Chapter Eight

    Tessa, who was drenched in sweat from a long run across the manor, burst through the single wooden door of the servant's quarters. It clattered on its hinges against the grey cobblestone wall, and then wobbled towards her.

The heads of every servant girl looked up from the long and narrow wooden table with a silent alarm.

She bent over and heaved at her knees as she chose to ignore their widened eyes glaring at her. She cared not for what they thought, for she hadth bigger problems, and she minded that they were soon to share in them.

She looked up at them and she raised her brows high into her dripping forehead.

She said, "Ist Melanie here?"

"Nay," said the women, who groaned the answer together with shaking heads. 

They looked to their breakfast plates and resumed eating their meals. The steaming smell of scrambled eggs and aged cut meats filled the air, and Tessa’s nose, but she felt little inclination to satisfy her yet unsatiated appetite.

Tessa sighed a breath of relief in finding that Melanie was not here, and she relaxed her shoulders. 

As she rose to her feet, her stomach rumbled, for the steaming mists of late breakfast delights continued to fill her fast-pacing lungs. She stubbornly ignored the urges of her heart and belly, for she was not well enough to eat.

"'Tis a fine thing that she is not here," she said, "And thou all hast heard about...?" The last confession Lady Sheeks’ made to her unwitting confessor.

"Yea," they groaned again, rolling their eyes. 

Twas only hours since the incident, and already the news was a tired and old thing to hear. Elizabeth was the Lady Sheeks now, and the former was best forgotten, save for the juicy gossip she produced among her old servants.

They stabbed and clattered their forks in unison. 

Farrah grinned from ear to ear as she pointed her fork at the group. 

She said, withholding the chuff of eggs stuffed in her cheeks, "This, a household so big and only a handful of people cared about the old fruit bat,” She stuffed a second pile in her other cheek like a cow, "and 'tis to no surprise. For we knew this day was coming and I, for one, am well pleased to be done waiting." 

The girls laughed, as didst Farrah, who dropped bits of chewed egg on her plate from her pinched lips. 

Tessa rubbed her thin bicep and she frowned, and then she averted her eyes from the group. She couldst not speak for or against her late mistress, though she knew her not, but she hadth heard this woman was so cruel to low-borns, and even her own daughter. In all these times, Tessa wondered how couldst it be that a sweet young woman like Melanie couldst have so devoted herself to a woman such as this?

Hannah raised her fork in a like manner to Farrah, "Here is my query. Wherefore didst she speak to Melanie? Is she not as much a nobody as the rest of us?" 

Farrah matched her agreeable glance and she nodded in a nice manner.

She said, "Well, that is easily explained. Her flattery was sincere, and the old bat knew it well. If I were to seek anyone on my deathbed, for a surety it must be someone I knew liked me. It wouldst not be my ungrateful daughter."

The girls laughed again, but Tessa remained stoic and unamused. She cared not for their theories, but only to know that if Melanie was well, though she wanted her presence not. She couldst not bear to discuss the matter of being there when Lady Sheeks died, and in all matters, Melanie was inclined to discuss everything. The idea made her stomach so knotty, that twas like she swallowed a bag of coins. 

The door swung open and shoved Tessa. Only her uncanny balance, gained from years of hoisting dinner plates in both arms, kept her well on her feet, so that she didst not stumble, in humiliation, to her face.

She turned back to the source of this disruption with a great grievance on her face, only to find herself faced with a person with whom she couldst not allow herself to express such displeasure. She dropped her sour expression, and then she gulped.

She said, grabbing her chest, "Giles, thou hath startled me." 

She stood erect and swept the bangs out of her face as she curled her lips, and then she looked at her crossed feet. 

"What is this? Thou hath never lowered thy self as to come down here," Farrah said, furrowing her brows.

Giles' dancing eyes and his high chin looked over the room, as though they were not even there. 

"I am looking for Melanie," he said, solemn yet perplexed, "Her presence is required for the reading of the Lady Sheeks’ Will." 

