But the quiet of the morning was disrupted the moment she contemplated her delightful future, as if her daughters sensed she was at ease and peace. Avery came in first as was his custom. “My lady, Nanny Pinch is here with Miss Anastasia and Miss Drizella.”

Lady Tremaine winced. She couldn’t help wishing she had waited just a few more precious moments before suggesting they should come see her. “Yes, show them in, Avery.” She put down her coffee cup and motioned for it to be taken away.

Anastasia and Drizella were eleven and twelve, respectively. Neither of them looked like their mother, nor their father for that matter. The girls couldn’t have been more different from their stately mother. While Lady Tremaine was angular and severe looking, she was still a very handsome woman. Her daughters were all points and edges. All legs and arms, with gawky necks, birdlike faces, and bulging eyes. They would have made remarkable witches, those two. But that is another story, a story that never happened, though it would be very intriguing to explore. Nevertheless, Lady Tremaine thought her daughters were beautiful and told them so at every opportunity.

On this day both girls were dressed in their fanciest day dresses, Anastasia in pale pink and Drizella in soft blue. They were ready for a day of shopping with Nanny Pinch. This would give Lady Tremaine the solitude she needed to prepare for their trip to the country, and Lady Tremaine was grateful to Nanny Pinch for having the foresight to get her girls out of the house for a few hours while she took care of the necessary arrangements.

Lady Tremaine adored Nanny Pinch. She was a sensible woman, still young and full of energy, which she needed in abundance to keep up with Anastasia and Drizella. She was a petite woman with dark hair and eyes and a splash of prominent freckles across her cute little nose and cheeks. She was hardly taller than the girls. Lady Tremaine laughed at the thought of her girls one day towering over their nanny.

“Good morning, my lovelies!” she said, smiling at her daughters.

Drizella always had the privilege of kissing her mother first, since she was the eldest. “Good morning, Mother,” she said rather formally, making the lady laugh to herself. Lady Tremaine wondered how long they had practiced that in the schoolroom before they came downstairs. Anastasia, however, didn’t stand on ceremony and leaped into her mother’s arms.

“Good morning, Mama!” she said, almost knocking over the little round table with the coffee service.

“We discussed this, Anastasia,” said Nanny Pinch, giving the girl a stern look. “If you refuse to act like a proper young lady, perhaps then it is best you stay in the nursery when we visit the country.”

Zella’s eyes grew larger than normal, and she pinched Anastasia hard on her upper arm.

“Ouch! Mama! Look what Zella did!”