Thank you all for reading the last chapter. In this chapter Alcina and Beatrice meet for the first time!
Sept 16th, 1921
My dearest Magnus,
I hope this letter finds you well. Things have been quiet and solemn since you have gone. It is only Alcina and I. She asks about you often. Her 'prince' and when we can expect his return. She will sometimes bring up the question of her father and if he will return. I know he will never return. I do not know what happened. He acted quite queer when he had returned that morning, but I have already spoken to you about this before. Forgive me. I suppose I am merely attempting to make sense of it all.
There is another reason why I write to you after several months, Magnus. I was uncertain of it, but now I am absolutely sure. I have given birth to a son. A beautiful boy who shares your eyes. I knew the boy was not Quentin's, because of them. I may sound cold and heartless, but I feel this child is better off with you, my dearest. I feel he will have a better life with you, your sisters and parents. Please write back and tell me what you think.
All my love,
Daciana.
September 30th, 1921
Lady Daciana stood in the winter manor with her son in her arms. She was alone. Alcina staying back at the summer manor with Phoebe. She did not know of the boy. One day she would tell Alcina of him, but not now. Lady Daciana took a seat in the recreation room, smiling down at him as he cooed at her and then his face twisted into one of sadness before the tears came.
"Always hungry, aren't you?" Lady Daciana said, unbuttoning her dress to allow him to suckle. "You are my special boy and in just a few minutes you will meet your father."
Thankfully the house was warmed by the fires the remaining staff had kept alight in the hearths. Yet still her fingers and toes were beginning to grow cold. She held her son closer. Smiling down at him as he continued to suckle without a care in the world. The more she looked at him, the more her chest began to tighten. Doubt playing havoc in her mind. Did she truly want to do this? To give him away to his father?
Lady Daciana sucked in a shaky breath. Her heart beginning to bleed as thoughts of keeping him continued to swirl around in her mind.
The babe finally released her nipple, Lady Daciana then patting his back to get him to burp.
"There. Good boy. Good boy."
"My lady."
Lady Daciana adjusted her dress to hide her breast, smiling up at the servant.
"Baron Kerg has arrived for you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Coombes."
"You may enter, my lord."
There he stood. Wearing a black Callahan Frock Coat and under that he wore a ruby red Isle vest; for pants he was wearing Regency fall front trousers. He removed his Victorian top hat, which sprinkled a little snow on the floor. She observed how he had sprouted a little mustache, but his face had not changed. The same twinkle in his eyes as he looked upon her.
"Magnus."
"Hello Daciana," he gave her a bow.
"I am glad you came."
"I will always come when you call," he replied, now looking to his son.
"He is handsome like his father," she said.
"He gets his looks from you," he countered. "May I?"
Lady Daciana placed their son into his arms.
"He is big."
"He has been feeding well and sleeping just as well," she said. "He is a good boy." She bit the bottom of her lip, hating the raw emotion that was still present.
Magnus looked at her.
"Daciana… if you wish to keep him."
"I just wish… I just wish we could all be together, but—"
"I know," Magnus said, leaning forward and kissing her forehead.
"Come and sit with me for a while."
Magnus joined her on the couch, Mrs. Coombes bringing them fresh coffee.
Lady Daciana rested her head against his shoulder as he continued to hold their son.
"Did you give him a name?"
"No, I wanted you to decide that."
"Let us decide that together," he said. "Right now."
The two went back and forth with different names.
"Certainly not that," Lady Daciana began to laugh.
"Why not?" Magnus protested.
"Because the poor boy will have to learn to spell and to give him a name like that would be too cruel."
"You give me some names since mine are not good enough."
"I did not say they were not good enough, Magnus," Lady Daciana said. "How about Arthur? Arthur Magnus Berg."
"Do you think he would like having my name?"
"I do," Lady Daciana said. "But if you wish to give him another name that is all right."
"No, I like it. I like it very much."
