Once Upon a Romance 01 - Before the Midnight Bells (27 page)

Dame Merriweather stroked Ella’s hair in silence. As tears rolled down her face Ella let the words spill out.

“
I plan to be sensible and practical, but when I’m around him I act like a… like a…”

“
Like a woman in love?” Her Godmother suggested gently.

“
Like an idiot in love, perhaps. I don’t even know who he
is
, and on top of that there are things he isn’t telling me. To be fair, he has
tried
, but we always get distracted.” Ella heard a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh coming from above her head. “It isn’t funny. For all I know he could be married with three children.”

“
I assure you, he is not.”

Ella shot up off the Dame’s lap.

“
You know who he is.” It wasn’t a question.

“
Perhaps.”

“
Well?”

“
Well, what, darling?”

“
Well, who is he? Tell me!”

“
I think not.” Dame Merriweather spoke crisply. “That is his responsibility. You may ask him yourself at the ball tonight.”

“
But, Godmother, I’m not going to the ball.”

“
Why ever not?”

Ella explained her costume-less state.

“
Well, this will simply not do. You
must
go to the ball tonight. What about wearing something of your mother’s?”

Ella stared at her Godmother. “I only own her old mirror
;
Father didn’t keep any of her clothing.”

“
Pish posh, my dear. I think, if you’ll look in the chest at the foot of your bed, you’ll find you are quite wrong.”

“
That chest has all my old childhood toys in it, Godmother. I think I’d know if there was a ballgown hidden away among them.”

“
Nonsense, darling. Now run along and look.”

Ella looked skeptically at the Dame, but she obediently rose and made her way downstairs. The closer she got to her room the faster she moved. Was it possible? Had she missed something all along? In her room she pulled open the old chest and hastily threw the toys on her floor, but there was no dress. She should have known better. For just a moment she let her frustration get the better of her, and slammed her hand down onto the bottom of the empty trunk.

It let out an oddly hollow thunk. Ella tilted her head to listen, and rapped with her knuckles; sure enough, it resonated. She examined it closely, and found a knothole in one corner, just big enough to hook with her finger. After a few moments of tugging, the bottom of the trunk came loose, and Ella lifted it off and gasped.

There, beneath the false bottom of the trunk, lay a ball gown.

***

Dame Merriweather made a passable hairdresser, as it turned out. She did something graceful and intricate with Ella’s hair, while Ella herself sat at her vanity and applied cosmetics with a light hand. A trace of scented powder went around her shoulders, and then her Godmother helped her into the gown.

Ella’s dress was layer upon layer of sheer ice blue silk. The huge bell of the skirt rose up to a tightly fitted bodice, flaunting a low scooped neck and tiny puffed sleeves. Under the skirt she wore beautiful pearl-beaded si
lk
slippers
that shone like glass and had toweringly
high heels. Pale satin gloves covered her arms past the elbow, and Dame Merriweather had threaded an ice blue ribbon through her up-swept hair. Another wide blue ribbon circled her throat like a choker. The Dame cupped Ella’s chin in her hand and smiled fondly at her.

“
Oh my dear, you look so much like your lovely mother.”

Ella had to agree. In the hallway, outside her room, hung a portrait done of her mother on her wedding day. This dress was the wedding outfit worn in the portrait, right down to the silver slippers.

“
Godmother, why didn’t you tell me you knew who Max was?”

“
I told you, dear, it wasn’t my place.”

“
But..”

“
No buts, Ella.” The Dame spoke firmly. “No matter how much I love you, there are things in which I cannot and will not interfere.”

“
I don’t understand.”

“
No, dear, I imagine you don’t. But that hardly matters, does it? What matters now is that you are ready to go to the ball. Outside the front door is my carriage, which will take you there. And once you are there you can go find your charming young man and ask him yourself.”

“
Alright then, I will.” Ella suddenly felt nervous. “I’m not sure I know what to say.”

“
May I give you a piece of advice?”

“
Of course.”

“
When the time comes, dear, just listen.”

Max was lurking in the small deserted room where he and Ella had first met. He planned to whisk her away as soon as her party arrived. He was going to find a quiet, out-of-the way place and finally tell her every detail of this awful mess.

Maybe he’d dance with her first.

No. No dancing. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be distracted this time.

He might kiss her, though. Just once.

No! No kissing. That would be more distracting than the dancing. Kissing her would lead to other, more intimate activities, and they had to talk. Just talk.