A couple girls gagged on their eggs, and twas a response most unbecoming of them hither to their superior. 

"This is the most strange," Hannah said, chortling, "For the first, that the queen of the mongoose shouldst hath the old bat’s last word and ear, and now that she shalt hath her coins."

Farrah smacked Hannah's arm from across the table. Her grin exposed a mouth filled with mashed eggs 'tween her crooked yellow teeth. 

If the late Lady Sheeks hadth lived to consort with them, there was no doubt she wouldst die a second time at the sight of her household's table manners. 

Hannah said, "Do not be so abrupt, Farrah, for I speak plainly." 

Hannah rolled her fat gummy lips as she chewed, not much unlike a heifer, and she shrugged her shoulders. She swallowed her food with a loud gulp before she looked back at Giles. 

"Wherefore shouldst they require Melanie?" Tessa said, “For like us, she is of little note and no high status.”

"'Tis not my place to know. Only mine and yours to obey," he said, sighing, "Now wilt thou not tell me whence she is, if thou hast known it?" 

Farrah said, "She is in the old bat..erm, the late Lady Sheeks'..bedroom. She is cleaning, for we hadth heard the prince is expected to arrive." 

Giles closed his eyes and he nodded. 

"Such is not to be," he said, as he rubbed his forehead with a kerchief. He looked down and sighed, "for he is to be delayed. His Royal Highness hast postponed the visit until Lady Elizabeth leaves her mourning, out of respect for her house and in accordance with our laws." 

Giles raised his pointed eyebrows at her and he pursed his lips at her confounded perplexion. 

"Wherefore?" Hannah said, "For doth he not know that she hast hated her?"

Giles rolled his eyes, and then he sighed. He turned to leave the room in a hurry, that it might not further undignify his presence. 

"Must they behave as children," he said, closing the door harshly behind him.

Hannah said, "I think we expect another wedding in the meantime, girls." 

Farrah said, raising a brow, "Ist it so? Who else is betrothed in these days?"

"Melanie and Giles," she said, shoving more eggs in her mouth, "Is that not plain?"

The table roared into laughter. 

Farrah said, "She wishes it as much and more than any other lady that can be found. 'Tis unfortunate that Mr. Giles hast finer tastes than other young servant girls."

Tessa turned to face them, allowing tears to stream down her tired face. 

She hadth spent years since her childhood listening to the useless longings into the night Melanie shared for Giles, her prince and superior, who to her was finer than all titles, diamonds, and lands that she couldst dream to own.

Farrah paused, then said, "Wherefore shouldst thou cry, Tessa? We art but having a jest." 

Tessa ignored her and she turned her growing rage to Hannah. 

She said, "Thou knows well how she feels about Giles, Hannah, and how little thou cares for her heart. Thou mocks her. Can thou not imagine what 'tis like to love a man who shalt never love thee back? Or art thou really as much a heartless oaf as they say of you?" 

The girls made a collective gasp and made long whistles at her.

Hannah rose from the table, which scraped harshly against the stone floor. 

If her skin was as thick as her girth, then surely she couldst not hadth been so offended by that slight remark. Who was Tessa but a little scullery made, who spoke with words and not stones, that Hannah shouldst think to do her harm?

Hannah charged hither to her and she brought herself inches from Tessa's cringing stance. The stench of mead and intimidation spewed in thick waifs down her forehead. Passion glistened in Hannah's narrowed amber eyes. 

Tessa was nigh to faint, for she thought surely the next thing to come was a heavy fist that may knock her to her feet first, if not bring about a sure and sudden death.

She said, "I can not believe it, that thou art her closest friend and confidant, and yet shouldst not come to know what is happening." 

Tessa gulped, as she cowered beneath Hannah's startling height.

"Tell me plainly what 'tis that I do not see, that I may see and be minded to know it." 

"Melanie is in the Will? She is but a simple and unremarkable servant girl."

