“Now, you look like a princess,” Mina said.
I lifted the skirt and twirled in my scuffed flats. My hair was unkempt and I had no makeup on, but the dress elevated everything about me. I now felt a tiny bit of confidence to meet the Queen—my mother.
“So?” Mina asked.
“Is there really a question?” I said. “This is the dress. How much do I owe you?”
Ms. Adriana had taken a few steps back and put on her glasses. She was examining me intently with the eye of an artist, with me her willing muse. “This dress was made as a gift, and a gift it shall remain.”
“No,” I said. “I need to pay you for it. Too much work went into this adorable piece of art for the artist not to be compensated. I can’t leave without—”
“I won’t hear any more about it,” Ms. Adriana said, shaking her head. “The dress is yours.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“How about a thank you for starters.”
“Well of course! Thank you! A million times thank you!” I threw my arms around her and nearly cried.
Ms. Adriana hugged me back. “Some things were just meant to be. Go and make an entrance.”
Chapter 13
I still had plenty of money left over, even after Mina helped me decide on a pair of black leather boots to do justice to my new dress. The pair I bought didn’t have a heel too extreme since I’d had zero experience walking at such an angle. And I was too intimidated by all the high-heeled shoes Mina recommended.
I had both outfit pieces wrapped and boxed, not wanting to dirty them before the following day; I carried the dress and Mina the boots. With some of my extra money, I also bought Mina the same pair of boots in a smaller size; she insisted she wanted us to match.
Evening was approaching as we made our way back. I told Mina I wanted to make one more stop before going home and she was thrilled to prolong our afternoon adventure.
I led us in the opposite direction of the Ramsey estate, toward the edge of town. We walked along the paved road, all the way until it ended. At that point, a forked set of dirt paths led into the forest, and between the two paths grew a small tree with two trunks twisted together. At one time, it may have at been two trees, but now it had joined and grown into one. Further up the entwined trunks, branches were also entangled in a thick web and their trunks were engraved with hundreds of names and initials, some now barely legible. This was the devil’s tree.
“Why are we here?” Mina asked.
“I wanted to see something,” I said. “Have you been here before?”
She shook her head.
I walked up to the tree and circled the tangle of trunks, reading the engravings. On the back of the tree trunk, I found the initials VS + KC. I didn’t know Kale’s last name to be sure they were ours, but three out of four—along with the note—made me feel confident enough.
“Is that you?” Mina asked, pointing at the carved VS.
“I don’t remember doing it, but I have a feeling it is,” I said.
“And are those the initials of the boy my parents are after?”
“Again, this is part of the hole in my memory, but I believe so.”
I removed Kale’s note from my dress pocket and read it again. Mina peered over my arm to see the note as well.
“Is this the devil’s tree?”
“Yup.”
“You were supposed to meet him the night of the accident, weren’t you?”
“Do you have any light you’d like to shed on that night?” I asked, putting the note away.
“I—I heard you yelling and screaming when you were brought back. I hid in the pantry when they brought you in, so I didn’t see anything. I didn’t know if you were hurt or angry.”
“So, I was awake when I was brought home and then lost months of my memory. It doesn’t add up.”
“I didn’t want to ask questions,” Mina said.
“I know,” I said, bringing a hand to her cheek, rosy pink from the blush she wore. “I don’t want to get you in any trouble.”
We left the devil’s tree and headed home. The street lamps were lit when we passed through town again.
Lady Ramsey made me show her the dress and boots as soon as we entered the foyer. Mina was excited to show off her own fine boots too.
I tried to give back what money I had left over, but Lady Ramsey wouldn’t take it. She insisted it be my traveling money.
The emerald gown wouldn’t fit in my hand-me-down suitcase, so I’d have no choice but to wear it all the next day. I hung it on the empty metal rack and stared at it for a long time, unable to believe it was mine. It was the only item I had that actually was my own.
That evening, I ate dinner with the Ramsey family, an occasion at which everyone was present; I wore my new boots to start getting used to them before I’d be in them most of the next day. Mina showed me she was wearing hers too; she could walk in them better than I could.
“Are you all set for tomorrow?” Lady Ramsey asked as we were served our main course of roast duck, scalloped potatoes, and an assortment of steamed, seasoned vegetables.
“I think so,” I said.
“Johanna can give you another bag if needed.”
“She doesn’t need one,” Johanna said.
“I’m fine. Really,” I said.
“Did you see the dress Victoria got?” Mina asked Johanna.
“If you were there to help her, then I’m sure it’s beautiful,” she responded and grabbed at a dinner roll in the center of the table.
“It’s so beautiful. Ms. Adriana had made it especially for Princess Amelia. And she gave it to Victoria,” Mina explained.
“You must have really made an impression,” Master Ramsey said, sitting back and leering at me.
I didn’t respond, not wanting to provoke any further comments. I wanted the attention off me.
“Eat your dinner, dear,” Lady Ramsey said to Mina, who hadn’t yet touched a single item on her plate.
I quickly retreated to my room after we’d eaten, as there wasn’t much else to do. I mainly wanted to lie low for my last night and headed for the employee bathroom in the cellar, a place I often used for showering and freshening up.
