Page 38 of Disenchanted
I could not confront him with my suspicions until we were alone. All I could do was fume in silence until an unexpected opportunity presented itself in the form of Mrs. Biddlesworth.
I could just see the top of her straw bonnet and her eyes as she spied upon us over the garden fence. The woman had been doing that more often of late. No doubt she hoped to catch me conjuring up another exotic plant using illegal magic. Usually, I would tease her by squinting and mumbling nonsense wordsas though I really was casting a spell. A silly and reckless thing to do, I knew. One of these days, I probably would provoke her into filing a complaint against me. I wondered if Commander Crushington would be the one to arrest me, looking all sad and rueful, but clapping me in irons all the same.
I astonished both Mrs. Biddlesworth and my family by waving and calling out cheerily, “Hello, Mrs. B!”
Mrs. Biddlesworth was obliged to straighten from her hiding spot behind the fence. She made a halfhearted gesture of greeting, her face flushed as red as her peonies.
“That woman! Always snooping,” my stepmother huffed. “You should not encourage her, Ella.”
“Oh, Em, you can hardly blame Mrs. B for being curious about why we are all making so merry. I should go tell her our good news.”
“No, please, let me,” Netta cried. “I am just bursting to tell someone.”
“No, I shall tell her,” Amy said.
Just as I had known they would, my sisters leapt up, rattling the table.
“Girls, really!” Imelda protested. “I will not have you indulging that woman’s vulgar curiosity.”
Amy and Netta were already racing across the yard, eager to be the first one to share the glad tidings. I laid one hand soothingly on Imelda’s arm.
“I think someone should offer Mrs. B an explanation. After all this time, I doubt she recognizes Mal. She is probably wondering why we are entertaining a man who looks rather like a river pirate. One would hate for any unsavory rumors to get started…”
I did not even have to finish the thought before Imelda leapt to her feet and rushed after the girls. Mal had been smothering his laughter into his napkin during this entire exchange. Hismirth abruptly ceased when I whipped around the table and pounced, seizing him by the ear.
“All right, Hawkridge. What by all the fairies are you up to?”
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go!” He pried my fingers away and regarded me reproachfully. “Is this any way to treat your fairy godfather?”
“This is one fairy godfather who is about to get his wings clipped if he doesn’t start talking. Where have you been all this time? What mischief have you been plotting? Where did you acquire those tickets?”
Mal rubbed his ear. “Could I have one question at a time, please?”
I plunked down on the bench beside him so hard the wood creaked. “Let’s start with those tickets. I don’t want to hear any more frap about you winning them at the Winking Goblin. The palace might claim everyone is welcome at the ball, but I highly doubt the king sent a herald to pole down the river to deliver an invitation to Waldo the Wharf Rat.”
“His Majesty might have done.”
“But he didn’t. Any more than the Wharf Rat has daughters.”
“That is where you are wrong, Ella. Waldo does have four girls, although—” Mal chuckled, “his daughters are more into swordplay than waltzing, and if he had so much as suggested they deck themselves out in frills to attend that ball, they would have chucked their father into the river.”
“Then why did you tease my poor stepmother with such an absurd story?”
“Because if I told her the truth, that I had bribed a herald to give me an invitation so I could buy the tickets, Imelda would have refused to take them. She appears to have some ridiculous scruple about accepting expensive gifts from a man outside of the family.” He added teasingly, “Of course, I could have told her we had become betrothed.”
“Only if you wanted to give my poor Em heart failure. Why did you go to such pains to acquire the tickets and get Imelda to accept them? If you think by sending us all to the ball, you will be able to maneuver me into stealing that orb for you—”
“I thought nothing of the kind. The tickets are a gift, Ella. Pure and simple, no conditions attached.”
“Then I truly do not understand. I know how much you despise my stepmother and sisters. Why would you give them such an expensive gift?”
“Because I hated the way we parted that day in my shop. I felt ashamed for the way I tried to pressure you into stealing the orb and sulked when you refused. It seemed important to you that your stepmother and sisters go to the ball. I guess that makes it important to me too.”
Mal shifted to face me. “I can be a genuine ass sometimes, but I really would do anything for you, Ella. I hoped you would realize that by now.”
I studied his countenance. Mal could be an ass. He could be so thoughtless, provoking, and evasive that I wanted to throttle him. There were also those rare times when he let down his guard and was completely open, his sincerity shining through.
This was one of those moments.
