Red Magic by Juliette Waldron

house as fast as she could go.

 
    Chapter Seven

 
    Christoph's estate had the same name as the
looming mountain upon whose shoulders it sat: Heldenberg. The surroundings were
wild and the nearest town, the tiny village
of Heldenruhe, was about
seven miles away.
    As the time of Cat's departure grew closer,
Lady van Velsen seemed increasingly apprehensive. She fussed and fussed over
her daughter, insisting that she spend her days overlooking housekeeping in
every detail, from kitchen to the linen closet.
    "A quick
course?" Christoph teased when he
discovered them at it. He leaned across a gleaming table and lifted a fat, ripe
greengage from a basket in the center. After biting into it, he sent a nod of
approval towards his mother-in-law. Inside the thin green and
purple skin was a juicy golden center.
    "Herr Graf," said Lady von
Velsen, drawing herself up very straight, "I have always done my best to
instruct Caterina in the duties she would be expected to perform as a
gentleman's wife. I have tried persuasion and I have tried whippings. Both, as
you probably know, to little avail." She looked so distressed that Cat
felt she should say something.
    "It's not Mama's fault, Graf von
Hagen. It's just as she says."
    For the first time she could see her
mother's point of view. In a few days she would be mistress of a large
household and she knew next to nothing about how to manage it.
    "Housekeeping just wasn't as
interesting to me as horses."
    A ferocious look from her mother
interrupted.
    "No apologies, please, from either of
you ladies." von Hagen said smiled. "Especially
from Lady Albertine who has been trying to sow grain on stony ground. I
have a capable staff in residence. They shall, I'm sure, continue to manage as
they have in the past. When my wife becomes interested, as I'm sure she will,
she can assert her own notions about housekeeping."
    He finished the small fruit and dropped the
pit upon a plate set beside the basket. It was awful to Cat to see her proud
and capable mother standing there, apparently so embarrassed on account of her.
    "Until she has notions, though,"
Christoph said with a sudden grin, catching one of Caterina's long red braids
and tugging, "she can climb trees and play with Star all day and still an
adequate dinner will find its way onto the table."
    "Oh, Caterina," her Mama
exclaimed after Christoph, a fresh greengage in hand, had taken his leave.
"How on earth are you ever going to manage?"
    No servants from home would come along.
Christoph had insisted upon that, had been quite adamant that his own people
could adequately attend them.
    This had upset Lady von Velsen. She'd
wanted to send one of the older servants along to advise Caterina. Of course,
though none of them would have dared argue with their mistress, not one of them
wanted to be exiled to far away Heldenberg either. When the word about Graf von
Hagen's decision went out, there was much muted rejoicing in the servant's
quarters.

 
    * * *

 
    The afternoon before Cat was to leave, a summons came from her mother. When she arrived at
Lady von Velsen's room, she found it darkened. Her mother was afflicted
occasionally by migraine and the silent, dim room attested to an attack.
    "Oh, Mama," Cat whispered,
approaching the bed. "I'm sorry. Is it very bad?"
    "Rather, my darling. But don't you
worry, it will pass." Lady von Hagen was pale, prone, her dress loosened,
her stays opened. A maid beside the bed was wringing out a cloth in a basin of
cold water.
    "Hanna, dear," Lady von Velsen
addressed the servant, "please go out now, but don't go far. I'll soon
want you again."
    As the girl curtsied and retreated, Cat
stepped into her place. "May I help, Mama?"
    "Yes, please. Do as Hanna was doing
while I talk to you. It's a very serious talk too, Caterina, so please
attend."
    There was a pause, a tinkle of water as Cat
wrung out the cloth and applied it to her mother's white brow. Finally her
mother said, "There are a few last cautions I