I took a long, hot shower and kept reminding myself that the next day was an exciting one. There were so many unknowns it was difficult to cultivate that excitement, but the knowledge of leaving should have been enough.
I changed into my nightgown, halfway dried my hair, and brushed my teeth before returning to my room with my towel and a small bag of toiletries. I hung the wet towel on the dress rack, next to my new gown, then tucked the toiletry bag into the suitcase. My room didn’t look any more bare than usual, but there was an added feeling of emptiness.
I was reading in bed when the door to my room opened and Master Ramsey barged in. The familiar stench of whiskey followed him, but he was not stumbling drunk like a few nights prior. He seemed quite alert and aware, which frightened me even more. One of his guards entered behind him and closed the door.
“No one gets in or out,” Master Ramsey said to his guard, before turning to me with a rapacious grin. Once again, he held a new bundle of switches in one hand. “We shall not be interrupted this time.”
I pulled the bedsheets as high as they’d go, not that they would provide any protection. The guard stood in front of the closed door, barricading it, with his muscular arms crossed.
“I want to make your final night here memorable,” Master Ramsey said, slowly approaching the bed.
“Please don’t,” I pleaded. “I’ve tried to be good. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“How about the shoes you’ve been wearing? Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“I thought—”
“That the rules no longer applied just because you’re leaving? Let me be clear. You’re still in my house. They still apply.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not yet, you’re not,” he said and ripped the covers away f
rom me.
The hardbound copy of Pride & Prejudice was on my lap. I grabbed it and threw it at his head. It missed and the book bounced off his shoulder and onto the ground.
Master Ramsey let go of the bundle of switches, allowing them to rain down onto the floor. He grabbed me by the nightgown, tugged me toward him and slapped me hard across the face. The rings he wore cut into my cheek, which now felt like it was about to explode. I tumbled backward from the blow and collapsed onto the concrete floor.
“That one’s going to cost you. I hope it was worth it.” Master Ramsey walked up to the rack and examined the gown with clear contempt. “So, this is the dress everyone’s been raving about? You’ll be able to waltz into the Queen’s palace looking a million bucks.” He ran a hand down the V-line hem of the back.
I knelt on the floor, peering over the side of the bed, watching him grope my new dress. Just when I was about to tell him to stop touching it, he gripped each hem of the V and tore it apart.
“No!” I screamed, scrambled to my feet and raced around the bed. He tugged and tore until the back of the gown was nearly ripped in two.
I reached him and tried to pull him away, but he easily tossed me aside, and I landed back on the bed.
Master Ramsey went back to the ruined dress and continued ripping it until the two halves were completely severed. “There. Now it’s a dress befitting a Sandalwood,” he said, just as it slipped off the hanger and pooled onto the floor.
My tears could no longer be contained. I covered my face with my hands and wept, but was only given a moment to grieve. Master Ramsey grabbed a fistful of my hair and forced me off the bed.
“Now, where were we before being so rudely interrupted last time? Oh, yes… Bend over. Palms on the bed.” He let go of my hair, allowing me an instant to breathe. I glanced at the guard by the door, then did as I was told.
I didn’t know what could possibly interrupt the switching session this time, but I wished for anything to get me out of this.
It was bad enough when the girls were brought in to witness my humiliation and shame, but it seemed like a whole new violation with another adult man in the room.
Master Ramsey pulled the nightgown up to my waist to expose the full lengths of my legs. My feet were still healing. He wasn’t going to focus on them. The backs of my legs—and perhaps the fronts—would be the focal points of tonight’s visit.
“Stay on your feet, Princess,” he commanded. “You know what happens if you don’t.”
“Yes,” I sobbed. I didn’t move—couldn’t move. The muscles in my legs were already knotted tight—awaiting the first of many, many strikes.
I heard the familiar swish of a switch cutting the air. Now, my whole body tensed so tightly I thought I might crumble. Tears cascading uncontrollably now, I looked up—in clear view of the two boarded-up windows. No matter what wishes I made, there truly was no one coming to save me. In Master Ramsey’s own words, I’d get my proper send-off.
Chapter 14
“Oh, dear God,” I heard Lady Ramsey say.
It had to be the next morning. I felt the chill of the cellar when she removed the bedsheets from me. The bloody nightgown clung to my marred skin.
I squinted from the severe overhead lightbulb; I lay on my side because I couldn’t bear to be on my back. That wasn’t to say I was comfortable on my side either; every position hurt. My left cheek throbbed and felt twice its normal size from the incredible slap across the face, but it was nothing compared to the horror of my butt and the backs of my legs. They were covered in crisscrosses of bright red welts, some specific areas attacked so ferociously the skin had split. My sheets were a mess of dried blood.
“I can’t believe he’d do this to you,” Lady Ramsey sobbed. She was already dressed, made up, and perfect—even through the sobs.
I could certainly believe he’d do it, and it was only a matter of time before he inflicted this kind of damage on his own girls, but I couldn’t say that aloud; it was too horrible to verbalize.
