she chose painting ♡

✧

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

chapter song - orphaned (patrick doyle)

RING, RING, RING.

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" Said the man who found Felicity asleep on a nearby bench.

He was right. She didn't say a word to him. Not when he asked her name or where her parents were. Not even after he offered her a wrapped piece of candy from his pocket on the walk here. Felicity stayed quiet, standing beside him on the doorstep of the large mansion at the edge of this unnamed town.

The young girl was wary of said man when he woke her up. Even when he wore a policeman-esk uniform (a muggle style she'd recognized from a picture book she had once read) and had a kind smile- her father had a similar one.

When one of the two front doors finally opened a woman appeared dressed in a long blackcap dress and a white apron tied around her waist. "Good morning, Officer." The lady greeted him with a smile and then looked down at Felicity, feather duster in her hands. She must have been cleaning. "And who is this lovely girl?"

"I'm not sure. Found her fast asleep on my patrol."

The woman shared a look with the officer that Felicity was clever enough to catch. She watched the woman swallow and take a step back, opening the doorway more. "Please, come inside." The once happy voice is now grave. "I'll fetch madame."

✧

Felicity was told to wait in a sitting room, with chairs and cabriole couches accompanying the small space. Built-in bookcases framed the walls and the ones without the dark wood shelves housed lovely framed paintings of various landscapes. The morning sunlight shined in through the windows to help brighten the dark room. Felicity would have felt comfortable in the space if not given the circumstances of why she was there.

She was still in her party dress.

A dress of white lace covered her body, hem just above her knees, and sleeves long to help against the autumn chill. A light blue ribbon was tied around her waist that morning by a servant and fixed up into a lush bow on the back. White stockings, matching buckle flats.

Her hair was pulled back the way she loved- the way she always wore it. Brown locks still down but the front strands pull back out off her face just enough to fasten a matching blue ribbon to tie it into place.

"Is she a mute?"

"I don't think so. Perhaps just shy."

"Or does not know English?"

The policeman sat in the office of the madame of the house- another small room that connected to the sitting room by way of a sliding door. A door that had just enough of an open gap for Felicity to hear parts of their discussion.

Felicity remembered details very well, whether she read them or saw them with her own eyes. She remembered everything that happened to her when she overheard her father and aunt turned stepmother. Easily recalled her father's shout and the pain in her head from falling. They had to have been the ones to send her here after that .. incident.

Judging by the words these people spoke and the lack of magic in the very room she sat in, Felicity knew that she was amongst muggles now. It thrilled the innocence in her, having never left home before.

Home.

There was no way she could return. Her 'parents' would probably, most definitely, bring her back here or worse. She felt alone and empty there on that chair, swinging her short legs slowly back and forth as they hovered above the rug-covered floor.

The sound of movement and clearing of a throat brought her head up, watching the officer start towards her. "You'll be taken care of now." He gently patted the top of Felicity's head. "Good luck." And then he was off. She wondered if she'd ever see him again- wishing she thanked him for showing her kindness.

"Enter, child."

Felicity hopped off the chair, smoothing down the wrinkles in her skirt as she walked. Entering her office she noticed the room was decorated the same as its adjoining sitting room. The only difference was the elegant wooden desk where the woman sat behind. She had dark hair piled up on top of her head and in a dark gown that covered her entire body, even her neck.

"Take a seat." She ordered, taking a stacked journal and opening it, laying it flat down in front of her. She then took a fountain pen and uncapped it.

Felicity did as she was told and sat down in one of the two green armchairs that faced the desk. "Now, introductions are in order." As the woman spoke she didn't look up as she wrote down in her journal. "My name is Madame Eloise Beaumont. You may refer to me as 'Madame Beaumont' or 'Madame.'" Madame paused her logging to meet Felicity's eyes. "Is that understood?" Felicity nodded. That angered the older woman, her voice turning stern. "I'm not Officer Briggs. I am not kind when it comes to quiet girls. I'll need you to straighten up and tell me your first name." She waited for Felicity to readjust the way she sat before continuing- eyes narrowed into slits. "You have one, don't you?

She swallowed. "Felicity."

Madame nodded and noted that in her book. "Wasn't hard, was it?" Taking a few seconds she studied Felicity's attire. "Judging by your clothes and how clean you are, you haven't been orphaned for very long," Felicity confirmed her suspicions with a shake of her head. Madame's voice rose. "None of that nonsense- speak!"

