Evil Thing (Villains 7)

. Neither of you are at fault,” she said, turning her attention to me. “I’m just so proud of you, Miss Cruella, for standing up to your teachers and headmistress like that.” I was so relieved. I had been sure she was going to take me to task. The very last thing I expected was Miss Pricket, of all people, commending me for threatening my headmistress.

“I can’t wait to tell Mama,” I said, laughing. “She will be so proud of me.” Miss Pricket was silent. “What is it?” I asked.

“I don’t think we should share this with your mother, not just yet. Let’s wait until after the holidays. I would hate to have anything ruin your time together.” Miss Pricket looked uncomfortable.

“What aren’t you telling me, Miss Pricket?”

She shook her head. “Let’s speak of it later. Look, we’re almost at the station.”

But I insisted. Clearly I hadn’t been paying attention to my lessons in taking social cues, putting poor Anita and Miss Pricket in an awkward situation.

“Cruella,” Anita said, “I think what Miss Pricket is trying to say is that your mother wouldn’t approve. You know she’s never quite accepted our friendship.” I didn’t know what to say. Miss Pricket clapped her hands, snapping us out of the heavy mood that had fallen over our train compartment.

“Never mind that, girls. Let’s not speak of it again. We’re going to have an amazing winter break,” she said. “Look, we’re almost there.” And before we knew it we were back in London. Dirty and cold as it was, I was happy to be back. I bundled myself in my fur coat against the chill and against the unsightly views of the less fashionable parts of the city until we were finally in Belgrave Square.

Home.

As our chauffeur helped us out of the car, it took everything within me not to dash through the front door to see Mama. The whole household was standing in attendance, waiting for us in the vestibule at the bottom of the grand staircase. I had forgotten how much I loved that beautiful room, with its giant crystal chandelier hanging above the round table that always had flowers upon it. Everyone was there except Mrs. Baddeley. No doubt busily preparing our holiday meal down in the dungeon. Funny, isn’t it, how cooks, and head housekeepers for that matter, use the prefix Mrs. when they’re not married? I wondered if it made them feel as though they were married to their jobs. And in a way I suppose they were. But if anyone was married to their job it was Jackson. Mr. Jackson, as the ghosts downstairs called him. We didn’t need a head housekeeper, not with Jackson around. Jackson, along with Mrs. Baddeley, took care of everything according to my mother’s instruction. And would one day according to my instruction, when the house became mine.

I had decided after my father died that I wanted to be an independent woman. Never to marry. I took my father’s final wishes to heart: I would keep his name. And there was no man worth his salt who would agree to take on his wife’s name, unless of course she was the Queen of England, and though my family may have been grand and royally connected, I wasn’t the Queen. But I thought I might like to emulate one. I thought of Queen Elizabeth I and how she never married. And look what she accomplished! I always felt I was destined for greatness. And look at me now. More fabulous than ever. Like a queen.

I imagined a happy unmarried life in that house with Anita. She likely wouldn’t marry, either, given her prospects. I imagined she would be my companion, and we would travel the world together, stopping back at Belgrave Place to briefly refresh ourselves before taking off on our next adventure. I imagined us in places like Egypt, Paris, and Istanbul, wearing the local fashions, trying exotic foods, and sending postcards back home with lurid descriptions of our exploits.

I was excited to make my way to the morning room to see if Mama was there, when a woman I had never seen before broke off from the other ghosts and approached me. She was a tall, imposing woman with shocking white hair pulled into a severe bun. Her lips were perpetually pinched, as if she smelled something foul in the air. Her fingers were long and spindly and reminded me of spider’s legs. She wore all black and had a large ring of keys hanging from her belt. She looked like an austere undertaker hoarding the keys to the underworld. I didn’t like her on sight. She looked to Jackson to make the introductions.

“Welcome home,” said Jackson. “We are so happy to have you and Miss Anita home for the holidays. Please let me introduce Mrs. Web. She is our new head housekeeper.” From that moment on I would refer to her, at least in my mind, as the Spider. “Lady De Vil thought we needed a new head of household, as she is so often away,” said Jackson. I said nothing. I just looked at the Spider in amazement, wondering why on earth she was there.

