Inventing Wonders

Chapter 17: I Lived Here

Anxiety had gripped the residents of Rozhdestveno: for the past year, they were changing landlords for the third time. What the future held for the villagers was completely unclear. This nervousness affected everyone, but Alexandra was the most distressed, as her fate had taken an extraordinarily unfortunate turn.

She sat on the docks with a book of poems but couldn't focus on the words, so she read the beginning of the first page, then the end of the second, jumping back to the middle of the first.

"Lizochka, I feel so uneasy!" Finally, the girl gave up trying to follow the letters and addressed her friend who was doing laundry.

"Of course, you feel uneasy, Sasha. It's hard for everyone right now," Liza replied indignantly.

"What if the new mistress sends me to work in the kitchen... or in the field?" The long hem of her milk-colored dress fluttered in the water.

"Hope that the new mistress doesn't sell us all!" Liza snorted. "Get used to the fact that things won't be the same. I doubt the new mistress will consider your situation..." She shook the shirt vigorously.

"But the previous general didn't even visit our estate... Maybe God will protect us again?" Alexandra tapped her fingers nervously on the wooden planks.

"The new mistress is coming here to live," Kirillushka emerged from the reeds.

"How do you know that?" Liza turned at the noise.

Alexandra just sighed; she didn't want to know what exactly the boy had been doing.

"Some things were sent this morning, and they say the owners will arrive by night," Kirillushka sat down next to the girls.

"Is anything known about her? Maybe she'll turn out to be a wonderful person?" Liza suggested hesitantly, fearing that Alexandra might faint if the conversation continued in the same vein.

"Not at all!" the boy chuckled, proud to be the first to hear all the gossip. "They say in the capital that everyone who courted her died a painful death. And recently, two officers even dueled over her."

Liza glanced skeptically at the chatterbox and began to hurriedly pack her things into the basket. Liza knew enough about rumors concerning a woman's reputation.

"Let's wait for her arrival and see," Liza said dismissively.

"But what if she decides to sell us?" Alexandra's greatest fear slipped out again. "What if she finds us unnecessary? What if she sells us separately?" Her voice trembled.

"You don't need to worry!" Kirillushka puffed up, as he loved life in Rozhdestveno. "You, Miss Alexandra, will be welcomed in any house! But what about us?"

"Don't say that, Kira!" Liza protested, picking up her things. "It's equally terrible to be in favor and out of favor with the master. I wouldn't wish that on anyone..."

She shook her head and quickly walked towards the houses.

***

Lara preferred not to interact with Anya personally, so she left a long list of tasks for her to do while she was alone in the city. Lara planned to arrange a shameful eviction for her first companion. The plan was simple, as everything Lara complicated: first, ignore the girl; second, send someone from the village to watch over the house; third, ask Anya to move to her mother's distant lands. Anya simply didn't understand how to approach the countess, and she could no longer be sure that Larisa Konstantinovna was still her friend.

Lara sighed and closed the last suitcase. It seemed like she had no intention of returning to Petersburg.

"Maybe it's for the best..."