If he didn’t kiss her, though, it was going to be all he could think about. He’d never be able to focus on the conversation. So maybe he
should
kiss her. Just once.

The Embertons were finally announced, bringing a temporary halt to Max’s indecision. For the moment, all that mattered was that he would see her again. He dashed towards the grand staircase; sped along by a combination of nerves and anticipation. When at last he could see the family on the stairs he came to a crashing halt.

One plump fairy queen, on the arm of a burly tattooed king.

One rail thin fairy lass, gazing blissfully into the eyes of
an adoring Puck
.

One extra buxom fairy, being swarmed by at least a dozen young men.

But no Ella.

Max stood, dumbfounded, at the foot of the stairs. Where was she? He needed to see her. He needed to explain himself. After tonight he would have no reason to explain a visit to a seamstress. It would take months before he could safely call on her in her home. And given Dame Merriweather’s very pointed warning, Max knew he couldn’t risk slipping into her attic again. He had to talk to her
tonight
.

How could she not be here?

Millicent was sweeping down the staircase, followed by her whole party. On the last step she paused, and cast a suspicious look at Max.

“
She won’t be attending. That is, assuming you care.” Millicent clearly had not forgotten that he had never properly introduced himself, and it just as clearly did not sit well with her. As Max gaped at her, speechless, the fairy court gamboled off to take their places on the dance floor.

Max took a few steps and then slumped in the shadow of the grand staircase. A steady stream of the kingdom’s citizens flowed by above his head, laughing and chattering in their excitement, but Max ignored them.

She wasn’t coming. He had lost his chance.

***

Ella found that it was impossible to reach the courtyard in the coach. For the third and final ball people from all over the kingdom had traveled great distances to attend, and the palace was overflowing. Squires and pages were turning carriages away at the great stone archway, because the courtyard itself had become much like a grand outdoor greeting room, so Ella slipped from the carriage and finished the journey on foot. She was wending her way through the crowd, looking for a glimpse of her family, when she suddenly heard her name being called.

“
Eleanor!”

She turned in the direction of the sound, and smiled. There, standing in a circle of admirers, was Mrs. Minglesall.

The velvet bustier had caused Ella a great deal of trouble, but she was more than pleased with the results. The gold embroidery had made her think of the constellations, and when she suggested to Mrs. Minglesall that her costume be the Queen of the Cosmos, the older woman was enthusiastic.

“
Such a clever idea! A brilliant thought! What a wonderful concept! I shall be entirely original—oh, how delightful!”

Ella had made a giant silk hooped skirt of a darker blue than the bustier. Then she had painstakingly reproduced a series of constellations in miniature gold beading. The skirt looked like a giant dome of the night sky. She had artfully draped it with silk illusion of midnight blue, and the thin netting over the dome of the skirt suggest
ed
sparse clouds through which the “stars” twinkled. A shrug of pale blue illusion backed with midnight velvet covered Mrs. Minglesall’s shoulders—and some of the more garish fake sapphires. She wore a large crescent moon on a thin chain about her neck, and a headdress of thin golden wires on which were strung many beaded stars.

“
Come here, dear, come right over here, come right next to me.” Mrs. Minglesall beckoned her over. “This is the young woman I’ve been telling you about; the one who made my costume.” Cries of appreciation came from the onlookers, and two actually applauded. Ella gave a small curtsy.

“
Thank you, so much.” Several people asked if she would be willing to take commissions on their behalf, and Ella gratefully agreed. After a few moments, however, she excused herself. “If you will all come by my shop we can discuss this in greater detail. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really must find my stepmother.” She smiled, and received a number of answering smiles in return; then began threading her way towards the entrance once more.

When Ella finally walked into the great ballroom at the palace she paused to collect herself. Managing the train on her skirt and the preposterous high heels had been difficult enough on flat ground, but now she had to make it down the grand staircase, and she was a bit worried she’d trip and fall. She’d loved the outfit as soon as she laid eyes on it, but now that she was wearing the thing she was having second thoughts. Wryly she wondered if marriage might not be the same—more enjoyable when it was only hypothetical. After all, if you’re only a seamstress you can always wear comfortable shoes, metaphorically speaking, of course.

“
Miss Eleanor Emberton.”

She heard herself announced, and then saw Max practically leap from the shadows beside the stairs. He was looking at her as though she were the answer to every dream he’d ever had, and suddenly she was gliding towards him, handling shoes and train with effortless ease.