Heartless

Mary Ann helps Cath prepare for the ball and tells her that the local cobbler is closing his shop; it would be a perfect spot for their bakery. Mary Ann, who has a talent for thinking pragmatically, has already calculated the expenses and profits. Cath’s mother, the Marchioness, appears and quickly becomes domineering when Cath disagrees on what to wear to the ball. Cath reflects on the contradiction in her mother’s character: She is frequently warm and loving, but she is also prone to extreme mood swings and fits of temper. Cath wants to wear a simple white dress, but the Marchioness insists that Cath wear a voluminous red gown with a huge bustle and plunging neckline. When Cath complains that it’s too small, her mother berates her for eating too much and instructs Mary Ann to wind Cath’s corset tighter. Although Cath can hardly breathe, she is surprised to find that the dress enhances her beauty.

At the ball, Cath runs into her childhood friend Margaret Mearle, who is quite critical of others and has a penchant for imposing nonsensical morals on them. Cath also notices Duke Pygmalion, the Duke of Tuskany, whom Cath has always considered arrogant, watching them. The King is immediately captivated by Cath, who stands out from the black-and-white dress code thanks to the red dress her mother forced her to wear. The King asks Cath to dance with him for the first quadrille and is more and more taken with her as the dance progresses. He expresses great admiration for her baking. However, Cath is relieved when the dance is over; she considers the King a dull, simple man, a “happy king for a happy kingdom” (26). She reprimands herself for her disdain for the king, as any other girl would be glad to have that much attention from him. Suddenly all the lights in the ballroom go out.

When the lights return, the Joker, a figure clad entirely in black and wearing a jester’s hat festooned with bells at each of its three points, is hanging from the ceiling in the crook of a large hoop. Cath feels his eyes linger on her. The Joker, accompanied by a raven, descends from the ceiling and performs magic tricks to the crowd’s awe and delight, showering the crowd with small scraps of parchment stamped with red hearts before concluding his performance. Cath is captivated by the Joker and thinks that he might have winked at her before he vanished.

While talking with Mary Ann, who is working at the banquet table, Cath is approached by Peter Peter and his miniscule wife. Peter owns the local pumpkin patch and was recently granted a knighthood thanks to his wife’s victory at a pumpkin-eating contest. However, his wife now appears perpetually pale and ill; Peter insists that it’s only due to some bad pumpkin, but he treats his wife with a harshness and domineeringness that infuriates Cath. The other courtiers behave rudely toward Peter, and Peter insinuates that this attitude is common because of his lower social class; despite this, Cath notices that Peter is just as hostile in return. Cath can’t really get a read on Peter and isn’t sorry to see the couple go.

Cath learns from Cheshire that the Joker arrived in Hearts at the palace gates three days ago and was offered the job of court jester almost immediately, an exceedingly odd offer considering the Joker is a stranger to Hearts. Cath also learns that the King has chosen a bride; she realizes it’s herself as the King mounts the stage to make the announcement. Cath begs Cheshire to cause a distraction and escapes to the King’s rose garden in the ensuing chaos. There, she runs into the Joker and his raven; she glimpses a hooded figure holding a curved axe before she faints.

The Joker, whose real name is Jest, offers Cath chocolate to help her recuperate after her fainting spell; she accepts it gratefully and finds that she breathes much easier afterward. Cath also meets Raven, who speaks in rhyming couplets. Jest reminds Cath distinctively of her dream and the sense of desperation she felt therein—especially because Jest’s eyes are the same golden color as the boy’s in the dream. Jest notices Cath’s elaborate gown and asks if she’s the King’s bride-to-be, but she denies it. He escorts her back to a carriage, but first Cath makes him promise that he’ll keep their meeting secret. After Jest departs, Cath realizes that he somehow removed the laces from the back of her corset, accounting for the easier breathing she’d experienced after eating the chocolate; in spite of her outrage, she can’t help but feel impressed.

