Annalise stayed in her room the rest of the day. She fell into utter despair and had flooded her pillows with enough tears that she was not sure her body could produce any more. She soon fell asleep and woke up the following day with swollen eyes that were red and puffy. Her energy was drained, and her body was weak. The strength to be productive that day evaded her. She wanted to be alone and wallow in her misery.
She lay motionless in bed for a while, then turning to her right side, she noticed her journal resting perfectly on her bedside stool. Tears welled up inside her once more, but they never came. She reached out and picked it up, opening it and scanning through its worn pages. There were pages and pages of simple sketches and fully labelled diagrams of the plants she also drew. Half-drawn illustrations, words, and pieces of sentences here and there all littered the book, some recent and some faded.
A knock on the door instantly broke the reveries of the past. "Come in." She said, her voice hoarse and throat dry.
The door slowly creaked open, and her papa walked in, his hands behind his back and several lines of worry creased on his forehead.
"Good morning, my precious flower." He strolled to the centre of the room, where she lay. "I was hoping we could promenade at the park as a family. Your mother and I would be going, and I wondered if you would like to join us."
"She sent you to do her dirty work, did she not?" Annalise said condescendingly, and her papa's guilty look gave him away.
"It's not that, darling. I just do not want your relationship with your mother to be strained. You know we love you and always want the best for you."
"I am afraid I feel rather unwell. You both should go without me." She said and turned her back to him.
"All right, darling." George sighed as he walked out silently. "I just want you to know that everything we have done is for your good." After a few seconds passed, the door closed with a small thud.
Annalise turned around to ascertain he was truly gone, feeling no remorse for her behaviour and how she treated him. To her surprise, he left a slice of her favourite dessert, apple Charlotte Russe Cake, just at the edge of her bed on small chinaware. A peace offering? She thought. George must have placed it when she faced the other direction. This sweet gesture of his infuriated her. She refused to be bought with mere treats. George and Antoinette would need much more than this to bribe her. Annalise rang for her maids, instructing one to discard the abomination and the others to prepare a hot bath that would do her a world of good. She looked as horrible as she felt inside. Besides, in times like this, Lady Grace would always say, there is nothing a hot bath cannot fix...if only she knew.
Her maids did an excellent job on her transformation. Looking in the mirror, she could hardly recognize the person staring back at her. However, the one thing that remained the same was her eyes, which seemed to have lost their sparkle and looked as hollow and empty as the feeling in her heart.
She found herself in the drawing room with her parents out on an engagement to fill that void. She played her harp for hours before switching to the pianoforte. After which, she picked up her watercolours to paint and finally settled on her needlework, particularly tambour embroidery, which she had thoroughly mastered after years of consistent practice. Annalise wanted to give the twins a unique wedding present. So she decided upon matching cathedral-length veils, which she began to design with her
impeccable needlework by embroidering and placing crystal beads all over both bridal veils.Later in the evening, George and Antoinette returned. Mr Desmond, the head steward of the house, announced that a letter had been delivered from the palace. It was addressed to Annalise by Prince Louis himself.
"You must write back immediately." Antoinette urged. "Tell him you would love to accompany him to the theatre on Friday night."
"Wouldn't that be untruthful?" She muttered under her breath.
"Pardon?" Antoinette questioned.
"It is nothing, mama," Annalise said. "I thought I was to accompany you and papa to watch the performance of Swan Lake on Friday night?"
"Well, plans change. Prince Louis shall accompany you." Antoinette said as she hovered around her.