“Ugh... I can’t bring myself to leave. I’m telling you, seven days is too much to ask of me.”
“What? Didn’t you make up your mind to go? It’s a little late to be having second thoughts now.”
“Well, I take it ba—”
“I thought a man was supposed to be as good as his word.”
“Ouch!”
It was the morning he was slated to leave for his business trip. I was supposed to be seeing him off at the entrance, but to no one’s surprise, he’d started whining about how he didn’t want to go.
Dealing with this each and every time really gets to be a pain in the butt... If he doesn’t get his act together soon, I’m about ready to kick him out myself. I started to hike up my skirt, seriously considering making good on that ultimatum—but as it turned out, I didn’t have to.
“I knew I’d find you complaining. Stop making trouble for your poor wife and let’s get going.”
Having predicted this turn of events, Corydalis had shown up to take him away by force.
“Corydalis!”
“If you don’t mind, Madam, I’ll be taking the vice captain from here!”
“You sadist!”
“Yeah, yeah, call me whatever you want, buddy,” the knight replied, grabbing Mr. Fisalis by the scruff of his neck and dragging him away. There was one scary smile on his face.
“Sorry for the trouble,” I apologized.
“Don’t be! It’s all part of the job.”
So he said as he mounted Mr. Fisalis on his horse and flashed me a dashing grin...but I was fairly confident this was not included in his job description. I was feeling worse for him by the second.
And so it was that my husband went on his merry (or not so much?) way.
✦ ✦ ✦
Now that Mr. Fisalis was finally gone, it was time to change into my uniform and get some chores done...! Not. That wasn’t back on the table just yet.
In place of my usual housework, I was responsible for a new and much more indispensable task: looking after Violet.
“It’s a beautiful day, so why don’t we sit in the garden and enjoy the sun?”
“That’s a great idea, Madam. We’ll fetch you a quilt and a parasol, then.”
“Thanks.”
While Stellaria and the maids were getting us everything we’d need for a trip outside, Mimosa and I dressed our daughters for the occasion. Violet and Daisy had matching windbreakers—both sewn by yours truly, of course.
“When we put them in matching outfits, they look almost like a pair of sisters.”
“Why, I’m humbled, Madam!”
“Aww, it’s nothing to fuss about. Isn’t that right, Lettie? Daisy?”
Once we’d loaded them into their baby carriages, we were all set and ready to roll.
Since we had to be careful to keep Violet out of the bright rays of the sun, I laid her down in the shade of the parasol. Having long since learned to crawl, Daisy was busy dragging herself around the blanket. Every once in a while, she’d come close to wandering into the grass and Mimosa would pull her back...and rinse and repeat.
“What do you imagine Daddy’s up to right now, Lettie? It’s a shame we won’t see him around for a week... Not that you understand a word I’m saying, huh?”
“I doubt it.”
“I know it all goes over her head, but it’s hard to resist talking at her despite that.”
“I know the feeling!” Mimosa gave a few vigorous nods of her head. “But that is how babies learn to speak themselves, so really, you ought to keep at it!”
“Good point. Let’s be sure to talk lots and lots, Lettie! Are you curious where your daddy is? You see, he’s off on a fun little trip with this great boy we call His Highness!”
“I imagine Master Fisalis would have more than a few bones to pick with that description.”
Reassured, I’d gone back to running my mouth at Violet, but now I had Mimosa and the maids shaking with laughter. In fairness, they were right that I’d sugar-coated—or, well, completely falsified a few facts there.
“Do you think those two are getting along all right?”
“I imagine they’re still on the road. If nothing else, being out of each other’s hair means fewer chances to clash.”
“Let’s hope so. Oh, and speaking of His Highness...”
“Hm? What about him?” Mimosa asked, giving a curious tilt of her head.
Our casual conversation had brought a certain incident to mind.
“I just remembered that dream.”
“What dream?”
“The one Mr. Fisalis had not long before Lettie was born.”
“Oh! I do seem to recall the master raising a huge fuss over a nightmare he had.”
“Yeah. He dreamed the baby I was carrying was a girl, and once she grew older, she fell for the prince and insisted on becoming his future queen.”
