Ella Enchanted - By Gail Carson Levine Page 0,56

Ella, and I resolved not to be taken in. For a while I considered leaving Ayortha to discover the truth. Gradually, however, I realized the truth was in my hands.

The sister could have no reason to lie to me. If Ella and I had married, she would only gain. But Ella's note convinced me in the end. It was in her hand, and the last phrase about smiling at her jewels and laughing at the world was certainly her own.

She charmed me as easily as she did the ogres. I never did discover why she hid after her father's wedding. She was probaby avoiding a lovesick swain not wealthy enough or ancient enough to suit her. Her avoidance of me after the wedding was another trick, the meaning of which is too deep for me to fathom.

But her letters were the greatest deception of all. She seemed so good-hearted. But I suppose that's the way with such women: They wouldn't be minxes if they weren't masters of artifice and fraud. How she must have laughed when I confessed my faults to her!

There was more. In addition to minx, he called me flirt, harpy, siren, enchantress, temptress, and even monster. He ended by writing, "I wish I weren't in Ayortha. The silence here offers too much time for thought. A thousand times a day I swear never to think of her. At least I can promise never to write or speak of her again, and can force my pen and my voice to keep my word."

* * *

I ENDURED six months of Hattie and Olive and Mum Olga by imagining my freedom when Lucinda released me from the curse.

I didn't give up writing to Char. Since the new letters were never posted, I told him the truth about my life in Mum Olga's household. When Hattie told me that this earl or that duke loved her, I laughed over the absurdity of it to him. When Olive made me count her money again, he was informed.

"Every day she invents new hiding places for her wealth. There are coins in the hem of her gown, coins sewn into her sash, and coins buried in the stuffing of her waist roll. With all the metal concealed about her person, she had best not set foot on a boat."

When Mum Olga had me clean out the root cellar, and I found a tabby with her litter of kittens, Char learned of my delight. And when Mandy taught me cooking secrets, I shared them with him.

I also described my future without the curse.

"My first act," I wrote, "will be to confess that I love you. I'll beg pardon a thousand times for causing you unhappiness and make reparations by making you laugh a thousand times."

* * *

THE NIGHT before Lucinda's reappearance, Hattie awakened me when she returned from a cotillion. She said I had to help her prepare for bed. I had never had to before, so I waited to learn her real reason.

"Tonight they talked of nothing but Prince Charmont's return next month," she began while I undressed her.

I knew exactly when he was coming home, so why was my heart beating so?

"They say that King Jerrold is going to hold three royal balls to welcome him.

They say the prince will pick his wife at the balls. Ouch! Be careful."

I had stabbed her with a stay. For once, it was accidental.

"Mama says if I..."

I didn't hear anything more. Were the balls Char's idea? Did he really mean to find his bride there? Had he forgotten me? Could I make him remember when Lucinda freed me?

Hattie dismissed me eventually, and I spent the hours till dawn imagining my release from the curse and thinking about my reunion with Char. I couldn't decide whether I should steal one of Mum Olga's horses and ride to Ayortha to surprise him, or whether I should wait and amaze him at the balls.

In the morning I woke Mandy and tried to convince her to feign illness so she could call Lucinda immediately. But no, first we had to prepare Mum Olga's breakfast and wash all the dishes, and Mandy wouldn't use the smallest magic to speed the process.

When we were through at last, Mandy and I repaired to her bedroom, and I hid as before.

This time the room didn't fill with the scent of lilacs when Lucinda arrived.

From my hiding place behind the curtains, I heard a rustling noise and then the sound of weeping.

"Stop sniveling," Mandy said.

The weeping