A Christian Beauty

Little footsteps were heard, followed by the entrance of a petite girl clothed in blue and lace, little blue eyes peeped out beneath a fringe of dark hair.

A hush descended on the room as all ‘serious grown up’ conversations ceased upon the realization of the arrival of the children.

Little Elizabeth smiled, and a series of compliments were uttered by those in the room. She had charmed them the moment she smiled so endearingly. There was silence again, as the rest of the children entered with their Aunt Augusta. Dorothea approached her younger sister shyly, aware of adult eyes focused upon her, for she was not as bold as Elizabeth. The two eldest girls stood reservedly next to their Aunt Augusta having learnt more etiquette than the younger two and the infant Francesca, white and sweet, gurgled happily in Aunt Augusta’s arms.

Smiles warmed the room as the girls curtsied to the adults. Suddenly, a young boy burst into the room, pushing past the eldest girl, Alberta and his Aunt. There was silence again as first the moment of disgust at the boy’s hoydenish behaviour transformed into awe at the boy’s sheer beauty.

But then, he was always certain of their reactions, so he cared not for the consequences; he rarely did.

When dealing out our lot in life, Fate was kind and bestowed upon me more than my fair share of beauty. Alas, that was my good fortune’s end. Perhaps Fate was aware of our reduced circumstances, for Life was cruel and had given me a father who was a squanderer of money, always hopelessly in debt. My siblings and I lived hidden away with the shutters always closed and lights never lit after dark for fear of creditors.

Welcome to my life, my name is Garson, Christian Garson. I am the sole heir of absolutely nothing, save debt for that is all my father will leave behind when we learn that he has died. This idea I’ve lived with for my entire life. My elder two sisters would dress up as flower sellers and use their own brands of beauty and their sweet dispositions to sell the poor flowers from our back garden, so that we’d have enough to eat. I had no such liberty, as I was supposed to uphold the family name, such a name it was and so could not go about picking pockets nor sell useless goods, but the latter derived from the fact that our store and its wares had been confiscated in lieu of debts.

My mother was an angel, a woman of good Christian faith and always thought of us. Whenever she could, she would take us to the parties of wealthy friends in the hope of finding a benefactor, who would fund us so that we could have a better future than we would if we were left to our own devices. ‘Twas her life’s work till her body finally wilted and died, like the delicate English rose that she was, leaving us in the care of our widowed Aunt Augusta. Our aunt was kind, but she too was lacking financially and so when my beauty had begun to emerge from its childish shell, Aunt Augusta took up where our mother left off and the excursions in search of philanthropy began again.

Life is indeed a damnable creature. It is fortunate then, that Fate is ever the sympathetic one. There are no words to tell you what I felt, for who knew but She with what fate the next hour may come charged.

The angelic beauty that the boy possessed captivated all his Aunt’s friends and dwarfed the appeal of his sisters. It cannot be denied that he took joy in the attention, for who but he could enter with such disrespect for decorum and yet be loved an instant later. The awed silence ended abruptly as the boy bowed and introduced himself with a confident smirk on his enthralling face.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, my name is Garson, Christian Garson. I am the third child in the Garson family. Might I introduce my sisters to you?” The small party could not help but find his cheerful approach as enchanting as his face.

“Do, Christian; your sisters are very pretty,” said the portly lady with the spectacles that their mother had once pointed out as Mrs Darwin. To her Christian was obviously an angel in a ridiculous sailor suit; the vain child could already see the gifts of new suits of clothing arriving at their house due to the good heart of Mrs Darwin.

“Alberta the angelic,” he gestured at the eldest, and she curtsied as a lady might, “Beatrice the beautiful, Dorothea the Divine, Elizabeth the ethereal and Francesca the fledgling.” He bowed as he finished and the party applauded his ingenuity. The ladies beckoned to the girls and they approached apprehensively, knowing only they could change their fortunes. They let themselves be treated as dolls as the ladies stroked their soft locks, patted their cheeks and called them the prettiest love-names. Alberta was slightly haughty and Beatrice, mostly quiet. Dorothea followed her younger sister about, letting Elizabeth work her own magic, so similar to Christian’s.

