The New Heir of Wonderland

Prolouge - Alice's Heir

"Elizabeth Mariella Kingsleigh. This shall be her name." Alice whispered breathlessly. She held her newborn daughter in her arms; exhausted after a sixteen hour labour. Seamus wrapped a hand around Alice's, smiling at the little girl, asleep in her arms. Suddenly he became enraged, furiously dropping his wife's hand,

"This is not my daughter!" he shouted, noticing the child had auburn coloured hair, unlike his; dark, thick, and a muddy brown. "Whose child is this Alice, for she isn't mine? Who have you had an affair with?"

"Seamus, be reasonable, of course she is your child, who else's could she be?"

"Do not lie to me, Alice. I know that you disappear from time to time, who are you meeting? I have it my mind to have to thrown out of the house this moment."

"Do not forget that I own this estate, you do not own anything."

Seamus walked to the window, and looked down at his own son, Charles, a strapping young boy at the age of four. If Seamus had his way, Charles would inherit the estate when he became the age of eighteen. A proper age for any boy in London, at least in Seamus's mind seventeen was proper.

"I know about your affair with that wrenched Rebecka." Alice spat angrily, her eyes glowing with fury; Seamus rubbed his hands over his brow. How had she found out about the secret relationship, no one on the housing staff knew, and only a few of Seamus's business partners knew?

"Fine Alice, I shall call this... child my own, but do not expect me to acknowledge her whilst I am working, understand?"

Alice nodded, for she knew that it would be fruitless to argue with Seamus, once his mind was set, there was no changing it. Alice watched her husband stalk out of the room and down out into the yard with Charles, she smiled down at her daughter again.

"One day, my darling, you will find your real father. This man isn't him; I have never been in love with him."  Alice kissed Elizabeth on the forehead, then closed her eyes and slipped into a deadly slumber. The doctor, midwife, or nurse knew that there was a horrid fever running through Alice's body. Suddenly she began to twitch, then shaking violently. The midwife took the newborn child, just as Alice vanished off of the bed. She just vanished into thin air, seeming to slip right through the bed.

Seamus came back to see that Alice was gone, the nurse tried to explain but it was no use. Now Seamus could finally run the estate his way, the child in the midwives' arms now meant nothing to him. The child did not exist, at least not in his eyes. Without Alice, there would be no one to protect the child that did not belong to him. Seamus looked upon the young child with utter disgust and hatred.

Alice's bed was barely cold before Rebecka and her four year old daughter; Rosalie moved into the Kingsleigh estate. Alice's parents were furious, their minds were made up that Seamus was to be cut out of the will, and all of the estate would go to their granddaughter; Elizabeth. This did not go over well with Seamus, and the only way for him to stay in the house was to keep the daughter and raise her.

Elizabeth's grandparents loved her very much, but they were too old to have such a young child in the house, but they sent money with a trusted family friend every month to Elizabeth for clothes, furniture, and for an education. There was nothing that Seamus could do about the money that his parents-by-marriage were sending, for his new wife wanted to stay in the house.

Seamus took all of the pictures of Alice and her family and put them in the room where Alice had vanished, that would be the room, forbidden of all the children except Elizabeth. This would be where Elizabeth would grow up, for sending her to a boarding school would be too easy. The only thing that Seamus did to the room was move the cradle to the corner and brought the four poster bed with the moth eaten curtains for the child to sleep on. This was much grander than what would have become of the child had Seamus been able to avoid Elizabeth's grandparents to begin with.

This child wouldn't interfere with his new family, they would know little to nothing about Elizabeth Mariella Kingsleigh. The child would grow up a disgrace in the household; she wouldn't be allowed the same privileges as Charles or the other children in Seamus's affair. Elizabeth was teased by her older siblings, even when a child; younger than Elizabeth came along, the older children had no interest in her, only in teasing Elizabeth.

Once, Charles and Rosalie chased young Elizabeth into the maze, and then rushed out, leaving the young child alone in the maze, just as the sun was beginning to set. Elizabeth wandered around for hours, and then eventually she started sobbing on the floor of the maze. No one had come for the child, after a while, she saw a strange white rabbit. He was holding a pocket watch! Elizabeth noticed him; then ran after the rabbit; she was only four. The rabbit led her through several twists and turns, she fell down a couple of times, then it led her straight out of the maze.

Seamus was standing in the yard looking cross when little Elizabeth came running up to him; Helen was standing next to him. Elizabeth ran to her grandmother and wrapped her small arms around Helen's leg. She smiled down at her only granddaughter.

"Seamus, why was Elizabeth alone in the maze? Didn't I tell you not to let her go wandering?" Helen asked sternly.

"Hel- Lady Kingsleigh," Seamus began, correcting himself, knowing that he was no longer to call his mother-by-marriage by her first name, but by her title; Lady Kingsleigh, "My children, Charles and Rosalie must have been playing with Elizabeth and she must have run off. Or the children must have gone in different directions." 

Seamus knew very well that his children had chased the young girl into the maze, and then left her there. It had been his own instructions to Charles and Rosalie, they had succeeded, but the child managed to get out again. Very strange, how had she done it?

"If you say so, Seamus." Helen then turned to her granddaughter, "My how have you grown up since the last time I saw you." Helen tapped Elizabeth's nose, then set the child down. Elizabeth ran into the house, and up to her room. She was tired, but mainly she didn't want to hear her father and grandmother fight.

Elizabeth changed out of her dirty dress and into a nightgown and climbed into the bed. She felt around for the teddy bear that she always fell asleep. She found it then looked up at the stars,

"Please find my mommy. I don't want to be here all by myself anymore." she whispered, and then Elizabeth laid her head on the mothy pillows and fell asleep.