.
The little sprite lay happily on her bed, combing the curls of the doll in her arms with her tiny fingers. The maid Susan was nearby, helping her pack her things for the convent.
"What a pity! I can''t bring Annabelle with me!" Fiona lamented in a childish sadness.
Hearing the sounds outside the window, the little girl sprung up from her bed and rushed to the window, where she saw her noble father strolling leisurely towards the centre of the lawn.
The Marquis de Sèvremont appeared to be in high spirits, his hands clasped behind his back, chin slightly raised, his face genial like the early spring weather. When the servant brought his horse, he even turned his head to smile at him, making the young man bow in flattered response.
Fiona leaned on the windowsill, her little mouth round with wonder, as she exclaimed, "Father is always so kind to everyone! He never hits people! He treats us so well that he doesn''t seem like a lord at all! It''s as if he and we are all just the same!"
Susan''s face changed subtly. She hesitated for a moment before exhorting the young girl: "You''d better not say such things, Miss Fiona, especially not in front of Monsieur the Marquis. Monsignor will not be pleased."
"Why?" Fiona turned her head back in confusion.
Susan shook her head and bent down to fold clothes again: "His lordship is kind to the understrappers, but he is still the master. How could you say that he is the same as us? Moreover, now that you are a lady, you should no longer see yourself one of us."
Fiona walked back to the bed, her petite face looking pensive.
"Susan, why does Monsieur the Marquis want me to be his daughter?" she suddenly asked.
"Aren''t you clear? You are beautiful, well-behaved, lovable to everyone."
"Papa...I mean, my previous father also said I looked pretty. But does being pretty really matter so much? The lords I met before would still raise their hands to hit me if I displeased them." Fiona spoke as if it were a matter of course, with no more resentment than when she talked about her doll.
Susan''s hands paused for a moment. She looked at this lovely child with a heavy heart. She herself was a mother too. Her little daughter back in the