Of Fairytales and Happy Endings

Chapter 49. The Servant Girl.

Walls have ears. Doors have eyes. Trees have voices. Beasts tell lies. Beware the rain. Beware the snow. Beware the man You think you know. ~ Catherine Fisher.

Chapter 49.

The Servant Girl.

The five days given to Beatrice by Iestyn were pretty miserable for the girl. She saw no one, except for the maid Mary, who came by three times a day with food. She would also draw up a bath for Beatrice in the evenings. The tight, tense look on her face kept Beatrice from speaking to her.

She had tried once, but Mary had shaken her head and motioned towards the door. Obviously there were strict orders not to speak and someone behind the door was listening. This confirmed to Beatrice that her door was guarded at all times. There was nothing to use to climb down from the window, which was locked anyway. Beatrice had experience breaking windows, but the noise would bring someone running in a second.

There seemed no way of escape, and that meant when the time was up Beatric would have to give the colonel an answer. Now, she did not want to return to Mamma, but she certainly didn't want to be that villain's wife either.

"If he really thinks he can scare me into it, he's a downright fool!" Beatrice grumbled. She didn't know what to do and so did nothing, figuring she would have to improvise on the spot when the colonel arrived. Thus the days passed one after the other. It was the night of the fourth day and Beatrice was sitting in her bed, hugging her knees. One more day. The day after tomorrow she would have to give some sort of answer.

"There must be some way to choose neither and still keep my freedom," she whispered to the darkness. A snap at the door caught her attention. Someone had just unlocked the door from the other side. Fear gripped Beatrice that it was Colonel Blethyn coming to take something, something he couldn't wait for the wedding night to take. Beatrice slipped out of bed and lit the candle. Let him try to make a move on her and she'd throw the burning thing at him. And then the jug, and the basin, and the chair; the table if she had to!

The door creaked open but instead of Colonel Blethyn, Beatrice was surprised to see Mary. She was fully dressed, but her hair was down in a night braid that reached well past her knees. She held no candle in her hand, and putting her finger to her lips she motioned for Beatrice to keep quiet. Shutting the door softly, she locked it from the inside, then turned to the inmate, who had set the candle back on the table.

Mary motioned for Beatrice to come and sit with her on the bed.

"We must keep our voices very low," she whispered. "These walls have ears and the windows have eyes. I wanted to speak to you sooner, but could not. There is a guard at your door at all times. Tonight I have drugged him. He keeps a little bottle with him, it was empty and he asked if I could refill it. I put the sleeping draught in secretly. There is enough to keep him asleep all night. I know what the colonel is trying to make you do. He has been planning it for a long time, together with his mother."

"I think I figured that out by now," Beatrice sighed. "He is the master of covering it up. When I knew him in London he was so different. I cannot believe it is one and the same person."

"Ah, but that is who he is," Mary whispered bitterly. "All his life he wore a mask of goodness that hid the devil he is inside. And that woman, his mother, she is no better. The two of them will be the death of you."

"Is there anyway of escape?"

Mary let out a sad sigh. "If there was, I have yet to discover it. You are not the only inmate here. I have been trying to get away for nearly seven years, and have never succeeded."

Beatrice let out a quiet gasp. "Did Colonel Blethyn kidnap you too?"

"No." Mary shook her head. "No, it was his mother. She calls me Mary, but that is not my real name. She tells everyone that I am an orphan with no family, but that is not true. I have family and I have a name that was given to me by my mother and father, but if I dare tell anyone, Lady Blethyn will whip me. She has in the past. But you are in the same boat I am in, so I will tell you all. My real name is Heulwen Llyod."