Frostbitten Fairy Tales

by Melanie Karsak

  “Yes. Yes, I’m fine. The story is…shocking, that is all. And have they caught the rogue?”

  “I am afraid not. But we’ll have him in no time. The young lady helped us track him back to a minister who has been blessing his false unions for a few coins. Apparently, he’s scheduled to bring another maid by tonight.”

  “But…why? Why wed the girl then abandon her? Was she well-off?”

  The gentleman stiffened. “Alas, Miss McKenna, it seems some men’s devices are more devious than that. The most devilish of men will stoop to the lowest levels to win the hearts of otherwise virtuous and unobtainable ladies. And to think that such deeds were done in my name. I…I cannot bear the thought. But let’s turn to something less odious. How do you find your slippers? I say, you turned very prettily in them.”

  I looked up at him. Taking a deep breath, I pulled on the face of a woman who had no cares in the world. I did not want him to see the terror that was about to break through the surface. I pressed my emotions down and felt nothing, only shaped myself as the mask of a calm theatre actress who has just been paid a very nice compliment from a proper gentleman.

  “I thank you, sir. They are very beautiful and fit so perfectly. How did you ever guess my size?”

  He smiled, then from his pocket he pulled one of the pink slippers my grandmother had given me. “You forgot your slipper, Cinderella.”

  I gasped.

  “I thought it was very…fortuitous,” he said, handing the slipper back to me.

  I reached out and took it then looked up at him. Lord John Waldegrave—the real Lord John Waldegrave—smiled nicely at me. He was everything a gentleman should be. Well-dressed, eloquently spoken, and very proper. But there was a hopeful look in his countenance that was more than I could bear.

  I rose.

  “Miss McKenna,” he said, rising along with me.

  “I…I’m very sorry, Lord Waldegrave, but I’m afraid you’re right. I am not feeling well. I should very much like to talk over this matter with you at another time. I think I have some infor—I have something I must see to first, and I am not quite myself at the moment. Please forgive me. May I send you a note and call later?”

  He nodded. Taking a card from his pocket, he handed it to me. “Please. Whenever you’re feeling up to it. I owe my life to you and Doctor Murray. My family, as well, is keen to meet you both. My mother is such a fan of the theatre. Really, the Waldegraves are all quite indebted to you.”

  My stomach churned, and I almost vomited. Taking a deep breath, I said, “I do so appreciate the slippers. They are…they are truly beautiful. Thank you so very much. Now, I must—if you will please excuse me, I must—I—I’ll be in touch very soon,” I said, then curtseyed. I turned and headed away from the theatre in the direction of Captain Behra’s ship.

  Chapter 24: On Not Letting it Go

  As I approached the ship, I saw that the sailors were moving busily. It looked like they were preparing for the inevitable departure. They eyed me skeptically as I neared but didn’t say a word. One man looked me over then went inside the captain’s quarters. Not waiting for permission, I walked up the plank and headed toward the door to the captain’s cabin. The sailors stopped to watch.

  I had just reached the door when one of the men stepped out, blocking my way. I peered through the open door of the captain’s cabin. There, I saw Kai sitting on the floor, his back resting against the bed, his chin on his chest. His hair was a tousled mess that hung over his face.

  “Kai,” I yelled. “Kai!”

  At the sound of my voice, Kai looked up. His eyes met mine, but he didn’t seem to recognize me.

  The sailor closed the door behind him. “The captain said you should go away.”

  “I will not,” I said sharply then tried to push the man aside. “Kai? Kai! Kai, do you hear me? Kai?” I yelled.

  The large man grabbed me by the waist and set me down in front of him once more.

  “The captain said that you should leave, and if you do not, I should remove you.”

  “Tell your captain to come out here and move me herself, if she is woman enough,” I shouted toward the door, hoping to provoke Captain Behra’s ire. “Kai! Kai, come out here right now! Kai, I need you. Kai, get up and get out here!”