Tessa shook her head. This fact was plain and yea, mysterious, but surely this could not be brought about by someone with so little influence.

"I know not.."

"She handed the last cup of tea to her perfectly healthy, yet conveniently old, mistress. 'She' was the last face the old bat saw before her breath exited her body. The last name on her lips. Can thou not find it suspicious?" 

Tessa’s head tingled and cooled as the color drained from her face.

"Doth thou make the suggestion," Tessa said, gritting her teeth as passion conquered Hannah's towering height, "That Melanie, the sweetest woman I ever knew in all the days of my life, couldst be capable of shipwrecking her soul for murder?"

She slowly nodded, and then she didst a much more awful thing. She smirked.

She said, "Well, if it looks like a mongoose..."

"Thou lady, art naught but a jealous, fat, and cold-hearted liar!" 

Tessa shoved Hannah into the table, and was simultaneously shocked as she, before witnesses, hadth knocked down a woman more than twice her size. Her eyes widened in terror of the sudden consequences now set to befall her, which may be well deserved for both her arrogance and sudden passion. 

She fled the room like a bat in the night. 

Tessa heaved her breaths as she kept a quick and lofty pace ahead of Hannah, who stalked like a one-eyed giant in her disrupted hole. Her heartbeat fastened to her breast, and even quicker didst her busy sack-clothed feet make a difficult haste from her pursuer. 

Hannah’s cries echoed as Tessa continued running forth, and the stone hall came very close to ending the chase. There was not a second plan put in place to safeguard her, for her decision to both push down Hannah and run was both a quick and uncalculated one. 

If she might outrun her now, how might she stay ahead of her the next day, or the one after that? There is no doubt Hannah may stalk her at any time and succeed in her revenge, even to the depths of the scullery, whence she is rumored to make an able bully. 

Hannah's indecipherable curses closed in behind her like a drunken beast.

Along the way, an opportunity presented itself. She ducked into a hidden cobblestone side door, which hadth no handle, and was one of such discretion that only she and Melanie knew it hadth existed. Its inside was a rough cut hole only large enough to accommodate one small person and always damp from an unknown water source.

According to legend, a thief might hath stored his goods down here or a murderer his victim, but neither types hadth existed in this place since before the times since Tessa and Melanie lived here.

She sighed with relief as Hannah's stomps and curses came and went as she bypassed her hiding place. A welcome silence fell over her surroundings.

Tessa curled into a corner, managing to ignore the cobwebs which now clung to her faded blue apron and white linen dress. There, she was imprisoned of her own volition in the dark and she sank her head into her trembling hands. 

The stench of musk and the curl of hunger and the sorrow of accusation weighed down her young and naive soul. Tears formed in her salted eyes and she dug them into her elbows a multitude of times, until she hadth cried herself to sleep. 

All the while, didst she pray that no one wouldst seek her out, for they might cause her to leave her sanctuary, though it hadth not seen other souls beyond Melanie and herself in scores of time.

….

Only an hour later, she was snapped awake to the sound of fair clicking footsteps, which couldst only belong to the nice and lightweight Melanie.

Tessa swung open the door, almost striking the back of Melanie’s head as she passed. 

She crawled out of the hole with hesitation as she peeked past the door. 

Melanie betrayed little emotion in her calm countenance, but simply waited until she couldst stand upright before her.

They stared at each other for a few moments, for they both seemed unsure of how to begin speaking to one another.

Melanie didst not seem the least distressed by this morning’s incident, for her eyes were dry and wide, and her chest was raised with careful breaths. Her spine was long and straightened and she appeared not to be a woman of service, in her new fine garments of red-orange damask, chiffon neck kerchief, and bear fur sleeves, but as a true lady. Nay, there even appeared to be a hint of a smile waiting in the wings of her lips, and Tessa couldst not understand her mind.

