Chapter Eight
Mable was accosted as soon as she stepped into the foyer. Maddie slammed into her, hugging her breathless.
"Oh, my goodness, Mable, we were so worried." She exclaimed as Mable pried her off. "We've been looking all over the castle for you. Where did you go?"
"Ah…" Mable started, but was cut off when Monsieur Lune popped into the foyer. Behind her, Mable heard Master Theo close the door.
"Oh, Lady Mable, there you are." Monsieur said in relief. "Are you all right?"
Guilt wormed its way into Mable's belly. She had been so upset, so focused on getting home to her own family, she hadn't considered that there were people here who would be worried about her welfare.
Madame Labelle rushed through the door of the Flower Wing—and like yesterday, she ran through the door, as if it were air instead of inches of solid wood.
"Oh, dieu merci." She sighed when she saw Mable. "That's where you went, Lady. How did you get outside?"
Mable squirmed under their regard. They had all been worried about her, and she had been out trying to leave them. Her face flushed as she thought of all of them searching for her, frantic. How could she tell them that she snuck out, trying to escape?
"Well, I-" she tried, but Master Theo interrupted her.
"She meant to find her own way to the dining room, but got lost. Good thing I found her, otherwise she might have frozen to death." He said easily.
Mable raised her eyebrows, baffled. She hadn't expected him to lie for her.
"Oh, goodness." Madame Labelle gave Mable a sympathetic smile. "I know how you feel, Lady. This castle is so big and confusing, it can be easy to get lost! Well, since you have been found, would you like breakfast?"
Master Theo spoke for her again, "Why don't we let her go and get changed first, Labelle? Maddie, could you escort Lady Mable to her room? Labelle, could you have Carnier make something hot for breakfast? It was quite cold outside. Lune, tell the footmen-"
"Could we not eat in the dining room?" Mable asked, alarmed at the mere thought of trying to eat breakfast with all those men staring at her again. They would have been searching for her too, and she couldn't help but think they would be judging her the entire time she ate.
Master Theo blinked down at her from his considerable height. His face was speculative, but he changed gears smoothly enough. "Tell the men to serve breakfast in the library, then." He instructed Monsieur Lune.
The Seneschal bowed and popped out of the foyer as quickly as he had popped in. Madame Labelle had already trotted through the Star Wing door—and again, it was through the door, which fascinated Mable to no end—to go tell Monsieur Carnier the new breakfast menu.
Mable turned to Master Theo. "Thanks," she said shyly. "I know it's silly, but it was just so…uncomfortable in the formal dining room, with all the footmen watching us eat. I don't know, maybe I'm just not used to fancy meals."
Master Theo looked startled, as if he hadn't even considered it. And why would he, she thought. He grew up in this place, having servants wait on him. He was used to it.
"I don't blame you, Lady Mable." Maddie interjected cheerfully. "I don't like having people stare at me while I eat either. Besides, the library is a far more interesting place to eat than the stuffy old dining room. We'll have a nice breakfast and you can pick out a book to read. We have the biggest library around." She told Mable.
Mable smiled at the girl. "Is that so?"
"My father spent years working on the library's construction and its book selection." Master Theo told her, with no small amount of pride. "We even have books written by Fairy authors, written by some of the greatest Fairies who reside on our lands."
What Fairy authors would even write about, Mable couldn't begin to guess.
"Well, Maddie, why don't you take Lady Mable up to her room and help her change. I would like my coat back, eventually." Master Theo's gold eyes danced down at her.
Mable had to stop her jaw from dropping. Who knew underneath all that fur was a sense of humor?
Maddie tugged her away. "All right, give us about an hour and we'll meet you in the library for breakfast. Come on, Mable." The girl led her through the door to the Crown Wing.
"So, you're eating breakfast with us, Maddie?" Mable asked as she followed the girl up the stairs.
"Papa said I could if I finished all my lessons last night. I'm so glad I was almost done with my math lesson anyway. I don't like the subject much, but at least now it is done and I can spend the day with you!" Maddie skip-hopped her way up the stairs.
