“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 from 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
“O h, 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.”
“Say 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.
“Good morning, Victoria,” she said. “Big day. How are you doing?”
“Never better,” I said as I carefully sat on the leather bench seat.
She seemed to notice my pained movements but didn’t comment on them. There was no way to sit comfortably, so I just had to deal with it and appear as normal as possible. I crossed my right leg over my left, which ended up being worse. So, I went back to sitting with both feet on the floor.
“Anything you want to talk about?” the Governess asked. She looked concerned.
“Not particularly,” I answered. Then after a minute, I changed my mind, and asked, “Why is everyone lying about the boy we saw in the field?”
“No one’s lying,” she said. “What gives you that impression?”
“I don’t believe he was harassing me. I spoke with him—”
“Is that so?”
“His name’s Kale and I don’t believe he wished me any ill will. There has to be something I’m not being told. It’s hard putting these recent things together with a several-month memory gap.”
“Is anything more coming back?” the Governess asked. “Or are you taking what he tells you at face value?”
“It’s not just what he told me.”
“Then what else is there?”
I didn’t know how much I could trust her with, so I ended the conversation. She wasn’t willingly giving up any additional information.
It didn’t take long to reach the train station. Our train was already there and passengers were boarding.
The driver had our luggage ready on the platform before the Governess and I stepped down from the town car. He wished us safe travels and left as we made our way to the closest boarding train car.
Luggage attendants took our bags and the Governess handed the porter our tickets. The small white-haired man in a striped jacket welcomed us to the Inter-Ward Express, offering a hand to the Governess as she climbed aboard.
I glanced back at the station, and beyond it, at the rest of the town. As the porter called for my attention, I noticed a familiar face in the crowd. Kale leaned against a wood pillar by the ticket booth and waved.
“Miss?” the porter asked.
I gave a small wave back and took the porter’s hand, allowing him to guide me into the Inter-Ward Express and take me away.
CHAPTER 15
T he Governess and I had our own private train car with sofas, chairs and a dining room set, complete with a chandelier. It could easily accommodate twenty people.
I ran to one of the windows facing the station and scanned the area looking for Kale, but he was gone. I found the pillar he’d been leaning against, which now had a family of four standing in front of it.
“Do you want to order anything?” the Governess asked. I turned my attention back inside. The Governess was standing with a dining attendant.
“I’m having some tea,” she said.
“Sure. I’ll have some too,” I answered.
“I would like some tea as well. Thank you.�
� Her tone was sharp. Luckily, she didn’t have her pointer.
“I would like some tea as well,” I recited. “Thank you.”
The horn blew at the top of the hour, signaling the train’s departure. I gazed out of the window as we started to move, seeing families and loved ones of others waving from the platform. I searched for Kale again but still didn’t see him. There was no one out there seeing me off, but I’d had my send-off the night before.
The dining attendant returned a few minutes later with our tea and a platter of assorted fruits, meats, and cheeses. I perused the provided teabags and this time chose Lemon Chamomile. The name sounded fancy.
“So, I suppose my last name is Hart now?” I said.
The Governess added sugar and cream to her tea, so I did the same.
“I suppose you’re right,” she said. “But let’s not go making any drastic changes until the Queen approves them.”
“I’m not changing anything. I’m just saying. I wish I could fast-forward a few months, to a time when I knew what was going on, knew what to expect, and had my new life in order.”
“If only life worked that way,” she said. She stirred her tea and clinked the spoon on the saucer before taking a sip. “Didn’t you come home with a new dress yesterday? I thought I overheard Mina going on about one.”
“I did, but it ended up not being very comfortable so Lady Ramsey gave me this one instead,” I said. It even sounded like a poor excuse.
“That’s also a very beautiful dress. I’m not suggesting otherwise,” the Governess said. “I thought I overheard the new dress was originally crafted for Princess Amelia. I was curious, that’s all.”
“Ms. Adriana had said that. I don’t know if it’s true. It was—is quite a dress.”
“You’ll have to show it to me sometime.”
I nodded while I sipped my tea.
“This will be a first for both of us,” she said after a short pause.
“What will?”
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