𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒗

Chapter 49 - One Man That Changed Everything

The new year had come and Anatolii was out of bed. His sisters were overjoyed to see him playing along with the rest of the household.

January 12th, 1929

It was a cloudy January afternoon. Maria had just recovered from a case of the measles she had gotten over Christmas. Her hair has been shaved and it was now short enough to fashion into pin curls. It was near evening and she sat in her window seat in her room, about to sew a hole in one of Elena's coats.

She was interrupted when Anastasia sprinted through the door. She tried to jump onto Maria's bed but missed, hitting the floor with a thud.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Anastasia roared. Maria knew she wasn't hurt because she was laughing.

"Are you alright, Nastasia?" Maria laughed as she set down the coat.

"Yes. I have a surprise for you!" Anastasia squealed as she flopped onto the bed, not missing this time.

"Oh no..." Maria became worried. She wondered if the surprise was good or bad. Coming from Anastasia you could never tell.

"It's a good surprise, Mashka." Anastasia reassured. "We're going to London tomorrow night!"

Maria's mouth hung open. Anastasia didn't know if she was happy or mad.

"London!?" Maria questioned. "Why?"

"To go see Anna Pavlova perform in Swan Lake! Do you want to go? I thought it would be a fun night for both of us. We haven't been able to spend time together." Anastasia asked, her voice small.

"Yes, Nastasia! Of course I'll go!"

-

The next day at five, the sisters were off. Maria was hesitant about leaving her children, but she knew they would be in good care with Liesel. At least this time she hoped she was more careful. The sisters wore their best silk dresses for the ballet. Maria laid her head onto Anastasia's shoulder as the car drove to London.

"Thank you, Shvibzik," Maria sighed. "It's so nice being outside of the house's gates. I haven't gone anywhere in forever."

"Your welcome, Mashka. It does feel good to be going somewhere fancy. Although I don't like most fancy things, I do like dressing up for the ballet."Anastasia grinned.

After two hours of driving, the car finally descended into London.

"Wow!" Anastasia gasped as she looked out at the old city.

It was much older and populated than St. Petersburg. The girls had never seen so many people in one city.

Around seven-thirty, the car arrived at the opera house. The girls were eager to get inside.

After handing their opera tickets to a worker, the girls traveled to their box on the second floor. They were closer to the stage than they were in Paris but it was still hard to see everything. The theatre was almost the same design as the Paris Garnier. The only difference is that this opera house was painted with dark, airy colors while Paris was painted with bold bright colors.

Maria and Anastasia settled in their box, eating chocolates left for them when they were unaware that a group of people was watching them. A group of attendants, mostly young boys and men, stood in an empty box across from their side of the theatre.

"Aren't they pretty!" one boy named Daniel around the age of twenty-five remarked.

"They sure are!" a boy named Wilbur said as he spotted Anastasia.

"What do you think?" Daniel asked as a man named Marcell stepped into the box.

"Well, what is it that I'm looking at?" Marcell laughed, his voice coated with a French accent. He was raised in France but knew English fluently.