“She’s not away that often,” I said, eyeing the morning room and wanting to ask Mama what this was all about.

Miss Pricket tutted at me under her breath before addressing the Spider. “Excuse us, Mrs. Web, we have had a long journey. I am sure Miss Cruella and Miss Anita are eager to refresh themselves before dinner with Lady De Vil.” She gave me a scolding look.

“Lady De Vil won’t be here for dinner. She hasn’t arrived home yet,” said the Spider. “I’m sure she will make her way back to you as soon as she can,” she added, seeming to take delight in my disappointment. Or maybe I had just imagined it. Either way, I felt my blood boiling. “In the meantime, if there is anything you need, please ring for me, Miss Cruella. Your mother has directed me to act in her place while she is away.”

I wanted to scream. How dare this woman think she could act in my mother’s place? And where was my mother? I had been so looking forward to seeing her. I hadn’t seen her the entire time I was away at school. Not once. And she rarely wrote me. Most of her news I learned from Miss Pricket, who was in constant correspondence. I had to do something to win back her favor.

“When will she be back?” I asked.

“Before Christmas, I’m sure,” said Miss Pricket. Then she added quickly, “Come, girls. Let’s get you settled in your rooms and unpacked. You’ve had a long journey.” And she escorted Anita and me upstairs to our rooms. I remember looking down on all the servants as I reached the first landing. They seemed like ghosts to me, disappearing through the door under the stairs, but the most disturbing sight was Mrs. Web skittering behind them like a spider made of smoke and sulfur. I didn’t like her one bit.

My room was exactly as I remembered it, and they had set Anita up in the rose room right across the hall from mine, the room I had come to think of as hers. “Miss Anita, your bags are in your usual room across the hall if you’d like to get settled,” Miss Pricket said briskly. “I will be there in a few moments to help you unpack after I’ve helped Miss Cruella.”

Anita smiled. “Thank you, Miss Pricket,” she said, going off to the rose room.

“Miss Pricket, how would you feel about being my lady’s maid? Of course, I would have to speak with Mama when she gets home, but I wanted to hear what you might think before I do.” I was so hoping Miss Pricket would agree. She had been with me since I was quite young, and even though I found myself annoyed with her at times, I couldn’t imagine a life without her. It made sense to me to ask her to be my lady’s maid; it was a natural transition. Who else would I trust but my old governess for such an intimate position?

“Well, Miss Cruella, your mother did mention that you are too old for a governess, and asked if I would like to stay on as a lady’s maid and companion,” she said, smiling. “I was so hoping the news would please you.”

“Oh yes, of course it does. I am so happy the idea agrees with you. Though I don’t think I could bring myself to call you just Pricket … I have been calling you Miss Pricket for so long.”

Miss Pricket laughed. “You may call me whatever you wish, Miss Cruella,” she said, smiling at me.

“Speaking of new positions in the household, I was curious what you could tell me about Mrs. Web. Is she settling in?” I asked.

“Oh, she’s settling in well enough.” Miss Pricket was being her usual discreet self. She would never say a bad word about anyone. Well, that wouldn’t do. If Miss Pricket was going to be my lady’s maid, then she was going to have to act like one. And that meant giving me all the gossip from downstairs. So I prodded her a little, making it clear I didn’t care for the woman, hoping Miss Pricket would open up to me.

“I just don’t see why we need her. We were doing perfectly fine before. I wonder if Jackson and Mrs. Baddeley resent her presence. I know I do, the odious spider that she is.”

“Oh, Miss Cruella. Don’t speak about her like that.” Miss Pricket wasn’t taking the bait. I walked over to my vanity, sat down, and put on my jade earrings while I watched the woman who had cared for me my entire life unpack my trunks. I felt a tingling thrill at putting on the earrings. I felt more like a powerful lady when I wore them. And I realized in that moment my relationship with Miss Pricket had shifted. I was no longer her charge, but she still acted as though I was. It was an adjustment to be made in small steps, and I was about to take the first step. “Miss Pricket, if you’re going to be my lady’s maid then I expect to hear all the gossip. Mama tells me she hears about everything that goes on downstairs from Mrs. Smart, her lady’s maid.”