I didn’t know how long Master Ramsey had been assaulting me because when it was over I was ready to lose consciousness and couldn’t see the time on the clock through my tears. And the guard who’d stood there and done nothing to help me got to witness quite the show.
I had been punished many times over the years, but never like last night; I’d finally seen Master Ramsey without restraint.
Lady Ramsey’s red eyes shifted nervously about the room. “The Queen can’t see you like this.”
Everything packed in the suitcase had been strewn around. He’d torn more of my clothes, spat on some, and completely desecrated others.
Lady Ramsey picked up the emerald gown and gasped. “Why?” was all she could manage to say.
After she got over her initial shock of finding me and my room in the condition in which we’d been left, Lady Ramsey started to help me clean up. Actually, she did most of the cleaning while I did my best to get dressed in something still relatively wearable. The dress I chose was enough to make me decent, but nowhere near suitable for public viewing, let alone meeting the Queen and Prince Byron.
Ripped out pages from Pride & Prejudice were also scattered about the floor. I even saw the wad of crumpled pages he’d used at one point to gag me and slightly suppress my screaming.
The only truly salvageable things in this room were my boots.
Lady Ramsey led me upstairs and I followed her to Johanna’s room. She disappeared into the large walk-in closet, emerging with three or four dresses draped over her forearm. Johanna was a few inches shorter and bustier, but most of my old dresses had been hand-me-downs of her own, more casual ones. I had never been given one of her fancy gowns to wear.
“Which one of these do you like the best?” Lady Ramsey asked, displaying all four gowns on Johanna’s four-poster canopy bed.
Nothing compared to the destroyed emerald gown, but they were all still stylish and lovely. One of the dresses on the bed was a similar emerald color, and I probably would’ve liked it the best, but it reminded me too much of the one I’d lost so I took it out of the running. I ended up choosing a baby blue one.
“Very well,” she said. “You’ll wear this one today, but you’ll take the rest with you.” Lady Ramsey went into Johanna’s dresser and picked out a small assortment of undergarments and a replacement nightgown. Once she had a neatly-stacked pile of clothes, she retrieved a new suitcase from the closet and packed everything that had been piled onto the bed.
“Now, you’re going to take a bath in my washroom, and then I’ll fix you up and get you ready for your departure.”
“No, I can’t do that,” I cried.
“You’ll be okay,” she said, resting a soft hand either side of my face and kissing me on the forehead. “You’ll be okay, dear.”
Her luxurious bathroom was four times the size of my bedroom. Two female servants came in, got the bath ready, and helped me in. I was given an extra pillow from the bed to sit on. Lady Ramsey sat at her powder table as the servants tended to me. One soaped me up with a soft washcloth while the second massaged my scalp, washing my hair. Both were sensitive to my injuries and washed delicately around them.
Once the bath was finished, I was given a plush, white robe, which hugged me like a life-sized teddy bear. I stood while the servant women combed and dried my chestnut-colored locks. Then Lady Ramsey took over to apply my makeup, doing what she could to conceal my bruised cheek. When she was done, I took a peek in the mirror and hardly recognized myself. I actually looked healthy and beautiful. I touched my cheek just to check if the bruise was still there or if the magic concealer did more than hide the blemish. Unfortunately, it was still there.
“There, the Queen won’t even know,” she said. “Now your first impression will be memorable because you’ll make it so, and not because you’ll walk in looking like a poor, battered, broken girl.”
It hurt to smile, but I did it anyway. “I don’t know what to say.”
“S
ay you’ll miss this place just a little bit?”
I gestured very little with my thumb and forefinger, which made her laugh.
“Fair enough,” Lady Ramsey said.
“I’ll miss you,” I said. “And Mina and Misty.”
“And Johanna?”
I repeated the very little gesture.
“Mina adores you. She’s heartbroken you’re leaving.”
“I wish I could take her with me,” I said.
“It’s bad enough losing one of you.”
“I’m leaving, but you’re not losing me.”
“You’re going home to your true family. I can’t see how this isn’t losing you. But I knew this day was coming and just didn’t know how hard it was going to be until it was upon me.” Lady Ramsey shrugged and glided into the adjoining master bedroom. “I’m not very good at goodbyes.”
She was facing away from me when she said it. I could hear her sniffling.
The blue dress I’d chosen was laid out on the bed. Lady Ramsey helped me get dressed like she’d done when I was younger, and I welcomed her assistance. She gave me toiletries from her washroom and finished packing my suitcase.
“All done and not a moment to spare,” Lady Ramsey said. She pulled me in for a hug. “You’ll do great, Princess.”
I cringed at the word and let her go.
She extended the handle of the suitcase and passed it to me. “The Governess will be waiting for you in the town car. It’s time if you’re going to make your train.”
I left Lady Ramsey—the Duchess of the 24th Ward—in the bedroom as I rolled my suitcase out of the house and up to the waiting town car.
The driver tipped his hat before taking my luggage and tossing it in the trunk. He then opened the side door and helped me climb into the extended back seat. The Governess was already inside. She wore a black A-line dress and a black, wide-brimmed dress hat that shadowed her face.
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