Waif to Lady

rl stubbornly shook her head.

In the evening, when it was time to read the abridgment of the lives of the saints, little Fiona encountered yet another heavy calamity.

Illiterate and ignorant of doctrine, she refused to admit it and simply remained silent when questioned about it, which angered the Mother in charge of her.

This long-faced Mother Agatha was far from the gentle and kind-hearted nun who had greeted Fiona.

Fiona''s beauty did not evoke pity in this nun''s heart; instead, it aggravated her - the nuns knew that a girl with pretty appearance was unlikely to be willing to join the ranks of the bride of Christ, and therefore often viewed beauty as the opposite of devotion.

"I''ll ask you one more time, Miss. Do you refuse to answer?" the long-faced Mother said sharply, her already wide eyes bulging even more from glaring.

The little girl stood silently like a warrior who would rather die than surrender.

"Very well! Let''s see what kind of lady you''ll grow up to be with that attitude!" Mother Agatha sneered scathingly, pointing to the platform in the centre of the classroom and ordering her, "Step up here and curtsy to everyone, let the whole class see your demeanor, little madame!"

Fiona, expressionless, lifted her skirt and gave a clumsy curtsey before the onlookers.

"Just stay in that position and don''t move, my lady! That''s the only way to teach you the etiquette a lady should have!" the Mother said with a cruel smile.

Seeing Fiona subjected to such a humiliating punishment by the dreaded Mother Agatha, some girls looked at her with sympathetic eyes, while others, like Claudia, covered their mouths and giggled with schadenfreude.

Fiona remained in the curtsy position for the entire class, motionless, until her legs went from sore to stinging, and finally, numb. Yet this time, she did not shed a single tear.

When the matron finally allowed her to get down, she