Fairy Tale Love

The Stroke of Midnight

Chapter 2:

 “Cinderella! Cinderella!” Voices screeched from above the ceiling as Ella hurried putting the breakfast and tea on the tree trays in front of her. The screeching from above combined with the service bells ringing next to her made Ella quickly lift the trays and expertly carry them up two staircases into the west wing where her two stepsisters and stepmother resided. The first door she entered was the room of the eldest stepsister Cassia who was very vain, spending hours looking at herself in the mirror.The next door was the room of the youngest stepsister Desdemona who was the worst of the siblings because of her cruelty to Ella. It was Desdemona that came up with the nickname Cinderella when after the ash and cinder that covered Ella would not wash away after so much time spent on the floor. The  stepmother Madame Daeva resided at the end of the hall in the master suite. Opening the door to her step mother’s room, Ella kept her gaze on the floor and set the tray down on the side table before scurrying out of the room to finish her chores. While Madame Daeva did not act maliciously to her, she did not stop the abuse that her step sisters inflicted.

As Ella began to wash the floor of the front foyer, Cassia and Desdemona strutted down the staircase cackling at the latest gossip they heard from the ladies that have been stopping by for tea. When Desdemona walked by smirking her foot tipped the water bucket full of dirty water over to spill on to the floor. Cassia screeched when the water her her spillers and Desdemona glared at Ella like it was her fault. Madame Daeva appeared at the top of the stairs to investigate and yelled “Clean it up Cinderella! And clean the girl’s rooms, dust the library, and scrub the kitchen!” causing Desdemona to smile. Ella sighed at the added chores to her list of ones she had not finished yet. She had hoped to have lunch soon, but with the new tasks she would have to skip the meal today. After the girls had left, Ella stared at the water on the ground and began to feel tears fall from her eyes to the floor and make ripples in the puddle. She missed her father and mother terribly and wondered how this happened. She knew after her mother died that her father couldn’t bear to let his only daughter grow up without a mother figure and married a fellow widow who had children of her own. Ella had been so happy when her father had told her that she was getting sisters. She would finally have a family, but when she met them, she realized that her father would be the only family she would have. Finally finishing up the floor, Ella went out the back door into the meadow behind the house. Cassia and Desdemona never came out there because they hated the outdoor which was perfect. It was Ella’s only sanctuary from her life as a servant in her own home. A little ways away from the house under a willow tree sat two little grave stones covered in white flowers. On the one on the right was the engraving:

                              Mary Beaumont

                    Loving Mother and Wife

         Will be missed and always in our hearts

 On the gravestone next to it was :

                         William Beaumont

                 Loving Father and Husband

        Will be missed and always in our hearts

Ella had made sure that both of her parents were buried next to each other and had gone to the trouble of bribing the man who was tasked with burying her father. Madame Daeva had wanted to bury her second husband in the church cemetery because with the debt accumulating from her daughter’s spending, she couldn’t afford anything else.

“I miss both of you so much” Ella whispered to the graves softly as she leaned against them in the shade of the tree. She couldn’t stay for long, but the punishment for skipping out on her chore was worth talking to her parents. Her father had passed away not soon after he had married Madame Daeva and brought the woman into the house. As soon as they were settled, the two girls, especially Desdemona, began to spend too much money on jewelry and  dresses making Ella’s father to work more and travel farther. He was a skilled carpenter who sold wooden chairs, tables, and small figurines and was forced to travel far from home to sell his wares to make up from the debt. He died one night five years ago on way home to give Ella her fifteenth birthday present. After he died and the income stopped coming in, Madame Daeva began the search for a new rich husband for herself and her daughters leaving Ella to the housework because the original staff was let go.