Tessa curled her lips before she finally spoke, that she might break a silence 'tween them that was as sharp as a strained thread, "I beg of thee. Do not go in there. Hannah looks for me, and thou knows if she can not hath me, she shalt take thee for the brunt instead." 

"I care not for Hannah’s revenge," Melanie said. She didst crack a smile, bearing a new confidence Tessa hadth not known before, or expected, "for my mother's wilt hast been done." She paused and grinned wider, "My real mother." 

She poised her hands at her waist, much like her ancestors didst when their immortalized portraits were formed; the same ones she dusted every morning in the prior years, if only as an excuse to gaze upon them. 

Tessa said, perplexed, "Thou art certain? Is it true? The Lady Sheeks...was thy mother?" 

Melanie nodded, grinning wider, "'Tis true. And I am declared a duchess now, this very day. She bequeathed me the title herself, as her blood, and as a final, desperate, apology for her adultery. And what is more than this? Giles shalt serve me, directly. Me! Finally, I hath my right; a glorious gift granting the perfect advantage for a position long overdue." 

"I shan’t believe it if thou were anything but my dearest friend," she said, still furrowing her brows. 

"Then wilt thou not stop looking at me in such a way," Melanie said, with awkward command, "For I shouldst see thee be the most happy for me."

"I am.."

"I want my things gathered and moved to my new apartments."

"Me?"

Melanie furrowed her brow.

"Is this not agreeable? Thou art my servant."

"Well, I.."

"I conjure thee once more, that thou shouldst be happy for me, Tessa. For though the status 'tween us hast changed in my favor, and not yours, we shalt be well."

"I can only imagine how elated thou art...miss," Tessa said. 

No doubt Melanie heard the unhinged patronization in her voice, and yet she chose to ignore it.

"The only thing that couldst make me happier is if my mother were still alive, and gracing my day with wisdom and beauty, as she so often did. I wouldst give up the title of a queen if it meant I was to serve her for just one more day." 

Tessa relaxed her face and she bowed her head. They once played these roles as children, but now twas real and the farthest from joyful. Even more didst it terrify her down to her bones. For, if any thought lingered that Melanie's notorious obsession with the Lady Sheeks was naught more than a long ruse, the idea twas all but obliterated now.

"Thou seems troubled in thy countenance," she said, as she finally acknowledged Tessa's hesitation.

"I am, quite, miss," she said, with words that were careful not to offend, "for this wilt be a new adjustment for me, as things now art for thee."

"Well, I hope it wilt give thou pleasure that I make thou my ‘Head Lady of the Bedchamber’," she said, curtailing her eyes as if this were a grand charity, "'Tis a higher position than the scullery, as thou hadth known it. I can not hath the only girl I can trust so far away from my side, because I need thou and thy help, Tessa. Now more than ever." 

"Thank thee, my lady," Tessa said, speaking slow. 

The chills down her spine grew ever stronger as this conversation lasted, making this awkward morning seem almost like nothing.

"Thou shalt get used to thy new place," Melanie said, embracing her shoulders, "and thou can trust I wilt not be cruel to thee, for I know how hard twas for all of us. I pray you shalt take comfort in that." 

Tessa made a single and low bow. She was unsure of how much prideful talk she couldst stand to hear from the woman who was but a day earlier, her closest and dearest friend.

"Madam," she said, ever uncomfortable with this address, "I shoved Hannah...and I managed to get away. If she sees me..." 

"Say no more," Melanie said, stroking Tessa's thick auburn locks, "She knows my news well. She can not hurt thee, so long as I hath my place to lord over her. In fact, if I hath my way, she shan’t be in a position to harm anyone." 

"Yea, madam," Tessa said, making another quick bow. 

She was not quite sure what Melanie meant by her words. Surely, she couldst not guard the girls from Hannah's abrasive hand at all times, in the much-unattended servant quarters. 

"Now walk behind me, so we may go fetch my belongings. We hath things to sort," she said, ever dignified with a wide smile. 

