As glad as she was to give Michel the book, it was only because she had no real purpose for it herself, and it was the only reason she wasn't too bitter about receiving such a raw deal on that occasion alone. Most of it was far too advanced for her, or written for instruments she didn't even know how to play. And she seemed to like giving him things, even when she didn't have much of her own. Even if he was never particularly nice to her, there was a lot he did for her that she never wanted to take for granted, and maybe part of her wanted to prove that she wasn't selfish and entitled. She wanted to be different than everybody else he hated.
"I never allowed them to put me in a wig or add pieces to my hair, so I managed better than others, and they may have sneered at me for it but at least I never found rats nesting in my hair the next morning. As if that isn't awful enough, the queen once wore an entire birdcage in her hair. With a live bird," Mabelle made a slightly disgusted face, nose wrinkling. "But whatever she wore, we were all expected to, as ridiculous and tacky as her tastes were," and she most definitely agreed with Michel's opinion. The entire ordeal had turned her off fashion almost completely, but she much preferred the dress that he had bought for her over anything more expensive and gaudy. And even though the dress was now quite filthy, it wasn't too bad that a good scrub couldn't fix.
"Getting dressed took the better half of the day, and my clothing weighed more than I did," it might have been an exaggeration, but not too far from the truth. "And by the time I was finally done being squeezed and laced into things, I had to pee something awful. I never understood how they were all having so much sex all the damn time, because when I finally got undressed again I just wanted to sleep. Or soak in a hot bath for a very, very long time," and then she frowned, glancing back down at the washpan. "Well, obviously it wasn't all bad." The ranting did make her feel better, though.
Amused at picturing a young Michel with a bowl over his head, she giggled. "At least you aren't subjected to bowl cuts anymore. I didn't really mind getting my hair done, the process at least. Results were awful and it took hours, but sometimes it was the only time I could find to read."