Madeline

Chapter 27

I quickly regretted my suggestion that Reed and I wait a while to marry. Once I got over the initial shock of it happening so quickly, I wanted to be married as soon as we could find someone to perform the ceremony. There were no barriers like getting family approval or dealing with Society nonsense. I loved him and he loved me. The only thing that would change about that was how much more we would grow to love each other as we got to know each other better.

Unfortunately, waiting really did turn out to be necessary. Or it was wise, at least. Reed said he wanted to finish the house before then and I had quite a bit to learn about cooking and running a home. Aside from the simple things that Anne let me help with, I'd never actually cleaned anything or done any sort of chore. As much as my father hated me, it never occurred to him to make me work. In his mind, that's what the servants were for. I had another purpose. It may even have been intentional - a way to ensure that I was helpless to do anything but actually be a mistress. Most upper class girls were just as ignorant to these things as I was, but they had all been educated in other ways. The only education I received had to do with the occupation he forced me into. He didn't want me getting ideas about marrying someone respectable or even becoming a servant. Either option would have ruined his plans.

Since I now needed to learn, Anne was actually letting me do much more. It was frustrating though. I didn't mind doing anything she asked, but I never seemed to do a very good job. Either I wouldn't realize that something should be done at all or my attempts would be pathetic and essentially useless. I'd try my best and believe something was really clean, and in about ten seconds, Anne could show me that it wasn't clean at all.

And then there were the things that took real skill like cooking and ironing and making essential things for the house that wouldn't be practical to buy. I know Reed's business was doing well, but I didn't think he was wealthy or could afford to buy an endless number of things I'd always taken for granted. I was honestly fine with that. I just wish that so many things weren't going to be dependent on my skills. Other than drawing, I didn't seem to have any.

"Don't give up," Anne said kindly as we sat at the table, staring down on my pitiful attempt at a pie. "You've made a lot of progress."

I put my chin in my hand and sighed. "It doesn't seem like it." I literally had no idea what she was talking about.

"I know, but you have."

"You know how to do everything," I whined. "I'll never be like that." Not only did she know how to do everything, she knew how to do it well. Her food was delicious and her house was spotless - well, unless I was doing the cleaning - and she knew how to make and do an endless number of things.

"Not if you sit there moping over it."

I watched her pathetically. I'd expected sympathy and justification for giving up. But of course, Anne didn't patronize and she wasn't about to let me give up when she knew how important this was to me.

"I grew up doing all of this," she said. "I didn't have a choice but to learn from a very young age, and I've had a lot of years to practice and learn the best methods. I had a large family, without much money to spare. I wouldn't have survived if I didn't get very good at doing a lot of necessary things. You are just starting to learn, but think about how far you've come."

I frowned at the table and tried to do what she said, but all I could see was the ruined pie, poorly made beds, and about a hundred other pitiful attempts at things that shouldn't be that hard. Children could do them better than me.

"How many times have you tried to make a pie before this?" she asked, guessing what I was thinking.

"None," I said quietly.