Cath returns home and learns that after she left the ball, a Jabberwock, a creature of nightmare and legend that hasn’t been seen in several thousand years, attacked the ball and carried off a couple of courtiers. Cath’s mother rebukes her sharply for deserting the ball before the King’s announcement and imperiously demands that Cath do everything in her power to get back into the King’s good graces. She dismisses Cath’s baking dreams and tells her to “dream something useful” for the tea the King has invited them to in three days’ time. Cath seeks understanding in Mary Ann, but to her surprise Mary Ann also thinks Cath should marry the King, as he will afford her economic comfort; Mary Ann doesn’t think Cath has it in her to live the pauper’s life, scraping by on uncertain earnings from their bakery. Cath is stunned and hurt by this revelation but has to ask herself if she truly could say no to the life of a queen.

Mary Ann and Cath visit the cobbler shop of the Caterpillar, hoping to persuade him to lease his building to them, but the Caterpillar tells Mary Ann and Cath that his lease is owned by Duke Pygmalion Warthog, Duke of Tuskany; they’ll have to barter with him. However, the Caterpillar assures the girls that he thinks a bakery would do well in this location; Cath jokes that to ensure her bakery’s success, she’d even hunt down the treacle well, a mythical place said to exist in the Looking Glass maze. Mary Ann and Cath visit the Duke of Tuskany, and Cath realizes that he’s not as arrogant as she previously thought; he’s just awkward and lonely. He is at first reluctant to consider them to fill Caterpillar’s lease, but he agrees to it on the condition that Cath put in a good word for him with Margaret Mearle, whom the Duke harbors deep affection for. Cath, although astounded by this request, agrees.

Cath dreads the upcoming tea party with the King but cannot help feeling excited at the prospect of seeing Jest again. She feels conflicted over the amount of time she spends fantasizing about Jest, particularly given that she should be focusing on her bakery. Cheshire appears and informs Cath that the bodies of the courtiers who were taken by the Jabberwock have been found—torn to shreds. Cath is horrified and wants to believe that the Jabberwock isn’t real, although Cheshire advises her that it’s unwise to “unbelieve” something just because she’s afraid of it. Cath feels that something must be done about the Jabberwock, but she knows that the complacent people of Hearts would rather ignore the disturbing truth than address it.

At the King’s tea party, Cath searches for Jest but is disappointed when she doesn’t see him. Cath talks with Margaret and the Duke; Cath highlights the Duke’s positive qualities in front of Margaret, but Margaret treats the Duke haughtily. Jest finally appears, to Cath’s elation; however, her excitement dissipates when Jest delivers a summons to her from the King.

Cath anxiously walks with the King, wondering if he plans to propose and if she can really say no to a marriage proposal—particularly when she considers how pleased her parents will be if she says yes. Cath worries that the King will guess her affections for Jest, whom she is unable to stop thinking about. Under the guise of giving the King advice, and feigning ignorance of his intentions toward her, Cath convinces the King that it’s much better to wait before proposing.

Jest confronts Cath about misleading him about her knowledge of the King’s intentions toward her; Jest tells Cath that he thinks the King really does care for her. This irritates Cath, who sabotages a croquet game in the King’s favor as payback against Jest. The stunned look on his face satisfies Cath.

Cath’s mother reprimands her for not securing a marriage proposal from the King and upbraids Cath for her eating habits. Cath looks for support from her father, but none is forthcoming. Her mother bemoans Cath’s lack of marriage prospects, and Cath seizes this opportunity to tell her parents about her other prospect—that of opening the bakery with Mary Ann. However, before she can do so, the Pinkertons’ butler announces an unexpected visit from the King.

Upon hearing this news, the Marchioness’s demeanor abruptly shifts; now, she praises Cath and tells her how proud she is. Cath and her family greet the King; Cath notices Jest among the King’s entourage and cannot pull her attention away from him. Cath prepares herself for the King’s proposal, working up the courage to decline it, but she realizes that she doesn’t have the willpower to reject it. However, the King announces that he merely wishes to court Cath; Cath is stunned but notices that this declaration of the King’s appears to affect Jest, although Cath is not quite sure why. Relieved to have escaped the proposal yet again, Cath accepts the King’s offer of courtship with the intention of ultimately dissuading him from marriage.