"Arthur," Lady Daciana placed a delicate kiss to his head. "I expect you will obey your father. Learn from him, and above all else, love him. He is a wonderful man. He will love you and take care of you. Be kind to him. Take care of him for me. I love you, my son." She then looked to Magnus. "And I love you."
"I love you, too," he said, the two kissing once more.
The clock ticked away. The time going by too fast for Lady Daciana, and then Magnus rose up to his feet with their son in his arms. Lady Daciana followed them both out to the car. Thankfully the snow had stopped many hours ago. Leaving a light dusting on the surface of the road and grass.
"This is not goodbye," Magnus said.
"I know," Lady Daciana said. "My Magnus…"
They embraced one final time. Lady Daciana waving as the car drove down the road and disappeared from her sight. It was then did she walk back inside, closing the door behind herself and allowed the tears to be shed.
Diary:
I returned home with a broken heart. I lost Quentin, and now I have lost Magnus. I know he will raise our son to be a fine man like himself, but to know I would not see them again continues to haunt me. It was when Alcina came running out of the manor just as the car pulled up did my heart lighten. I still had the one thing who was most precious to me.
Alcina.
I would raise her to be strong. To run my business as well as I have. I still have plans to send her to school in the next three years. I continue to speak with Countess Bogdan about Beatrice. We have planned for a playdate during one of the holiday breaks. I truly believe this will help Alcina come out of her shell more. It is healthy for her to experience things that make her uncomfortable. I feel that her meeting Beatrice will help ease the transition into her school life. To have a friend she knows helping her will eliminate the stress.
I no longer speak of Quentin, and many people have learned not to ask me of him. The same goes with Magnus. Rumors spread as they always do…, but no one except a few of my most faithful and personal maids know the truth. Not even Alcina knows the truth about us, though I know eventually she may figure it out, but as I have promised myself, I will tell her when the time is right…
{…}
November 9th, 1921:
"Alcina."
Alcina turned in her bed. Awoken by the sound of her mother shaking her awake.
"You need to get up, Alcina, we are going to be late to meet the Countess!"
"Just a few more minutes, Mother," Alcina groaned.
"If you are not out of bed in the next five minutes, you will receive no dessert for the next month."
"No!" Alcina sat straight up in bed.
"Get into that bathroom then. Phoebe has already prepared the bath for you."
Young Alcina entered the bathroom with her mother behind her.
"I can do this myself, Mother," Alcina said.
"We are already late. Now I can do this or Phoebe, your choice."
"You," she said, her lips puckered in annoyance.
"As I thought," Lady Daciana said, helping her seven year old get undressed and into the tub. She went right to work scrubbing every inch of her skin and shampooing her hair.
"Where are we going that requires me to be bathed so roughly?"
"I do not mean to be rough, but as I said we are meeting Countess Bogdan and her daughter, Lady Beatrice."
"Lady Beatrice'?" Alcina turned and looked at her mother. "Why does she have that title and I do not?"
"Because her mother is of higher status than I. So you will refer to Beatrice as what is her correct title."
"What does she call me?"
"'Miss Alcina'."
"When will I be called, 'lady'?"
"When I die you will uphold my rank."
Alcina turned away from her mother starting to smile. One day she would be a lady. One day…
"Cover your eyes, my love," Lady Daciana said, waiting before she dumped the water over her head to rinse the shampoo out. "Almost done."
Once the shampoo was out of Alcina's hair, Lady Daciana wrapped her child in a towel and led her back into the room where she picked out a pink one-hour-dress with a beaded embroidery.
Alcina wrinkled her nose at the dress. Hating the color.
Lady Daciana held a stern countenance.
"Hurry along now, Alci," Lady Daciana said, helping her daughter into the dress.
"I hate it…" she mumbled.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Nothing, Mama…"
"Come over here so I can brush your hair."
Alcina dragged her feet over and sat in front of the mirror.
"Ow!"
"I am not pulling your hair," Lady Daciana said. "Just hold still and I will be done faster."
Alcina watched her mother brush her hair from the mirror, she had started to think about what it would be like to have the title of 'lady'. How one day she would be in charge of both the winter and summer manors along with the business. It made her both excited and nervous. Her thoughts then went to the Countess and her daughter. She hoped Lady Beatrice would be nice.
