Rosalind - Beauty and the Beast meets Dracula retelling

22- Belladonnas

Rosalind had not planned on falling asleep on the stranger's bed, but when the clock began to strike she bolted up and counted the chimes. A gentle darkness filled the room as twilight played upon the horizon. After Rosalind counted six strikes she cursed herself and rose off the white wolf's hide.

"Agnes will be at my chambers any moment to help me dress. I'd rather she not see me coming out of this room."

Rosalind hurried out of the stranger's chamber, closing the door quietly behind her. As she scurried down the hall to return to her room, she recalled the maid's words. 'I implore you, do not explore this floor.'

Worry furrowed Rosalind's brow momentarily but she did not regret entering the room uninvited. It was a nice room, warm, soothing. It smelt beautiful and the violin sitting there added some humanity to the ugly house.

Though Rosalind was given a lovely room, decorated for a fine lady, she did not like it as much as the forbidden one.

"I will not ask Agnes about it," she decided, muttering to herself, "for if I do, she'll know I was there and worst of all will demand I never reenter." Rosalind slid into her room before Agnes arrived. "Worst still, if she knew I was there, she might even lock it."

Rosalind moved to the fireplace and held her hands before the little flames. "I must find out who lives there," she whispered to herself just as Agnes knocked on her door.

The maid greeted Rosalind as she entered the room.

"Agnes," Rosalind tilted her head demurely. "Does the lord live alone in this grand home?"

Agnes looked up at Rosalind curiously. "The lord had no other guest."

Rosalind was not sure she believed the words coming out of Agnes' mouth and chose to press the matter just a bit further. "Which room is his?"

When Rosalind asked her the question, the maid, silent as a tomb, pointed to the opposite direction of the room Rosalind had been in.

"Have you picked a gown, my lady? It is almost dinner time and the lord must not be kept waiting." Agnes moved to stand by Rosalind's closet hoping desperately to change the subject.

Drawing in a breath, Rosalind let the matter go and picked up the blush coloured dress from the lord's gifts. "This one."

The dining table was once again laid out for royalty. The candles resting among the food gave off a warm glow yet their light was not able to reach the stone walls. Rosalind sat in her seat and looked at the decanter which was full of deep red liquid.

Time ticked slowly. The minutes trickled on by. Rosalind sat with her hands in her lap and her gaze on the diving feast waiting for the beast's arrival.

"Wine, my lady?" Agnes asked when she saw Rosalind sighing. The young lady had been waiting for some time yet the lord had not yet shown up.

"Shall I just take a plate up to my room?" Rosalind asked. She had barely eaten all day, and though she was not looking forward to dining with the beast, a rumble in her tummy complained that she had to eat soon.

"No, my lady." Agnes reached for the decanter. "He will come."

Rosalind's eyes rose to meet the maid's. "I'd rather he did not."

Agnes nodded solemnly. "I understand."

Rosalind moved her attention to the wine. "I have never had any," she admitted.

"Then a glass will suffice," Agnes said pouring some wine, "both for taste and for relaxation."

"Wine relaxes you?" Rosalind had seen her father and brothers drink; a glass, perhaps two, but it was not a common thing in the Hershel home.