Evil Thing

by Serena Valentino

  “Oh, Cruella. What’s this? It’s your birthday, not mine.”

  I giggled like we were small girls again.

  “Just open it, Anita. I hope I got the size right.” Anita took her time opening the box, undoing the bow with small precise gestures.

  “Anita! Open the damn thing! Come on! I’m excited for you to see it.” She lifted the lid to reveal a pool of shimmering light blue and silver: a cocktail dress, one of those sparkling, slinky numbers. Anita’s hand fluttered to her mouth.

  “Oh, Cruella, it’s beautiful. Thank you.” I knew Anita’s guardian didn’t lavish his ward with gifts and expensive clothing the way he did his own daughters. And I didn’t want her feeling out of place when we went out. This would be the first of many gifts I had planned to give Anita. Oh, I had such great plans for us. And I couldn’t wait to share them with her at dinner.

  “Cruella, do you want to wear the black and silver?” Miss Pricket asked. I did. It was my favorite dress. “Oh! And my black-and-white fur. And my jade earrings,” I said.

  Miss Pricket smiled at us and said, “You are both going to look so lovely tonight. I wish I could see it.” Anita flinched, and I could see she thought I should have invited Miss Pricket to dinner with us. I almost thought I should. She was, after all, there as a friend, even though she had quite seamlessly stepped right back into the role of being my lady’s maid. The last thing I wanted to do was make her uncomfortable. But I asked her never-theless. I was a new woman, after all, and I was stepping out of the traditional lady’s role. Why not invite her?

  “Miss Pricket, you wouldn’t want to join us this evening, would you?”

  Miss Pricket smiled, tears almost coming to her eyes. “Thank you, my dear, no. Though it means so much to me that you would ask, this is your special evening, and it’s going to be magical.”

  The restaurant was glittering. It was everything I had wanted and hoped for. It was the first time Anita and I had been out together without a chaperone. I was eighteen. And Miss Pricket agreed it would be acceptable if we had the evening to ourselves.

  As we walked up to the maître d’, I saw us in a large gilded mirror to our right. The words distinguish yourself rang in my ears as I looked at myself in the mirror. I felt empowered that evening wearing my finery, my coat and my earrings. I felt like I was on top of the world. And I had Anita at my side. I decided it was the perfect night to spring my news on her. My grand idea of touring the world together.

  I knew she would be just as excited as I was. I waited until after dinner to tell her, and I was so giddy with anticipation Anita thought I’d had a bit too much sugar.

  “Cruella! Maybe we should slow down a bit,” she said, pulling the dessert plate closer to her. She always made me laugh.

  “Anita, stop. I have some news!”

  She smiled. “I have some news, too, but you tell me yours first!”

  I slammed my hand down on the table dramatically and exclaimed: “You’re going to be sprung from Miss Upturn’s in just a couple months, and as soon as you are, I want us to travel the world together! Oh, Anita, let’s start our adventure somewhere exotic—like Egypt! We can see the pyramids, ride camels. Or maybe we can find where my earrings are from, track down that pirate and see if he demands them back from me! Let’s escape stuffy London society and its insipid rules. We can go anywhere.”

  Anita’s smile faded. This was not what I was expecting. I’d thought she would be happy. I’d thought she would be excited. I’d thought she would be thankful.

  “What’s wrong? Do you want to go somewhere else? We can go anywhere you’d like! The world is ours to explore.”

  “Oh, Cruella,” Anita said sadly. “I can’t go. I’m going to typing school right after I graduate from Miss Upturn’s.”

  “Typing school?” I couldn’t think of anything duller. “Whatever for?”

  “Cruella, I love learning French, how to paint, how to dance. I love all of it, but none of it will help me in the real world. I need a way to make a living for myself. I don’t want to be a governess or a companion to a snooty lady.” Her words stung. Was that what she thought of me?

  “I see,” I said.

  “No! That’s not what I meant.” She was mortified. “You’re different from the other ladies. I love you, you know I do, but Cruella, you don’t know what it’s like in the real world. You don’t have to worry about money. I need skills that will earn me an income I can depend on.”

