Cinderella
‘Prince Frederick was a panther.’
‘The panther was Prince Frederick.’
‘Frederick is the prince?’
‘The Frederick I danced with is the prince?’
Elaine pictured his lopsided smile. It had been so easy to talk with him. She always imagined that royalty would be stiffer and more formal. Could the man she danced with really be the prince. Surely a prince wouldn’t be interested in her. ‘A prince is just a man’ whispered a tiny part of her brain, but the rest was too tired and overwhelmed to take it in. Her last thought as sleep claimed her was that she would ask Lady Katherine about him tomorrow.
Sadly, she did not get the chance.
Mary sent someone else to the market so Elaine could sleep as long as possible before Lady Honoria called for her. And once that happened, she was kept busy until long after nightfall. The beautiful costumes had to be carefully cleaned and stored. They had to be repacked several times before Honoria was satisfied that the petals of hers and the wings of Beatrice’s would not be crushed.
And the main parlor had to be scrubbed thoroughly in preparation of the new, high ranking visitors Honoria was sure to receive after rubbing elbows with them at the ball.
Oh yes, this promised to be a very important social season for Lady Honoria. If all went as well as it seemed to be, she would certainly be entertaining royalty by springtime. Prince Frederick had seen how charming and beautiful her daughters were at the ball. He even danced with each of them. “I wonder which one he prefers.”
That night, while helping Mary wash the dishes, Elaine made Mary promise not to let her oversleep. She really wanted to see Lady Katherine.
“Oh, I forgot!” Mary exclaimed and drew a note from her apron pocket. “Her maid brought this for you this morning.”
Elaine looked at it and said “It’s an invitation to tea a week from Tuesday.”
‘The panther was Prince Frederick.’
‘Frederick is the prince?’
‘The Frederick I danced with is the prince?’
Elaine pictured his lopsided smile. It had been so easy to talk with him. She always imagined that royalty would be stiffer and more formal. Could the man she danced with really be the prince. Surely a prince wouldn’t be interested in her. ‘A prince is just a man’ whispered a tiny part of her brain, but the rest was too tired and overwhelmed to take it in. Her last thought as sleep claimed her was that she would ask Lady Katherine about him tomorrow.
Sadly, she did not get the chance.
Mary sent someone else to the market so Elaine could sleep as long as possible before Lady Honoria called for her. And once that happened, she was kept busy until long after nightfall. The beautiful costumes had to be carefully cleaned and stored. They had to be repacked several times before Honoria was satisfied that the petals of hers and the wings of Beatrice’s would not be crushed.
And the main parlor had to be scrubbed thoroughly in preparation of the new, high ranking visitors Honoria was sure to receive after rubbing elbows with them at the ball.
Oh yes, this promised to be a very important social season for Lady Honoria. If all went as well as it seemed to be, she would certainly be entertaining royalty by springtime. Prince Frederick had seen how charming and beautiful her daughters were at the ball. He even danced with each of them. “I wonder which one he prefers.”
That night, while helping Mary wash the dishes, Elaine made Mary promise not to let her oversleep. She really wanted to see Lady Katherine.
“Oh, I forgot!” Mary exclaimed and drew a note from her apron pocket. “Her maid brought this for you this morning.”
Elaine looked at it and said “It’s an invitation to tea a week from Tuesday.”