The Noble Ladies' Orphanage

Chapter 21

"Karolina somebody," one of the girls said. "I don't know her last name. Do you know her?"

"Yes," Marcus said. "It's very important that I talk to her. Where do you think she went?" He stopped looking through the crowd where she disappeared and looked at the girls in front of them. "You're all dressed the same. Who are you?" he asked.

"We're students at the Noble Ladies' Orphanage," Zdenka said.

"Karolina, too?" he asked.

"Yes," Zdenka said.

"I see," Marcus said.

"Marcus," Jan called to him. "I need help. Quit flirting and get back over here." Marcus's face flushed red.

"I have to go," Marcus said. "Where is the Noble Ladies' Orphanage?"

"It's just around the corner," Zdenka said. "On the corner of Koblisna and Behounska"

"Thank you," Marcus said. He gave the girls a slight bow and returned to the cart.

"Next week, let's bring more cabbages," Jan said as their empty little cart bumped down the road to the village. "We ran out of cabbages by mid-day."

"Yeah," Marcus said.

"What's the matter with you?" Jan asked.

"Just tired," Marcus said. "I like these trips, but they make for long days when I have to start with Maracek before sun-up."

Why did Karolina run away from him, he wondered. He had suspected that she didn't drown in the river, and even at her funeral service, with her poor red-eyed parents weeping in the church, he'd wanted to tell them to not give up hope.

Now his suspicions were confirmed. Karolina was alive and well, less than an hour up the road, but why wouldn't she talk to him?

How could he not tell her parents? He knew, though, that if he told them, Karolina would hate him forever.

I'll keep her secret just a little longer, he thought. A blue dragonfly hovered just above his curly head before bolting away into the fading blue sky.

Karolina was quiet during dinner. It was a formal affair. The food was delicious and plentiful. Before coming to the Noble Ladies' Orphanage, she had never had a dinner where the food just kept coming. Usually, she knew exactly how much there was to eat from the start, and it was never enough. This dinner seemed endless. There was soup to start, which had all kinds of flavor and chunks of yummy things in it. Then there were pork and potatoes with succulent juices spilling onto the plate every time she cut a piece. She was stuffed, and there was still an apricot tart. She ate until she felt like she couldn't sit up straight, but she didn't feel like talking. She felt something heavy in her heart. She felt the weight of Marcus's eyes. There was a mixture of hope and relief and stabbing pain and resentment in his eyes. She had wanted to tell him before she left. She knew from his reaction that her plan must have worked. Everyone must think she's dead. Would Marcus go home and announce that she was alive? If he did, Josef would be at the Orphanage by nightfall at the earliest and morning at the latest. She would be disgraced, and she would have to go home. Nobody would understand why she would do such a thing.

"Starting tomorrow we'll use the following schedule," Agnes announced. She sat at the head of the table and referred to a tablet of paper next to her plate. "Language and literature will be from 9:00 to 11:00. The peasant girls will be taught by Mariana, and I'll teach everybody else. At 11:00 we'll have an art class, everyone together. The mid-day meal will be at 12:30, after which everyone will have a chance to go for a walk or ride. In the afternoon we will have needlework and music classes and more language practice before dinner. In the evening after supper we will either have dancing practice, intimate concerts or other entertainments. Susana, please translate what I just said into Czech, so the peasants can understand." Susana translated while everyone watched her.