  The sailor laughed. “Silly little ballerina,” he said then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. “You don’t know who you are dealing with.”

  “Kai! Kai! Help me,” I yelled, hoping the panic in my voice would rouse him.

  The sailors stood watching, mixed expressions of empathy and annoyance on their faces. Amongst them, I spotted Robin. My eyes met his, and through the windows of our souls, I pleaded with him.

  “Put her down,” Robin called to the sailor.

  The sailor laughed and walked down the plank.

  “Kai! Kai, do you hear me?” I yelled, looking back at the cabin.

  There was no movement from inside.

  I looked back toward where Robin was standing, but the boy was gone.

  “I’m going to bring the Bow Street Runners,” I told the sailor. “I’ll have you all arrested for abduction. Doctor Murray is a well-respected physician in this city. They won’t let you hold him hostage like this.”

  “The only thing he is hostage to is what’s between the captain’s thighs. A beautiful prison at that, and he doesn’t seem to mind,” the sailor said with a laugh.

  I scanned the crowd of men, expecting to see them laughing, but instead, I found worried expressions on their faces.

  “Liar,” I said. “Put me down right now.”

  When we reached the end of the plank, the sailor deposited me back onto the ice. “The river will flow by morning. Your doctor is with us now. Don’t come back, ballerina.”

  Furious, I reached down and grabbed a handful of snow. Clenching it into a ball, I hurled it at the man. “You won’t get away with this,” I told him.

  He laughed, brushing the snow off his shoulder.

  Frowning, I turned and stormed away. I could go to the Bow Street Runners. Certainly, they would come to investigate, but they might also be easily convinced that Kai wanted to be there. No. There was still one card left to play, and with any luck, it was the best card in the deck.

  A king always trumps a queen.

  Chapter 25: Frozen Hearts

  I wove my way down Freezeland Lane. Carts and wagons waited as tents were struck down. No more oil cakes nor ice cream was to be had. Even The Frozen Mushroom had closed up shop. When the bawds moved out, it was surely time to go.

  I headed in the direction of the ice castle and the other ship frozen into the Thames. If I was going to find the baron, certainly that would be my best bet. Out of options, I could only hope he would be willing to contend with his quarreling wife on my behalf.

  I was just passing the City of Moscow when someone called my name.

  “Elyse? Is that you? Elyse?” I stopped and looked back. To my shock, John—and not the real John, of course, but the rake—stood there, a smile on his face. “My dear, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  Caught up in a torrent of fury, I turned on my heel, crossed the ice, and then promptly smacked John across the face. I ripped off my glove then tore the ring from my finger and threw it in his face.

  John clutched his face where I struck him. “Elyse?”

  “Don’t even speak my name, you liar,” I spat angrily.

  “What are you talking about? Whatever’s the matter? I was looking for you. I wanted to talk to you about tonig—”

  “Shut your lying mouth,” I replied.

  “Elyse? What happen—”

  “What happened? What happened? This morning I met the real Lord John Waldegrave. In fact, Doctor Murray and I saved Lord Waldegrave’s life after a rogue, a pretender, tried to murder him. That same pretender has been roaming around London racking up debts and breaking hearts. How could you? How could you do that to me?”

  “But how—what did you—did y
ou tell him about me?” he stammered. His face had gone completely pale.

  “And what, exactly, would I tell him? That I am just as much of a fool as every other girl you’ve been lying to? That I believed you actually loved me? That I trusted you? Why me? Why in the world would you play such a game with me? Who am I to you? I’m no one. I never did anything to you, to anyone. Was all this just to…merely because you wanted to bed me? Was that all? Why not just spend the coin and ride a whore? Why bother me?”

  “Because someone like you would never look at a man like me without a fancy title. You, who denies the likes of Lord Byron, would never accept a low-born gardener’s son. I’m nothing. No one. If you’ll deny Byron, why would you love me?”

  “Byron? What does Byron have to do with it?”

