The Noble Ladies' Orphanage

Chapter 6

The manservant walked into the parlor with a letter for Claudia. She dropped her embroidery on the floor and met him halfway across the room.

"Thank you," she said quietly. He bowed slightly and silently left the room.

Claudia walked over to the window to have better light to read by. She quickly read the letter to herself, mouthing the words silently.

"Listen to this, Maria," she said. Maria sat at the end of the sofa with her head propped up on her hand, eyes closed. At that very moment, she was imagining herself as Juliet, or rather, as an actress playing Juliet. The curtains were closing, and she went to speak with the man with the viola about how the performance went.

"Maria!" Claudia said again. Maria opened her eyes and looked irritable.

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"It's a letter from Elsie. You remember Elsie, don't you? She was the one at the theater last week in the gold gown. She was talking to that handsome lieutenant with the curly hair, remember?"

"Go on," Maria said.

"Listen to this," Claudia said. She straightened the paper out and started reading the letter in a higher pitched voice. "I found just the thing to wear to the ball at the Margrave's palace next month. My father brought it from Vienna last time he was there. It's an enormous ruffled petticoat, and the overskirt is pinned in the back so you can see all the ruffles peeking out from beneath....."

Maria closed her eyes again and let her thoughts drift back to the stage. What if she changed the story? The story could have a happy ending if only the timing were different or if someone in their families had a change of heart. Perhaps Juliet's father. . .

"Are you listening?" Claudia asked. "No, you're not listening. What are you doing inside your head?"

Maria opened one eye and saw her sister standing there by the window, one hand on her hip and the other still holding the letter in front of her face.

"Right. The petticoat and the ruffles," Maria said.

"Oh, never mind," Claudia said. "I'll read it to mother." She walked toward the tall double doors, but before she left the room, the girls heard their mother's shrill voice.

"Girls! Where are you?" Maria could tell that their mother was calling from the upstairs balcony.

"In the front drawing room, Mother," Claudia called.

"Well, hurry up. Upstairs! We have only minutes to get you ready," their mother said. "And what have you been doing? Lounging around, doing nothing, I suppose." The girls hurried up the stairs and met their mother on the balcony. A maid was on her knees, working on their mother's hem.

"Mother, we didn't know you were expecting anyone," Maria said.

"We're not expecting anyone. We're leaving, and you're not fit to be seen," she said, pulling at Claudia's hair with a brush.

"Ouch! Where, mother? Why didn't you tell us we were going somewhere?" Claudia asked.

"I didn't know until just now," their mother said. "The Margrave's wife has invited us for luncheon on very short notice. It's an opportunity we can't afford to miss."

"The Margrave's wife?" Maria asked. "His new wife? Isn't she only a few years older than I?"

"If you mean the Archduchess Eleanora of Austria, then yes. But why are you still standing around?" their mother demanded. "Run! And you," she said to the maid who'd been hemming her dress, "go help them."