughter it was age appropriate, as she was on the marriage-mart. The girl had very simple and elegant taste, preferring to wear the dress instead of having it wear her. Princess Odelle wanted everything as simple and elegant as possible, preferring that the amount of fabric and the fabric in question, tell of the wealth of the kingdom. She did not like ornamentation. She did like lace, and that cunning new trim just in from Paris. She would not let Maude go as big as she wanted to with her wardrobe.
Maude was ecstatic. This princess needed simply everything! She needed morning gowns, and evening gowns, and day dresses, and riding habits, and walking frocks, and traveling frocks, and undergarments, and corsets and dressing gowns. Oh it was simply too much. And, of course, everything made from the finest materials the world had to offer. There were dressing gowns of the finest Chinese silk, and night gowns of fine lawn and silk ribbons, and velvet riding habits with the finest calfskin boots, and embroidered ladies slippers. Oh Maude was salivating over it, and it would cost a fortune. Madame Maude thanked her lucky stars that she had chosen dressmaking over prostitution; though god knows that didn't prevent her from a little dabble now and then.
With that Madame Maude took a last sip of her tea, gathered her papers into her folio and took her leave of the house of Manderfeld; with a credit line of however much she needed to complete the wardrobe.
"Well," said the Queen, "you certainly have expensive tastes."
"Yes, I suppose I do. But Madame Maude did rather push me a little."
"Remind me to tell your father that when he remarks on the drain of the treasury." "Yes mother."
"You may go."
Odelle quite simply was overwhelmed. She had never had thought of having so many clothes in her life. She continued down the hall. My goodness, there would be balls and fetes and hunting parties, and musical afternoons now. She had to stop for breath. There would be formal dinners, and state holiday appearances. And one day, at one of the balls or fetes, there would be a foreign prince and he would fall in love with her! She looked up into the mirror sitting atop an occasional table, and smiled. And he wouldn't care about Felicia, stupid blonde Felicia. She continued down the hall, she needed to talk to Maura.
Three days later Odelle's clothing started to arrive. Each of the four dresses were wrapped in pale pink tissue paper and came in its own individual white cardboard box. As they arrived they were brought up to the Rose Room, where a delighted Odelle sat looking them over.
When the first boxes came Odelle was reading and Maura was embroidering. At the knock both women looked up startled, "Well aren't you going to answer it?" Maura asked. "I suppose so though I have no idea who that could be," Odelle glanced up at the mantle clock, "it's only eleven o'clock. Come in."
The door opened and a liveried footman entered carrying two large white boxes, "The man that brought them, highness, said that more would be coming by the end of the day. He said that they were from Madame Maude." He put the boxes down on a low ottoman and left. Odelle looked at the boxes strangely as if she expected them to get up and wander away.
"My dear, as much as I hate to interrupt this staring contest; I fear that as you cannot see through the boxes you must open them or suffer."
"Oh, Maura I can't open them."
"What ever do you mean child? You are speaking complete and utter nonsense."
"If I opened them, Maura, it would make them real. I don't think that I want to wake up from this dream"
"Go on. Open them. If it is real, is it the worse thing that could happen? No. Go on open the big box I promise you, you won't regret it."
Odelle stood up and walked over to the ottoman and selected the smaller box, and brought it back to the couch where she had been sitting. She slowly lifted the cover to reveal a pink silk dressing gown with white posies embroidered along the hem and a sheer white lawn night gown with pink posies embroidered at the neckline. It was a beautiful ensemble and Odelle would look ravishing in it.
"Oh Maura isn't this simply to die for, I mean look at it. It's the most perfect shade of pink..." she gushed on. Maura didn't stop her, she hadn't she hadn't seen her charge so animated in months. Odelle ran out with the ensemble to go twirl in front of a mirror. When she finally returned she pounced upon the second box, and practically tore it open in her haste to get to the contents. This box contained a beautiful royal blue riding habit complete with jaunty hat and curly feather, calfskin riding boots and gloves.
That afternoon Odelle entered the Rose Room from a walk with her friend to find that three more boxes had arrived. Odelle motioned for Rebecca to sit down so that she could see the newest things. Odelle picked the smallest box again on the assumption that good things come in small packages. She brought it over to a small settee and lifted the cover. Instead of the one or two things wrapped in pink tissue there were many small packages. She picked up a package and opened it. Two beautiful white gloves were revealed. She picked up another package: white gloves with one button at the inside of the wrist. She began to open the other packages. Gloves. All of them, gloves. There were satin elbow gloves for evening gowns, gloves with ruffles, gloves with buttons, gloves of lace, gloves of blue, and gloves of green. Gloves of every color that you had ever seen! Odelle and Rebecca looked over the myriad of gloves spread over every surface, "Odelle it appears that you have a pair of gloves for every purpose except gardening" Rebecca said sorting through a pile of gloves on her lap. She had on two different gloves, on her left she had an elbow length white satin and on her right a wrist high pale blue. "Yes, I do believe you're right... I wonder when the stockings arrive", Odelle laughed.
"Well go on aren't you going to open the other boxes?"
"Oh, no, what if they hold slippers? Or stockings? We'd never find our way out!"
The girls collapsed laughing on to their chairs. When they finally recovered, Odelle grabbed one of the boxes and brought it back to her chair. She lifted the lid and spread apart the tissue paper. With a squeal of delight she lifted out a pale blue morning dress trimmed with lace, it perfectly matched one of the gloves Rebecca was trying on.
"Oh Odelle imagine the affect it would have with a wide brimmed straw hat outside in the garden! Oh I should so love to paint that!" the girls continued to gush on about the dress, until one of them remembered the other box. They opened the remaining box and found inside a frothy pink sleeveless confection that seemed to be an evening gown. They were in raptures over it.
Over the next few weeks Odelle's wardrobe continued to arrive. There were gorgeous dresses of forest green velvet, and broad brimmed picture hats. There were ermine muffs, cloaks lined with mink, gloves and boots lined with soft rabbit fur, and big fur hats. Odelle gloried in her winter wear; she would be so warm this winter. There were summer muslins lined with lace in pale colors. There were frilly undergarments and corsets galore. There were nightgowns and day gowns and evening gowns and dress for all times of day and weather. There were also hats, so many different types of hats and all going with a specific dress. She had as many hats as she had dresses, maybe more. The Princess was in awe of her filled to brimming closet adjoining her suite. All in all she was as prepared for all circumstances as one could be with out the etiquette classes.
The day after her clothing started arriving a small odd man arrived at Odelle's quarters. The man announced himself as Henri and was sent by the queen to teach her court etiquette. Every other day from that day forward Odelle met with Henri in the ball room. Here she learned the proper curtsy for dukes, earls, counts, viscounts, knights, and kings. Then they would adjourn to the library to go through lineages. She learned that earls were a relatively new title so they could only trace that back to a certain century, and so on and so forth. She also learned that of the nobility she could only marry certain people; she learned that even if she wanted to she could not marry a viscount or a knight even though they were titled and owned land. She learned that princesses were supposed to marry unmarried kings, princes, dukes, or at the worst an earl and that was only if none of the others were available in any given time. Three weeks after Odelle began lessons a date was given for her coming out ball. Six weeks hence.
Answers to life's most burning questions: Kaio: Yes, Zorian and Trystan did remind the king about his other daughter. Teigre: I'm glad you find Fiametta's preconceived notions believable, but I just thought it was funny. All: This whole story is my tongue-in-cheek version of a fairy tale and I have no idea where it's going.