“Yes, it’s all coming back to me now!”
If memory served, dream-Viola had raised a whip against him—uh, no, let’s not get hung up on that part!—and it was that nightmare of his that had thrust me into the depths of maternity blues.
“It came true...”
“What did?”
“You know, the part where I had a girl. Since our child didn’t turn out to be a boy, doesn’t that make her marrying the prince, like...an actual possibility?” I replied, explaining the reason I’d frozen up all of a sudden.
Mimosa cast me an uncertain glance. “Oh, so that’s what has you all worried.”
“I got over my funk when everyone reassured me that the baby’s health was the important thing, and once she was born, it really did feel like her gender wasn’t that a big deal...but now the thought’s starting to bother me.”
When they noticed the look on my face getting gloomier and gloomier, the maids scrambled to cheer me up.
“Don’t get down on yourself, Madam! Come, let’s enjoy our tea. It’ll calm your nerves.”
“Nothing beats fatigue like a sweet treat. Here, try this chocolate!”
“Allow me to refill your cup!”
“Uh, thanks...”
I swear I was fine until a few seconds ago!
Repeating the word “prince” over and over had brought the successor dilemma back to the forefront of my mind. The problem still hadn’t been resolved—it was only postponed.
“What would you do if the same thing happened with Daisy?”
The question was so abrupt that Mimosa wasn’t sure how to respond. “If Daisy went the same route as dream-Lettie, you mean?”
“Yeah. If she came to you out of nowhere and said she wanted to go marry a bigwig.”
“A bigwig, hm? Well, let me think...”
Humming to herself, Mimosa fell deep into thought. To be fair, she’d probably never considered the scenario before. Neither had I! As a matter of fact, until Mr. Fisalis had offered me the contract—I mean, proposed(?) to me, I’d figured I was going to spend the rest of my life single.
“I’d be against it, to be sure, but I think the bigger concern is what Bellis would say.”
“Good point. Bellis wouldn’t be happy.”
Wow... To think there existed an even bigger obstacle than Mr. Fisalis!
“I can already picture him saying, ‘If you want to get married, you’d better find a man who can best me.’ And that’d be before social status comes into the picture,” I said, envisioning the invisible blizzard blowing behind him.
“Yeah! You’re so right!” every single one of the maids shouted amid a fit of laughter, likely picturing the same exact scene.
“Between Cercis and Bellis, who do you think would pose the bigger hurdle?”
“Bellis!” came the unanimous reply.
“So I’m not the only one, huh?”
We erupted into a fresh wave of laughter.
The little girl in question gave us a blank stare, confused as to what had the grown-ups laughing so hard. It has to do with you, Daisy, but of course you’re too young to get it!
“Master Fisalis loves to spoil Miss Lettie, so I imagine he’d let her have anything she wanted if she asked him nicely enough.”
“Bellis treats Daisy like a princess too...but something tells me that’s all the more reason he’ll be picky about her husband.”
“Exactly!”
“My, but consider how deeply the master cares for Miss Lettie! Perhaps he’ll find the motivation to harden his heart and tell her no...or perhaps not?”
“Yeah, I doubt it.”
“Same!” the maids chimed in.
Mr. Fisalis! The verdict is that you need to learn how to be stricter with Violet!
“At least Daisy only has Bellis to worry about. I imagine there will be a lot more obstacles in Miss Lettie’s path,” said Mimosa, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes.
“You think?”
“Absolutely. First of all, any prospective partner will have to get through Rohtas’s screening process.”
“Yikes, good point.”
“And in the meantime, he’ll have to put up with all the gossip from your advocates in high society and the chivalric order.”
“That sounds like the worst part...”
“And once he’s overcome those hurdles, he’ll still have Master Fisalis to contend with.”
“Three whole barriers, huh? Sounds like he’s in for a rough ride.”
“Indeed. I imagine he’ll be a broken man by the time he even makes it to Miss Lettie.”
“Do you think there’s a guy out there brave enough to conquer every single one of those obstacles? By the time we manage to find him, Lettie might be an old spinster.”
She’d only just been born, but already I was worried for my daughter’s future—and it was mostly Mr. Fisalis’s fault.