Once Upon a Winter's Night Read Free Page A

to marry our daughter. Go on, go on, Camille; pay your sisters no heed. Go on, read the rest.”
    Taking a deep breath, Camille continued:
    . . . I seek your permission to marry her. If you accept, she will be the mistress of a grand estate, and my holdings in Faery are —
    “In Faery?” blurted Giles, and then began coughing again.
    Embracing the rail-thin lad, the father repeated, “In Faery? But therein dwell monsters most dire, and—”
    “Quiet, both of you,” snapped Aigrette. “Our daughter is to marry a prince. Read on, Camille. Pay no heed to your father and brother.”
    . . . my holdings in Faery are considerable. Too, if you accept, I will settle upon you a sizeable bride-price of gold as well as an annual stipend, enough for you and your remaining children to live in modest luxury.
    I await your answer. If it is yes, my ambassador will bear her to me.
    Until your decision, I remain,
    Lord Alain
Prince of the Summerwood
    Now the Bear sat back on its haunches and glanced from fretting father to avid mother and back again.
    “Oh, but isn’t this wonderful,” said Aigrette, rubbing her hands together and beaming, her usually downturned mouth smiling for the first time in months. “Our own Camille is to be married to a rich—”
    “But, Maman,” protested Camille, “I don’t wish to be wedded to someone I have never met.”
    “Hush, child,” replied the mother. “You knew someday we would arrange a marriage for you.”
    Lisette shoved forward. “But you should first arrange a marriage for me,” she angrily snapped, “for I am the eldest, while Camille is the youngest of all.”
    A clamor arose from the other girls, each crying out that they were certainly older than Camille, and the twins began arguing with each other as to which of the two had been born first, Gai crying, “Me!” and Joie crying, “No, me!”
    “Be quiet, all of you,” shouted Aigrette.
    When a disgruntled silence fell, Aigrette said, “Don’t you see, the prince asks no dowry, but instead will pay us a bride-price and an annual stipend for the hand of Camille. By accepting this proposal, not only will we have wealth to escape this dismal life your father has visited upon us, we will also have dowries for each of you, wealth to attract suitors.”
    With sharp intakes of breath, the girls looked at one another, realization illuminating the face of each. And then, clamoring, they turned to Camille, and she in turn looked at her father, tears in her eyes, but he could not meet her regard. In that moment Camille wished that Fra Galanni were there to comfort and advise her. Again she looked at her father and whispered, “Papa.”
    Henri turned to the Bear and said, “We will sleep on it.”
    “What?” demanded the mother in shock. “Sleep on it? Henri, the one who made the offer is a prince !”
    Henri flinched, but then took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. “I said, we will sleep on it.”
    The great white Bear grunted, and lay down and closed his ashen eyes.
    Henri took to his bed; Aigrette, sissing angrily, followed him. The girls, too, retired—Camille and the twins sharing the lower bunk, Lisette, Felise, and Colette sharing the upper—and Giles took to his cot by the fire.
    In spite of the blizzard, the cottage was cozier that night, made so by the presence of the Bear, his huge bulk shedding warmth into the room. Yet at the same time the chamber was distressingly chill, for Aigrette seethed in frigid ire. Camille lay a long time awake in the angry whispers coming from her parents’ bed—Aigrette raging at Henri, her furious hissings muted by the storm rampaging without and the great sleeping breaths of the Bear within.
     
    The next morning dawned to quiet, for the blizzard had blown itself out sometime in the night. At breakfast, at the mother’s urging, once again Camille read the letter to them all, and over their gruel they argued, and only Camille and Giles were opposed to the proposal: Camille