Mable found the idea of having to do math homework while living in tremendous, enchanted castle rather depressing.
When they arrived at her room, Maddie opened the door, still chattering on about her lessons. "I don't really like mathematics or science," she was explaining to Mable, "But Papa says that they are important to know. Mostly, I like drawing and art, but there really isn't anyone here—Madame Cecile!" she exclaimed. The dark-haired woman straightened from her spot next to Mable's nightstand. "What are you doing here?"
Madame Cecile smiled at them warmly. "I thought, Lady Mable, perhaps these might cheer you up after last night." She pointed to the small vase she had placed on the nightstand, filled with butter-colored roses. "I am personally fond of roses, but if you have another flower you would like, I am sure I can provide it." She told Mable.
Mable was touched. "No, these are lovely." She said, and went over to stroke a silky petal. "Thank you so much!"
Madame Cecile beamed, but her green eyes roved over Mable's outfit. "I am pleased you like them, ma cherie. I don't believe I have seen that particular outfit in your closet before." She waved to Master Theo's jacket.
Mable blushed. "Ah, no, I borrowed it. From Master Theo."
"I see." Humor glinted in Madame Cecile's eyes. "Madeleine, my dove, why don't you go down and return this to Master Theo, while I prepare the lady for breakfast." She helped Mable out of the jacket and handed it to the girl.
"All right. Maybe Theo and I can have a quick game of chess." Maddie's voice was muffled from holding the coat, which was so large she had to wrap it around herself a few times to carry it without tripping. "Master Theo and I will be in the library when you are done, Mable!" Like her father, she left the room with a soft pop.
Mable gave a sigh of relief. Maddie had been so busy with Master Theo's jacket, she hadn't even noticed Mable still wore her own coat underneath.
"Now, if I heard correctly, you were not in your rooms this morning, yes?" Madame Cecile asked as she waited for Mable to strip off her coat. "Did you go somewhere?"
The question was so sincere, and Madame Cecile so sympathetic, that Mable couldn't lie to her. Ashamed, she told Madame Cecile about her adventure into the woods and her inability to return home.
"I know it was stupid to just leave without saying good-bye." She told Madame Cecile as she took off her boots. "And I feel bad about it. But it just hit me so hard last night…it felt like everyone was expecting me to be this great rescuer, the one who breaks the curse and helps you all live happily ever after. I don't think I can be what you want me to be." She sighed explosively.
Madame Cecile collected her wet things and opened the closet door. "I quite understand, Lady Mable." She said gently as she put the clothes in a wicker basket that Mable was fairly certain hadn't been there yesterday. "I'm sure it feels as if we are burdening you with all our hopes and dreams of freedom. But that is only because when you arrived, the first visitor since the curse began, people got the taste of hope. Hope can be intoxicating, especially if it has not felt it in so long."
Mable hung her head. "I know, and I wish I could help. But I don't think I'm the one you need."
Madame Cecile smiled. "I don't think you give yourself enough credit, Lady. But" she held up her hand when Mable went to protest, "I understand why you felt you had to leave us. It is just a shame that you are trapped here as well."
"Yeah, why did the Fairy place that curse on top of everything else?" Mable asked indignantly. "Seems like overkill, to me."
"It might not have been on purpose," Madame Cecile selected a soft, navy sweater and black slacks from Mable's closet and laid them on the bed. "Magic, much like the Fairies themselves, is wild, and sometimes has a mind of its own." She strode to the other side of Mable's bed, to a door Mable hadn't noticed last night. "Now, my dear, why don't a draw you a nice bath?" she suggested. "A hot bath before breakfast might help you feel more settled."
"A bath might be nice." Mable agreed, and jumped back when Madame Cecile opened the door to reveal an elegant bathroom. "There was a bathroom in here the whole time?" she asked Madame Cecile, going in to take a better look.
