Vanity

Chapter 4

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The following week gained a constant rhythm of waking up receiving what little guests that had time to come in and say hello. Eating lunch, getting to know her knew staff, having an afternoon rest, dinner and then back to sleep. She had not been allowed to get out of bed and her legs were becoming increasingly stiff and creaky, she had also lost at least ten kilograms from the small portions she had been receiving each meal. Because of her stiff legs the doctor had allowed her to take short walks up the corridor with the support of whichever one of her older siblings was available. Finally after a week of being stuck in bed the doctor told her at last that she was well enough to resume her usual daily routine. This was the best news Fabienne had heard in a few days and that night she had the largest dinner she had had all week.

The next morning she was awoken by one of her new hand maids Idette pulling the curtains open to allow the bright morning light to stream in through the windows, she was nothing special in Fabienne’s opinion; she was a farmer’s daughter who had been originally employed by the brother of the king as a wash maid for his wife, she had thick black hair and pale skin, she was not much older than Fabienne herself maybe about seventeen at the most. Fabienne found the light flooding in from the floor to ceiling windows almost blinding so she closed her eyes but Idette must have seen that she woke her mistress for Fabienne heard her fall to the floor and start crying, begging Fabienne to be merciful and not to use the whip. This was a shock to her, her parents had always treated their servants with respect and had never used the whip, not so much as a raised voice had ever been used to manage them. Fabienne jumped out of her bed and rushed to where Idette was kneeling on the richly embroidered carpetsobbing into her tear soaked apron, as Fabienne approached she raised her hand to comfort her but instead of finding the hand a sign of comfort Fabienne saw Idette cower at the sign of a raised hand. This shocked her, she had never been one to hit and she’d never seen anyone so terrified as Idette of the threat of a beating. Fabienne dropped her hand and knelt to the floor next to Idette, she took her hands away from her tear streamed face and wrapped her hands around her tall shuddering servant girl, “what happened to make you so terrified” Idette looked up smoothing her black strands of hair away from her face “the husband of my mistress used to be very violent when I didn’t do what my mistress asked, he would take me to the kitchens and plunge my hands into boiling hot water straight from the fire he would then use his leather belt to beat them. My mistress cared deeply about me so my master forbid me to tell her about my punishment and he also didn’t allow me to return to her chambers after my beating so she didn’t suspect from my bleeding hands of my masters abuse of me. One reason that he used to get angry at me was when I drew the curtains, I had no choice, every bedroom in the court has its curtains drawn at exactly the same time every morning so that no courtiers are late for important meetings.” Fabienne took a deep breath and lifted herself up from the carpet, she turned to face Idette and said in the most sympathetic and kind voice she could manage “ I was raised not to hit servants, my parents never even raise their voices at their servants, we have always had a relationship of trust not threat of punishment.” She was glad to see that Idette’s expression went from wary to relieved. Fabienne got up and made her way over to her bedside table where a wash basin full of warm water was waiting for her, she scrubbed her face, hands and arms and when her face emerged from the basin she found Idette, tear streaked and sniffling, standing next to her holding out a fluffy white towel for Fabienne. “No matter if I am sick or unhappy I must still serve” Idette whispered, looking at her feet. Fabienne took the towel and dabbed herself dry “you may have the day off, I can get one of the others to help me dress” Idette curtsied, “thankyou madam” she said and hurried out of the room. Fabienne went to her dresser; on top of it were a set of 5 little silver bells, each had the name of one of Fabienne’s servants on it and each had its own unique sound. She lifted the second largest one off of its stand and rang it, the low clear sound rung out through the room. As soon as Fabienne stopped ringing the bell, one of her maids Melisende came bustling through the doors of her room tutting under her breath and drying her hands on her apron. She looked up at Fabienne and complained with a sulking expression “madam, I thought Idette was on duty. I just saw her running through the servant quarters with her face all blotchy and her hair undone. I’m afraid that if her behaviour continues like this then she should be sent to work in the fields, this is no way for a servant to behave, she does not know how lucky she is to have the position that she has, she is simply unworthy”. Fabienne took one step closer to her Melisende, raised herself to full height and in a shaky voice said “You must have some nerve to come to your mistress and accuse one of your fellow servants of being unworthy, If I hear another word about Idette then it will be you slaving away in the fields, is that understood?”. Melisende was staring at her feet as she answered “yes Madame, as you wish”. Fabienne walked over to her bed and sat down with a sigh. She looked up at her maid and examined her for the millionth time since she started serving Fabienne. She was at least 35 and quite plump for her age; her greying orange hair was pulled back tightly into a bun at the base of her neck. She was quite short and stout but it always fascinated Fabienne about how quickly Melisende could wizz around the room despite how short her legs were. She walked over to her dresser and started picking out what she would wear for the day but before she could pull the first draw open Melisende had whizzed over, gently moved her out of the way and said, “Madam, this is not your job. You are not fully recovered yet, so please got sit down on your bed and I will get you ready”. Fabienne did as she was told and sat down on her bed while she watched her maid pull corsets and overskirts out of her dresser, Melisende come over to her and helped her stand up.