The Lost Princess [Hamliza Anastasia AU]

Chapter Eleven: History Lessons And A Few Tears

Tuesday, March 8, 1927. Georgetown, New York.

Apparently, after her lessons in etiquette and Beth's own life were over, there was still more to learn. Schuyler family history was Alex's forte, and just trying to keep up with him, much less commit all the names and dates to memory, was exhausting. They were two weeks into her lessons, and Beth still felt like she didn't know anything. 

"Who's your great grandmother?" Alex quizzed her. 

"Queen Elizabeth." Beth said, her frustration building. That was one of the first answers she'd known all day. 

"Your great great grandmother?" 

"Queen Margarita." 

"Your best friend is?" John asked.

"My little sister Margarita," Beth replied confidently. She could almost picture the seven year old, bright in a yellow dress, doing a strange dance in a room full of people... Beth lost her train of thought, unsure. Where had that come from?

"Wrong!" Alex declared, jarring her from her thoughts. "Your best friend is-"

Done listening to Alex pretend he knew everything, Beth glared at him, clenched her hands into fists and snapped "I know who my best friend is!"

"What a temper," Aaron commented, eyebrows raised. 

Beth glared at him too, because she did not have a temper, then turned back to Alex. "I don't like being contradicted when I'm not wrong."

"That makes two of us!" Alex yelled, throwing up his hands in exasperation and stalking out of the room, probably to sulk. 

The momentary flash of anger draining away, Beth sank down onto a chair holding her head in her hands. "I've had it with this!" She sniffed, trying to hold back a sob. I'm hungry, and cold, and tired, and scared that someone is going to arrest us all." To her embarrassment, several tears slipped down her cheeks and soaked into the navy fabric of her skirt. 

"Are you all right, Beth?" Aaron asked her. 

She glanced up at Aaron and John, who were watching her with concern. Beth opened her mouth to tell them yes, but all that came out was a small whimper. Taking a deep breath, she tried to steady herself. "Of course I'm not alright," Beth said quietly when she was capable of coherent speech again.  "I don't remember anything, and I have no idea what I'm doing. How would you feel? Just leave me alone for a little bit, please?"

The door opened, then shut again, and believing she was alone, Beth gave into her tears. For several minutes, she sobbed into her hands, momentarily letting all the fear and uncertainty of the last three months take their toll on her. 

When her sobs subsided into shaky breathing, a quiet voice said "Beth, look at me."  Startled, Beth rubbed her eyes and glanced up. Alex was standing before her, blue violet eyes soft. "I'm sorry," He told her. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"It wasn't that," She sniffed. "Not really, anyway. It's just that everything's been so hard since I left the hospital. I was cold and hungry and frightened, and had only a vague idea of what I was doing. Now, I'm cold and hungry and frightened, and I have a plan, but I'm not sure I believe it."

"Oh Beth," Alex sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside her. He hesitated for a moment, then took her hand. Beth blushed a little, but didn't pull her hand away. It was a gesture of comfort. There was no need to be weird about it, even if her heart had just recently started to flutter when she looked Alex in the eye. 

"We're all frightened," he continued. "Why do you think I was holding a chair over my head when you came running in on us that day? Now take a deep breath? Where's the girl from two weeks ago who was telling me that her dreams give her faith?"

"She doesn't know what dreams are real and which ones are induced by history lessons."

"Listen, Beth." Alex told her, squeezing her hand. "I know you as well as you can know someone after only two weeks. You have courage and strength you barely know. You walked from Buffalo to Albany via Rochester, for goodness sake. That's more than two hundred miles. If you can do that, you can do just about anything."

Beth gave him a watery smile, and for some reason, Alexander blushed a little. "Thank you," She told him sincerely. "It's been a while since someone gave me a compliment." 

Alex smiled back. "Well I'm glad I could be the first. Now, shall we get back to work?"

"Alex!" Beth groaned, and he laughed.

"In all seriousness though, we do have a lot to do.

"After lunch, Alex." She ordered him

"Fine, after lunch." He coincided. "Aaron's already called dibs on the new can of beans though, so I don't know why we're bothering."

---

That afternoon, (because God forbid we let a whole day go by with no learning) Alex, assisted by John and Aaron, continued teaching Beth about all the illustrious ancestors she was supposed to have.

"Now this is your great aunt Catalentie. She loved to swim," Alex said, pointing with the stick of chalk to one of the many names on the complicated family tree they had drawn on the wall to teach her. He had decided to give her one interesting fact about each person to make them more interesting to remember. "Your cousin Stephen loves his whiskey, got it Beth?" 

"No!" She protested, but he continued on anyway.

"Your great uncle John was very short. Your aunt Cortlandt always wore feathered hats. Your uncle Stephen's gotten very fat down in-"

An image sprang into Beth's mind without warning. A kitten whose fur was a lovely golden hue, curled up in her lap. "And I recall his yellow cat!" She blurted out without thinking. Realizing what she'd said, Beth's shocked brain scrambled for answers. How could she remember that? She wasn't even sure she was Princess Elizabeth. 

"I don't believe we taught her that," John said, and Alex and Aaron nodded, wide eyed. 

"Is there a chance that maybe..." Beth wondered aloud, allowing herself to really consider the possibility of being Elizabeth Schuyler for the first time. 

"Not until you learn to dance," John declared, grabbing her arm. 

Historical Note: All the Schuyler relatives mentioned in this chapter are actual relatives of Eliza's, at least according to the Schuyler Family Wikipedia page, because I'm not buying a book and I didn't know where else to go for that information. All information (other than their names and relationships to Eliza and each other) Alex gives about these people, however, is fictional. 

Author's Note: I'd love to hear your opinions, predictions, analysis, or whatever else you have to stay about my story. This is going to be a bit of a long ride, and I don't want it to be a boring one.