  “But Anita, I am offering to show you the real world! And you don’t have to worry about money. I’ll pay for everything.”

  “And what if you fall in love with someone? What if your life takes you in another direction? Where will that leave me?”

  “I won’t meet someone! I don’t want to marry. And I always want you with me! As my companion. I will always take care of you.”

  “So I’d be a servant.”

  “No, not a servant. My friend.”

  “Your friend who you pay to spend time with you.” Anita reached across the table and took my hand sadly. “Oh, Cruella. I love you dearly, but don’t you see? I need to make my own way for myself in the world. I’m so sorry to disappoint you.” I drew my hand away, and Anita flinched.

  “It’s fine. I understand,” I said. But I didn’t understand. What was so great about typing school that was worth abandoning your best friend? I was hurt.

  “Are we okay, Cruella? Are you cross with me?”

  I said I wasn’t, but I was terribly disappointed. The rest of the evening was very quiet between us. I didn’t even ask her about her news. I assumed she was just going to tell me about typing school. I supposed she was very excited about it, if someone could be excited about such a thing.

  That night, as I lay in bed, it occurred to me that with Anita going off to school, and my mother off on her travels, I was truly alone. I knew it was silly, but I had imagined that Anita and I would be friends forever. I hadn’t thought there would ever be a day when she would really leave me. But I guess we were both growing up. Maybe her place was typing school. And she seemed to be pushing me in the same direction as my mother had: to marry some boring lord. All I wanted was to escape the stifling life my mother was trying to thrust upon me. And now Anita was sticking me in the same box.

  Perdita snuggled up against me in bed, and I stroked her soft fur, wondering how it had all gone so terribly wrong, wondering why Anita didn’t love me as I’d hoped she did. And wondering if I couldn’t persuade Miss Pricket to stay with me. Because without Anita, I had no one.

  The rest of Anita’s visit was awkward. She spent most of her time downstairs visiting with the servants, and I busied myself with the running of the household. Mama had written to say she was coming home. I was hoping Anita would be headed back to school before Mama returned, but Jackson received word she would be arriving that night—Anita’s last night. We would have to suffer a quiet, strained dinner together. At least it was just for one night, and Anita would be gone the next morning. My mother could yell at me all she wanted then.

  The dining room table was set to perfection, and the room was almost overwhelmed by flowers and candles. I looked perfect. Something about putting on my old trappings made me feel like myself again. And it made me miss my mama. Especially now that Anita was leaving me.

  I’d decided to give my mama a grand welcome. I wanted us to be friends again. And I wanted everything to go perfectly. If only Anita hadn’t been there, but it couldn’t be helped. At that point I was just terribly disappointed with her. And she, too, seemed disappointed with me. Things felt different between us. Only now, in retrospect, do I see our friendship really ended the night she refused to travel the world with me. The night she picked a mundane life over one of adventure, with me.

  In my mind, preparing for my mama’s return was just as important as having the Queen to dinner. I made sure to dress impeccably, taking care to wear Papa’s jade earrings and one of my loveliest dresses. I had the servants working all day t
o make sure the dining room was perfectly decorated, and the menu featured all of my mama’s favorites. Jackson had advised me that there would be an extra guest for dinner, a guest of my mama’s. I was curious who she would be bringing with her, but I was happy for the extra guest, so it wouldn’t just be me, Mama, and Anita. One thing I learned at Miss Upturn’s is that even numbers at dinner are always better.

  Anita and I were in the morning room when Mama walked in. Following behind her was an exquisitely handsome man. He was older than me by a handful of years. Still, he was youthful, and decidedly American. He didn’t have that stuffiness that the men in London pride themselves on. And he wasn’t afraid to show his emotions or say what was on his mind.

  “Cruella, my dear,” my mother said, by way of greeting me for the first time in weeks, “this is Lord Shortbottom. I met him on my travels, and then quite by chance we were on the same return ship to London. I knew at once he was someone you had to meet, and I just had to invite him to dinner, especially after he told me he would otherwise be dining alone at his club this evening. I was sure you wouldn’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind at all. Welcome to our home, Lord Shortbottom—” But the brazen man interrupted me.

