Beauty and Her Beast

Anna awoke as the carriage lurched to a halt. Looking out the window she saw the retreating figure of the coachman as he entered a darkened hall through large, intricately carved wooden doors.

Looking around in bewilderment, she exited the coach, clutching her bag to her chest. She approached the open doors slowly, seeing they were carved with demons and creatures of nightmares.

As she reached the first step, an elderly woman stepped out of the darkness inside.

“You would be the Farnsworth girl?” she asked. “I am Mrs. Agnes Goodwife, the housekeeper here. If you will follow me, I will show you to your rooms and once you’ve had a night to settle I will show you to your duties in the morning.”

Turning on her heel, she went inside leaving the girl to follow.

Opulence was a word that Anna would not have used to describe the hall, because that word did not justice to their surroundings. Rich fabrics covered all the furnishings and lush carpets lay over the marble floors. Every surface glittered and gleamed with gold work, crystal and porcelain.

More than once something beautiful caught her eye, but she tried to keep her mind focused on what lay ahead. Though she had never been afraid of hard work, the scale of what she was seeing gave her pause.

Anna followed Agnes up a flight of stairs and down several hallways.

“Mrs. Goodwife,” she said quietly. “This house is so large I fear we will get lost ma’am.”

“I will assign a house servant to you until you are able to find your way. You will not leave your room unless one of them is with you,” Agnes said.

“Is that clear?” she asked, turning sharply to face her.

Anna nodded, taking a step back in fear, unable to find her voice.

“Very well,” Agnes said. “This is your room.”

Here she indicated a door with an ‘A’ engraved on its placard.

“There is a bath waiting for you and fresh clothes,” Agnes explained. “Someone will bring you dinner and you are to rest until the morning.”

As Anna stepped into her room, Agnes touched her on the arm.

“Miss Anna,” the older woman said gently, “the coachman did not thank you for giving him lunch and he should have, so please allow me to say it for him. ‘Thank you’.”

“It was nothing,” Anna replied. “I found the food hamper in the coach and I thought it was meant to be his lunch. He told me it was meant for me, but I couldn’t help sharing it, there was too much for me to eat on my own.”

“It was more than most would have done, my dear,” Agnes said. “Now, go, take a bath and get ready for bed. I will send someone in with a small meal, and then you are to go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.”

“Yes ma’am,” Anna said, and saying goodnight, she entered her room.

Anna’s room was lit softly by candlelight and a fire in her fireplace. Shadows danced on the walls, but even in this dim light she could see that her room was as opulent as the rest of the house.

A large four poster bed hung with heavy tapestry was centered, with matching furnishing spread elsewhere in the room. To her left was a second door, and upon opening it Anna was enveloped in mounds of rich fabric that billowed out. Dresses of damask, silk and heavy velvet hung from hooks of ivory. Underneath these were silk slippers with the most delicate needle and pearl work she’d ever seen.

‘Mrs. Goodwife must have put me in the wrong room,’ Anna thought. ‘These are meant for a lady.’

Carefully closing the closet door, so as not to catch the fabric with it, Anna crossed to the bedroom door and tried to open it. The door stuck fast, apparently locked from the outside. Turning back to face her room, she saw for the first time that a gleaming copper tub sat in front of the fireplace, steam rising from the water within. Not knowing what else to do, she undressed and was soon submerged in lavender scented water.

Never could she remember anything feeling so wonderful in her life. The water was perfect, warm and soothing. She found a soft-bristled scrubbing brush and washed the dirt from skin. Anna lingered longer than she had intended, since the water never seemed to grow cold, but she soon found herself drifting off to sleep. Only after her fingers and toes were wrinkled like prunes did she realize how long she had been in the tub. Quickly she washed her hair and after a final rinse of her body she stepped out, finding a warm towel hanging from a hook nearby. Wrapped in the towel, with her skin still tingling from the bath, Anna sat on a stool in front of the fireplace and began to towel her hair dry.