"Anne," Charles stepped forward. "Anne, I want to take you away from this awful place." He took a ragged breath and continued. "Your step-mother is a cruel woman who does not deserve to know you. Please, I am begging you to come with me. We will find you a home, that is until you receive what is rightfully yours by becoming the Earless." A tear fell down Anne's cheeks.
"Charles, you do not know how long I have waited for someone to say something like this to me. However, I do not feel like I know you. We have known each other less than two hours, and yet you ask me to come with you to the city." Anne wiped the tears from her eyes. "I just do not know Charles."
He grabbed Anne's hand which had been burnt by the fire. "I promise you that I would never hurt in the way that she has hurt you. Anne, it's not an offer of marriage, not yet, it's my way of being your knight. I want to save you. Please, we will find you a home. You will never have to work again." Charles began to stroke her hand with a great deal of tenderness that she had never known.
"Please, Charles," Anne began to beg. "Give me a fortnight to decide. This is, after all, my home. I have so many memories from when I was little… and they all occurred here. This was where I had so much sadness, yes, but it was also where I knew my mother, and my father. It was where I heard their voices, mingling as they would talk. I do not know whether I can just abandon this place of my childhood." By now, Anne was having a hard time talking, because she was crying so hard.
"I'll tell you what," said Charles suddenly. "There is a ball in exactly a fortnight at the king's royal palace. It is there that you can tell me your decision."
"There are just a few problems," replied Anne, feeling hopeless. "One, I have no invitation. You cannot just walk up to the king's palace and expect to be admitted. That would be foolish. And I Sir, am no fool. Secondly, I have nothing to wear. You must wear a gown to a ball, not rags."
"Oh, do not worry about that," he replied casually, as if he had everything planned out. "My father is, after all, a duke, and you, my dear, are a earless, even if you refuse to acknowledge this. What I will have my father do is send your step-mother an invitation, inviting all ladies of the house to attend. Along with that, I will send a dress for each of you, but yours will be by far the nicest. You will attend, and you will tell me the answer." Charles began to walk towards his carriage. "I look forward to once again meeting you," he called over his shoulder.
"Good bye," Anne called softly after him. She suddenly felt like she had someone to take care of her needs, a fairy godmother, of sorts. She wondered whether Charles' plan could possibly work. She also wondered what her decision would be when the time came.
Anne turned around and ran into the kitchen. She could not let her step-sisters see her like this. She also did not want to be near them, because she knew that Maria would not stop talking about Charles. Anne knew that she would not be able to stand that, not when she was faced with such an important decision.
To leave her step-family would be heaven. She would never have to work again, never have to burn her fingers. She would never have to take orders from anyone, only give them. But the thing was, Anne knew nothing of Sir Charles, except that Maria doted on him. And Maria was defiantly not the best judge of character, not in the least.
However, Charles had seemed kind to Anne and he was most concerned about her. She wondered whether she really cared for him, or whether he was just kind to her in a time and place that no one was. Could she go with him, trust him? Anne was not the kind to be trusting, not after her parents' deaths.
When she had been a child, Anne had felt like they had abandoned her, first her mother and then her father following her in death. And Anne had been forgotten, for know she was but a servant. Now, Anne still felt a little abandoned, though she did realize that her parents had not left her by their choice.
Anne continued to sit by the fire in the kitchen, thinking, until her step-sisters called to her once more.