The room was as tastefully decorated as her bedroom, with a gleaming wood floor covered in plush white bath mats. There was a claw foot bathtub, so big Mable could lie flat on the bottom and not have her feet or head touch the sides. There was a white pedestal sink, with roses stenciled in gold on the base. Other than the large, gilded mirror above the sink, the marble walls were bare, glittering in the sunlight coming from the etched window just above the bathtub.
"Why, what did you think was in here, Lady?" Madame Cecile chuckled, and turned on the water. She pulled a fabric pouch out of her dress pocket, put it in the tub under the water. Instantly the room smelled of jasmine.
"I don't know, I don't think I saw it before. I was just using the closet." Mable murmured, running her hand along a soft, velvety robe that hung on the wall. Madame Cecile glanced up from her task.
"The closet?"
Mable gestured for the woman to follow her, and showed her the closet's special trick. Because she liked seeing the surprise on Madame Cecile's face, she did it a few times.
Madame Cecile watched for a minute, hands on her hip. "Well," she said finally, "That is unexpected. I know some of the servants claim that the closets in their chambers do odd things, but I don't believe it ever led them to a different place."
"You mean all the closets are like this?" Mable asked.
"Oh, no, not like this. Mostly the clothes are just altered, depending on the interest or needs of the person. My own closet, for example, has clothes that are just worn enough that I can wear them in my greenhouse while I garden, and not feel horrible for ruining a nice outfit. And when Madame Cecile complained about shoes pinching her feet, she suddenly found a pair of wonderfully comfortable slippers inside." Madame Cecile tapped her mouth with a finger. "Perhaps it is the need that caused it to act this way. You needed to feel safe, so it gave it to you a taste of your own home."
Mable stared at the door, considering an idea. "Do you think it could bring me to other parts of my house?"
Madame Cecile's green eyes narrowed. "I suppose it is possible," she said slowly. "Why don't you try it?"
Excited now, Mable thought of the living room at home. She felt the spark of static up her arm, and turned the handle.
Inside was her living room, with the worn, faded couch and the cluttered bookshelf. Mable laid her hand on the back of the recliner, and was delighted to feel leather under her palm. Here was the entertainment center with the new television set Jeanne had bought them just last Christmas. The coffee table was buried underneath papers, the flotsam and jetsam of a busy household. Mable could smell the scent of her favorite, vanilla-scented candle burning over in the corner.
Eagerly, she went to the window behind the couch and looked outside. There was the small, well-kept yard, the snow from the last few days freshly shoveled from the front walkway that led to the door.
"Daddy? Jeanne? Colette?" Thrilled, Mable called out for her family.
No one answered her.
Mable went to their front door. If the closet could bring her here, then maybe this was her way out. Maybe she could just go outside and be standing on the front porch of her home.
She opened the door to darkness.
Mable stared out into the void. Gingerly, she reached out a hand to touch the black hole that should have been the front of her house. Her fingers touched a solid force, like there was an invisible wall between her and the outside.
Disappointed, she went back to the door she had entered from and arrived back in her room at the castle. Madame Cecile watched her, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Any luck?" she asked kindly.
Mable shook her head. "I could go to the living room, but I couldn't go outside. I called for my sisters and father too, but nobody answered."
Madame Cecile nodded, as if she had expected that. "I suppose that the castle can only do so much." She theorized. "It can bring you to a …version of your home, a version it builds from the images you give it."
"But I could feel the recliner." Mable argued. "I saw the outside through the window. There was snow on the ground, just like here!"
"It's taking the home you have in your mind, in your memories. I don't believe it is bringing you to the place itself, but changing to fit what you need."
"I guess that makes as much sense as everything else around here," Mable said, glaring at the closet door.
Madame Cecile chuckled. "Come, my dear. The bath is all ready for you. After a nice, hot soak and some breakfast, I'm sure you'll be more than ready to defeat any obstacle."
Mable discovered that Madame Cecile wasn't wrong. Lounging in the silky, scented water had given her renewed energy, and she followed Madame Cecile down the hall to the library with a little bounce in her step. Yes, she had some set-backs. But she could hardly give up now, after only a day. She owed it to her sisters and father to keep trying, to keep searching for a way.