  “Please, do call me Jack. I’ve been telling your mother to do the same, but she always insists on formalities. I do hope you won’t be scandalized by my unconventional ways, Lady Cruella.”

  “Indeed not, Jack,” I said, taking a good look at him before I introduced him to Anita. “And please let me introduce you to my dear friend Anita. We’ve been friends since we were girls together.”

  Jack made a great show of going to Anita and kissing her hand. “Enchanted, my dear. Simply enchanted.” But his eyes were on me. Jack was almost too slick, too charming, and I wondered how it was that he’d befriended my mother. He wasn’t her sort. Clearly he had money enough, but his breeding and lordship were in question. Jackson poured us drinks before dinner. We sat in the morning room sipping them while we waited for the gong. All the while I studied Jack as he told us of his travels and adventures around the world. I found I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. I was mesmerized by Jack already. He had a place in my heart almost the moment I laid eyes on him.

  Through our conversations it became clear Jack had a fortune of his own, and a great deal more he was coming into. It was a great relief to hear of his many estates, here and in America, because then I knew his flirtations with me weren’t about trying to get his hands on my money. And as for the question of his lordship, well, he was some distant cousin or another of a baronet who didn’t have an heir to inherit, so everything was left to Jack. And suddenly I understood how this American got his handle. But the name Lord Shortbottom sounded ridiculous. I giggled to myself just thinking of it, happy he’d suggested I call him Jack.

  Dinner was much livelier than I had imagined it would be. Mama directed the conversation to Jack whenever possible. She took pains to also include Anita when she could, and asked us about my birthday and our time together. In spite of the recent awkwardness with Anita, I was so happy Mama was making an effort with her. She knew how important she was to me, and I had been dreading to see how she would behave. I’d thought Mama would be angry she was there. It gave me hope that my mother was as eager as I was to mend our relationship.

  “We had a lovely party for Cruella downstairs,” Anita said. I glanced at her sharply and realized she was trying to get a rise out of my mother. She had been that way since our debacle of a dinner, snippy and rude, and impatient with me. Mama’s eyes almost popped out of her head with anger, but Jack took it all in stride.

  “Well, isn’t that a scream?” he said. “I’ve heard stories about old families and their relationships with their servants, and I think it’s quaint.”

  “You come from a very old family, Lord Shortbottom, though growing up an American I can see how your experience might be very different,” said my mother, composing herself and trying to change the subject. I didn’t understand why Anita was trying to ruin our evening. Why would she say something she knew would anger my mother? Especially since she knew I was clearly trying to make amends with her.

  “Oh, I think I fancied my cook, like most children did growing up in houses like these. She was like a second mother to me, really. Doting on me, sending me all my favorites when I was away at boarding school. Scolding me when my boots got muddy, but then turning around and arranging some little celebration in the kitchen for me on special days. So I would have something a little less formal and homier. I’m guessing you love your cook as much as I loved mine.”

  “Oh yes, Cruella adores Mrs. Baddeley. She is also like a second mother, to both of us,” said Anita, needling my mama again for some reason.

  “I do adore her,” I said, kicking Anita under the table, hoping it would make her stop with these provocative comments.

  “Why, Mrs. Baddeley is the only person Cruella would trust to care for her sweet Perdita, aside from me.”

  Blast! I hadn’t told Mama about Perdita yet.

  “Perdita? Who is Perdita?” my mother asked.

  “My puppy. We can talk about it after dinner, Mama,” I said, shooting a look at Anita and kicking her again. Harder this time. And then I added, “Should the ladies withdraw to the drawing room?”

  Thank goodness Jackson intervened, saving us from an uncomfortable conversation in front of our guest. “Would the gentleman like some port before he joins the ladies in the drawing room?”

  “Yes, I would, Jackson.” Jack gave him a wide Clark Gable smile. A smile I was already growing to love and adore. A smile that reminded me of someone. Someone I loved and missed terribly.

