FINDING PRINCE CHARMING

Chapter 7

On Christmas day nobody got up early. There was a breakfast buffet in the dining room and people went in and out all the time until mid-morning. Then everybody was getting ready for the Christmas feast in the large hall on the ground floor.

At one o'clock the ringing of a bell announced that the feast could begin. When Esmé and Jane entered the hall, the place was already buzzing with happy voices. They sat with James and his parents who had kept places for them. There was laughing and talking, eating and drinking and Esmé felt enveloped by a warmth that suffused her whole body. This was so much nicer than the formal occasion Christmas had been at her father's place. To be honest, she admitted, that had been her fault; she had been an awful stuck-up little so-and-so.

When the meal was finished the guests all helped to clear the tables and do the dishes so that in no time the work was done. Esmé saw that Henryk helped as well. He was laughing and joking with Margaret while drying plates. She was scolding him for his teasing trying to look stern, but burst out laughing. Henryk's laugh was deep and warm. It gave Esmé a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't explain. She shrugged it away and turned her attention back to Jane who was telling Esmé everything about previous Christmases at the castle.

When everything was washed and dried and cleared away they returned to the hall. Here the tables and chairs had been moved to the side to free the space for games and dancing later. But first it was time for the presents.

Esmé looked around at the happy crowd that surrounded her. Near the window she saw that James gave Jane a small parcel and whispered something in her ear. Jane's eyes suddenly lit up and the young couple kissed and laughed and kissed again. No need to guess what had happened there.

Suddenly Esmé felt lonely amid all the noise and bustle, an outsider. She went to the bedroom she shared with Jane, and sitting on the windowsill, she thought about her father. Would he miss her? Would he be lonely? She'd never made his Christmas very happy, had never given him a present. Every year there had been heaps of presents for her; more presents than she could open. Had she ever said thank you? The answer was simple. No. She wished she could go to her father now and tell him how sorry she was that she had been such a cow. And Esmé made a decision. As soon as spring came and the snow and ice were gone, she would go to King Henryk and ask him to let her go back to her father. She'd tell him that she had changed, that there was no need to keep her any longer. He would understand and he would let her go because he was a kind man. Ugly and hideous, yes. But whatever he looked like, he was a good man, the best ever.

ooOOoo

Late in the night, after the party, Jane came in. She looked very excited and happy.

"I didn't see you at the party, Esmé. It was absolutely wonderful. James and I got engaged."

"Oh Jane, that's wonderful! I thought as much when I saw you kissing."

"We're getting married in the summer, when the roses bloom. James wants to give me a bouquet of Lovely Jane roses. And I will wear the lovely outfit you and James' mother made for me. Thank you so much. It's the nicest outfit I've ever had. And, Esmé, could I ask you…" Jane hesitated.

"Yes, Jane. What do you want? Ask away."

"I would like you to be my bridesmaid," Jane blurted out. "Would you?"

"I would love to Jane, but I might not be here anymore. When the snow is gone, I'm going to ask the king if I can go back home. I've been such a dreadful daughter. I want to show my father that I'm different now."

"Perhaps you could come back for the wedding."

"Perhaps, if King Henryk will let me."

"Oh, he will! By the way, there was a present for you, but you'd gone already when they called your name."

Jane handed the little present to Esmé. It was a wooden box, a cube. Esmé opened it and took a small crystal bowl out of it. Inside the bowl on a bed of moss lay the most beautiful specimen of the red velvet roses imaginable. The card with the present just said 'To Esmeralda' but Esmé knew it could only come from king Henryk. Jane too had seen the present.

"It's from the rosebush in the orangery, the first ever to be grown," Jane whispered in awe. "Nobody but the king touches it. It's beautiful."

