“But which one is the right answer?” Madeline inquired.
“Does it matter?” Rosalie replied with a question of her own, a mysterious smile still lingering on her kind face.
“Well, only the right answers matter, no?” The girl seemed interested, and Rosalie knew it was her competitive nature.
“How do you know what the right answer is?” Rosalie shrugged her shoulders, walking over to Madeline, so that she was now standing right in front of her. Then, she dropped down to her knees, wishing to be on the same eye level as Madeline. “Who decides this?”
“I don’t know,” Madeline admitted. “Cece, do you know?”
“No, not me,” Cecilia shook her head so hard that the ends of her hair slapped her every time she turned her head to the opposite side.
“You decide,” Rosalie smiled, her hand extending towards Madeline, then pressing Madeline’s chest, right over the heart.
Not expecting a physical touch, Madeline quickly jumped back, like a frightened animal.
“It’s quite all right,” Rosalie assured her. “I also don’t like to be touched. But, as you see, I am so different from everyone else, that all they wish to do is touch me, just to see it’s not powder on my skin.”
Step right up! Step right up, ladies and gents! See all the wonders! Just a penny! Step right up! Do not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity!
Rosalie silenced that wicked voice inside her mind, and once again opened her eyes to the safety of Hudson Estate.
Madeline didn’t say anything. Instead, her little hand extended, fingers trembling in the air. Rosalie smiled kindly, welcoming the shade of a nearby tree, which hid her face from the open sun. Madeline hesitated for a moment, then the tips of her fingers brushed softly against Rosalie’s cheek. Madeline looked at her hand.
“It’s not powder,” she chuckled.
“Sometimes, I wished it was,” Rosalie sighed melancholically. “But I realized there was no point in wishing for what was not. Instead, you accept what it is, and you learn to live with it.”
Madeline didn’t say anything to that. Instead, she lowered the right side of her gown, revealing her shoulder. There was big, circular brown spot, which stood in stark contrast to Madeline’s sun-kissed skin. Cecilia walked over to her and rested her hand on her sister’s other shoulder.
“It is a birthmark,” Madeline explained, as Rosalie gazed at the child’s bare shoulder and the muddy mark on it.
It was hidden so well under the clothes, but now, in broad daylight, it could not have been mistaken for anything other than what it was - a blemish on otherwise perfect skin.
“Our previous governess, the one before Miss. Montgomery, told me that I should always keep it hidden,” Madeline continued, her cheeks blushing at this revelation. “She told me if I didn’t, I would never find a suitable husband.”
Rosalie smiled, and Madeline gave her a puzzled look. She didn’t yet understand the truth that Rosalie had come to know. Perhaps there were people who accepted others as they were, flaws and all.
“Is that what you believe?” Rosalie asked.
“No,” Madeline admitted.
“Then, you shouldn’t listen to what others say about you,” Rosalie advised her gently. “The only thing that matters is what you think. Let others think what they shall. You simply keep believing in yourself, and always follow the path of your heart.”
Madeline smiled, her eyes sparkling with a newfound knowledge. Rosalie knew that she had finally found a way to get through to the girls, and she knew that this would solidify her position at Hudson Estate. She was initially focused on her own well-being and safety, but little by little, she started to realize that these girls were in a way, like herself, stripped of their innate right to parental love and care. She knew that feeling well. And she was determined to help them in their transition.
As for her own transition, there was no one she could rely on, no one to help her. She gazed at the clouds gathering in the distance. Ominous. Foretelling a storm, perhaps like the one she almost died in.
She shivered, knowing that if another storm came, she might not survive this time.
Chapter 10
“Today, we are going to learn all about lady-like behavior during teatime,” Rosalie announced the following morning, during their lesson.
The girls seemed particularly drowsy for some reason, and Rosalie concluded that it probably had much to do with the weather. It was dreadfully wet outside, and it hadn’t stopped raining since the early hours of the morning. From the looks of it, it would probably continue well on into the afternoon. This meant that having their lessons outside was not a possibility. However, Rosalie was certain that they could be entertained inside.
“But we know how to drink tea,” Cecilia giggled. “We play that all the time.”
“That is true, dear Cecilia, but do you know the etiquette? The correct menu? The fashion?” Rosalie asked curiously.