  “I saw him at the theatre when he propositioned you. You would not have him. And if you would not have him, why would you ever take a man like me?” John said. The look on his face was a mix of shame and anger. By all appearances, he was a man shattered, but his excuses hurt almost as much as his lies. How could he think so low of me?

  “I didn’t accept Byron because he is a bawd and because I do not love him. I am an actress, John—or whatever your name is—I’m not some fine lady. I can love an honest man no matter his station, high or low, but not a rogue or a liar.”

  He laughed ruefully. “You won’t even accept your doctor friend. Do you really expect me to believe you’d let someone like me bed you? Now, who is lying?”

  “Don’t turn this on me. My heart is open to an honest man. If you really cared for me, you never would have tricked me. At what point were you planning to tell me who you really are? Once you had my maidenhead? Is that all this is about to you? A game to win a place in my bed for the night? No doubt you would have rid of me once you’d bedded me as you did with that other girl.”

  John paled even further, revealing I had come close to the truth. “Wh—what other girl?”

  “Perhaps the girl you were with at the chocolate stand? The girl with the red bonnet? I imagine she must be the ruined girl who appeared to the Waldegraves in search of her husband.”

  John laughed. “Fine, Elyse. Have it your way. But you fell for the title, didn’t you? How else could I ever get your attention? I wanted you, Elyse. I did what I had to in order make you mine. Judge yourself for being so shallow.”

  “The title never mattered to me. It was your words, your lies, that I loved.”

  “That’s rich.”

  I shook my head, choking down my tears. “If you had treated me honestly, everything would have been different. But it was never about that. I was only a prize for you.”

  “A prize? Oh yes, you’re Frostiana, aren’t you, queen of the frozen Thames? Indeed, there was quite a wager as to whether or not I would win your frozen heart and see if you were just as cold between your legs.”

  “Liar. You first saw me at Struthers Theatre at Christmastime. This has nothing to do with the Frost Fair. Why lie now? You know very well that I came to love you. I believed your lies, and I loved you,” I said. The tears I had fought so hard finally choked me.

  He blew air between his lips in an attitude of dismissal, but the tremble of his chin told another story.

  “And you loved me too. Despite the lie,” I added. “In fact, you were trapped by the lie, weren’t you? You fell in love with me, but didn’t know how to tell me the truth.”

  At that, he paused. I was right. He had lied to win me in the first place, and that lie had been motivated out of carnal desire. Perhaps he’d only hoped to win me for the night, but I could see from the expression on his face that it had gone beyond that.

  “Elyse,” he said softly, a guilty expression on his face.

  “Go away. Leave the ice. Even if you did love me, you still played with that other woman. Aside from what happened between us, there is the matter of what you did to the real Lord Waldegrave. Go. Go back to wherever you came from, or I’ll call the Bow Street Runners right now and turn you in.”

  “You wouldn’t do that.”

  “I would. Your lies, including your promise to help Doctor Murray, have left my friend in danger. I trusted you blindly, and my heart will pay for that. But through me, you struck at someone I care about, and I cannot forgive you that. Leave. Now.”

  “You won’t turn me in, will you? They’ll send me to the Tower if they find me.”

  “Leave. Now.”

  “Elyse—”

  “Never speak my name again. Now go.”

  At that, the man I knew as John, turned. He stopped for a moment, looking down at the engagement ring which had fallen to the ice, then turned and walked away.

  I looked down at the glittering piece of jewelry. It lay there, an innocent victim in our feud. After a moment’s hesitation, I scooped it up. It was very pretty, shimmering in the afternoon sun. I sighed. At least I could give it to the real Lord Waldegrave so he could recoup some of his lost fortunes. After all, it was not fair that he—the innocent person in all this mess—be harmed anymore. As much as I never wanted to see the ring again, I slipped it into my pocket then turned once more in the direction of the baron’s ship, my heart completely shattered.

