"She fell," Edmond explained. "The heel was wedged between two cobblestones when I got to it. I saw her fall, but she was too far away. I guess she took the other off and carried it, because she didn't seem hampered at all. Then she turned a corner, and by the time I reached this, she had disappeared. There's no trace of her, Alf. She's gone."
He looked lost. Just sitting there, staring at her shoe in his hands.
"And you really have no idea who she might be? She gave you no hints? No names of any sort?"
He moaned as if in pain. "No. Nothing. And I didn't ask. How could I ask her to reveal information I was not willing to give? If I'd asked her name, she would have asked mine. I don 't know why she she hid who she was, but it kept me from having to reveal myself. I was going to tell her tonight, Alf. You know I was. I just..."
He trailed off into a sigh and I waited patiently for him to continue. I knew not to interrupt. He'd finish his thought when he found the right words. He was funny like that, even as a kid. Most boys would prattle on, trying to impress others with their sometimes faulty knowledge. Never Edmond. He would wait until he was sure about something and then be most precise in his presentation.
"I was enjoying her company. I loved the ease that I felt talking with her. Being with her. I was afraid if she knew who I was then it would end." He sighed again, leaning his back against the wall behind him. "I guess I was right. As soon as she found out, she bolted. She doesn't want a prince. I was foolish to think she would."
I pitied him, sitting there forlornly, agonizing over his loss. He was the prince, heir to the throne. All our lives he had had girls eager to be by his side. As far as I knew, this was the first time one had run from him.
It gave me an idea, and I took the little glass shoe from him. "She ran? Where did you lose sight of her?"
"Just past the bridge. The cobbles are bigger there, the design poorer."
"So she ran past all of the carriages? Into town?"
"Yes."
"She ran." I said it again, hoping he would catch on.
"Yes, Alfred. I told you that already. She ran away as soon as she heard that girl say I was the prince."
He didn't seem to understand. I crouched down in front of him so that we were eye-level. "Ed." I waited for him to look up at me, and I offered the dainty glass slipper as I spoke. "She ran. In these. She didn't get into a carriage. She ran."
His eyes lit up as he realized what I was saying. "She lives nearby." I nodded. He stood and spoke quickly, excitement growing in his voice. "She must live in town. Or just outside. She disappeared so quickly, she must have known where she was going. Of course. That's why she knew so much about the ambassadors and court proceedings and my father. Do you think she's nobility?"
I had reached this point in my own thoughts before him but I still hadn't decided. "I'm not sure. From what you've told me about her, she seems too knowledgeable not to be. How many bakers or cobblers or washerwomen do you know who know about Pion's Crest or The Figure of Escon? But if she came on foot...even Lord and Lady Danelly came in a carriage. No one has a shorter distance to travel than they do."
"A bookkeeper's daughter?" He suggested.
"Possibly," I agreed. "Or the servant of a generous Lord."
A knock sounded at the door and the queen entered. I bowed to her and removed myself to a corner while she spoke quietly with Edmond.
Truthfully, I had no idea who this girl might be. She was a walking contradiction. She spoke too well to be a servant, but cared more about the lower classes than any noblewoman I'd ever met. What noblewoman would run away after finding out she was with the prince? But what servant could afford shoes as fine as hers?
"The shoe!" I nearly shouted, startling myself even more than Edmond and the queen. I hadn't meant to speak at all. I blushed at the queen's surprised look. It had been years since I'd spoken out of turn in her presence. Edmond and I were always so much less for formal when we were alone and she had chided us about it several times as boys. Now I stood, abashedly waiting for her approval, the young, brash boy again.
The queen spoke to a page quietly and waited for him to leave the room before turning her attention back to me. "Alfred? You had something you wished to say?"
No comments:
Post a Comment