Cinderella dressed, her fingers shaking with excitement as she loosened her braids, pinned on her wig, and wrapped her lavender sash around her waist. A twinge of nervousness made her stomach flutter. After that night’s ball, she would be... a princess.
I need to tell Louisa—before she hears it from someone else.
A distressed Madame Irmina surveyed the long line of young women under her supervision. Cinderella hurried to her place at the end, but not before waving to Louisa, who’d made it to the roll call just in time.
“Another party,” Irmina grumbled. “Why do we even bother to take down the decorations?” She spun to face the girls. “When you have received your assignments, get to work immediately.”
One by one, the girls received their duties. When it was Cinderella’s turn, Madame Irmina crossed her arms.
“Why the smile? Are you actuallyhappythat we all have to scrub the palace floors again, or are you simpering like a fool because you think you won’t have to do your share of the cleaning?”
“N-n-no, ma’am,” Cinderella stuttered.
“Then?”
“Nothing.” Cinderella struggled to wipe the joy from her face. Failing miserably, her expression only brightened. “It’s just a beautiful day outside, isn’t it? A wonderful day for dancing.”
“All that perfumed air upstairs is addling your wits.” Irmina narrowed her eyes. “The duchess asked me to give you the morning off, but it seems you need to learn your place. Your duty isn’t only to the duchess—it’s to me, too. Report to the kitchens. The maids need help with the dishes.”
At the dismissal, Cinderella let out a great exhale, then hurried to change her uniform.
“Where were you last night?” Louisa asked, joining her by the cabinet. “I came by to pick up the gown, but you weren’t in your room.”
Cinderella swallowed. Where did she even begin? “I... I...”
Misreading her reaction, Louisa grinned. “Ah, you were with that boy from the masquerade, weren’t you? I want to hear everything about it. Everything. But first, I have news.”
“News?”
“I heard the prince has found the mystery princess,” she said, lowering her voice as the two girls shuttled from the servants’ quarters to their posts. “Everyone says he’s going to propose to her at the ball. Figured the romantic in you might enjoy that.”
Cinderella’s heart thudded in her ears. “Where did you hear that?”
“For one, the glass slipper is not in its case outside the palace anymore. And”—Louisa waved an envelope in front of her face—“this! Didn’t you get one of these?”
“No, what is that?”
“A letter from the prince himself! Everyone’s to get an increase in wages after the ball,anda holiday. The royals don’t just declare a holiday for no reason... it must be because there’s going to be a royal wedding. Oh, you must have gotten one. Check your room.”
But Cinderella was certain she hadn’t gotten one, and it was time she told her friend why. “Louisa,” she began.
She didn’t get a chance to say more. Madame Irmina called for her in her strident voice, and Louisa’s aunt inserted herself between the two girls.
“The duchess wishes to see you, Cinderella,” she said, her brows furrowed with confusion. “She asks that you not wear your palace uniform, and that you meet her in her salon at once.”
Dressed in the only clothes she owned—the shirt and skirt she had worn when she’d escaped her stepmother’s home—Cinderella approached the duchess’s chambers with trepidation. If Genevieve had given Cinderella the morning off, why would she summon her back to her room?
Well, in any case, this would be the perfect time to tell the duchess that she was the runaway girl from the ball and had accepted Prince Charles’s proposal of marriage. She gathered her courage, rehearsing the words in her head.
Once the doors opened, an overjoyed Bruno barked, racing to greet Cinderella. Forgetting her restraint, she was bending down to massage his ears when a stern voice spoke over them.
“Bruno. That’s enough.”
The dog’s ears lifted at the sound of the duchess’s voice. He looked confused, his attention vacillating from Cinderella to Genevieve as if he were trying to decide who he was supposed to obey.
“It’s all right, Bruno,” whispered Cinderella. “Go on, now.”
Hesitantly, her dog shuffled back toward the duchess.
