The Barefoot Princess by Christina Dodd Read Free Book Online Page B

village.” Miss Victorine sighed as she settled into the bed. “I felt so sorry for you, all alone in the world without a protector or anyone to care for you. I wanted to take you under my wing and keep you forever.”
    “You’re the kindest lady in the whole wide world.” Amy knew whereof she spoke. She had been out in the wide world since she turned twelve, most of the time with her sister Clarice, but for the last two years on her own. She’d seen terrible things, experienced cruelty and disdain, poverty and terror.
    She had never met anyone as kind as Miss Victorine.
    “In his way, Lord Northcliff is as lost as you were,” Miss Victorine said in a sad little tone.
    Amy refrained from snorting, but barely.
    “It’s true.” Miss Victorine arranged the thin pillows behind her back. “When his mother left us Jermyn was only seven. Never had there been a more woebegone little boy. His father was a good man, but he took the loss of his wife badly. He shied away from affection, any affection, even affection for his son. He taught Jermyn his duty and how to be a man. No one cuddled Jermyn or kissed his scrapes or loved him.”
    Amy didn’t understand why Miss Victorine thought that was so important. She couldn’t remember her own mother, and if her royal grandmamma had cuddled her, she would have died of frostbite. But even without those services Miss Victorine deemed so vital, Amy had grown up without idiosyncrasies. Any perceived quirks in her nature were nothing more than the results of her determination in the face of adversity.
    Yet Miss Victorine didn’t insist on explaining further. Miss Victorine had a tendency to assume that people understood how necessary love was, even to despicable swine like Lord Northcliff…and lost souls like Amy.
    Miss Victorine was alone in the world, without kith or kin or anyone nearby who was of her class or interests, yet through her kind and welcoming spirit, she had made herself the heart of the village and the conscience against which all living souls on Summerwind measured themselves. Without saying a word, she had shown Amy the value of family…and lately Amy had begun to wonder if her decision to leave her sister in Scotland and strike out on her own had been less the good sense she imagined at the time and more the result of adolescent rebellion.
    Amy and Clarice had been lost to their family. Their father had died. Their sister had disappeared somewhere in England. Grandmamma was out of reach, they had no money, and they fled from one town to another, fitting in nowhere, afraid to settle anywhere. Most people saw the young princesses as vagrants and thieves. Women chased them with brooms and stones. Men leered and offered drinks and lodging, but demanded the most disgusting of services in return.
    Yes, Miss Victorine had saved Amy in more ways than one. She’d saved Amy’s life, and more than that, she’d saved Amy from the bitterest kind of hostility and cynicism.
    Amy would do anything for Miss Victorine.
    “All this excitement has worn me out.” Miss Victorine smiled tremulously.
    “I know. I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t be sorry, dear! It’s good for an old woman to have her routine shaken up occasionally. Gets the blood flowing. Makes the brain work.” Miss Victorine tapped her forehead.
    “I think your brain works just fine.”
    “Yes, Papa said I always was the smartest of the children.” A satisfied smiled curved Miss Victorine’s wrinkled lips. “But if you had known my brothers, you’d realize that was not a compliment.”
    Amy laughed as she knew Miss Victorine wished.
    “I do like this room.” Miss Victorine looked around, then closed her eyes with a smile.
    Amy looked around, too. The thick curtains were faded from dark blue to a pale robin’s egg. The flowers on the wallpaper were as faded as last summer’s blossoms, and even the squares where the pictures had hung were faded. The white duvet cover had turned yellow and the down inside was