Glass Slippers [1st Draft]

19. Striking Midnight

Chapter Nineteen:

Striking Midnight

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When the carriage finally pulled up the front steps of the palace, Clara's nerves had not calmed in any way. Her worries raced around her head in a never ending tumble and while she'd never been the sort to swoon, she felt surprisingly faint.

As soon as one of the footmen opened the door she got out and started to move up the palace steps, doing her best to ignore the throbbing of her feet inside the glass slippers. She'd forgotten to mention them again, but she was working her hardest not to pay attention to them. She would probably be wearing them the next night as well, so she best get used to keeping her complaints to herself.

Clara didn't particularly want to go through the garden again, and so as soon as she reached the grand hallway that led to the ballroom she steeled herself to make her entrance. Nodding to the silent doormen at each side of the doors, she waited for them to open them for her.

Once they opened the doors, Clara had flashbacks of the first night. Every face turned up to look at her and every single one of them seemed to recognize her as the "princess" from the previous nights. However, unlike the first night, she did not take her time inspecting the crowd or the ballroom.

Instead, she hurried down the stairs as fast as the voluminous skirts of her gown allowed her to, which admittedly, wasn't that fast. As her glass slipper covered feet reached the floor to the ballroom, she was still moderately surprised to see a handsomely dressed Gus coming towards her, the crowd parting for him like how the sea parts for ships.

She half expected him to ignore her due to their conversation the night before, but that didn't seem to be the case at all.

"May I have this dance?" He queried once he was close enough to speak a little quieter than normal speaking volume. Clara nodded, and before she knew it she was being whisked off to dance in the middle of the dance-floor with the other couples.

For the first two minutes, Clara avoided looking up at him. She wasn't embarrassed, or anything of that sort, but she couldn't help but feel relatively uncomfortable. The night before changed something between them. She was much more unsure of where she stood in his eyes. He knew now what she needed to do, but had he lost all respect for her because of it?

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about our conversation from last night," he murmured in her ear, as they were at a part in the dance where she was very close to him. Clara looked up at him sharply. "What if you didn't have to marry to save your brother?"

Clara thought carefully about how to answer, meeting his green eyes uncertainly. If she didn't have to marry to save James it would definitely be preferable.

"But I do have to marry to save him. There's nothing that can change that. After all, what self-respecting man or woman would willingly give away money to a complete stranger?"

"I'd like to think that we are not strangers, Clara," Gus said, and Clara's heart fluttered at his words. This was the first time he had called her by just her first name without a title, even if Lady certainly wasn't her title.

"I thought you were here to marry for money or a title?" Clara asked, but she only earned herself a bitter chuckle from her dance partner.

"Why don't we take a turn about the garden?" Gus asked, and Clara nodded without hesitation. Gus dipped his head, acknowledging her answer, and led her from the dance-floor. His hand still held hers as they moved towards the garden, and his fingers tightened on her own when they stepped out into the moonlight.