Hardly a Lady

III

By some small mercy, Giselle's father left her alone that night. She'd spent much of it lying awake in terror, waiting for the house to still and the wooden door of her room to creep open, her furious father to be stood in the doorway. He'd beaten her before, threatened her with his belt, but she'd never done anything too bad to actually feel the agony. But now, thanks to her step-mother's lies, she might finally have pushed him too far.

Eventually dawn broke, and Giselle - having found a few moments of strained sleep - woke up to see Kendra quietly folding a pile of freshly washed shifts in the corner. With a deep, pained sigh, Giselle dragged herself out of bed and meekly ordered Kendra to help her dress. She couldn't outrun her father forever.

Kendra fetched her a deep red dress, which perfectly complimented her dark curls, which her maid pinned up intricately at the nape of her neck. Giselle stared at her reflection in the mirror and admired the fine dress; maybe it was vain to think so, but she would surely miss clothes like this when she was sent to the nunnery, which was inevitable.

"Was it truly terrible, my lady?" Kendra asked, sadness for her friend clear in her voice. Giselle sighed and rubbed her forehead. "My chances are ruined, Kendra. I'll never made a good marriage now, all because my stepmother was jealous."

Suddenly, a thought dawned on Giselle, and she exclaimed for being so stupid as to have forgotten. "Jakson! He's the one they accused me of having an affair with! Kendra, you have to go and make sure he's ok for me; they can't hurt me that badly, but my father could say her raped me and then he can kill Jakson and be justified!"

Kendra's face paled, for she too was friends with the stable-boy. "I'll go right away, my lady," she replied as she rushed to the door, grabbing Giselle's nightgown from the floor as she went. "Don't worry my lady, I'm sure he's fine," she called back, smiling in an attempt to reassure her mistress. But it was clear as day that she was worried, for her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, and looked forced on for the sake of Giselle's conscience. "In the meantime, you'd better go down to breakfast. I'm sure your lord father will be waiting for you."

With that, Kendra left, and Giselle took a deep breath. She was so nervous she felt sick, and it was at times like this that she so greatly missed her mother. Not only would the whole ordeal never have happened, but her mother always had a way of talking Lord Axel out of his rages, and making him into the compassionate father he used to be.

Yes, Giselle would do anything to have her mother back.

With a deep breath, she heard the grand clock in the courtyard outside toll 8, and knew she couldn't avoid her father any longer. Gathering all her courage she stood up tall and strong - she didn't have anything to be ashamed of, now matter what Adela said. With all the elegance she could muster, Giselle left the security of her bedroom and crept downstairs, passing servants as she went but refusing to make eye contact. They would all know by now, and from the supportive smiles she saw out of the corners of her eyes, she knew that they didn't believe one word that came out of Adela's mouth.

When she reached the dining room, she placed a hand on her stomach and breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. How she longed for the gentle, compassionate man of her youth to replace this cold shell that her father had become. He wouldn't hurt his only daughter for all the jewels in the world.

This man, however, was a lot less predictable.

Giselle knocked softly on the door - it was too late to go back now - and prayed that Than was in his room. Giselle didn't want her little brother to see whatever punishment their father had in mind.

The door was opened by a servant on the other side, who respectfully bowed his head at his master's daughter. Giselle stepped cautiously into the room, and breathed a small sigh of relief to see that her father was alone.