"No, ma'am."

"Manners. Excellent." She muttered to herself as she wrote. "Brought up well." Her eyes looked back up. "Birthday is the last thing I need for your records- for now, that is."

Felicity was good at keeping sorrowful emotions in check. She hardly cried and still didn't allow any tears to fall as she spoke those next five words. "I turned eight today, ma'am."

The woman paused her pen but her concentrated face didn't crack before marking down Felicity's answer. "Twenty-first of October." She hummed and Felicity looked down at her shoes, crossing one of her ankles over the other. "Surname mustn't matter seeing where you are. You can assign yourself one later on or wait until adoption."

Madame closed her book and pushed it and her pen away, standing to her feet. "This is a home for girls, ranging in ages from infantry to twenty-one." She explained, waving a hand. "Girls leave here if they are adopted or married off once they've reached seventeen. Myself and my staff strive to teach ladies how to become good wives and mothers. That's all a woman is for anyways." That didn't sit well with Felicity and, even at eight years old, she understood the weight of those words and what her future now held.

Madame smiled at Felicity and stood, lifting her skirts to walk around her desk, nodding a head to the girl. "Follow me and do keep up."

✧

Felicity followed closely to Madame, thankful that it wasn't very difficult to match her stride. Traveling amongst the corridors, up the stairs, and through more winding pathways Madame began explaining things to Felicity as they walked. "You will share a room with several other girls your age. Don't get comfortable as room assignments fluctuate time and time. Breakfast at eight, lunch at one, and dinner at seven. You will be washed and ready for every meal- not a minute late or early, is that clear?"

"Yes, madame."

"Your lessons will begin tomorrow morning. I'll assign you an older girl to help you adjust until you can handle yourself. The rest of today will be spent understanding your chores which said older girl will teach you." She stopped them in an open doorway, gesturing out a hand. "Here we are."

Madame Beaumont waited for Felicity to walk inside first. It was the largest room she'd seen in the house so far- double the size of the bedroom she'd once called her own. She counted the number of single beds, twelve in total, that took up the majority of the space. Most of them seemed to live in with books and personal items but they all shared the same tidiness.

"Choose a bed without any school books near it. It means it's unaccompanied." Madame instructed her from the doorway- Felicity could feel her eyes staring at her. There was a short pause before the woman continued. "One last thing." Felicity looked back at her. "I'll need you to choose a hobby that you can easily master here. Every girl has one- their extra-curricular activity I call it. Any interests?"

A short moment of silence entered the room as Felicity searched in her mind for an answer that would please Madame Beaumont. "I love to read?"

The heavy sigh that escaped Madame's lips was enough to tell Felicity she chose wrong- even without the words that followed. "Reading would not attract you a husband. Choose another." She demanded, voice laced with annoyance. "Anything."

Felicity remembered her mother and the last painting she had created. Of that castle overlooking a lake. "Painting?"

One of Madame's eyebrows arched. "Do you paint?"

She shook her head. "But I am a quick learner, Madame Beaumont."

Madame gave her a small nod, content. "Very well. I'll get that all prepared for tomorrow." She turns to leave but stops, hand on the doorframe, turning. A sad smile graced her thin lips. "Happy birthday, Felicity." She then turned and left, disappearing down the hall.

Alone.

Felicity was now left alone in a room vastly different from her bedroom back home. Remembering Madame Beaumont's instructions she looked around at the beds and noticed the one up against the wall, under a broad window. It was the same as all the others- single mattress, wired frame, and dressed with sheets and a folded quilt. Nothing special to the average eye. But Felicity saw what made it different from the other eleven beds.

That window. It was the only bed with its own personal window. A stunning view of the grounds and the sky above. Felicity sat on her bed and noticed something about the sky that brought her comfort. No matter where she was, whether it be on that chaise in her mother's parlor or this cold bedroom, the sky was the same.

⁺˚*･༓☾ ✧ ✧ ✧ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

- 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 -

As I finished this cheater I have realized that today, as I publish this, is Felicity's actual birthday!

The twenty-first of October!! I did not plan this but thought that was the perfect coincidence, lol!

I love y'all and stay safe

- 𝓚𝓪𝔂𝓵𝓮𝓲𝓰𝓱 ৻ꪆ

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Please leave your wonderful comments below and don't forget to vote :)

- Kayleigh