My Mother's Daughter

Chapter 19

For the rest of the day Elizabeth stayed in the living room. The doors and curtains were spread widely. It was not because she craved fresh air or daylight, but she hoped it would deter the mischievous brat from frightening her. She was on high alert like buffaloes in an open field, with a lion on the prowl. Her eyes darted to and fro while flipping the glossy pages of the fashion magazine. She was distracted by the constant need to keep surveillance of the doors, windows and surroundings, for any sign of her rival.

Elizabeth sipped on her herbed tea. A maid, passing in the hallway caught her attention and she called to her.

"Charlotte, have you seen Rebecca?"

"No my lady." The maid answered timidly, twisting the rag she held in her hands nervously. Noticing, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Are you lying to me you good-for-nothing rodent? Because if you are, I'll have a stone tied around your scrawny neck, and have you thrown in the deepest ocean!" With every contemptuous word her mistress spoke, Charlotte's pupils grew wide with horror. The flames of hell burned bright in Elizabeth's eyes, and seemed to penetrate the maid's clammy skin with its heat. Understanding her mistress was very serious about her death, Charlotte swayed with the sudden urge to faint.

Elizabeth snorted, disgusted by the tears brimming the girl's eyes.

"Get out of here you damn weakling. I can't stand the sight of you any longer." Without uttering a word or taking a second glance at her mistress, Charlotte dashed from the room, like an animal who had escaped being slaughtered.

Unknown to Elizabeth, the very object of her distress hid behind the door, and went unnoticed by the fleeing maid, who wished she had wings to fly far, far away. Two minutes later, Rebecca stepped lightly into the room containing her stepmother.

"You wanted to see me." It was said matter-of-factly, with no assumption of it being a question, and laced with not anger, but calmness and composure. Elizabeth coughed, choking on the hot brew when the well recognized voice spoke. Damn that girl, she thought. For the past couple of hours she had been on the alert, and for only a moment she was side tracked by the servant, and now to her utmost dissatisfaction, she was caught off guard.

Elizabeth pursed her thin lips and slammed the magazine shut.

"Who told you, Charlotte?"

"No, actually I was eavesdropping on your conversion." Replied Rebecca as she came closer, hands clasped behind her back.

"You little scoundrel. Have you no manners at all?"

"Of course I do Elizabeth, but that's not important. Why you want to see me is more of a concern." Elizabeth paused. The girl standing before her was the answer to her question. She just needed to know her whereabouts so that she could relax. The tension was causing a migraine, as solid as a firm foundation.

Elizabeth decided against telling her this, to eradicate the girl's need to feel satisfied or victorious

"Where were you?" She asked instead.

"Behind the door." Rebecca replied sarcastically, causing her stepmother to snap at her.

"Stop acting dumb and testing my patience, child."

"What's the matter Elizabeth, are ghosts scaring you again?"

"Just answer the question!" She mildly shouted.

"You know what? I can't believe you. You don't want me around, yet want to know my whereabouts. Why don't you just put a leash on my neck, attach a chain, and tie me where you can always see me." Though she was furious, Elizabeth thought it was not a bad idea. Except her husband would not allow her to do such a thing.

"Are you forgetting, my dear Rebecca? I don't like pets. Why do you think I try so hard to get rid of you?" Elizabeth smiled nastily.

"Ouch Elizabeth. That really hurt my ego." She placed a hand over her heart and pretended to stagger. "But I didn't come here to trade insults with the likes of you. I actually came to clarify a matter."

"What?"

"Well for one, the way you speak to the yard servants and housekeepers. You threaten to do despicable acts to them, insult and treat them like they're the lowest scums on earth. If I were to dismiss all of them this day, then who would attend to you and all your needs? If you're thinking it will be me, then you better pack your bags and leave along with them, because this is no Cinderella story, and I'm no Cinderella." Rebecca stroked the laced drapes, admiring the design and golden colour. The heavy embroidery was of pure beauty. She continued speaking.

"They are providing a service and a great one at that. They are the ones that have this estate and house looking like the first class place it is. Because of them, when guests and relatives come by, they return and tell their friends and families how much Charles' estate is really worth every penny invested into it."

The corpse of a bug decayed inconspicuously on the window glass, and Rebecca gently scratched at it with a fingernail.

"So the next time you feel like expressing your infamous cruelty towards them, remember my words Elizabeth, and know there are worse things than I dismissing them, such as they could quit. They do have that explicit right, you know."

"I do the hiring and dismissing deary, not you." Elizabeth countered, pointing to her counterpart with a manicured index finger. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"That's a temporary position you hold madam. Don't forget I have more rights and power than you. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got things to do." Not waiting for a reply from her stepmother, Rebecca left, her head held high, spine erect and proud.

What a snotty child, Elizabeth thought. Though, she admitted to herself she was taken aback by the child's earnest speech. She gazed out the window. The rain had stopped and a thin fog hung in the air. She laid the magazine on the centre table, and began to draw the curtains together, also closing the doors.

She left the room and headed for her own. The migraine was making her dizzy.