< previous page page_90 next page >

Page 90
"René, may I ask you a favor?"
At the hearth, he was stirring the kettle's contents with a long wooden spoon. The expression on his ugly round face grew suspicious. "What is that?"
"Mr. Thorn found my belongings. They'd been dumped into the river, and now everything needs to be washed."
She grimaced at his expression as he straightened. "And you wish me to wash your clothes, mademoiselle?"
"No, René," she said with a sigh. "Like everything else around here, I don't know how to do laundry. I want you to tell me how to do it. Maybe even show me on one garment. Then I'll know, and I'll do the rest myself. In my spare timeif you'll be so kind as to let me find some."
He seemed to relax. "Of course." He hesitated. "By the way, mademoiselle, Thorn said you left these here last night." He lifted the paper, quill pen and ink that Mariah had forgotten when she'd run from the kitchen.
"Yes," she said. "Thanks. I'll take them to my room later." She watched as he set them on a corner of a table. She certainly would remember them next time.
She'd wrack her brain all day as she performed mindless chores. By evening, surely she'd recall most of the episodes from the screenplay, which she could then jot downand be prepared for. Without Thorn's help.
She worked hard for the rest of the morning, doing servant things. Amazing! She took orders instead of issuing them. More than once, she swallowed a sharp retort. René would never understand if she protested.
No, she was here as Matilda. And Matilda never complained.
Matilda! While forming the dough into loaflike shapes, Mariah thought once more about Matilda. Many other characters in the screenplay existed here. Did she? If so, where was the real Matilda, into whose life Mariah had so blithely slipped? Would she show up one day and oust the imposter? If so, what would happen to Mariah?
Yet another point of confusion now swirled about in Mariah's already overloaded mind as she prepared to place the bread dough in the stone oven.

 
< previous page page_90 next page >