Chapter Eleven

"So, are you ready for a break?"

Mable looked up from her book and gave Maddie a bright smile. "I thought you'd never ask."

She had spent another hour reading, making notes on a piece of paper, after Labelle had left. Her new friend had left the full pot of coffee, and after two more cups of the strong brew, Mable was feeling more than a bit jittery. A tour of the giant castle, which was probably going to be her home for an unforeseen period of time, was just what her excess energy needed.

Maddie had shown up not too long ago, trailing two menservants and the female chef, Margot, carrying trays of steaming breakfast foods. The men had given Mable a quick, courteous glance, but Margot favored Mable with a beaming smile and waved before leaving the two of them alone.

Theo, she noted, had not bothered to show up.

Maddie grabbed herself another chocolate-filled croissant, one of the dozen that was sent down for Mable's breakfast, along with a pitcher of the delicious red juice that she liked so much. The croissants were flaky and filled with creamy, melted chocolate. Mable was glad Maddie had taken another one; she had already eaten two, so now she could take a third without feeling like a pig.

"So, what would you like to do first?" Maddie asked as she wrapped the croissant up in a napkin. Mable put the book she had in her lap on the side table, secretly grateful for the pause.

She had spent the last three hours, breakfast with Maddie included, trying to find a spell, or curse, or something to help her out of this mess. She had gone through four books already, but the search was made more difficult by the fact that she just didn't know what she was looking for. She had actually hoped Theo, of all people, would join her this morning and help her make some sense of it, but it was only Maddie who had come for breakfast.

And since she didn't know whether she was happy or upset that Theo didn't have breakfast with her, a tour of the castle would be a good distraction.

"You said there was an art gallery?" she asked Maddie.

The girl nodded enthusiastically. "There are all sorts of paintings and sketches there. Lady Liana, Master Theo's mother, was quite the painter, but she loved all forms of art. When she married Master Theo's father, his wedding gift to her was the gallery; a place for her to put all her favorite paintings and hang up a few of her own."

Mable thought of those lovely paintings in the hall. "Why don't we go there first, then?"

"All right!" Maddie said amiably and skipped ahead of Mable to the door. They were just about to go through when a large form blocked their path.

"Oh! Good morning, Master Theo." Maddie gave her friend a cheerful smile. "I was just going to take Mable to tour the art gallery."

Mable hopped back so that Theo, as large and furry as ever, could lumber through the door. His gold eyes settled on her, and she shifted awkwardly.

"I apologize for not joining you for breakfast." He said stiffly. "I thought maybe you'd like to dine alone this morning after all of…yesterday."

"No, it's ok." Mable was startled. She hadn't considered that he would think she wanted to have breakfast alone. "You can have breakfast with me tomorrow. Or not. Whatever you want to do." She babbled, and mentally shook herself for sounding like an idiot.

Theo's mouth twitched slightly. "All right. I was just coming down to work a little while you were getting your tour of the castle."

"You don't have to do that." Mable protested, and pointed to her side table. "I went through some of the books this morning. Not that I found anything." She said bitterly.

Theo's gold eyes were sympathetic. "Well, perhaps I might find something while you are away. In any case, I'm sure you could use a break." His gaze drifted over the side table with its pages of hastily written notes.

Mable would have disagreed, but Maddie was tugging at her arm. "He's right." She told Mable quietly as she pulled her out of the room. "You won't get anywhere if you work yourself too hard."

Mable followed the girl down the corridor. She knew Maddie and Theo were both right. If she stayed in there much longer she would lose focus and possibly miss the one spell that could get her home because she was too fried to concentrate.

It bothered her too, that being in the same room with Theo was still awkward. She didn't have anything to be afraid of, so why wasn't she more comfortable with him?

It didn't help that he had seen her break down like that yesterday. She hated that he had seen her cry, watched her at her most vulnerable. Yes, he had been kind to her afterwards, but that didn't make it any less humiliating.

He didn't seem to be comfortable with her yet either. He had waited to come down to the library, waited until he was certain she would be leaving. He had opted to stay in the stuffy library, reading, instead of coming with them to tour his castle. Maybe he was still nervous around her, and she was picking up on it.