Esmé carefully put the bowl with the rose on her bedside table. Was this the same offer as before? Did he offer her his heart again with this rose? Sure, king Henryk was a kind man and she cared for his welfare, but she didn't love him. How could anyone love a man who was so ugly? She loved her Prince Charming and was waiting for him. Did she accept King Henryk's offer if she accepted his rose? Esmé didn't know what to think.

ooOOoo

That night Esmé had another strange dream. She was back at her father's palace where a party was held. The guests were dancing and enjoying themselves but she stood near the door, waiting for someone.

Some ladies, not one of whom she recognised, stood behind her and kept asking the same questions over and over again. "Where is the lucky man? When will we see the lucky man?"

Suddenly all the guests disappeared. Esmé was all alone in the palace, looking in every room, searching for something, she knew not what.

Then a mocking voice called out: "Can't find your Prince Charming? You'll have to look harder."

She ran from room to room finding every one totally empty except for the bodiless voice taunting her. She wanted to get away from the voice, and ran out into the garden … which wasn't there. Instead she stood in the middle of a strange forest. The trees had tall straight trunks. The forest floor was covered in the greenest grass she'd ever seen, cut short with not a leaf or twig on it. Everywhere in between the trees stood sideboards and tables with empty vases on them. The palace had gone as well, and all around the strange wood a hedge of the red roses had sprung up. She started cutting the roses and putting them in the vases, running back and forth all the time. She knew she had to do this, though she didn't know why. When the last vase was filled the wall of roses started to open up in front of Esmé. Somebody was standing at the other side, a man. Esmé knew her Prince Charming had come at last. Soon she would see him.

He called her name: "Esmé, Esmé."

"Esmé, Esmé, wake up," cried Jane. "It's past 10 o'clock. We've overslept."

Esmé woke up with a groan, "Oh no. I thought I was going to see him. And it was all just a dream."

She felt as if she had really been running all night but after a good shower and a hearty breakfast she was ready to go with Jane to the Boxing Day fair.

ooOOoo

The fair was held near the river. There were stands with hot drinks and others with cakes and pastries, hot and cold, and then there were the sweet-stands, the children's favourites. There were stalls, big and small that sold jewellery, haberdashery, bags, pots and dishes, tools, exotic knick-knacks, and everything anybody might need or just want. There was a large tent-like structure where music was played. People were dancing on the wooden boards that had been put down to make a dance floor. Around it tables and benches were set out. Jane and Esmé sat down to watch to dancers twirling and gliding gracefully … or not. James arrived soon afterwards and took Jane to the dance floor. Esmé sat all alone, tapping her feet to the music. Henryk was watching her from a distance. He wondered how she would react if one of the young men, none of whom had a title, would ask her for a dance. He didn't have to wait long.

"Would you … Can I … I'd love to dance with you, miss. Would you …?"

Esmé recognised the man. He was the groom who had taken Henryk's horse when she first arrived and she had seen him often with the other servants at mealtimes. She smiled at the nervous looking young man.

"Yes, Daniel, I'd love to dance," she said.

After that, Esmé didn't get to sit down anymore. Every man wanted to dance with the prettiest girl at the fair. When she sat down for a rest, she checked the seam of her skirt because she thought she had caught her heel in it while dancing. She couldn't see any damage and looked up. With a shock she saw that King Henryk was standing in front of her.

"Princess Esmeralda, would you do me the honour of dancing the next dance with me?" he asked.

Esmé sat there staring at the young king who was waiting for an answer – an answer she wasn't going to give, he thought – when she suddenly realised she was being rude and blurted out: "Yes, I'd be honoured, Your Majesty."

"Please, call me Henryk," he said.

During the dance Esmé didn't dare look at Henryk. She felt embarrassed and uncomfortable dancing with a man she had called monster, ghoul, scarecrow and worse. Why had she not noticed before that he didn't look like a hideous, gruesome or repugnant beast? Why had she not seen that he was just a man whose face had been scarred by an accident? Esmé didn't know what to say. In the end she thanked him for the present of the rose but even to her own ears it sounded stiff and cool.

