The Wings of the Truly Beautiful

nine.

Four hundred and eighty people.

For the past two weeks, her mind could not wrap around that number. Despite the fact that she was very good at baking and making pastries she was nowhere near the expertise that Hetta expected of her. But she was determined not to fail. She wanted to prove that she could do something that she was really proud of. There were very few memories that she could look back on that gave her a feeling of pride. She wanted to change that. 

She had gone to Lord Blackheart a few days ago and asked if he would purchase all of the cooking magazines that were coming out lately. She would pay for them of course. He agreed and they would be delivered on Thursday which was in two days. Until then she poured over all the ones she could find in Ms. Pemberly's office. They weren't much but she learned as much from them as she could. Late at night would find her hunched over the wrinkled pages making notes as she read on. 

Lord Blackheart benefitted from all of Winifred's studies. In fact, the whole house did. The more she learned, she tested out all of the recipes and proportions to practice getting the ratios right. Everyone got a taste of her experiments and no one was complaining. Lord Blackheart had half a mind to go down there and see her in action. The fruits of her labor only got better and if he wasn't careful he was going to gain ten pounds within in the month. But he was determined to give her some room for his own benefit. He couldn't deny, however, that every time a piece of cake made its way to his office or dining table he thought of her. The last time he saw her was when she came to him to ask about the cookie magazines. He knew he stared at her while she was talking to him. He must have because she asked him if he was alright and he remembered himself. He made sure that the magazines would arrive within the week. And as for Winifred offering to pay, he was having none of that. He paid for everything without her knowing. They were only magazines and a small price to pay for the knowledge she was gaining. 

Her ability to learn so quickly did surprise him. He knew that where she came from women were not encouraged to be educated. But it seemed that Winifred was very learned for a woman of her class. It made him want to know who taught her. Her etiquette was perfect and her speech was almost alway grammatically correct. All of this pointed to an education, and yet he had picked her up off the streets. His curiosity was growing stronger my the day and he wanted to know more.

All in good time. 

                                                                                               ~~~~~

It was a Saturday. The perfect day to go to the market and explore the new goods that had come into town. And Winifred was going to do just that. Ms. Pemberyly had given her a list of things to buy as well as the money to purchase them. Winfred also had some money of her own saved up to purchase anything that caught her fancy. She was going to spoil herself for once.

She dressed in her plain blue everyday dress with the collar going all the way up to her neck. Her hair was braided and put up in an acceptable style and she wore some ribbon just for fun. She didn't wear a shawl because the weather looked lovely and she wanted to enjoy every bit of it. She looked at herself in the mirror and was satisfied that she looked alright. The only thing that dampened her spirits was the scar on her face. But she was used to the feeling and quickly shook it off.

Ms. Pemberly greeted her in the kitchen. "Good morning, dear. Are you off?"

"Yes. I am hoping to get back in time for lunch. Hopefully, the market won't be too crowded today so I can get everything on the list." She said cheerfully.

"Well, there are only a few things on the list that are top priority. If you can't find the rest then it's no trouble. I can wait a bit. Just make sure to enjoy yourself for the rest of us."