She hadn't made any progress finding a way home today, so they would have to get over that pretty quickly if she was going to keep living here.

As Maddie led her up one of the thousands of staircases that were in the castle, Mable had a thought.

"Can't you do that thing your Dad does?" she asked Maddie. "You know, pop from place to place?"

Maddie met her on the landing. "I could, if you want." She wrinkled her nose. "After you have been doing it for a few years, it gets boring so I was trying to get there the usual way."

Mable couldn't fathom having magical powers and getting bored with them.

Her guide held out a hand. "I can transport us to the gallery, if that is what you want." She said in long suffering tones.

"No, forget it." Mable's stomach remembered the last time she had tried it, and suddenly the thought of walking there on her own sounded much better. "Let's just go."

Luckily the art gallery was only a floor or two up from the library, so Mable was barely wheezing from the climb by the time they reached the door. As they journeyed down another long corridor, Mable wondered how anyone found their way in this place. Every hallway appeared the same, from the crimson carpet to the tables of fresh-cut flowers. The only thing this hallway was missing was paintings; instead, tapestries of silk and brocade covered the dark walls.

"These are pretty." Mable noted. Most of the tapestries depicted the surrounding countryside. She even saw one that was obviously supposed to be the little farm she had visited yesterday morning.

"A lot of the maids like to sew." Maddie explained. "For the first few years after the curse, they sewed tapestries and quilts like crazy. I think it took their minds off of being stuck here." Maddie gave the tapestries a rueful look. "They used to make me a new tapestry every year for my birthday, but I had to tell them to stop. I had far too many tapestries, and it's not like I'm getting older, anyway."

"I know a few women who would love that idea." Mable responded dryly. Colette would want the ability to remain the same age to be bottled and sold in stores.

Maddie scowled. "It's boring. Nothing here ever changes." She grumbled.

"Is that the door to the gallery?" Mable pointed out, too brightly. She had no idea how to cheer up a girl who had been nine years old for decades, maybe centuries. The best she could come up with was a distraction.

They thankfully had arrived in front of a large, polished oak door. Liana Beaumont Art Gallery glittered on the nameplate in the candlelight. Maddie fiddled with the door handle for a moment, opened the doors wide and stood aside so Mable could walk through first.

This room was smaller than a lot of the other rooms in the castle, smaller than the ones she had been in anyway. It was only half the width and length of the library, though still twice the size of her suite upstairs. The floors were made entirely of marble, without any carpets, so her footsteps echoed lightly off the walls. There was a wall right in the center of the room, with openings on each side so visitors could walk around behind it to another part of the gallery. Mable saw two wide, curtained windows at her left, and she started to shiver. The combination of the cold coming off the windows met with the slightly chilly atmosphere of the marble floors and walls, making the room colder than any room in the castle. There was no fireplace, so Mable had to simply hug herself as she walked around.

Mable couldn't help but spend a long time in front of every painting. These were different than the ones out in the hall. On the wall closest to the door were several paintings of woodland animals, so realistic that she almost had to touch one to make sure it wasn't a snapshot. Unlike all the pictures outside in the halls, which were mostly scenery, these paintings were distinctly varied. One was of an elk, standing just outside the summer forest, looking serenely at the viewer. Another was of a swan, floating gently on the waves of a foreign lake. Mable had to smile at the painting of a tabby cat, sitting regally on a chair, possibly thinking itself a Master of everyone else in the castle.

"Most of these paintings were done by visiting artist that Lady Liana admired." Maddie had been following Mable around the room. "She did those paintings herself." She pointed to the wall that was in the middle of the room.

The paintings on the wall were portraits, each with glittering names on the very bottom of the canvas. Curious, Mable was quick to walk over in front of the first portrait, eager to see who the people in the paintings were.

It should not have come as a surprise to her that the works of art were of Theo's parents, and yet it was still a shock when Mable read the engraved name of the first portrait; Master Acelin Beaumont. The painting was of a man who looked to be in his late fifties; lines of age etched his face but made him look more distinguished than old. He was sitting with a straight back and his hands elegantly placed in front of him on one knee. He did not seem as austere as Mable would have imagined him. In fact, Mable could see the glint of humor in his brown eyes, and the corners of his thin mouth were turned up slightly. His hair, pulled back into a ponytail, was a light brown, with silver just starting to trickle upwards in his hairline. His clothing was even more common than she would have guessed. No crown adorned his head, no jacket with a million buttons. He wore a simple white shirt, much like the one his son wore. He looked more like a servant than Master of a castle in the woods.