Besides, she thought wryly as they approached the giant, double doors to the library. There were worse places to be stuck in than a castle.
Madame Cecile turned to her before she opened the doors. "Would you like me to stay with you, cherie?" she asked, laying a gentle hand on Mable's arm. "I'm sure Master Theo would not object."
Mable thought it was sweet of her to be concerned. "No, I'll be all right." She reassured the other woman. "Maddie will be there, and Master Theo and I came to a sort of truce this morning." That's what she hoped had happened, anyway. It had been so unexpected, she wasn't too sure it would stick.
Madame Cecile opened the doors. "Then I will leave you to your breakfast, Lady Mable." She said, and gave Mable a friendly wave as she hurried away.
Mable stepped through the doors of the library, and was elated to see a table set up with a variety of breakfast options. Several kinds of omelets, crispy bacon, and fruit were laid out buffet-style on one end. A pitcher of her favorite red juice, and a fancy-looking coffee pot were on the other.
"We thought you might like this more than a formal breakfast." Maddie was suddenly at Mable's elbow, grinning as she handed her a plate. "Monsieur Carnier was a little disappointed, until Labelle told him he could surprise you with several kinds of omelets instead of just the one. He says you have not lived until you tried his vegetable omelet, but he would let you decide that for yourself."
"I just hope I am up to the task." Mable joked. The smell of food was making her mouth water. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know. I wouldn't have minded."
"That would have been rude." Master Theo's growling voice was right in her ear.
Startled, Mable leapt to the side, away from the voice, tripped over her own two feet and pitched to the floor. The plate in her hand remarkably stayed intact.
"Not a word." She told Maddie fiercely. The girl had a hand over her mouth, trying to block the giggles.
"Are you all right?" A furry paw inserted itself into her vision. Mable glared way up into Master Theo's face. He was kind enough not to laugh at her outright, but she saw it in his gold eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you." He promised as he pulled her gently to her feet.
"Yeah, well, you need to work on that." She retorted, cheeks burning. "Couldn't you have made a noise or something?"
"I didn't think I was that quiet." He said dryly.
Mable stalked over to the breakfast table and piled food on her plate. "So, it's proper to starve yourself while waiting for a guest?" she asked, changing the subject.
"The guest always gets served first." Maddie told her. "That's the rule, even if the meal isn't formal." She grabbed a plate and started to grab her own breakfast.
"It seems kind of unfair, asking you to wait on my account." Mable dragged one of the convenient little side tables over next to a nearby chair. Maddie rearranged another chair so she could sit on the other side and share the table.
"Not at all." She assured Mable. "A few of Papa's men only just brought the food in, so it's not like we were waiting a long time anyway."
"I did ask that they set up quickly, so that they would be gone before you arrived." Master Theo had sat across from them, nearer to the fire. For someone so big, he had an alarmingly small amount of food on his plate. "I'm sorry if they distressed you last night. I don't think it occurred to us that having them there would make you uncomfortable."
Mable took a small bite of her omelet. Monsieur Carnier wasn't boasting; it was truly the best vegetable omelet she had ever eaten. "I've never had much of an audience when it came to meals." She admitted. "Usually it's just me and my dad. But the dining room was a little intimidating too. I like this space better." She waved a hand to indicate the library. "But I don't have to eat in here every day." She said quickly. She didn't want them to think she was being ungrateful.
"We could eat in here every day, if you wanted." Master Theo told her, more relaxed than he had been last night. "I admit, I'm not used to the formal dinners anymore either. Usually I take dinner in my own rooms."
Maybe she hadn't been the only one who felt pressured. "Do you think Labelle and Monsieur Lune will let us get away with eating all our meals in here?" she asked. She smiled at him; the first genuine smile she had given him since they met.
