Chapter Fifteen
Beatrice took in a deep breath. She had not planned to tell Alexander about Annalise's bad act so soon. She had not wanted him to see her in a bad light but now that she had not stopped at her first attempt at perpertrating evil, perhaps it was time to expose her.
Seeing that she was taking too much time to respond to his question, Alexander repeated it again. "Beatrice, what did that fool do the first time?" he asked, trying to quelch his anger.
"The white dress I wanted to wear for the ball, it was Annalise that suggested it, only she did not tell me directly. She prodded Lucia to suggest it to me. I agreed and after Lucia saw you get angry about the dress on the night of the ball, the next day, she also overheard Annalise hallucinating about her failed plan when I did not put on the dress for the ball. According to Lucia, Annalise said she had heard about the tragic history you have with the main owner of the dress and she wanted you to disgrace me in front of everyone when you got angry as you saw me putting on the dress at the ball but her plan did not work because before I could get to the great hall, you had already seen me on the dress and ordered me to pull it off."
Alexander was speechless. He did not know the extent of Annalise's wickedness before. So his mother had told Annalise of his experience with his grandmother? He knew his mother had a loose mouth but he did not expect her to spill out such a tragic event to her goddaughter who was not even part of the Thomas family. Even Isaac, his younger brother did not know of the sad incident. Knowing his mother, she had probably told Annalise about it in good faith.
Beatrice continued with her narration to Alexander. "When Lucia learnt of what would have happened had I worn the dress to the ball due to her suggestion, she fell ill. She fell disheartened about causing any type of harm to me. As she asked me of what had between you and I on the night of the ball, seeing the way she was so caring to me, I decided to tell her about the whole situation with my identity. I told her because apart from you, she is the only person I trust in this keep. Surely you can understand me.
"My dear, I understand you. I do not blame you for sharing the truth about your identity with Lucia. What baffles me is the extent of the wickedness of Annalise. I did not know she was capable of such evil. I just decided to inform you of what she came to me about not knowing that she had committed another wicked act that I was not aware of. I finally decided to tell you about it because I have seen the way she has been acting so friendly to you. I do not believe that she has shed her evil ways because to me, she is still hiding under a facade. Beneath her good facade lies an evil mind."
Alexander looked Beatrice deeply in her eyes as if looking directly into her soul. He wanted his next message to penetrate deeply into her.
"Beatrice, you have to be careful with that girl. No matter what good thing she does or says to you, do not take it to heart. I know that she has not changed even a little bit."
"Alright, Alexander. I have heard your words and I shall do exactly as you told me to. Don't be worried. I do not believe her good facade to be true and I have no intention of letting my guard down," Beatrice said.
"Thank you, my dear wife. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about Annalise that I should know? Alexander asked.
"There is nothing, Alexander. Nothing at all. We just have to be careful as you have said."
"We could avoid all of these by sending her out of the keep or out of the town but I do not want to react yet. She is my mother's goddaughter so I need to have a strong reason for sending her away. I have to tread with caution lest I anger my mother. She will not believe that Annalise, an innocent girl in her eyes, is capable of evil except she witnesses it herself. She sees only the good in people and nothing of their bad side."
"Alexander , my eyes are drooping. I have to sleep now. Good night, my dear," Beatrice said.
" Good night, my Lady. Sleep well," Alexander replied.
**********
Four days later, Beatrice had just finished taking her morning meal and was thinking of the long boring day ahead of her. Nomar had suspended their training session for a whole week because he said that her energy for performing magic was depleting steadily and she needed to recuperate by being inactive on magic.
Beatrice thought of any activity she could engage in for the day to keep her busy but none came to her mind. She was feeling frustrated when someone knocked on the door from outside.
"You may come in," she called out.
Mary, a pale skinned twenty year old maid who never smiled entered into the chamber.
"Good day, Lady Beatrice. I have come to inform you that Miss Suzanne, your sister and your two other siblings are waiting for you downstairs in the living area."
"Alright, you can go and inform them that I will be down to receive them soon," Beatrice said excitedly.
" Yes, my Lady," Mary replied respectfully.
Mary left the room abruptly and Beatrice squealed in sheer delight. Finally, she would meet the one she would call sister. From what Alexander and told her, Suzanne was a good person with a kind heart. She could not wait to meet her. They would talk about so many things.
Before she went out to meet her siblings, Beatrice lectured herself sternly. She had to act like she had known Suzanne throughout her life. She had to act like she was very happy to see her closest sibling whom they had shared a lot of things together. Since she never had any sibling in the twenty first century, she might certainly find it different but she was determined to try her best. She also had to treat Sarah with a strong hand as her eldest sister. She would even try to tease Joshua playfully on his calm ways.
Seeing as she had visitors, Beatrice donned a headpiece. It did not matter that the visitors were her siblings. They were still visitors and she had to show them the courtesy accorded to visitors.
Beatrice walked down the stairs to the great living area of the keep. On seeing Suzanne, she hitched her skirts up, ran to her and enveloped her in a crushing hug. Suzanne hugged Beatrice equally as tight and after some seconds, they pulled away and smiled at each other in greeting.
"My dear Beatrice, do not be angry with me because I have not come to see you since your tragic accident. We have all been too busy for any other activities. Please, forgive us."
"Do not worry about it, Suzanne. It is really nothing. I know that you have been busy otherwise you would have come to see me since. How is everything over there? How is mother and father?" Beatrice asked.
"They are well. They asked me to extend their greetings to you and father specifically told me to tell you that his newly planted apples in the orchard are blooming nicely. He said that when they are ripe enough for consumption, he shall send baskets of them for you."
"Father and his fuss over me! Once you get home, tell him that I am grateful for his pending gift. I even forgot to ask you this. How is Aunt Margaret, Uncle Winston and their yearling boy?"
"They are all well," Suzanne replied. "The whole town is doing good. Pardon my manners, Beatrice. How is Alexander? How are things between you two?"
"Everything is very good with us. I am happy with him and he is with me. It is as if we fell in love all over again," Beatrice replied.
"Well, that is what we want. How is everyone in the keep? The maids seemed to have reduced or is it my eyes?" Suzanne asked.
"Yes, they have decreased, my sister. Alexander decided that since we that are staying in the keep are no longer plenty like before, the number of maids should be reduced. I now have only Lucia as a personal maid instead of the two that used to serve me before," Beatrice said.
Beatrice and Suzanne continued to make small talk, asking each other about things and commenting on the state of affairs in each other's town of residence. Beatrice talked about the rise of peasant farmers in Ludlow and Suzanne also confirmed that the same thing was happening in Chester. They laughed heartily about the old men who refused to leave farming simply because of the large profits in it.
The two sisters were still talking when Beatrice realized that neither Sarah nor Joshua had contributed to the conversation. What was going on? Due to what Alexander had told her about Sarah, she had expected the girl to have made at least a crude remark by now.
"Sarah and Joshua, why are both of you not contributing to the conversation?" Beatrice asked.
Joshua laughed good naturedly, his green eyes shining brighter and his white teeth sparkling in the faint sunlight that was streaming in through the stained glass windows. "I thought only the adults were permitted to contribute to the conversation," he said still laughing.
"Who told you that, Joshua?" Suzanne asked, she too laughing. Even Beatrice too laughed.
"Sarah, you have not said anything," Beatrice said.
"I have not said anything since because I have been observing you. Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Your eyes look lighter in colour and your cheeks seem rosier. Actually, you look different somehow," Sarah said.