"I don't remember him very well." Maddie told her. Her voice was sad, "But I remember how Lady Liana acted once he died. She didn't even leave the bedroom for Master Acelin's funeral. She just shut herself off from everyone, even Master Theo. Master Theo tried to act brave, but you could tell how devastated he was. It was as if, when Master Acelin died, he took Lady Liana with him."

"I wish I could have met him." Mable murmured. There was a warmth to his portrait that reminded Mable of her own father.

Her father hadn't locked himself away when Mable's mother had died. She couldn't remember her mother's death or the funeral well, but she could remember her father letting her and her sisters sleep in his bedroom that first night. She had a feeling that had the situations been reversed, Master Acelin would have pulled his only son closer, instead of pushing him away.

The next portrait was of the Lady, or as the name showed; Lady Liana Beaumont, a Self-Portrait. This one was different from her husband's, a painting of just Lady Liana's torso, not her whole body. Mable figured that the woman must have just planted herself in front of a mirror. Lady Liana had been a beautiful woman, with sweet, delicate features. Her eyes were unlike her husband's or son's; dreamy sapphire instead of gold or golden-brown. Her hair was honey-colored and flowed straight to her shoulders. There was no smile on her face or in her eyes. She looked serious, almost morose. Intuition told Mable that the Lady had painted this portrait after her husband's death. Her dress was just as somber as her expression, a black, corseted gown with the barest hint of lace at her collar. Unlike her husband, whose brown hair was unadorned, Lady Liana wore a silver tiara to offset the bleakness of the rest of her features. Despite the fact that the Lady did not look very inviting, there was still a soft aura of kindness about her that made Mable wish that she could have met her too.

"She was very beautiful." Maddie commented. The girl ran absent fingers through her own dark hair. "Papa says she was always poised, and elegant. The perfect Lady."

"I'm sure she was." Mable fought to keep her voice noncommittal. Here was just another reason to leave; she could never measure up to these people's standards of the "perfect" Lady. She could hardly consider herself as beautiful as this woman, and she didn't think there was a poised or elegant bone in her body.

Mable frowned at the last spot. It looked like there had been a portrait there, yet it was missing, and nothing but a blank spot, slightly lighter than the rest.

"Is there supposed to be another painting here?" she asked.

Maddie nodded. "It was a picture of Master Theo, but he had it removed after the curse. He told us to burn it, but I know for a fact that it is up in our attic." The dark mood that had settled on them as they surveyed the portraits dissipated as Maddie lit up with excitement. "We should go see if we can find it! There's probably lots of great stuff to see up there."

Mable grinned. "Maybe another day. First, why don't we get out of this room? It's so cold in here."

"All right. How about we try the conservatory next? I think Madame Cecile is in there, and it will be warmer." Maddie skipped ahead of Mable out the gallery door. She rummaged in her pockets and pulled out one of the croissants from breakfast. "Here. We'll have to walk a bit to get there."

"Of course." Mable sighed, but couldn't help a smile as they closed the door on the gallery, leaving behind the cold and the ghosts of memories behind them.

The melancholy she had been feeling disappeared the minute she stepped into the conservatory. Windows climbed up far above their heads in an arch, panes of glass framed in white wooden beams that curved inward, creating a domed roof. Each pane of glass was about the same size as Mable, fogged from condensation. The room was blessedly warm and humid, a big difference from the lukewarm halls. The smells of wet earth and greenery mingled, making it feel like she stepped out of winter and right into spring.

Maddie led the way down a narrow, cement walkway that was lined with rows and rows of flowers. Azaleas, carnations, hydrangeas, dahlias and rosebushes of every variety and color were lined like soldiers waiting for inspection, their jeweled colors striking against the brilliant white of the snow outside. The end of the walkway split in a two, and Mable saw that the conservatory wasn't just one room, but three. The room off to their right was smaller and didn't seem to contain any flowers. Mable only saw wooden shelves that ran along the inside, spilt lengthwise to accommodate a deep moat filled with soil and small, green plants.

