Winters' 3 Dears- The 12: Book Three

12. The Snow Queen

On Sunday after service Mrs. Winters insisted her remaining granddaughters follow her home. Her house was always the same. It was too large for her but she rebuked the thought of a smaller abode. She had taken her roost in society and planned to stay there.

"Where do I begin with you, Ladybird?" she started.

"I know you are disappointed, Grandmother but Philemon was the one who called off the engagement not me," Ladybird said. Though she had sat in her Grandmother's parlor alone many times before, this time she wished both her sisters were there. But Beatrice was gone and Wysteria had been sent from the room.

"And what circumstances caused this, pray tell?" Mrs. Winters stared across the tea table at her Granddaughter. She had fashioned herself a queen here and all others were simply subjects that needed her praise and scolding.

"Grandmother, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Mrs. Winters asked. "The rest of town is. And you didn't even have the decency to come tell me I had to find it out from another source. Aren't you concerned for your future?"

"I am concerned," Ladybird insisted. "But, Beatrice is missing, Grandmother and right now the most important thing to me is finding her." She shook her head. "I'm surprised you haven't heard that from another source too."

"Are you smart mouthing me?"

"No, ma'am."

"Of course I have heard about Beatrice and I think she should stay missing," Mrs. Winters said. "All that girl has ever done is cause trouble. With her out of the way Philemon will take you back."

Ladybird shook her head. "What makes you think I want him back?" Her heart quickened, surprised at her own boldness.

"If you want to make a good marriage you'll take him back!" Mrs. Winters said. "You'll be set up for the rest of your life. You'll be heiress to his family company and you'll inherit all you see her before you as well. He's the best match you could ever hope for. The Richest colored family in New England if not the whole country. You can't do better and I'll be in my grave before my Granddaughter parades around on the arm of a white man or a Jew."

Ladybird looked down. Her grandmother was a hard woman to stand up against. She had always been taught to be grateful for whatever favors someone had done for you and her grandmother had done her many favors. She owed her home to her, her job to her and if the engagement was amended she owed her marriage to her.

"Don't be foolish, child," Mrs. Winters said. "You accept that man when he asks for you and you do whatever it takes to keep him."

"Yes, ma'am."

/

As Ladybird and Wysteria walked home they couldn't help but think of Beatrice. Beatrice had a way of making Queen Winters seem a little less powerful and more human. She chaffed the woman's taste and how she wore dresses that were too long to perform any real duties in. She scoffed how her home smelled of cheap scent that choked you if you inhaled too deep...

"So what will you do?" Wysteria asked after Ladybird had related her conversation with their Grandmother.

"I wish I knew," Ladybird said. "She is adamant about me marrying Philemon. Wysteria, she has the power to take away everything we have if I don't comply. I feel like her prisoner. It is easier to submit to her."

"Mr. Smart once said that the path of least resistance leads to a dead end," Wysteria said. "When I think of all those times I didn't stand up for Beatrice..." she shook her head. "Everything is all wrong and we've got to make it right."