I scarcely recognized Mrs. Potts. She was so young! I had never really thought of her as anything other than a kindred, motherly figure, but she was so different!
Dancers twirled gracefully in an elegant ballroom, but none were more beautiful than the young woman in the soft pink dress, her gorgeous, flaxen curls styled attractively around her face. Men made utter fools of themselves for just a glance from those large eyes or one simple word from the rose petal lips.
A young man bowed before her. "May I have this dance, my lady?"
Mrs. Potts fluttered her eyelashes. "I'd be delighted, good sir!"
They moved effortlessly as one through the complicated steps of the dance, never once stumbling. Judging from the way they looked at each other, there was an unspoken attraction between them.
"I realize I could never be good enough for you," the man began, "but I won't be in England for much longer. The king is sending me to France."
"So I've heard," Mrs. Potts replied.
"Will you write me?"
"It won't be long before one of the maids in the French court turns your head. What use then will you have for me?"
The dance came to an end, and Mrs. Potts turned to go, but the man reached out and grabbed her hand.
"Stay," he pleaded.
"It's no use!" she protested. "I have my whole life ahead of me here. The queen has chosen me to become a lady-in-waiting. My family is here. There's nothing in France for me!"
The young man looked crestfallen. "You don't love me then?"
Mrs. Potts sighed. "I never said that. It's just that…! Don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be!"
"I'll stay here!" the man offered.
"Don't be daft, love. You'd be nothing more than a stableman here. The French king is offering you a respectable position in his kitchen."
He threw himself to his knees before her, taking both her hands in his. "Then come with me! Please!" He pulled a small ring from his vest pocket. "Leave behind life as Miss Lansbury and become Mrs. Potts!"
Judging from the look on her face, Mrs. Potts was clearly flustered.
"We'll visit," Mr. Potts promised. "We'll come as often as we like! Only a channel separates Paris from London! You're not leaving anyone behind forever!"
Mrs. Potts was blushing heavily, but she managed to mouth the words, "I accept."
Mr. Potts lifted her in his arms and twirled around a few times. "Did you hear that?! She said yes! We're getting married!"
The other servants of the English court politely applauded, but the disappointment was blatant on their faces.
"It's time to move on," the Spirit of Christmas Past remarked. "We never do stay in one place for too long."
In less time than it took to blink, we were at my parents' castle. Mrs. Potts had aged considerably, and she wore the black garments of a widow, even though her figure was swollen with child.
"You aren't focusing on your work!" my father scolded.
She sighed deeply. "Terribly sorry, sir. It's just been difficult without him, knowing he'll never be able to see our youngest child."
My father called for me, and I saw myself as a toddler.
"You see, Adam?" Father began. "This is what happens if you're foolish enough to fall in love! One day, you find yourself without the other person, and you feel miserable! You must never love!"
"No love!" my toddler self repeated.
"That's right!"
The spirit changed the setting again, and I was at my own castle. I knew we were still somewhere in the past because Mrs. Potts was now a teapot. She sat with Lumière and Cogsworth in the castle library.
"I keep thinking this is just a bad dream," Cogsworth was stating. "Surely in the morning, I'll wake up, and this will all be over! I mean, people turning into clocks?! It's ludicrous!"
"For the master's sake, I hope it is just a nightmare," Lumière replied. "Have you not heard the horrendous sounds in the forest lately?"
Cogsworth sighed. "The master will be furious to find out there are wolves in his forest. These are worse than others. I've seen them gnawing at the bars of the gate. It's just a matter of time before they figure out how to get in, and then…"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Mrs. Potts scolded. "They're just frightened, as we all are. A huge animal suddenly appeared in their territory, and they want to make sure it won't confront them."
The other two nodded.
"At any rate, we've got a good decade before the rose wilts. Surely by then, the master will have found love. We won't be like this for long, you know."
"They met in secret every year to encourage each other," the Spirit of Christmas Past informed me. "Sometimes they would quietly sing a Christmas carol. They refused to speak about the Christmases of their past; they forced themselves to speak of future holidays. They had to believe they would be human again someday, or it would have destroyed them."
I nodded. I understood the feeling all too well.
"Shall we see the past of another servant?"