The men however, crowded Christian, for once letting a child entertain them with his quick wit and his dazzling looks. Soon there was talk amongst the men of helping such adorable children to a better place in society.

Aunt Augusta put a proud hand on Christian and whispered into his ear, “You might have saved us all child.”

It was praise that I rightly deserved; by my intelligence alone I had improved our circumstances. For me it was proof that my beauty was not the only tool I possessed. I smiled as any child would smile, when they realised they had such power as to rule the world in their hands.

Amongst the doting party, Christian could not help but notice, that one gentleman was not doting. Instead he stared with a crease of recognition upon his brow. He stood presently and addressed Aunt Augusta in a cheerful tone.

“My dear Mrs. Wenborne, where have these children come from? They are truly delightful,” he said taking her hand. He turned to Christian and stared directly into his eyes. His swarthy skin was overshadowed by the darkness of his hair, but his eyes were intense, blue and Christian could not help but start.

But how could I not, when I’d seen the same intense blue stare in the mirror each morn, scrutinising my beauty. This man was to me, an attractive mystery.

“ They are the children of my late sister, Mrs. Maria Garson and the missing Mr. Garson. They’ve been left to me, though the Lord only knows how I’ve managed to keep us alive, myself being a widow,” she sniffed, “their mother was always such an angel. She died too young, too young.”

We all hung our heads in grief as we had been told to do and our Aunt tried to cry. In my eyes it was a ridiculous play, but I played my part to the best of my ability.

Christian patted his Aunt’s arm in a reassuring manner, while the other ladies comforted his sisters. “We are no better than orphans now, with our futures looking bleaker each day,” Christian said, looking up with the saddest little face.

I proceeded to melt all hearts in the room. Elizabeth, my favourite sibling, took the theatrics further and started weeping silently. If any hearts weren’t softened by my display, hers was the one to do them in.

Immediately the discussion turned to what charity was necessary to help the children. Talk had become more heated when the mysterious man stood abruptly and declared, “I shall adopt these two children.” He proceeded to take Christian and Elizabeth’s hands. The rest of the party fell silent for a moment before rebuking started.

“But they are the son and daughter of a missing man!” the exclamation came, “what would be done when he finally reappears? You cannot adopt them.”

“Then I ask Mrs. Wenborne to transfer their guardianship to me, that I might give them a better life. What charity shall the remainder of us perform?” he asked, gesturing at the surprised faces. None wished to be dwarfed by the man’s grand action. The rest of the party agreed to fund the education of the remaining children.

It was painfully obvious that the majority of the party were there for to better their reputations by being charitable. Money was king in this age, we were his servants, but Reputation was Queen. Scandal was mistress to the king; she was favoured by all society until she was guest at your house. I learnt early that Scandal could be my friend, for my father’s story was scandalous, but led to more sympathy for our benefit. But I learnt that Scandal was an enemy to the memory of my beautiful mother, the same day that Fate threw me a bone. The mysterious man claimed the name of Count Luciano Galtieri, Italian by birth.

The Count led Christian and Elizabeth to his manor that night. Christian wondered as to why the man possessed eyes akin to his sister’s and his own, while Elizabeth was curious as to why her brother and herself had been chosen. Both did not voice their queries.

My sister later confessed to me that she believed that it was because of her adorable qualities rather than my beauty; but then, as a child she had been as vain as I. She understood even then that beauty was valued in the shallow society that we lived in; our beauty would aid us.

It was not till my sister was asleep that the Count admitted to me his sins that tainted the angelic memory of my mother. She was a woman of good Christian faith, but Fate had too bestowed upon her the gift of beauty, which she abused. She is a damned creature because of his sins.

“Christian, you must never speak of the sins I have today confessed to you. If you love your mother as I did, you would not let her death and her memory be tainted for my own failings.”

She had given us all, but had failed us in the same manner by giving up. Self-sacrifice meant little in this cold world, but she could not find another source for redemption for her sins. But society never acknowledged her redemption, so she never knew she guarded a Christian beauty all her own.

For her I shun society and laugh at their limitations. But then, I only do so in secret, for who else but society could be fooled endlessly, know that it has been, and still send gifts?