'Yes.'
'This is horrible, horrible!' she screamed, and stepped back into her room before slamming the door.
Beau Andreas, who had come out, looked embarrassed. 'I think I'd better be going,' he said.
'Yes,' my father told him.
Beau started away and Gisselle jerked open her door again.
'Beau Andreas, how dare you leave this house without me!' she cried.
'But . . .' He looked at my father. 'You and your family have things to discuss, to do and—'
'It can wait until morning. It's Mardi Gras,' Gisselle declared, and glared at our father. 'I've been waiting all year to attend this ball. All my friends are there already,' she moaned.
'Monsieur?' Beau said. My father nodded.
'It can wait until morning,' he said.
Gisselle swept back the strands of hair she had shaken over her shoulders in her rage and marched out of her room, glaring at me as she walked by to join Beau Andreas. He looked uncomfortable, but let her take his arm, and then the two of them marched down the stairs, Gisselle pounding each step as she descended.
'She has been so looking forward to this ball,' my father explained. I nodded, but my father felt the need to continue to justify her behavior. 'It wouldn't do any good to force her to stay. She would be less apt to listen and understand. Daphne does so much better with her when she's like this anyway,' he added.
'But I'm sure,' he said as we continued toward my new bedroom, 'in time she will be overjoyed and excited about getting a sister. She's been an only child too long. She's a bit spoiled. Now,' he said, 'I have another young lady to spoil, too.'
The moment we stepped into my new room, I felt that spoiling had begun. It had a dark pine canopy queen- size bed, the canopy made of fine pearl-colored silk with a fringe border. The pillows were enormous and fluffy looking, the bedspread, pillowcases, and top sheet all in chintz, the flowers full of Color and glazed. The wallpaper duplicated the floral pattern in the linens. Above the headboard was a painting of a beautiful young woman in a garden setting feeding a parrot. There was a cute black and white puppy tugging at the hem of her full skirt. On each side of the bed were two nightstands, each with a bell shaped lamp. But beside a matching dresser and armoire, the room had a vanity table with an enormous oval mirror in an ivory frame, the frame covered with hand painted red and yellow roses. And in the corner beside it, an old French birdcage hung.
'I have my own bathroom?' I asked, gazing through the open doorway on my right. The plush bathroom had a large tub, sink, and commode, all with brass fixtures. There were even flowers and birds hand painted on the tub and sink.
'Of course. Twin sister or not, Gisselle is not the sort you share a bathroom with,' my father said, smiling. 'This door,' he added, nodding at the door on my left, 'joins the two rooms. I hope the day will soon come when the two of you will move back and forth through it eagerly.'
'So do I,' I said. I went to the windows and gazed out at the grounds of the estate. I saw that I faced the pool and the tennis court. Through the open window, I could smell the green bamboo, gardenias, and blooming camellias.
'Do you like it?' my father asked.
'Like it? I love it. It's the most wonderful room I've ever seen,' I declared. He laughed at my exuberance.
'It will be something fresh to see someone appreciate everything around here again. So often, things are taken for granted,' he explained.
'I'll never take anything for granted again,' I promised.
'We'll see. Wait until Gisselle works you over. Well, I see you've been brought a nightgown to use and there's a pair of slippers beside the bed.' He opened a closet and there was a pink silk robe hanging in it. 'Here's a robe, too. You'll find all you need in the bathroom—new toothbrush, soaps, but should you need anything, just ask. I want you to treat this house as your home as soon as you can,' he added.
'Thank you.'
'Well, get comfortable and have a nice sleep. If you get up before the rest of us do, which is quite possible the morning after Mardi Gras, just go down to the kitchen and Nina will fix you some breakfast.'
I nodded and he said good night, closing the door softly behind him as he left.
For a long moment I simply stood there gaping at everything. Was I really here, transported over time and distance into a new world, a world where I would have a real mother and father, and as soon as she could accept it, a real sister, too?
I went into the bathroom and discovered the soaps scented with the fragrance of gardenias and the bottles of bubble bath powder. I drew myself a hot bath and luxuriated in the silky smoothness of the sweet-smelling bubbles. Afterward, I put on Gisselle's scented nightgown and crawled under the soft sheet and down bedspread.
I felt like Cinderella.
But just like Cinderella, I couldn't help feeling trepidation; I couldn't help being frightened by the ticking of the clock that swung its hands around to clasp them finally on the hour of twelve, the bewitching hour.
Would it burst my bubble of happiness and turn my carriage into a pumpkin?
Or would it tick on and on, making my claim to a fairy-tale existence that much more secure with each passing minute?
Oh, Grandmere, I thought as my heavy eyelids began to shut, I'm here. I hope you're resting more comfortably because of it.
12
