“I had no idea,” Alexandre said in a whisper as we walked side by side up the steps. “A few days ago, Maman told us she was getting married, but I had no idea it was to your father. It’s all very sudden.”
“Yes. Yes, it is.”
It was dark inside the little chapel. Mismatched candles were jammed into sconces that dotted the thick stone walls, and while there was a window in each one, they were small and barely let in any light. The air was so thick with the scent of incense that it was hard to breathe. My head hurt, but the priest was herding our little group to the altar, so there was no time to stop and rest.
“Papa, should we sit in the pews?” I asked as we waited for the priest to fetch his missal.
I wanted to sit down, catch my breath as much as I possibly could in the hazy air, and think. Everything was happening far too fast, so fast that I couldn’t wrap my head around it all. Not only was Papa marrying a woman that I was only meeting today, but her daughters were Severine and Alexandre.
“No. Absolutely not, Cendrillon,” Lady Catherine said, linking her arm with mine and pulling me forward to stand next to her. “I want you, Severine, and Alexandre by our sides while we wed. We’re a family now. It’s important to us that you share in this moment.”
I glanced nervously at Papa, but he just smiled encouragingly at me. I wished he could say something to guide me, to help me understand how to feel about all this.
“I would love to stand with you, Lady Catherine,” I said, pasting a smile on my face.
“Wonderful!”
She beamed and kissed me on the cheek. Her lips were cool on my flushed skin. I didn’t have any other option but to go along with it all.
“Are we ready to begin?” the priest asked, positioning himself in front of Lady Catherine and Papa.
“Yes!” she said, opening her missal with a snap.
The priest began the mass, his sonorous voice lending an air of solemnity and finality to the proceedings. This was really happening. Papa was marrying Lady Catherine, a woman he barely knew and I didn’t know at all—a woman who was the mother of two girls I greatly disliked. There was no going back after this. Everything was going to change.
I watched Papa throughout the ceremony. He could barely take his eyes off Lady Catherine, eyes that looked at her reverently. I don’t think I’d ever seen him smile as much as he smiled at her. For her part, she gazed at him just as much, then cried a bit when the priest announced that they were married. She practically swooned during their first kiss as husband and wife. Papa looked happy. They both looked happy. This sudden marriage was confusing, and I didn’t like it, but Lady Catherine appeared pleasant enough, and it was obvious that she made Papa happy. I would accept it, but only because it was what Papa wanted.
Chapter Nine
Elodie found me hiding in the stables amongst the horses, tucked in the corner, reading a book. Out of all the places I’d taken refuge in over the past few weeks, the stables were my favorite. They were small and fairly isolated, perched on a cleared section of lawn next to the château.
The soft whickering and snuffles of the horses made for soothing background noises while reading or trying to calm down, and a few blankets pilfered from the linen cupboard made the stables downright cozy.
I’d started taking refuge in the stables after Lady Catherine began exerting control over the château in ways I didn’t agree with. Like sending Claudine away.
I’d entered the sitting room one morning to see Papa and Lady Catherine seated on the sofa, with Claudine standing in front of them. Her back was to me when I walked in, ramrod straight as usual. Her hands were clasped behind her, and I could see how painfully white and bloodless her knuckles were.
“A carriage will pick you up in two days’ time,” Lady Catherine said, a serene smile on her face. “Please have your things packed by then.”
Without a word, Claudine turned and left the sitting room. She didn’t even look at me as she passed, but I saw that her lips were pressed tight together and her eyes shone with tears. The expression on her face scared me. I hadn’t seen Claudine cry since Maman died.
“Papa, what’s going on?”
“Claudine is being sent to manage your father’s old château,” Lady Catherine said.
“But why? Don’t we need her here?”
“We don’t, actually. I can manage this estate on my own. Claudine will be more useful at the old château, to oversee its sale. Once it is finalized, she will go on her way.”
I didn’t know how to respond to what Lady Catherine was telling me. Losing Claudine was unimaginable. It wasn’t right to send her away from her home. She was part of the family. And they were selling our home? It was too much to bear.
“Papa, this isn’t fair! You can’t send Claudine away!”
“Cendrillon, it’s already done,” Papa said, standing in front of newly installed velvet curtains. “There’s no use arguing about it.”
“But, Papa. You can’t—”
“No,” he said impatiently, voice raspy as he began to cough between breaths. “Do not disrespect your stepmother. When you’re the lady of your own house, you can make the decisions. Until then, don’t argue. Catherine is right, and we have no use for a house in the country.”
Tears stung my eyes. Papa was never this testy with me, not unless I’d done something really wrong. And I hadn’t done anything wrong. Before I could protest, he snatched a handkerchief off the table and clutched it to his mouth as he continued to cough.
“Michel, don’t be so hard on the girl. You’re upsetting yourself, which is not good for someone who’s been feeling so poorly. Drink the tea the physician recommended, mon chéri,” Lady Catherine said, sliding a teacup across the table to Papa. “Cendrillon, I understand that you’re upset, but this is really for the best.”
I didn’t answer. There was no point. They weren’t listening to me. I ran from the sitting room. I had to find Claudine. Instead, I found Severine, nearly smacking her with the door she’d been pressed up against in an attempt to eavesdrop.
“Watch where you’re going!” Severine said, frowning and smoothing the skirts that rumpled when she’d dodged to avoid the door.
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping.”
Severine sneered. “I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just happened to overhear you throwing a tantrum over the housekeeper being sent away. You and those servants. I truly don’t understand your fascination with them.”
I went upstairs and all through the house, trying to find Claudine. I didn’t find her, but I did make my way to the stables and remained there for a few hours. No one ever looked for me there. Not Lady Catherine. Certainly not Severine. Not even Papa. Only Marius and Elodie. And it was Elodie who walked past the stables and petted a few of the horses before finding me.