Life is Simple

Lesson 2

I never cared for Eel Pie, yet here it sits, directly under my nose. The taste never satisfied me, mainly because I thought it too salty and slimy to enjoy inside a crust opposite of the features. As I was being served the wretched food, I thought of a decent chicken pot pie instead. My fork poked the interior mush around the fine dinner plate until the vegetables were passed to me. This was when I filled my plate with the side dishes to cover the gooey eel.

"Father, you know I do not like eel! Tell him, mother!" Upon my arrival to the dining table, my mother was returned from her friend's house.

"This is a family meal and we eat what everyone else is having." My father scooped a hearty portion of the pie into his mouth. Bits of the crust got tangled in his short, auburn beard.

"Let us compromise, husband?" My mother questioned as she sipped her wine.

"Very well, but just this time." Father sighed impatiently.

"Go ahead, pick a dessert and we'll have Isabelle tend to it." Father wiped his beard in the napkin that laid on his lap.

"I want ice cream." I gleamed in delight.

"That's not fair! I want bread pudding!" Edward whined and pouted.

"Bread pudding? That's a poor man's dessert!" Father exclaimed with a clash of his fork against the table.

"Yes, but it is tasty." Edward hushed in terror. He dragged his fork across the freshly imported white and blue China plate causing a great screeching noise to pierce the silence.

"So shall I open the letter now?" I took it from beside my plate and held it in the air. My mother, on viewing the envelope, dropped her head and started to fidget with her diamond necklace. I turned my attention to my brother, who shrugged his shoulders in response to my concerned face.

"Now may be the time to prepare the ice cream, Isabelle." Father chimed the tiny brass dinner bell that stood at his hand nearly every meal.

"Yessir." Isabelle left with the soiled dinnerware and the bell plucked between her dark fingers.

"I must admit, I'm rather frightened of what lay inside the envelope." I gazed into the seal again with a reluctant grin, hoping someone with a last name that began with a "P" would come to mind.

"Don't be frightened." Mother tried to hold in her fright too, for I could hear it in her voice.

I took the lip of the envelope and peeled it upward. With a pristine crunch, the seal broke in two. My fair hand trembled as it removed the letter from inside. I smoothed the dramatic crease lines out of the heavy pages. Before I read the letter, I breathed heavy and looked out to my wide-eyed parents. Hesitantly, I drew my attention to the words on the page. The paper read:

The Bellemont Family,

     I hope all is well at your estate as the winter turns to spring. My son has agreed to court your daughter and would appreciate it if he could meet her within the month. I urged him to write the letter to her personally, but he feared she would be scared away by his straightforward attitude. He is delighted to meet your daughter and will be waiting at Picrew Estate to receive her and her response.
                           Best Regards,
                                        The Picrew Family

"Who are the Picrews?" My face reddened in anger and crumbled my voice into nothingness.

"The Picrew Family came from the Rhode Island coast to Virginia. They have a son that is of age and ready to find a wife." Mother explained.

"And you thought I would agree? I do not know this boy or the Picrew family, and I certainly will not marry into such conditions!" I could not think of the words I was speaking. I was too frustrated to realize what was taking place between my parents and I.