*******Ella*******
"Ella! Come here!" Hattie ordered.
I waited as long as I could, hoping Mandy would return to the kitchen and give the counter order but she didn't. I left the kitchen and the symptoms stopped. I went up to Hattie's room where she was sitting at her dressing table.
"It's so nice to have you feeling better. I'm going out in an hour and I need you to style my hair. Do good and don't pull very hard," she commanded.
I smiled; she didn't want me to pull hard because I might pull off her wig. I began combing her hair. Any moment she would tell me the real reason for my presence. I waited. Finally she opened her large mouth.
"Charmont, he asked me not to refer to him so formally," I knew this wasn't true or he would've told her to call him Char, she continued, "is going to Bast to propose to Lady Lela."
I knew this from his journal entry two days previous but I decided to humor her, "Who is this Lady Lela?"
"She's this skinny little wench from Bast. She and Charmont danced almost the entirety of the three balls!"
"Is she beautiful?" I asked, as if I didn't want her to be more beautiful than me.
Hattie smiled an evil smile, "She's absolutely gorgeous. She has beautiful brown hair and she's ever so graceful. Not as beautiful as me of course but it isn't hard to see why Charmont was infatuated with her."
I pretended to be hurt. Hattie went on to tell me about the third ball for the eighth time. I didn't listen. I was thinking about Char. What would he do when he discovered that Lela didn't exist? Would he figure out what I had done? Finally Hattie dismissed me and I returned to help Mandy in the kitchen.
"Ella! Come here!" Hattie ordered.
I waited as long as I could, hoping Mandy would return to the kitchen and give the counter order but she didn't. I left the kitchen and the symptoms stopped. I went up to Hattie's room where she was sitting at her dressing table.
"It's so nice to have you feeling better. I'm going out in an hour and I need you to style my hair. Do good and don't pull very hard," she commanded.
I smiled; she didn't want me to pull hard because I might pull off her wig. I began combing her hair. Any moment she would tell me the real reason for my presence. I waited. Finally she opened her large mouth.
"Charmont, he asked me not to refer to him so formally," I knew this wasn't true or he would've told her to call him Char, she continued, "is going to Bast to propose to Lady Lela."
I knew this from his journal entry two days previous but I decided to humor her, "Who is this Lady Lela?"
"She's this skinny little wench from Bast. She and Charmont danced almost the entirety of the three balls!"
"Is she beautiful?" I asked, as if I didn't want her to be more beautiful than me.
Hattie smiled an evil smile, "She's absolutely gorgeous. She has beautiful brown hair and she's ever so graceful. Not as beautiful as me of course but it isn't hard to see why Charmont was infatuated with her."
I pretended to be hurt. Hattie went on to tell me about the third ball for the eighth time. I didn't listen. I was thinking about Char. What would he do when he discovered that Lela didn't exist? Would he figure out what I had done? Finally Hattie dismissed me and I returned to help Mandy in the kitchen.