Twas chilling to imagine how only this morning she lived like a common servant, and now she behaved like the high queen. It made Tessa wonder, with as much dread, how much more pride couldst she possess as time and opportunity went forth.

….

All eyes fell on Tessa, and not Melanie, as they entered the servants’ sleeping quarters. 

Melanie maintained her royal poise, with hands cupped at her waist and her pointed chin held high. She was so like her mother was imagined to hath been in her youth. She smiled, licking in this new power like the silky chocolate frosting on peppermint cakes. 

"Hannah," she said, as though for Tessa's sake, and not her own, "Thou and the other girls shalt bring my things to my new apartments, which art adjacent to those of the Lady Elizabeth, my dear sister." 

All seven servants, including Hannah, Farrah, and Tessa, made a dutiful solemn bow.

Melanie was the lion cub who readily learned her strength. Yea, this one consensus was clear, though for fear, unspoken: ‘Twas wiser to obey her than to be devoured whole.’

"Dismissed," Melanie said. Her syllables were sharp, like the executioner's axe. 

“Tessa,” she said, “Walk with me.”

Tessa followed behind her like an awkward duckling, and maintained her hands at her own waist. She took in a deep breath of trepidation, but kept herself quiet, that Melanie might not hear her and inquire of her mind.

Tessa closed the door behind them with a slow hand. They walked a few paces down the rounded cobblestone hall from the servant’s sleeping quarters hither to the dining area. 

Melanie stopped in her tracks and she spun around to meet her pale face.

"Tessa," Melanie said.

Tessa kept her gaze low as she made a single bow to the floor. 

"Rise," Melanie said, raising her chin.

She was being both comfortable and gentle in her disposition now, and twas not quite understood wherefore she hadth such confidence in so short an hour.

"Yea, my lady," Tessa said, rising to her feet.

"I can not abide that thou takes no apparent pleasure in my new role."

Tessa gave a solemn nod. She couldst not be anything other than what she felt and knew herself to be with all her being. She couldst do so with her tongue, to be sure, but not with her eyes, which often betrayed her.

"Wouldst it be any consolation at all to know that thou might hath my undying favor?" 

Tessa said, "I trust thee, my dear lady, with all my beating heart. Thou hast always been both truthful and kind to me in all manner of things." 

She bowed again, lower to the floor, and ever more careful to conceal her contrary face.

"Good. Thou knows thy place, and I know mine, and we must both live that life to the best of our ability. Now, go and help the others. I wilt return later." 

Tessa gave a single nod as a bitter tear ran down her cheek. 

Melanie frowned. 

She said, blinking, "Tessa, my dear girl. Wherefore art thou so vexed in thy conscience?" 

Tessa wiped the tear away. Dear girl. She spoke like Giles now, and Lady Elizabeth. Couldst things be no worse than this, that she shouldst lower her to her place so quickly?

She said, fast to speak, "O.’ 'Tis nothing. Only the thought of the deceased Lady Sheeks madam," she lied, "for she is dearly missed." 

"Yea. She is," Melanie said, nodding low, "I will, no doubt, cry myself to sleep when I am thinking of her tonight." 

Tessa continued, "I am confident thou shalt mirror her, in every way, as though she were still with us."

True that she hadth said something very similar to Elizabeth earlier that day, but the context in which she meant the saying was quite different.

She said, "That is my dearest hope and my greatest ambition." 

Melanie wiped a second tear, which barely hung in her eye, across her face.

Tessa kept her eyes lowered to the floor and she nodded, and then she rolled her lips. She couldst not bear to hear her speak again, for her syllables were pinpricks to the heart.

In a surprise gesture, Melanie lowered herself to Tessa, if only that she might touch her cheek. It was no small thing to imagine that from this day forth, she shan’t shew any other form of humility.

Tessa said, wincing, "Forgive me, but I shan't delay thy orders for another moment." 

She gripped her skirt in her fists and she whipped away to her feet, leaving Melanie's palm and mouth hanging in the air.