  Chapter 26: The Baron

  My hands trembled as I neared the ship. A single gentleman lingered on board. He smoked a pipe and watched as I approached. When I drew close, the man rose and went to the captain’s cabin. A moment later, the baron appeared on the deck. He held the rail tightly, a bit too tightly, as he watched me approach.

  “Miss McKenna?” he called.

  “You wife has taken my friend prisoner. I need your help to get him back.”

  “My…my wife?”

  “Captain Behra. I know about the two of you. Somehow Kai and I have fallen in the middle of whatever marital discord you are experiencing, but I don’t care anything about it. I don’t care that she is angry at you. I don’t care who hurt whom first. I don’t care about anything but Kai. And right now, you are the only one who can help me.”

  The baron grabbed a rope and slid down to the ice, a flourish of fine velvet fabric twirling around him.

  The baron’s man tossed him down his walking stick.

  He straightened his clothes then turned and joined me, the picture of a gentlemanly figure.

  “Let’s walk,” he said, taking my arm. “You…you are right. By chance, Captain Behra and I both found ourselves in port when the Thames froze, trapping us and our problems here. The captain became aware that I admired your performance so sought to punish you by corrupting your friend. I must apologize that you’ve been pulled into this petty disagreement between my wife and me. She struck at you unfairly, and I am ashamed to say I sought to hurt her further when she turned her affections toward your friend. But this has gone too far. Soon the river will thaw. This must come to an end.”

  “They told me she’s going to take Kai with her. I don’t understand. Kai would never leave me like this.”

  “He is under her influence and unable to act of his own accord.”

  “Then you must help me recover him before it’s too late. You must take him from the ship.”

  “I cannot.”

  “Then you have to talk to her, reason with her, lie to her. I don’t care what you need to do, but you need to do it.”

  The baron smiled. “You misunderstood my meaning. I cannot get your friend off the ship, but you can.”

  “Me? How can I possibly do that? Her henchman carried me off the ship by force today.”

  “I have a plan.”

  “A plan?”

  “Your troupe…do you have access to the men’s costumes? Perhaps the cinder girl’s father’s attire?”

  “Men’s costumes? Why?”

  The baron smiled. “Because at dusk, we shall get Doctor Murray off my wife’s ship.”

  Chapter 27: Honest Iago

  By the time the baron and I finalized the plan, it was nearly dusk. I headed back to the Ice House Theatre where the ot
hers were preparing for the final performance of A Midwinter Night’s Dream.

  “Elyse?” Marve said when he saw me approached the tent. “We weren’t expecting you. Hannah is inside preparing for the part of Titania. Should I tell her to—”

  “No. But I need your wagon, and I need one of Robert’s costumes.”

  “My wagon and—what? Elyse, what’s going on?”

  Hearing my voice, Lizzie came out of the tent, half prepared for her role as Hermia.

  “Elyse? What are you doing here?” The expression on her face was a storm of questions. If I was at the Ice House then I wasn’t busy eloping.

  By way of explanation, I shook my head then said, “Change of plans, I’m afraid.”

  “Change of plans? What happened?” Lizzie asked.

  “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Right now, I need your help. Can I have the wagon? I’ll be back with it before the show ends,” I said, turning to Marve.

  “Of course. Elyse, are you in trouble?” Marve asked, his forehead furrowing.

  “I just need the wagon…and the costume.”

  “Certainly,” Marve said.

  Taking Lizzie by the arm, I said, “Will you help me?”

  She nodded.

  With a smile of appreciation to Marve, Lizzie and I turned and headed into the dressing tent.

  “Robert?” I called.

  He stepped out from behind his dressing curtain. He was already ready for the night’s performance. “Elyse? What is it?”

  “I need your matinee costume,” I said as we joined him in his section. “And your beard,” I added, pointing to the hairpiece that sat waiting alongside his stage makeup.

  “My beard? Why?” Robert asked.

  “I am Viola turned Cesario tonight,” I said, referring to Master Shakespeare’s ill-fated heroine who disguised herself as a man to survive in a foreign country in his play Twelfth Night.