For Henryk her silence and discomfort acted like a cold shower on his happy feelings. He had felt proud and elated when he'd seen her dancing, never treating her partner as an inferior, someone who was just a servant. She had talked to them as to equals. She had been like the girl he remembered. She had become the woman he knew she could be, the right queen for his country. But for him there was to be no happy ending. Her attitude sent a clear message. Obviously she rejected him, probably couldn't bear his touch, certainly couldn't endure the sight of him.

After their silent dance he took her back to her seat. He didn't ask her again even though he danced with all the other girls and women present, including Jane. Esmé still had plenty of dance partners but she couldn't enjoy it as much. She knew she had hurt Henryk's feelings and while as the proud Princess Esmeralda she wouldn't have cared one jot, the new Esmé did care … a lot.

The fair didn't end until past midnight. On their way to the castle and bed, Jane kept talking enthusiastically. Emsé couldn't get a word in edgeways but silently agreed with everything Jane said: the stalls had been well supplied, there had been some excellent dishes and pots; the food and drinks had been delicious; the music had been good, very good; James was a brilliant dancer.

"Really, James was the best dancer of all," said Jane. "When he held me, I could have gone on dancing for ever."

Esmé didn't comment on this. Privately she thought that Henryk was the better dancer. Even if their dance together had been uncomfortably silent, she'd felt safe and secure in his arms. Not that she suddenly fancied him; he was after all not her Prince Charming who was handsome, richly dressed and always laughing and fun to be with. Henryk was none of this although – Esmé had to admit – he had looked fantastic that day. She also thought about their dance and what she might have said, could have said and should have said. Esmé sighed at the lost opportunity.

ooOOoo

New Year came and went; winter still lasted with lots of snow and ice. Esmé secretly watched Henryk when he was helping out around the castle. She saw that he worked just as hard as everyone else did, that he was friendly and didn't care about status, that his people thought a lot of him. She had noticed early on that there were no scheming and flattering courtiers hanging around like there were in most castles an palaces, including her father's. She had to admit that she rather liked that, never having cared for the snooping toadies herself except as people she could order to do anything she liked, just for a whim. She'd especially enjoyed it when she made them get things for her, as if they'd been mere servants and not members of the nobility. Here everybody was appreciated and respected for the work they did, from Henryk's private secretary Robert to Liesl, the little scullery maid and consequently nobody thought certain jobs were beneath them.

Sometimes Esmé thought about the many suitors she had had and how ruthlessly she had rejected them. OK, so some of them deserved it that she didn't seriously consider them, but most of them had been honest men with an honest desire to become her husband. She could have turned them down more gently.

Her feelings towards Henryk had certainly changed. She wished she hadn't been so cruel to him. His cool reaction to the destruction of his rose (and symbolically his heart) had infuriated her at the time. Now she could only admire his attitude and his refusal to become her slave or pet like her other admirers.

She had also started to wonder about her Prince Charming. So many suitors had arrived at her father's palace when he had announced he wanted a husband for his daughter. Why hadn't her Prince bothered to come? Why hadn't he asked her hand in marriage? How much of a Prince Charming was he if he couldn't even keep his one promise? And why hadn't he tried to rescue her? Henryk would have, she thought. But Henryk was lost to her. Her own proud and obnoxious behaviour had seen to that, and her stupid conduct at the Boxing Day dance had surely killed off any lasting feeling he might have had for her. Then again, she wasn't in love with him, was she? Was she?

Although Henryk had noticed the change in Esmé, he felt very downhearted. He too thought about his dance with Esmeralda. She had been so cold and distant, hadn't even looked at him except in utter shock when he had asked her. She probably thought he was an animal. After all he had abducted her, treated her abominably and the way he looked wouldn't have endeared him to her. He was no longer Prince Charming. Henryk had lost all hope of ever winning her for himself.

ooOOoo