Austen Fairytales: Lesley Castle

Duty (Frog Prince)

Of course it would be that horrible Henry Hervey at the door, a face Charlotte Lutterell had come to detest in equal measure to her sister's rising esteem. Their family was so agreeably settled before his frequent visits disrupted everything.

After a dinner wherein neither the gentlemen nor Eloisa complimented the least crumb of Charlotte's pie, the pollywig had the nerve to ask for music which her faithless sister readily agreed to provide.

Still, though others might shrink their responsibilities, Charlotte would not be found wanting. She loudly admired the musicale through the whole length of its duration.

Charity Suffereth Long (Six Swans)

"Well Eloisa, I trust you have finished weeping, and mean to be useful," was the cheerful greeting Charlotte offered the day after her sister's world ended. Both she and their mother meant well as they prodded Eloisa to eat a ridiculous amount of breakfast.

But she could not smile while they disposed of her wedding feast in as swift a manner as the late groom.

When it became clear she would not be cozened out of mourning, her family decided to indulge their own wish for travel by deciding it to be her's, thus denying her the solace playing her instrument might have provided.

The greatest balm she found was a day when her mother and sister left her alone at the inn, and she occupied herself with needlework next to a similarity employed lady in the parlour. How dear were the seconds stitched in friendly quietude together.

Monday’s Child is Fair of Face (Little Red Riding Hood)

Even as an infant Louisa was pleasing in appearance and disposition, and nothing in the next two years contradicted this begnning. It was almost painful for her eldest aunt to see how little the girl's tranquillity appeared disturbed by her parents' desertion. At least there could be no expectation of unpleasantness when they all met the new Lady Lesley.

"Who? Oh. I suppose she shall want something," was the only notice given by this woman on being introduced to her granddaughter, dressed in her finest tartan woollens and matching cap. Miss Lesley's smile faltered, her sister's disappeared, and even their father started at this casual dismissal of a child everyone, till now, had universally adored.

Finding (Sleeping Beauty)

Based on the steady flow of complaints his sister had written after her marriage, William Fitzgerald expected Lesley Castle to be an old broken-down affair: perhaps covered in briers, overgrown with thickets of thorns, or even surrounded by a swampy moat swarming with pythons. He was pleasantly surprised to discover a well-maintained edifice possessing the full dignity of Scottish heritage with all the comforts of an English manor.

He listened with patient inattention to her critical appraisal of the house and grounds as they made a tour ("The servants all lazy, butler at the ale I am sure, dogs under heel everywhere, flies plastered to the walls with the cold,") while finding much to admire himself. They had just gone up another staircase ("Everything is uphill here!") when his composure was shaken by a beautiful vision lying on a sofa, book in hand, frozen as if by paint and yet brought to life by their noisy approach with a sudden lurch to her feet.

This elegant creature, with lustrous eyes and a pinch of rose in her cheeks, was the tall gorgon of a stepdaughter his sister had spoken of so vociferously? William stepped forward at once, apologizing for their interruption and prompting an introduction.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Lesley," he said, stooping to bestow a gallant kiss on her hand.

"And you, Mr. Fitzgerald," she smiled back, awakening his heart to wonders undreamed before.

Horribly Ugly (Puss in Boots)

Lesley Castle had been in the family for generations, Sir George Lesley forgot how many. "And there is some property," he explained to their new stepmother's brother, "to the south, where my son has been living, before his present, er...."

"Change of circumstances?" Mr. Fitzgerald politely finished, with a quick glance at Matilda, before turning the conversation away from embarrassing scandal.

Though her sister Margaret was happy for any anecdotes to enliven the letters to her friend Charlotte, she could not help sighing over the sad transformation made of their home by the wedding rings so injudiciously donned by brother and father alike. Or how the latter gave Lady Lesley her predecessor's jewels, worn with the same grotesque fashion as the rouge painting her cheeks.

Matilda might forgive these imprudences if offered such a band herself. But given dear Stepmama's studied dislike, Margaret judged the barriers almost insurmountable.

Envy (Snow White)

Susan had not wed Sir George in a fit of romance; his house in town and place in the country were more attractive than his person, even if that seat were in the remotest part of Scotland imaginable. Despite these careful calculations, the new Lady Lesley was unprepared for her marriage's effect on her brother, whose preoccupation with her stepdaughters (and fascination for one in particular) had passed from absurd to alarming.

"And which of them do you think loveliest?" she asked with assumed complacency, daring him to admit his feelings when they were alone.

William did not even attempt evasion. "Though they are both handsome, I must give Miss Lesley her due as eldest. I think even you must concede she is the most beautiful girl in the country."

It was painful to reflect that even were she to deny it, Susan's place in her brother's heart would still be supplanted: she could never be thought a pretty girl again.

Serving Faithfully Above All Else (Princess and the Pea)

"And they lived happily ever after," Miss Lesley finished reading to her niece, kissed the half-dozing child, prayed softly over her bed, and only then joined Miss Poe in the small nursery's even smaller antechamber. "I trust she will sleep the night, and hope you will both rest well before your long journey tomorrow. Is there anything else you require?"

The recently hired governess and traveling companion only thanked Miss Lesley for her pains while politely ignoring how little the situation agreed with the affectionate aunt. It was not exactly a fairytale ending for the poor young Louisa: parents married to other people—foreigners at that—and then summoned clear across Europe like a forgotten relic to fit out their exotic new homes. "Try to get some rest yourself, ma'am," Miss Poe made bold to recommend as they parted. London did not appear to agree with Miss Lesley's health.

It was perhaps a half hour later Miss Poe went down to check on some last items of preparation. She was not surprised to hear Miss Lesley discuss her niece's itinerary with someone down the hall. Nor, indeed, could she claim shock when she recognized the voice of Mr. Fitzgerald answer. "Then it is all settled, I will see them to Dover at the least, it is no trouble." Something else passed between the two, and then, "Miss Lesley, will you not reconsider and come as well? I would be glad to accompany you there and back, even to Italy itself if that be your wish. I know how dear Louisa is to you."

If Miss Poe had Miss Lesley's measure, this plea would be refused, however tempting. Still, she reflected as she climbed the servants' stairs back to the snug little attic rooms, the much mourned separation might result in a new beginning for them all.