*Rapunzel*
After supper, I played for a couple of hours and then lie awake, waiting for Horace to come to my chamber, but he doesn’t. I hear, very remotely, the bustle of his valet… then silence. I lie awake a long time.
The next morning I dress and then go up to the nursery to see if Layla truly slept in the governess’s narrow bed. I find her sitting on the floor, her hair a tousled mess around her shoulders, apparently marshaling a battalion of soldiers.
“Hello,” Susannah says, getting up and going to stand at Layla’s shoulder, as if I mean to steal her away. Obviously, Layla and Susannah have fallen in love with each other. It has nothing to do with my mothering of Susannah, or lack thereof.
“Hello yourself,” I say to Susannah. “You may call me Rapunzel, if you wish.” Since Mama isn