  We ladies went into the drawing room, knowing we didn’t have much time before Jack would join us. I didn’t want to discuss Perdita that evening. I was angry with Anita for bringing her up at dinner. Honestly, I was completely taken aback by Anita’s attitude in general.

  “Mama, I wanted to wait until later to tell you about Perdita. She’s a dear creature. And a gift from Papa. He meant to give her to me on my eighteenth birthday.” My mother flinched at the mention of Papa.

  “What do you mean, Cruella? What are you saying?”

  Anita could see I was struggling for words. Perhaps she felt guilty for being such a little twit at dinner. I didn’t know, but she tried to put her finishing school lessons to good use and change the direction of the conversation.

  “How was your trip, Lady De Vil? I would so love to see America. Is it as wild and untamed as everyone says?”

  But my mother didn’t lose a beat. She kept her eyes and questions fixed on me.

  “Speaking of wild and untamed. Tell me how it was your father gave you a puppy, Cruella, considering he’s no longer with us?” She sipped the brandy Jackson had just poured for her, looking at both Anita and me like she might eat us whole. I suddenly felt very small. Like a little girl, afraid of my mother. She seemed like a wild beast contemplating her prey.

  “Well, Mama, he arranged it with Sir Huntley before he died.” I hated how small my voice sounded.

  “Clearly he arranged it before he died, Cruella. I didn’t imagine he rose from the grave to bestow puppies. But why on earth would you accept such a gift? And what possessed him to give you such a thing? Your father knew how I felt about animals, Cruella. He knew I didn’t want them in the house. We discussed it countless times while you were growing up. Always wanting to get you a puppy. Well, I suppose this was his way of getting the last word!”

  “I suppose that would be the only way he could, Lady De Vil,” Anita said, smiling at my mother.

  “Anita!” I blurted. “Stop needling my mama! This behavior of yours is becoming tiresome.”

  I couldn’t stand the way Anita was acting. She was ruining everything. All I wanted was a lovely evening with my mama. A chance to be friends again. But Anita was taking every opportunity she could to make her angry with me.

  “Mama, I adore Perdita. Please, won’t you give
her a chance? She’s an adorable little creature.”

  “Cruella, I was hoping to spend more time at home with you. But if we’re going to have a puppy running around the house, I don’t see how that will be possible. I hate the creatures. Dirty, nasty things that they are. The only good thing about them is their fur! Now, if we made a nice muffler out of her to match my coat, then she would be useful.” Anita squeaked with fright and my jaw dropped in shock.

  “Mama!” But before we could continue the conversation, Jack came into the room.

  “Jack, hello! Just in time,” Mama said, smiling at him. The conversation quickly shifted back to Jack, and Mama directed it toward his many estates, his fortune, and his desire to find a wife to share his life with. She was clearly very keen on my marrying him. And I was starting to feel as if I wouldn’t fight her on it. I liked him. Both Mama and Anita were being beasts, and here, almost like magic, an exceptional man was plopped into my lap, possessing almost every quality I could possibly wish for. However, it was far too soon to be talking of such things.

  But my mother kept pressing.

  “So, Lord Shortbottom, I’m sure you’re eager to marry. A man of your status is probably eager to have an heir. Someone to continue your name. Someone to leave your fortune to. And you seem to have caught my Cruella’s eye. I wonder if we won’t be hearing wedding bells in the near future. My daughter is someone who does seem to get whatever she wants.”

  “Mama!” I was scandalized. She knew I couldn’t take my husband’s name. And it was far too soon to be pressuring Jack into the notion of marriage.

  “Oh, Cruella. You can’t deny I’ve been parading men past you for months now and you’ve not looked at a single one with interest. And in one evening you’re enchanted by Lord Shortbottom. Of course marriage is going to spring to mind, my dear. You can’t fault your dear mama for wanting the best for her favorite girl,” she continued, with a large grin on her face. “Lord and Lady Shortbottom. It has a ring to it, don’t you think?” I couldn’t believe my mother was acting this way. I was thoroughly mortified.