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"She's really not any more attractive than I am, is she?"

"No, she's not. Mommy."

"But she looks like she is because of the way she dresses and how she takes care of herself. Your father had me thinking those things didn't matter much. He was happy keeping me locked up in this house. That's why he was never very enthusiastic about any jobs I had.

"Now," she added, her lips tightening, "we know why."

Despite all Daddy had done. I couldn't get myself to harden my heart against him. He was dead and gone, but his smile lingered on my eyes and his laughter still echoed in my ears. He must have loved us. He must have, I told myself.

Charlotte's chauffeur Ames helped us load the car. Mammy had arranged for the landlord to take possession of most of the good furniture and even the kitchenware in lieu of our rental obligations. We were really leaving the house with as little as possible, which was just what Mammy, and apparently Charlotte Alden Curtis, wanted. I had the most and Mommy didn't stop complaining about it.

When we arrived at the Curtis mansion, Ames and Nancy Sue brought in most of our things and put away what belonged in each of our rooms. Nancy Sue began to hang up Mammy's clothes first and then came in to do mine. Mammy was so excited and pleased about that.

'"I never had a maid, even when I lived with my parents," she told me in a loud whisper. "Imagine having someone care for your clothes and clean your bathroom, making sure you have all that you require. I can get used to this fast. I surely can," she declared.

She did look like a little girl who had been brought to a toy store and told she could have whatever she wanted,

"I made your hair appointment," I heard Charlotte tell her in the hallway soon afterward. "Two o'clock."

"Today!" Mammy exclaimed.

"Why wait?" Charlotte replied, and Mommy squealed with delight.

I came out just as Charlotte was telling her where they were going to go to lunch first.

"I think you should wear my Donna Karan suit. Come try it on," she urged.

Mommy flashed a bright smile at me and raised her eyebrows. "Are you settling in nicely?" Charlotte asked me.

"Yes," I said.

"Whatever you need, just tell Nancy Sue. Tomorrow morning. Ames will drive you to school. Everything is all set there. It will be like you've always attended."

"I doubt that." I said. "I've been a new student in enough schools to tell you it's never easy."

"This time it will be," Charlotte assured me. "I'm a rather big contributor to the fund."

Fund? What fund? I wondered.

"Isn't that wonderful?" Mommy pressed on.

"We'll see," I said cautiously.

"Relax, enjoy the house today. and get to know Evan better," Charlotte said. "At the moment his tutor is with him, but she leaves in less than an hour. Oh, your phone is already connected."

"Isn't that wonderful?" Mommy asked me. I had to admit, it did overwhelm me.

"Come along. Monica. We've got a lot to do," Charlotte insisted before I could utter another word.

"I'm right behind you," Mommy cried, and the two of them went off.

I stood there for a moment, listening to them giggling like teenage girls. Was I wrong in being so hesitant and doubtful? A part of me was happy for the wav in which Charlotte Alden Curtis had wiped the gray stains of depression off Mammy's eves and replaced them with a childlike glee, but a part of in still remained very nervous. I was like someone waiting for that famous second shoe to drop. I didn't know where or how it would drop, but it would. I was sure.

Maybe I was just envious, just wishing I could be like that, too.

I decided I would take Charlotte's advice and relax and enjoy the house. I took more time in the library, impres

sed with all the books, the leatherbound editions of the classics and the collections of old magazines. The family room had a wide-screen television set and a state-of-the-art sound system, and a beautiful dark hickory-wood pool table.