"Mama?"
"Hmm?"
"How old is Lady Beatrice anyway?"
"She is ten years old and is attending the academy you will join in a few years. It is the same academy I attended when I was a girl."
"How old will I be?"
"Nine or ten," Lady Daciana said. "It all depends on the director of the establishment and your test scores."
"I have to take a test?" Alcina groaned.
"We all do, but that is why you have tutors now who are preparing you." Lady Daciana set down the brush and fluffed out Alcina's still damp hair. "That should do."
"When are we to leave?"
"Fifteen minutes from now. We will take the car and go."
{…}
"It's a castle!" Alcina had her face glued to the window once it had come into view.
"It is an abbey, Alcina," Lady Daciana said. "Though I think part of it was a castle at one point, but years of renovations have lost its original appearance."
Their driver took them around the path and stopped in front of the courtyard. Standing on the porch was Countess Bogdan. Her light brown hair was pinned up in a high bun and her bright blue eyes shining from the sunlight. Next to her stood a young girl with blonde hair.
The driver opened the door for the two, Lady Daciana walking up to the Countess and received a kiss on both cheeks.
"How are you, Lady Daciana?"
"I am well, and you?"
"We are most happy to have you," Countess Bogdan said, looking down to Alcina who was staring at Lady Beatrice."And this must be Miss Alcina." The Countess leaned down to look at her. "A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine," Alcina said, curtsying.
The Countess smiled.
"This is Beatrice," the Countess said, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Say hello."
"How do you do."
Her brown eyes were directed on Alcina. Lady Daciana a bit surprised to see the girl was so shy compared to Alcina who looked at her with a smile. Even as they walked in together, Alcina placed herself beside Beatrice and started to talk with her. Beatrice would answer some questions, but then fall silent.
"I will have my servant bring out tea and some delicacies to the gazebo."
"Your garden is lovely," Lady Daciana commented.
"I will confess I had the gardeners design it the same way as yours."
"I am flattered," Lady Daciana said. "I keep it the same in honor of my mother. She always loved her gardens."
Lady Daciana and the Countess took a seat in the gazebo, the two speaking on different topics while they kept their attention on their girls. Alcina was exploring around the flowers with Beatrice following behind.
"We have a lot of flowers like this at home," Alcina said.
"Mother loves them," Beatrice said.
"My mother said you are attending the univ-ver-sity," she said the word slow in order to get it correct.
"I am. Your mother attended the same institution."
"Yes she did and soon I will be there, too, though she said I will be required to take a test," Alcina said. "Did you have to take a test?"
"I did, but it was not difficult. Just continue studying hard and the test will come easy to you, too," Beatrice said.
Alcina nodded, however, she did not feel so confident.
"Look! Remus is bringing out the food and tea," Beatrice offered out her hand for Alcina to take.
Alcina took her hand and ran behind her as she led them back to the gazebo.
"Mother?" Beatrice spoke up after they had settled. "May I show Alcina my room after tea?"
"You may," the Countess said, pouring herself tea and then pouring Lady Daciana a cup.
"Countess you need not serve me," Lady Daciana said.
"Nonsense," the Countess said. "After all you are a most honored guest."
Lady Daciana thanked her, looking over at Alcina and Beatrice who were talking amongst themselves. What a relief to see her talking. The confidence that Beatrice brought out of her, and allowing her to feel safe and comfortable.
"I play the piano, too!" Alcina said. "Do you play any other instruments?"
"The violin, but what I really wish to learn is the Cello."
"I have just begun to practice the piano. I do not think I am ready to practice a second instromunt."
Beatrice started to giggle at her little error, but was kind enough not to point it out.
"I could always teach you a few songs I have learned on the piano. Nothing too challenging, of course. Not because you are bad," she said quickly at the sight of Alcina's face drop slightly. "Something for a beginner."
"I would like that, Lady Beatrice," Alcina said.
