The Royal Entanglement - Not A Fairytale

CH 6: THE MASQUERADE

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It was the night of the hunting trip. All the Lords and Ladies returned back to the castle. To mark the first day of that year’s social season, there was a masquerade.
Mary for the first time in her life, wanted to look her best. She entered the ballroom in her magnificent deep blue gown, fashioned with silver embroidery. She wore crystal jewellery and a silver mask adorned with white feathers covering her face and white lace gloves.
                       
As soon as she entered, she ran into Laura. Laura was wearing a blood red velvet gown, with gold threading. She wore gold jewellery and a gold mask with black feathers and black elbow gloves.
                           
“Looking magnificent sister”, told Laura as smiled at Mary .
“Not more than you “, said Mary complimenting Laura.
Mary eyes searched for that one person she was hoping would notice her. It was quite difficult to identify the faces with the masks, but Mary knew in her heart that she would instantly recognize the one she was looking for.
As her eyes wandered across the ballroom, a sudden voice startled her.
“Looking for someone?”
“Good Lord, you scared me”, said Mary recognizing the voice.
She turned around to find Henry. Her eyes glistened with delight as she looked at him.
He wore a dark maroon vest topped with black velvet coat and black trousers with a gold and black mask which almost covered  his entire face .
“Is there something on my face, that’s making you stare at me like a hawk”, said Henry which snapped Mary out.
“ No-Nothing. You look magnificent Lord Henry”, told Mary.
“I wish to listen to something I do not know yet “, told Henry sarcastically.  
After sometime, the vampire waltz began playing. All the men and women formed a line, facing each other. The men bowed before the women who extended their hands out. The men kissed the back of the womens’ palm before the dance began. All the pairs formed a circle and continued waltzing as more people kept joining the dance.
Mary waited anxiously hoping Henry would ask her for a dance. She broke the silence by saying,
” I would be a shame to know that Lord Henry does not know how to dance”
“I beg your pardon, there is no skill that I have not yet mastered“ ,said Lord Henry.
“Prove it “, told Mary as her eyes shined with mischief.
Mary hoped that this would make him ask her for a dance.
“How do I prove it?”, said Lord Henry raising an eyebrow and a smirk. Mary could feel the butterflies in her stomach
“Dance with me”, she said.
Henry smirked as if he had accepted the challenge. They both joined the waltz with the other dancing pairs.
Although Henry looked careless, to Mary’s surprise he danced gracefully, without missing a step.
After they finished the waltz, Mary and Henry headed back towards the crowd.
“I think I proved myself”, told Lord Henry.
“Yes you did “, told Mary as she tried to hide the excitement in her voice.
“There you two are”, said Laura and Philip as they approached them.
“The first masquerade of the social season has been a success”, said Philip.
“Of course!!”, said Mary agreeing with Philip for the first time.
“We need to raise a toast to celebrate this”, said Laura.
The four of them raised a toast to celebrate the end of the first day of the social season.