Freeing Ebony

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty – Two

Celeste was waiting up for Ebony in her bedchamber. She was wearing a fine, borrowed, white nightgown and held in her hand a silver handled brush. Ebony smiled. She was glad Celeste still remembered their old routine.

Ebony took the brush from Celeste’s hand and began brushing her hair softly, combing out any tangles. “You were very well behaved tonight, Celeste. I’m so proud of you.”

Celeste giggled. “Did you see how they all ate? With all those forks? It was like magic!” Her statement was innocent but it made Ebony think of how she’d been eating for the past two years. She was very ill when Henry found her, so eating scraps with her fingers was what she was used to. She’d been taught table manners by the ever patient Catherine but eating dinner at a house like Ethridge would take time to perfect.

Ebony began to fix Celeste’s long hair in a French braid. “I know.” She laughed lightly. “How do you like your new friends?” she asked, hoping to hear a little about the boy who was so entranced by her.

“I’ve never met anyone my height before,” Celeste replied. Ebony knew she had when she was a toddler but she wouldn’t remember their life in Suffolk. London was a new beginning for them both. “What’s courting?” she asked suddenly.

Ebony was a little taken aback. “Pardon?”

“Courting,” Celeste repeated.

“Courting is where a man and a woman who care about each other decide to go on outings together before they get married,” Ebony explained.

“Oh,” Celeste realised. “Will said when I turn sixteen that he will ask to court me.” From her tone Ebony could tell Celeste still had no idea what courting and marriage entailed, and so she shouldn’t. She needed to be a little girl for a lot longer. She’d been robbed of those years so now she needed to live them.

“Is Emilia the Queen of England? I like her. She’s lovely. She should be Queen,” Celeste continued, changing the subject abruptly.

“No, Victoria is our monarch,” Ebony corrected. “But I agree with you – Emilia is one of the kindest women I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Do you have a ribbon?” she asked as she reached the end of the braid. Celeste handed her the blue ribbon that had been in her hair for the evening. Ebony tied it as tightly as she could and then tapped her on the shoulders with her hands. “All done,” she announced. “Now, time to sleep.” She helped Celeste to get underneath the covers and then kissed her on the forehead.

Her innocent blue eyes looked up at Ebony and smiled, revealing her sweet little grin that housed a few gaps now that her little teeth had begun falling out. “I’ve missed you, Ebbie,” she said sincerely. Her eyelids fluttered as she realised how tired she was. “You always take care of me.”

Ebony smiled, shaking her head at the wonders of a child’s mind. If only she could be like Celeste a little more. Henry saw diamonds in lost causes but Celeste saw diamonds everywhere. She would be a very sweet and amiable young lady when she came of age. “And I always will,” she promised. Ebony settled down beside Celeste and pulled the duvet up to her chin. Closing her eyes, she let sleep take over her mind.

The week passed in the blink of an eye. Ebony was dreading it but the morning of the trial arrived quicker than ever.

Emilia dressed her in a plain, high-necked navy gown. Emilia said a more conservative dress was appropriate for a courtroom and a case such as this. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun and none of her flyaway curls were allowed to hand loose.