Once the four had finished their tea and snacks, the Countess led them back into the abbey.
"Come with me," Beatrice said, taking Alcina by the hand and leading her up a windy staircase. The hall was much bigger and longer than the manor. Decorated with different statues, paintings and vases. Alcina could not stop gawking at the sheer grandeur of it all. "In here!"
Beatrice's room was twice the size of Alcina's. She had her very own queen-sized bed, vanity, and a large chest that contained her toys. She also had her own piano stationed in the corner of the room close to the window that led out to a balcony.
"What do you think?"
"Your room is stunning, Lady Beatrice."
"Beatrice. Just call me Beatrice. Now that our mothers are not around."
"Beatrice," Alcina said with a smile.
"Let me show you around…"
Beatrice showed Alcina every inch of her room.
Alcina was all ears. Enjoying every minute of her time with Beatrice.
"Let's play something on the piano," Beatrice said. "I will play you a song my mother taught me a year ago."
Alcina took a seat next to her on the bench.
Beatrice explaining to her where her fingers were meant to be placed on the keys.
"When you play you must move to the rhythm of the music. Allow it to flow through you and into the piano."
Alcina was amazed by how fast Beatrice played the song. The song itself she would learn was created to be that way. Alcina watched Beatrice very closely. She was indeed moving to the rhythm, but what was even more remarkable was she had her eyes closed!
'She is a master!'
On and on Beatrice played. The music growing louder in intensity. Absorbing the two girls and taking them away into another world.
Finally Beatrice slowed down into a soft finale.
She opened her eyes and looked to Alcina.
Alcina clapped her hands together, and from the doorway loud clapping could be heard as well.
The two turned in their seats to find their mothers standing there.
"A true genius," Lady Daciana acclaimed.
"It took much practice on Beatrice's part, but she did not give up," the Countess said proudly. "If you wish, Lady Daciana, I would be more than happy to invite Alcina to return and practice with Beatrice."
"You are most kind, Countess," Lady Daciana said, looking to Alcina. "Would you like that Alcina?"
"Yes!" Alcina said, turning back around and setting her fingers on the keys. "Can we practice a little now?"
"Sure!" Beatrice said, spinning around and turning through the music book. The Countess and Lady Daciana forgotten as the two girls focused on the music lesson.
"I am pleased they have gotten along so well," the Countess said, closing the door. "The death of Lewis has been most hard on her."
"My deepest condolences to you again, Countess," Lady Daciana said.
"He was a good man," the Countess said. "I should have loved him more, but I just never felt he was the one. It is why I envy you, Lady Daciana." she stopped in the middle of the hall, looking straight into Lady Daciana's eyes, realizing the subject was always raw for Daciana. "Forgive me. I am being quite rude."
"I do not think so," Lady Daciana said, though her mind drifted back and forth from Quentin to Magnus.
"I am sorry about all of it…"
"What is done is done," she said, patting the Countess on the hand and smiling at her. "Come. Take me through the rest of your magnificent home…"
{…}
It was a difficult goodbye for Alcina, but with the promise of seeing Beatrice again made the departure easier.
"I am proud of you today," Lady Daciana said, her arm wrapped tightly about her girl's shoulders.
"I cannot wait to go back," Alcina said. "Lady Beatrice is so nice."
"We will return soon, do not fret."
Alcina leaned her head against her mother, the journey home would take an hour, and the sky above was already a combination of dark blue, purple and red. Lady Daciana had not anticipated their visit being so long, but it was a visit more for Beatrice and Alcina than she and the Countess.
A wonderful success.
She looked down at Alcina who had her eyes closed. There was no doubt in her mind she was dreaming of seeing Beatrice again, and in truth, Lady Daciana was looking forward to speaking with the Countess again.
When they had reached the manor, the sky had become completely dark. Lady Daciana picked her daughter up into her arms and brought her up into her room. Once she had donned her girl into a nightgown she then tucked her in.
"Goodnight, my love," she whispered, placing a kiss on her cheek. "Pleasant dreams…"