Glass Slippers [1st Draft]

12. A Solution

Chapter Twelve:

The Solution

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"That's a terrible idea."

"It might work."

"It might not."

"Harriet, I don't think there is another option!" Clara retorted. She had told Harriet of her plan a little over three hours ago, and Harriet was still expressing her doubts. Apparently, there were many of them.

"Right, of course. Sorry if I don't want my older sister forcing herself into a loveless marriage for money," Harriet snapped.

"We need money to pay for a doctor!"

"Yes, but if you were thinking of selling yourself off to a rich man, why don't you just become a lady of the night, hmm? At least then you'd still have your freedom." Harriet's words were punctuated by the slamming of the attic door.

"Harriet!" Clara called after her sister, but she got no answer in return. Clara heaved a sigh, rocking back on the heels of her feet. She had been running around all day, trying to help her step-sisters get ready for the ball, as well as trying to find something to wear herself.

Her first thought had been to use one of the dresses from her mother's chest, but upon opening it she realized just how much work would have to be done to get them into shape before the next day. Despite all of Clara's efforts, the mice, the dust, and a few pesky spiders had gotten to the chest.

The blue and the lavender gowns were covered in spider webs as well as their creators. Needless to say, this caused Clara to shriek rather loudly when she picked up the blue gown to see a giant spider. However, it only made her heart hurt more when she realized that if James had been with her, he would have insisted on saving the spiders. Instead, he was down in the kitchen, still tossing and turning in a feverish slumber.

The gold and silver gowns were not in much better shape. The mice seemed to of had a field day with the beading and the lace on both gowns, and Clara was more than thankful that there weren't any of the rodents hiding in the dress folds.

Staring down at her only dress options, she tried to not let her heart sink. Her idea would never work if the gowns weren't in good shape. Her plan was a tricky one, and she felt like she was betraying her own heart and common sense just thinking of it.

Her idea was the same idea every single girl in the kingdom had. However, behind her idea was a sense of urgency that she doubted everyone else had. Her solution was that she was to dress up, go to the four balls, and convince a wealthy man to fall in love with her so that way she could pay for a doctor for James.

There was only one problem. Clara didn't have the slightest clue how to talk to men, let alone get one of them to fall for her. Sure, she had heard all of Linette's "lessons" over the years on the ways of men and what they supposedly liked, but she didn't even understand half of them.

According to Linette, men liked small waisted, ample-bosomed, full-lipped, large-eyed, child-sized footed, slender-legged, tall women who did everything they were told, only talked to when they were spoken to, and didn't have a mind of their own. Clara didn't think she even fitted any of those criteria, except maybe the small waist.

Clara didn't have an "ample bosom", nor was she spectacularly tall. She was just kind of average. She definitely didn't do everything she was told, she always spoke even when she wasn't supposed to, and she had a mind of her own.

She decided if only for her own peace of mind, to forget the majority of Linette's lessons in how to ensnare a man. It didn't seem possible that any woman could actually have all of those qualities, and if they did, they were sure to be incredibly unstable, at least balance wise.