"Papa might. Or at least, he probably would if you asked." Maddie seemed oblivious to the adult's cautious attempts at civility. "I wouldn't count on Labelle, though. She would just love another chance at dressing you up. She's always talking about how she misses the elegant parties and dinners that were thrown in her childhood."
"I don't." Master Theo grumbled into his coffee cup.
"You know, if you don't like the formal dining room, there is a smaller one in the same wing." Maddie ignored Master Theo with the grace of an adult. "It's closer to the kitchen too, so you'd probably be able to convince Monsieur Carnier and the chefs to serve you directly."
"Seriously?" That sounded way better. She had liked Monsieur Carnier, for all his bellowing.
"I'll ask Papa for you." Maddie told her graciously. "If you don't mind, I'd like to join you. I'd much rather eat dinner with you than in the Salle. That's what we call the servants dining hall." She adding, responding to Mable's confused expression. "All the staff takes their dinner there."
Mable studied Master Theo from beneath her lashes. He sat staring at the fire, a ruffle of fur between his brows the only indication he might be listening. She wondered if he ate alone in his rooms by choice, or because propriety kept him from joining the rest of his staff.
At least when she had dinner at home, she ate with her dad, even if she did miss a lot of the meal making sure he ate his meal. Eating alone every night seemed so…well, lonely.
Uncomfortable, because she didn't want to feel sorry for him, Mable turned towards the buffet table and grinned. Between the three of them, they had demolished the entire breakfast, down to the last piece of fruit.
"I don't know," she told Maddie, "If this is what happens when all of us eat together, Monsieur Carnier might insist we take separate meals." She jerked her head to the table.
Maddie turned to look. "Are you joking?" she teased, "He'll probably be angry that we didn't ring for another plate of omelets."
Mable chuckled.
Maddie collected her plates, and ignored Mable's protests when she collected those too. "Don't be silly." She said. "I can go back and forth much easier than you can. I'll go find Papa and have him send some men to clear the table. I have some chores to do, but after that would you like a tour? You haven't gotten to see any of the good stuff yet, like the art gallery, or the conservatory…"
"Why don't we wait to do those things tomorrow, Maddie?" Master Theo suggested. Thankfully, his sudden input didn't send Mable to the floor this time. "Lady Mable has agreed to stay with us for the next few days-"
"You have?" Maddie asked her excitedly.
Mable didn't have the heart to tell the poor girl that she didn't really have a choice. "Yeah, I figured I could afford to stick around for a little while longer." She lied.
"So we have plenty of time for tours." Master Theo finished. "I actually have to speak with Lady Mable about something now, so why don't you go do your chores? I'll send for some men to collect the breakfast things in a moment."
"All right." Maddie dumped the plates and cups unceremoniously on the table. "I'll go ask Papa if we can switch you to the smaller dining room tonight, Mable. I'm sure he won't mind. Adieu!" She gave Mable an enthusiastic hug, and quite literally popped out of the room.
The room seemed unnervingly quiet without a small girl to fill it with chatter. Mable was too aware of the noise she made as she got up and re-arranged the table so the plates weren't sit so precariously on the edge.
She turned and saw Master Theo watching her. "What?" she challenged.
"You realize," he said slowly, as if he was afraid of how she'd react, "that Labelle and Lune are probably going to make us have dinner together again tonight."
Mable wasn't sure where he was going with this. "I figured as much. Why?"
"You don't mind?"
Mable thought about it, and was surprised to find that she didn't. "No, I don't mind. Dinner with you and Maddie sounds nice."
Master Theo stared at her suspiciously, as if he was waiting for her to reveal an ulterior motive.
"I really don't mind." She told him, exasperated. "As long as I don't have to dress up again, and as long I don't have to agree to marry you by the end of it." She added on, trying for humor.
His mouth twitched, and she could have sworn he was trying not to laugh.
"Seems fair," he said. He clapped his two paws together. "Now, why don't we discuss the idea I have?"
Now it was Mable's turn to look suspicious. "What idea?"
Master Theo smiled at her. "The idea for getting you back home."