Chapter 78
The next day, Scarlett was overseeing the gardener who was weeding the lawns and shuffling a few potted plants when she saw Ella bawling loudly and flinging her favourite doll at the maid. She called Ella to her side and found that she was inconsolable. Weary of her tears, she called for the maid in irritation and asked her what happened.
"I only gave her a small scolding for spilling her milk on the floor. She jumped up when she saw a bird flapping at the window and tipped the glass.
"Ella, say you are sorry-"
"I didn't do it on purpose" cried Ella, her voice raising to an angry pitch until she prepared for a full scream. "Letty hates me. She always treats me as if I didn't have feelings. And she tells on me in such an awful way- she does. She really does!"
The maid glanced from Ella to Scarlett, with hidden smugness in her face. "She is just crying for pity, Miss. Scarlett. Don't you believe anything she says. Why should I hate the little miss? Why I have nothing but love and devotion to this family-"
"Yes, yes Letty- Ella will apologize to you when she feels calmer. Now be off and leave us alone." Scarlett looked flustered and then she remembered the doll that was still lying on the floor and went to get it. "Look, honey- you split the milk on her dress too-"
Ella stopped crying for a moment and felt the doll's dress and then she stopped sobbing and looked afraid.
"There's a small bucket behind the gardener's shed. You could wash off the stain if you go quickly-"
They walked to the gardener's shed together but seeing Ella look hesitant, Scarlett took the doll from her hands and quickly rinsed the dress and squeezed out the water.
"Thank you, Mother" replied Ella, suddenly turning back into that sweet child she had been yesterday. She turned doting eyes on Scarlett. It was a look Scarlett saw very often nowadays and it vaguely frightened her. She didn't know why.
"Ella, why did you really cry so loudly? You hardly seemed like the interesting story-teller you were yesterday-"
"Yesterday I saw you looking upset, Mother. I saw you sitting in the parlour alone and I knew you didn't want to talk to anyone then so I went away. And later you had been riding. So, when you came back, I thought I'd tell you some of my stories to make you happy because I know you like telling stories-"
Scarlett looked startled. "You mean, you wanted to tell those stories just for me- Why, that's so very sweet, Ella-"
She suddenly hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek. "But, don't you want to make something out of it. Don't you want to bring it out in your drawings or paintings- Why, I could hire a miss to teach you-"
Ella looked worried once again. She shook her head.
"Why not? Don't you see I only want to make you successful? I want you to show others what you can do-"
Ella shook her head once again and suddenly her face seemed to slip behind a mask. "Oh look, kitty!" she cried and carrying the still soggy doll in her hand, she bounded into the house without even so much as a glance at Scarlett.
A powerful feeling of helplessness came upon Scarlett as she remembered the people she held so dear move out of her life. An intense anger contorted her face and then suddenly, she walked into the house behind Ella. Usually she would have seized the moment to call on the best teacher in town and hire her for Ella's classes but now she didn't do that. Instead she went searching for Ella and found her spreading the doll's dress in the sunshine by the window and there were tears flowing down her cheeks. When she saw Scarlett, she looked absolutely frightened.
"I don't want classes" said Ella, "I'll only scream and cry and you'll be ashamed of me!"
Suddenly Scarlett could see what she had been missing all her life. The thing that she hoped people would teach her. Now she saw it for herself- the truth about people.
"Why, honey- don't you love yourself? Don't you want to teach yourself? Why do you take on so? Come here-"
But Ella refused. She huddled in the window seat all by herself.
"It's not too late" thought Scarlett to herself as she struggled hard to control herself. "Common sense seems to be a gift which only I possess-"
"Come here, Ella- listen, yes, I do feel ashamed when you scream because you are big enough to understand good manners but I could never be ashamed of you- Why, I never realized how lonely you had been up here, shut up in a nursery you had outgrown and not knowing any skill- I should have seen. I never realized how you felt. I'll get you a fine miss, a person who is as gentle in spirit as you-"
"I'll still cry sometimes-"
"Yes, but we can't neglect- Oh, don't you see you have to work at it? Nobody is perfect. We've all got something wrong with us but it isn't as if we have to overcome it permanently and only then we can enjoy ourselves- It isn't like that. I'll get you a nice person and its all right if you cry and scream at first. You'll get used to it. This can't go on, Ella. I'm afraid I've done the wrong thing by leaving you here like this-"
When Scarlett got ready to go out to hunt for a lady art mistress, she saw Ella's eyes following her around in fear. But she made up her mind nevertheless and went.
She found a very good drawing mistress. Her fees were high but her drawings were very good and Scarlett even got a demonstration of the drawing mistress's prowess with a student in a class. She had four students with her from very good Southern families. Scarlett opened her purse to pay when she had an upsetting feeling. Normally she would have brushed away any thought but this time she listened to that feeling.
Seeing her look hesitant, the mistress assured her, "Madam, you don't have to pay immediately- you could take more time to decide. Perhaps even tomorrow-"
Scarlett thanked the lady and walked down to the street in vague confusion.
"I see you are thinking of enrolling your child in that art school, Scarlett-" said a friendly voice.
Scarlett looked up and saw Maybelle walking towards her. "Why, its Maybelle Picard- how are you doing?" She kissed Maybelle on the cheek and laid a gentle hand on the faint bulge showing on her dress. "What do you hope it will be?"
"I want it to be a little girl. We already had a boy."
"How lovely."
"Scarlett, how much is that lady asking? I just want to know for a cousin-"
Scarlett peered at Maybelle. "I didn't enrol Ella, yet. I wanted to pay the fees but I'm not so sure. Ella's very young and she still has the most terrible tantrums. I don't want her to feel as though I've pushed her into something-"
"But isn't that what mothers do? We always have to keep behind our children, pushing them to get a good education-"
"Yes, I know but-" Scarlett looked earnestly at Maybelle. "She is asking for eleven dollars-"
"For the week?! That's too expensive! Why, that's the entire salary for one soldier fighting in the war!" Maybelle looked stunned and glared angrily at the house. "It's a good thing you didn't pay!"
"But Ella is so talented. I want her to learn art!"
"Yes, I know, honey- But don't you see- If Ella doesn't make the progress you think she'll make, the money would worry you and you just wouldn't look good?"
Scarlett looked startled. "What did you say?"
"Well, our children do deserve our best but there is a limit to what we can do. If we stick our necks out so much, for every tantrum our child throws, we will end up having a fit-"
Scarlett suddenly gripped Maybelle's arm. "Then someone who is not as good in art but is more patient and kind- someone who doesn't want salary but boarding?"
"Oh- that might cause problems too" said Maybelle. "But you could try-"
"We have so many guestrooms. I could easily put up a young girl-"
"You would have to be careful she doesn't get a young man-" laughed Maybelle. "You know how they are-"
Scarlett frowned at this. "I'll be strict, don't you fret. I'll make Ella follow her around instead of me. And it will work out fine. I'll find a nice, quiet girl- it doesn't even matter if that girl knows a lot of art or not- that's secondary-"
Scarlett bid her goodbyes and left in her carriage. Maybelle stared after her in quiet admiration.