Victoria glided down the stairs in her flowing, pearly white ball gown. She had her elegant blond hair tied up in a bun, topped off with a diamond tiara. Her pearl necklace hung perfectly around her neck. This English Duchess knew she was stunning and flaunted it. Her husband, Edward, turned around as he heard the clap of her heels. He smiled as she made it down to the last step and said, “Just in time dear. Your package has arrived.”
“That looks marvelous? What did you get me?” she asked, when in fact, she did know what it was. Shock was written all over her face, but her husband did not decipher the tiny hint of her crooked smile that said she knew exactly what it was. She had only been talking about it for the last month. “Oh, how beautiful I will look in the mirror.” She had said countless times.
Everyone who had ever gotten a gift for her had known what she wanted. See Victoria was so wrapped up in her image, that she had mirrors placed on walls, desks, even ceilings throughout the house. She also had a very strict rule about them: no one could ever look into them. Conceitedly, she felt she was the only one worthy enough to look in these mirrors, no one else. There is an old story about how a maid once was caught looking in the mirror Victoria’s husband had once gotten. This maid was similar to Victoria, always worried about how she looked. After Victoria saw her looking in the mirror, she sent her away, never to come back. To this day, that very maid still cannot get a job, anywhere, and actually no one has seen her since, but that is besides the point.
The Delver Mirror was wrapped beautifully. It was now sitting against the wall next to the door. Victoria was eager to open it, but she wanted to be the only one to see it. She had heard of stories and legends about these mirrors. Stories about how when people looked into them, they saw an image of something, and after feeling sick and faint, they went somewhere to get water, and disappeared. No trace of these people where found; no bodies, no evidence of where they possibly went. Of course these stories were so absurd to her that she did not believe them, but the very aurora of the mirror was mesmerizing, it drew her in, and she could not wait to see it.
Victoria ordered her strongest servants to immediately take the mirror to her room, lock the door, and let no one see it. She needed to be sure no one else could possibly see it except her. While they walked up the stairs and out of sight, Victoria didn’t see the sly smile her husband gave as the mirror went up the stairs.
Over the next hour, the door bell began ringing like crazy. Victoria had thrown a party for her and her husband. With every ring came about three more people, and three more coats that I had to take care of. I had a love/hate feeling towards this job I had. On the plus side, being a butler for an English Duchess paid really good, but I am treated like slop otherwise. Everyone is treated like slop around Victoria, and we were tired of it. I watched the mirror travel, unwrapped, up to her bedroom, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief.
The party list was endless and people came at a steady stream until about midnight. I closed the door once again, for the last time, and checked the last name off the list. Victoria must have been due for yet another costume change because she walked up the stairs to her bedroom. It was time for me to convince her to open the mirror. I followed her up the stairs. I watched as she opened the door and shut it behind her. I strode to the door then, and knocked.
“What do you want?” she asked. Making it that much easier to do what I was about to do.
“It’s me, Will,” I replied.
“What do you want, William?” she said, irritated.
“I just was wondering if you wanted to open your present yet. Your husband sent me to ask you. He said he would help you open it if you needed.”
“Well that’s very nice of him, but I think I will open it later. You can go now.”
So I opened the door, she gasped in shock. No one dared to go into her room after what happened to Sue, the maid.
“You might want to think about opening it,” I suggested, “What if someone else tries to open it before you. I mean there are a lot of people down there.”
She bought it. “True, I guess I shall open it.”
I looked away as I heard the rip of the wrapping and heard her gasp as she looked at the beautiful artwork surrounding the glass.
“They say if you look closely in the top corner, there is a crack from people who have passed through the mirror.” I said, still looking away.
“How absurd! People cannot pass through a mirror.” She exclaimed, but I knew she was looking at the crack in the upper left hand corner of the mirror. I could hear he husband already making his way up here. He walked in and I motioned to him not to look. We both knew what would happen if we did.
I could hear her breathing get heavier and heavier and I could almost smell the sweat dripping from her neck onto her pearl necklace.
“I fell faint,” she whispered weakly. It was working.
I heard the thump as she sat down and knew what was coming next.
“What’s happening,” she asked in fear. Her image in the mirror, and every other reflection along with her’s, were now being distorted. I knew this from the research of these mirrors I had done the night before.
“Sorry dear, but we had to do this,” her husband replied.
“Do what?” her frantic voice rang out in a squeak.
“Make you look into the mirror, just like Sue.”
The last thing the Duchess saw was her image as it swirled and faded, her body disappearing into the mirror. Her image then appeared as a reflection and I could hear her tiny fists hitting the glass from the inside. She was trapped, and her image faded as she became part of the tiny crack in the glass, making it bigger, as each person who looked in it did. Victoria was gone, and Edward and I left the room at ease, leaving the mirror waiting there for its next victim.