Roses and Black Glass: a dark Cinderella tale (novel preview)

Chapter Thirteen

                                        Roses and Black Glass: A Dark Cinderella Tale 

                                                                   Chapter Thirteen 

                                                                                  1 

                  Isabella’s morning had begun with a loud pounding on the door downstairs.  It had gotten worse when she’d discovered that her servant was not there to accept the food and supplies from Lionel Carpenter, the man who delivered the goods to the manor weekly.  Isabella had to take it upon herself to supervise the unloading without Cindy, boiling with anger with each passing moment for the girl’s negligence.  Charlotte stood behind her in the doorway with a shawl around her shoulders, looking incredibly ill.  Isabella wondered only briefly about her sister’s state before she dismissed it as simple weakness.  As much as Charlotte wanted to be, she was not like their mother.

                  “I believe that’s the last of it, ma’am,” said Lionel, wiping the sweat from his brow despite the chill of the messy morning.

                  “Thank you, Lionel,” said Isabella as politely as possible since her thoughts had been interrupted. “I’ll have your payment sent in a couple of days.”

                  She did not look at him when she spoke.  She’d spotted a figure emerging from over the top of the hill. 

                  On the other side of things, Lionel had suspected that the van Burrens were completely drained of money.  They’d never been late with a payment, but he’d always suspected they struggled for it.  Then again, their mother had just passed and the girls were left alone now.  He might have been more accepting of the matter – if he hadn’t needed money himself.

                  “But…ma’am,” he sputtered, attempting to reason.

                 “You’ll just have to wait,” she said insistently.

                  Lionel was about to protest once again when a figure moved past him and up onto the porch of the house, wet and dirty.  Her dress was soaked around the hem with mud and her short hair was plastered to her pale face.  She was like a ghost or a past memory.  The man lost all words at her sight.

                 Cindy did not look at Isabella, but Isabella looked at her, ready to yell and scream until she realized that Cindy was not going to stop for her.  She trudged on toward the open door of the house.

                 “And just where have you been?” Isabella demanded hatefully.

                 “I went to the hanging,” was Cindy’s very curt reply. 

                 Charlotte moved out of the girl’s path without words, and Isabella might have been angry with this if not for the pure satisfaction that the hanging had been all her own doing.  Anything that caused Cindy grief increased her own pleasure.  She turned back to Lionel, this time wearing an evil smile on her pretty lips.

                 “I promise that it won’t be long before you receive payment.  Our affairs are a bit out of order at this time.  Since mother’s death, you understand.  Besides, I’m sure you’ll be making deliveries to the Charming house soon.  The wedding will be a grand event when it occurs in three weeks.”