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Cinderella took a step forward, beaming. “Welcome to my mother’s home, Lady Tremaine,” she said, smiling at her new stepmother.
Cinderella’s words stung Lady Tremaine’s heart and took her by surprise. “It would please me if you could find it in your heart to call me Mama,” she said. “Because I so want to be a good mama to you.” Lady Tremaine tried to keep her face calm, so as not to let the young girl know she had crushed her heart.
“I can call you Stepmother if you’d like,” the girl replied. “Papa said I may call you Lady Tremaine or Stepmother, but never Mama.”
Lady Tremaine’s heart fell, but she didn’t let Cinderella or her father know it. This girl simply didn’t understand that what she was saying was hurtful. Lady Tremaine had to wonder if Cinderella had been so sheltered, so kept from society that she didn’t know how to conduct herself in polite company? Well, it seemed Lady Tremaine had her work cut out for her.
“Very well, Cinderella. You may call me Stepmother if that is what pleases you and your papa,” she said, though she intended to speak with Sir Richard about this later. She realized they hadn’t spoken of these things while they were at Lady Hackle’s, but she assumed they would be a true family. Perhaps Cinderella and her father just needed a bit of time?
Lady Tremaine could see her girls getting twitchy at Cinderella’s treatment of her and thought it was best to usher them to their rooms before they pounced on their fair-haired beauty of a stepsister, but just as she was about to say it was time they all go refresh themselves, Anastasia spoke.
“My mama is trying to be your friend, Cinderella. Why are you being so rude?” she said.
Then Drizella chimed in. “Oh, Stasia, we can hardly blame Cinderella, considering she has such a rude father. We came all this way and he didn’t even greet us—ow!”
Nanny Pinch had grabbed Drizella by the arm and was pulling her toward her. “Drizella, how dare you speak about your new papa like that?” she said, tightening her grip on Drizella’s arm.
“Now that’s enough, the both of you!” said Lady Tremaine, her face undoubtedly red. “Please excuse us, Sir Richard. We have had a very long journey, and the girls are exhausted. If someone could please show us to our rooms, I will help the girls get ready for the ceremony.” She looked around in vain for the servants.
“Nanny Pinch, you will find the girls’ rooms on the third landing,” Sir Richard said. “They will take the first and second from the stairway. Lady Tremaine’s room is the third.”
Lady Tremaine thought this was all highly unusual. She wondered where the servants could be. Would they be expected to simply wander the third landing until they found their rooms themselves?
“Rebecca,” Sir Richard continued. “You can take Lady Tremaine’s things up to her room, while Nanny Pinch sees the girls settled into theirs. Lady Tremaine and I have to go directly to the chapel.”
Lady Tremaine flinched. “Right now, this moment? But I’ve not even changed. And what about the girls? Won’t they be joining us?”
Sir Richard took her hand. “I’m sure you would agree the girls are in no disposition for an excursion, my dear. Besides, this will be my last chance to have you to myself for a while. Would you deny me that?” He kissed her hand again.
This all seemed so strange to her. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it just didn’t feel right, and in that moment, when his lips brushed her hand, something within her told her to flee.
She hardly knew what to say. The last thing she wanted to do was get married right after such a long journey. But she supposed it couldn’t be helped. Sir Richard must have worried it would be a scandal if she moved in before they were married.
She wished she had known this on the journey over. She would have worn something more appropriate for a wedding. As it was, she had chosen one of her more austere dark purple dresses over a high-collared lilac blouse that she accented with her favorite jade brooch. A very respectable outfit but not one befitting a festive occasion, especially not her own wedding.
“Very well, Sir Richard,” she said. “But you will have to excuse me for just a moment while I quickly refresh myself. Come along, ladies,” she said as she headed up the stairs, followed by Nanny Pinch, Rebecca, and her daughters. The minute they reached the third landing her girls started protesting.
“Mama, I don’t like it here,” Anastasia whined. “This is a sad, gloomy house, and that Cinderella is a beast!”
Lady Tremaine agreed, but she held her tongue. The house was rather dark and a bit dingy, and the furniture, though likely very beautiful in its day, had become threadbare and lackluster. She felt she really should have brought her own things rather than selling them off; now she was going to have to buy all new furniture for this house. And where were the servants? It didn’t make sense. None of it did really, but she reasoned she was exhausted and probably making more of everything because she had gotten such little sleep on their long journey.
“Yes, Mama! And why won’t Sir Richard let us come to the wedding?” Drizella complained.
Lady Tremaine couldn’t help agreeing with her daughters, but she felt tiredness was clouding all of their judgment. “My dears, we are all of us so tired from our long carriage ride here, not to mention the journey by sea. Perhaps Sir Richard is right, and you three girls can stay here and get to know one another while we go to the chapel. I bet he has a grand party planned for afterward and that is why we have not seen
any of the servants. I bet they are all working on it and planning a splendid surprise for us. We will all get to celebrate together then. Perhaps after you’ve changed you can sneak down to the kitchens and spy on what they may be up to? I bet you’ll see a large wedding cake and all sorts of delicious things to eat.” It all sounded so lovely that Lady Tremaine almost believed it herself. “Don’t fret, my girls. I know Cinderella and her papa didn’t make the best first impression, but I imagine they are both just as nervous as we are. I am sure that in no time we will all be great friends,” she said cheerfully.
The girls looked hopeful, but unconvinced.
“Well put, my lady,” said Rebecca. “Now let’s get you ready for your big day.” With that, she led Lady Tremaine off to her room, leaving the girls feeling bewildered and alone.
The wedding was a whirlwind. The vicar had been waiting for them in his tiny white chapel, and rather impatiently at that. He hurried the ceremony, had them sign the papers with his wife as witness, and it was done. Just like that. There were no rose petals, no kisses, no cake. No one had thought to decorate the chapel or arrange for a bundle of flowers for her to hold. No friends or family cheering for them as they walked back down the aisle as husband and wife. She felt like an afterthought, and remarkably alone.
It all seemed like a formality, not at all what she had expected.
Once they were outside the chapel, a royal carriage was waiting alongside their own, and Lady Tremaine wondered, her heart full of hope, if perhaps Sir Richard didn’t have something grand planned for them after all.
“Ah, it’s the Grand Duke,” he said. “Come, my lady, let me introduce you.” Sir Richard rushed them over to the carriage, where a lanky man stood, sporting a formal gray livery and an elaborate mustache that reminded Lady Tremaine of a writhing serpent.
