Ella Enchanted - By Gail Carson Levine Page 0,58

distance, and he'd never be close enough to see my face.

* * *

I COULD neither go to the balls nor escape from them. Hattie and Mum Olga talked of nothing else. Even Olive was interested to the extent of worrying about her gown.

"Sew it with gold thread," she instructed her maid. "Shouldn't I be as fine as Hattie?"

Shouldn't I be as fine as both of them? I cooked and scrubbed and waited on them in a fury. For two weeks I wouldn't speak to Mandy. The only sounds in the kitchen came from pots and pans as I slammed them down.

Then it came to me. Why couldn't I go? Char needn't know I was there.

Everyone would be masked, at the beginning at least, although most would unmask quickly so he could admire their beauty. I never would. I'd see him, but he wouldn't see me.

Where was the harm, if he didn't recognize me? I decided to do it. I would fill my eyes with him. If I could approach him safely, I'd fill my ears. If anyone questioned me, I wouldn't be Ella; I'd invent a new name. I'd be content in his presence, nothing more.

I'd have to be careful of Hattie and Olive and Mum Olga. They probably wouldn't recognize me in a mask and an elegant gown, but I'd do well to keep away from them, especially from Hattie.

I made up with Mandy and told her my plan. She didn't comment on the risk I'd be taking, only asked, "Sweet, why go and break your heart again?"

My heart was still broken. I would see Char and it would mend. I'd leave him and it would break again. There were three balls. It would break three times.

I had grown tall enough to wear Mother's gowns. Mandy chose the best three and altered them in keeping with the current fashion, even adding a graceful train that would follow me everywhere. Small magic, she said. She also found the mask I'd worn at Father's wedding, white with tiny white beads along its edges.

In the days preceding the ball, if there were moments when Char and the balls weren't in my mind, they were when I was asleep. Awake, I'd picture myself, radiantly beautiful, mounting the palace steps. I'd be late and the whole court would be there already. An old servant would mutter, "At last, a damsel worthy of our prince." People would turn to stare, and a sigh, of envy or appreciation, would rustle through the assembly. Char would hurry to...

I wouldn't allow him to see me. The old servant might approve me, but I would slip in unnoticed by anyone else. Within, noblemen in my proximity would beg me to dance. I'd oblige them, and the steps would carry me near Char. He'd see me and wonder who I was. After the dance, he'd attempt to find me, but I'd elude him. The next time he'd see me, I'd be in the arms of another partner. I'd smile at the stranger, and Char's heart would be touched. He'd...

My thoughts were nonsense. I would see Char and be invisible to him. Perhaps I'd see him fall in love with another maiden.

At night, I searched my magic book for illustrations of Char or anything written by him. But the book fell open to pages written in Ayorthaian -- written by Areida in her diary. I read eagerly:

She wrote,

The inn has never had such important guests before. Prince Charmont and his knights stayed here last night! Mother was so nervous, she backed into the trestle table while curtsying. It went over, and Aunt Eneppe's vase smashed into a hundred pieces. Mother, Father, I, Ollo, Uflimu, Isti, and even Ettime went down on our knees, picking up shards so the prince wouldn't step on something sharp. It was so crowded on the floor, I bumped into someone's shoulder. When I turned to apologize, I was face-to-face with the prince, who was crawling about with the rest of us!

He insisted on paying for the vase. He said it never would have happened if not for him. Then he apologized for knocking into me! I couldn't answer him. No words would come. I could only nod and smile and hope I didn't seem too much of a bumpkin.

At dinner, when I brought his ale, I did manage to speak, perhaps because I truly had a question, not simply a wish to impress. I told him I'd been at finishing school when Ella ran away, and