"The Herbal Room." Maddie explained when Mable asked. "All of the spices and herbs Monsieur Carnier uses are grown and dried in there. Monsieur Carnier and his chefs are only allowed in when they need to collect more for the kitchens. Otherwise, this whole place is considered Madame Cecile's domain."

Mable peered in the other direction and saw a room filled with trees.

"Fruit trees, mostly." Maddie pointed out helpfully. "We have some wild apple trees outside, but we keep a few in here. We also have some pear, peach, and cherry trees in there, along with blueberry and blackberry bushes. You can't see it, but on the other side other the tree room is where we keep the beehives."

Mable gaped. "Beehives?"

Maddie nodded. "We have two. See the holes up there?" she pointed to a small hole in one of the glass panes. "That's so the bees can get into this room, too. They pollinate the flowers and trees, and Madame Cecile collects the honey for us."

"Poor Madame Cecile." Mable muttered to herself. It seemed like an awful lot of the work fell to the Lady's maid.

"She's probably at her potting table. This way." Maddie charged forward down the left path, which curved back around, surrounding them with day lilies and hyacinths. Mable followed at a more sedate pace, enjoying the touch of the silky petals that occasionally brushed her hand. She didn't have a garden at home; she never had the time to look after one. She had always kind of wanted one, though, and had spent many springs admiring the burst of colors in her neighbor's backyard.

Madame Cecile was perched on a stool in front of a long, rugged shelf at the back of the conservatory. The shelf was set up much like a bar, hugging the window, with a clear view of the snow-covered lawn and the woods beyond. Madame Cecile was snipping the ends off a bundle of blood-red roses and placing them gently in a silver vase. At their footsteps, she whirled on her stool to beam at Mable.

"Welcome, Lady Mable!" she said. She was dressed casually, in blue slacks and an airy-looking pale grey blouse that set off her vivid green eyes. Her dark hair was pinned up in a pretty knot at the back of her head. She tugged off the long, black gardener's gloves she was wearing to tug Mable over onto one of the stools.

"I am thrilled you have come to see me." She told Mable. As she spoke, she picked up her pruning shears and snipped another end of a rose. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you prepare for breakfast this morning, but as I am sure you saw, several of the flowers in the Crown wing were starting to wilt, and I wanted to replace them."

Mable hadn't noticed any difference between the flowers in the halls and the ones in this room, but she smiled anyway. "It's all right. I've been dressing myself for quite a while now; I think I got the hang of it. Besides, I managed to find my way down the library on my own."

"I've been showing Mable around the castle." Maddie told Madame Cecile. "We just came from the art gallery not too long ago."

"Ah, yes. The art gallery is truly a wonderful place to spend some time. There are so many beautiful paintings but I'm afraid that they might be lost on me. I prefer my scenery to be real, not just paint on canvas." Madame Cecile finished with the snipping and arranged the roses in the vase. She sat back for a minute, eyes narrowed as she considered the arrangement. "No, it needs something." She announced. She handed Maddie the shears. "Ma petite, go pick me some hydrangea blooms; white ones, if you please."

Maddie grabbed the shears and skipped off.

"I thought no one was allowed to touch the flowers except for you." Mable said, raising her brows.

Madame Cecile chuckled. "Usually, but Maddie has helped me before. A few years ago, she came in here, bored, so I put her to work. She's seemed to have developed a knack for it, so I trust her to find me the flowers I need. She takes after her father."

"Seriously?" Mable tried to picture the pristine Monsieur Lune covered in dirt, and just couldn't get her imagination to pull it together.

"Oh yes. Monsieur Lune has a few hobbies he enjoys, and gardening is one of them. I have a few people I allow in other than Lune and Maddie," Madame Cecile continued. "I have two menservants I call on when I need someone to do the heavy work. "

"What about Labelle?" Labelle seemed like the perfect person for gardening. Mable could picture her, a flower among the flowers.

Her picture was ruined by Madame Cecile's throaty laugh. "Oh, goodness, no. No, Labelle has very little patience for these things. Gardening takes patience and a love of quiet. Labelle does well as a Housekeeper, and loves taking care of people and the castle, but she enjoys the results of gardening, rather than the work itself. Master Theo, however, likes to spend his free time in here."

