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I’d had it. “Get out of my room, Anita. And take that mongrel with you!”
“Mongrel? What’s wrong with you? She’s your sweet puppy and she’s just nervous because we were arguing, Cruella.” I couldn’t believe she was defending the wicked creature.
“Bloody dog!” I said, ringing the bell. “Now the maid will have to get my coat cleaned! Hopefully it’s not ruined.”
“The maid? Her name is Jean, Cruella! Do you hear yourself?”
“I don’t care what her name is as long as she saves that coat! Now get that beast out of here! Take her downstairs, and be quiet about it. I don’t want my mama seeing the little menace upstairs.”
I remember seeing the sad look on Anita’s face when she left the room with Perdita. She looked heartbroken. I was heartbroken, too. I couldn’t believe what she’d said about my mama. To think Mama was scheming to take my money. The entire idea was scandalous, and beneath my mother. Beneath her dignity. Hunting down a man, bringing him home to meet me with the hopes I would take his name so Papa’s money would revert to her. It was out of the realm of possibility. I wouldn’t believe it.
Anita and Perdita were gone the next morning. Even though I was angry with her, part of me was sad to see Anita go. I was still stinging over the things she’d said about Mama, and still hurt she wouldn’t travel the world with me. I still loved her. But I was happy she was gone. And I was relieved she was able to take Perdita with her. As much as I cherished Papa’s gift, I knew that if I wanted to have a friendship with my mama I couldn’t keep her. My papa was gone. There was nothing I could do to bring him back. But if I wanted my mama in my life I had to do something to make her happy, to make her love me again, and the only thing I could think of was to get rid of Anita and Perdita. It broke my heart to see Perdita go, but I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of my relationship with my mama. Not an in-between like Anita, and certainly not a puppy.
After that, Anita and I wrote to each other less frequently. I used Perdita as an excuse to check in from time to time to see how she was faring. Anita’s letters made it clear she had made a cock-up of her life, just as I expected.
Of course, she didn’t see it that way. She was quite happy, or at least said so in her letters to me over the years. She went to typing school just as she’d planned and found herself a little flat near a park where she spent her idle time with Perdita, who by all accounts was thriving in Anita’s care. Most of our correspondences were about Perdita, with little bits of news of our own lives peppered throughout our missives. Anita eventually met that jingle-writing fool Roger, when his Dalmatian got his leash tangled with Perdita’s at the park. Can you believe it? How disgustingly adorable.
The two of them now lived in poverty with only one servant to speak of, who I could only imagine was a dumpy-looking woman, old enough to be Anita’s grandmother. Of course, that’s not how Anita described her. She said she was a sweet, older, and very jolly woman. Well, if that doesn’t sound like a dumpy old woman, then I really don’t know what would.
Besides, I honestly didn’t have much time to devote to thinking about Anita, her idiot musician, and their pair of spotted beasts. I was too busy living the life of luxury with Jack. Whatever had happened the night Mama brought him to dinner couldn’t have been all that bad, because he called on me the very next day. It wasn’t long before we became an item, and his arrival in my life just as Anita left it felt quite written in the stars.
Let me tell you about Jack. My Crackerjack! Oh, he was a handsome devil! Even more handsome than the leading men in films. He was the love of my life, and it wasn’t too long before he was my husband as well.
Jack De Vil!
Yes, duckies, that’s right, he took my name, just as he said he would. And I never thought less of him for it. All my ideas of a man not willing to take his wife’s name flew right out the window when I met Jack.
Jack joined me on my travels instead of Anita. Oh, the adventures we had together! The places we saw. The glamorous life we led. His personality could fill an entire room, so I am sure you can imagine what we were like together. We were the it couple. Always dressed to kill, always making it into the papers. Always the funniest and smartest couple at any event. We were a force of nature. It was as if Anita leaving my life changed it for the better. I was becoming the woman I was meant to be.
I was Cruella De Vil! The heiress. The lady of the manor.
And I was living my life exactly how I wanted.
I suppose you want to hear about my wedding day. Oh, but I’m so eager to jump ahead to the events that have brought me to Hell Hall, where I am now. And I want so much to share my latest plans with you. But I mustn’t skip any of my story, and what is my story without my Crackerjack?
Of course, he (and Mama) arranged the most magnificent wedding imaginable. It was a glittering affair. And Jack, well, he insisted on paying for all of it. He was sweet that way, my Jack. Always wanting to make people happy. Always showing them he loved them. And oh, how he loved me. Our wedding rivaled the royal weddings. To be honest, I do think if it was within his power he would have crowned me queen. But he did manage to make me feel like one, and not only on our wedding day. He did so for the entirety of our marriage, right up until the end. He did everything he could to ensure my happiness, from suggesting I keep Miss Pricket on as my lady’s maid to helping me make amends with my mama, and encouraging me to invite Anita to the wedding. He even helped me see where I went wrong with her.
He often suggested reconnecting with Anita, but I couldn’t bring myself to betray my mama in that way. I could never forget all those horrible things she’d said. Writing to Anita on occasion didn’t feel like betrayal, but seeing her, bringing her into my home, I felt would be the ruin of everything. Ever since I decided to marry Jack, life was magical with my mama. She had a purpose. Something to focus on. And for the first time, I was her focus. She helped Jack and me with all the wedding preparations. Of course Jack wouldn’t let her pay for a thing, but he let her have a say in all the planning, which made her sublimely happy.
We decided to make the rehearsal dinner a small affair. Just Jack, Mama, and myself. We had it at home, and Mama arranged for a lovely evening. The dining room was filled with candles and flowers. Sitting around that table where I’d had so many dinners with Anita, I have to admit I missed her that night. I wished she were there. My heart hadn’t hardened completely to Anita. There was still a soft spot for her even then. But I couldn’t
bring myself to invite her to the wedding, let alone the rehearsal dinner, even if I did feel her absence keenly. Even though I was nervous about the idea of talking with Anita again, and worried it would ruin things with Mama if I did, there was an empty space in my heart reserved for Anita.
It was going to be my last evening as an unmarried woman. Though I hadn’t been the sort of girl who daydreamed about the night before my wedding, the evening wasn’t as I had imagined. I’d always thought I would spend it with Anita.
“What’s the matter, my darling?” Jack took my hand. “You should be happy. What has you so vexed?”
“Nothing, Jack. It’s nothing. I am exceedingly happy. I promise you,” I said, but he wasn’t convinced.
“I can’t have my Cruella sad the night before her wedding. I know what’s the matter. You regret not inviting Anita.”
“I suppose I do,” I said.
“Oh, Cruella. Don’t give that girl another thought,” said my mama. But Jack didn’t agree.
“I say you call her. Call her this moment and tell her you want her there. Hell, tell her you want her in the wedding! I made sure Miss Pricket arranged a dress for her in case you changed your mind. Do it now, my love. Do it before you lose your nerve.” He was really quite convincing, my Jack. His smile always won me over.
“Do you really think she would come?” I was so excited. Jack’s goodwill and optimism were infectious.