Mable raised an eyebrow incredulously. "I guess I get Labelle not having much of a green thumb, but you are trying to tell me Theo likes to spend his time here? I can't imagine someone like him here." The idea of that large, furry body handling these delicate plants was absolutely terrifying.

"On occasion. I think he enjoys the quiet more than the gardening itself." Madame Cecile shot Mable a look of reproach. "You shouldn't be so quick to judge by appearances, Lady Mable."

Blushing, Mable picked up a leaf and fiddled with it. Being scolded hurt, mostly because she deserved it. Hadn't she always complained that people judged her on her own appearance?

And it did make sense that Theo would enjoy spending time in here, away from servants who feared or resented him. Perhaps even being surrounded by beautiful flowers and greenery helped him forget his own appearance.

"You're right," she muttered, feeling about ten years old, "I shouldn't judge."

Madame Cecile gently patted her hand. "No harm done." She assured Mable. "I simply believe that once you stop worrying about Master Theo's appearance, you might find it more comfortable being around him."

Mable's head shot up. "How did you know?" she blurted out. "I was just thinking that earlier today…"

Madame Cecile chuckled kindly. "My dear, I'm afraid you will learn very quickly that the men and women in this castle talk. Labelle came to me only just this morning to express her concern over your discomfort."

"Geez, does everyone know?" Mable asked, a bit cross that the entire castle talked about her behind her back.

Madame Cecile's eyes danced with humor. "Possibly. But I wouldn't fret about it. They'll find something new to talk about eventually." She gave Maddie an approving nod as the girl came back, arms filled with white hydrangea blooms. "Lovely. Thank you, pet. Now, as for you, Lady Mable," she continued as she started to re-arrange the flowers in the vase. "I know you want to get back to your family as soon as it is possible, but that is a feat that might take some time. Maybe, as you work towards that goal, you can spend some time with Master Theo."

"This isn't you trying to get me to fall in love with him, is it?" Mable asked suspiciously.

"No, of course not." Madame Cecile sounded so sincere, Mable actually believed her. "But it seems a shame for you to spend whatever time you have with us feeling uneasy around Master Theo. Besides, he is aiding you in this search for a way home, is he not?"

He was, Mable thought with some regret. He agreed to help her, and she didn't think she had ever thanked him for it.

"He is." Mable said. She frowned, "I'm not sure how I'm going to suddenly stop being awkward around him, though. It's just…weird."

Madame Cecile tapped her fingers thoughtfully on the shelf, and Mable noted she didn't have so much as a scratch on her hands from the roses. "What did your family do when you were upset, or unhappy?" she asked.

Mable thought back and smiled. "Well, I can't think of anything recent, but back when I was in high school and I was bummed about something, my dad used to find a recipe—usually a dessert, but sometimes a breakfast or dinner recipe—and he'd get all the ingredients and we'd make it together." Mable laughed quietly, "It almost never came out like the pictures, and there were some times when it tasted terrible, but just spending time with him, working on creating a meal for us, helped me to forget what I was so upset about."

She had almost forgotten about those times. They had stopped abruptly when her father got sick. She hadn't realized until now how much she missed them.

"I bet if you ask him, Monsieur Carnier will let you use the kitchen." Maddie piped up. "I don't know how much cooking he'll let you do by yourself—he's awfully bossy—but if you want to cook a meal he'll probably let you."

"Perhaps if you do an activity that is comforting and familiar, it will help you feel more at home here." Madame Cecile advised. "That, in turn, might help with your nerves around Master Theo."

It wasn't the best of plans. Mable really wasn't that great a cook, though she could throw a meal together in a pinch. But playing in the kitchen with Monsieur Carnier and the chefs sounded fun and cooking him a meal might help Theo see that she was grateful he was helping her.

"I guess that could work." She relented. "I'll talk to Monsieur Carnier about it tonight."

Maddie shuddered. "Let's go talk about it with him now." She suggested. "If you think Master Theo is still a little scary, you'll be completely terrified of Monsieur Carnier when he's preparing dinner."