Song: from Cinderella - So This Is Love

The Young Milords - The Ball

Placing you in time

            Well, before I tell you this part of the story, maybe I should situate you in it. The time and place are the XVIII century, France. Alexia is a nice, simple and naïve young lady, daughter of a cruel earl, who lived in a farm very distant from the palace of Verlaines. She is the king's godchild. She is also a great and intimate friend of Ivanna, the princess. Alexia has long, black hair, green eyes and a pale and fragile complexion. She is 16. Emilie is Alexia's private maid. Duckie is Alexia’s female dog.

One day, Alexia goes to the market with Emilie and, there, she catches a glimpse of Jean-Marcus-Phillipe de Lanpré (played by Oded Fehr, of course, with dark hair, whiskers and beard). Marcus is the captain of the king's royal guard, he is 25. Both got immediately interested in each other. But they didn't talk. Some time later, Alexia is invited to a ball at the palace; it was the princess birthday. When she arrived, Marcus was waiting for her at the carriage. She got so nervous to see him that she fell from the carriage (while stepping out) and sprained her foot. Marcus immediately took her into his arms and headed with her to the palace. She was very grateful to him. After that day, she didn't see him anymore in the palace.

Alexia got many warnings from the princess Ivanna and from the maid Emilie that she should be alert all the time, since all the men in court were dangerous. Marcus had a bad reputation regarding women, due to the constant company of his great friend Louis, the princess’ official guardian, who really was the one with a bad reputation among women (‘tell me who you walk with and I will tell you who you are’). Alexia was really concerned and in doubt about Marcus’ character. By that time, she didn’t know that Marcus was such a romantic and tender guy.

So, the night of the great ball arrives... This is the excerpt I chose to translate to you, ladies, it's one of my favorites, I hope you like it!

The Young Milords - an excerpt

The ball began precisely at eight o'clock, with the first chords of the orchestra. All the guests headed to the main ballrooms, rustling their dresses and swords. In a strong spate of colors, there could be seen confetti and paper coils, the typical turmoil of a carnival feast. Alexia's eyes were shining. She felt sufficiently safe in her golden costume, the “sun”, as Ivanna called it, she could see everything through her mask and nobody could see where she was looking at. Thus, she tried to find Marcus. Would he be in a costume too? The palace guards were not, Louis was also not, then, he wouldn't be either. She thought she would soon catch sight of him and then she could look at him at ease, without him noticing her.

            But a long time passed and she didn't see him anywhere. She decided to stay close to the king, but Marcus wasn't there either. Two huge and ugly guards stayed by the king all night.

            Ivanna walked around the ballroom nimbly. Louis didn't take his eyes off of the two girls. Although it was decided it would be a masquerade, Ivanna constantly raised her own mask, revealing who she was, and so did the other guests, in the midst of laughs and jokes.

            At a certain point of the ball, Alexia was not feeling comfortable anymore. Her foot was aching a little bit. Although many gentlemen admired her in her beautiful golden dress, none tried to approach her, since the presence of Louis and of the king (to whom she decided to stay close all the time) intimidated even the most bold ones. At a certain moment, Ivanna came to her and pulled her to the middle of the ballroom.

            “Come on, sweetie, I want to introduce you to some friends!”

            Louis, always alert, stayed just some steps away from the two ladies, but he tried to let them at ease. Ivanna introduced Alexia to many gentlemen, and she danced with some of them. Still, she was not feeling comfortable. Everyone wished that she raised her mask and revealed her face, what she did fast, leaving some gentlemen dazzled, but also very frustrated. She barely spoke and, even the most excited and talkative men were soon discouraged to try to entertain the young lady. As expected, due to her spirited nature, soon Ivanna got tired to take care of Alexia and went back to the middle of the ballroom, leaving Alexia alone, being watched by her father and by Louis.

            Alexia was seriously considering asking the king's permission to go back to her room. Maybe she would not come back to the ballroom at all! She knew, however, that she couldn't outrage Ivanna like that. She had to find a way to have fun, even obliged, until the end of the party. After all, she was so beautiful in her costume, it would be a pity to waste that. And she still hoped to catch a glimpse of Marcus somewhere.

            At a certain moment, she noticed that Louis stepped aside a little bit, leaving her alone. The old king looked tired, he was drowsy, he opened and closed his mouth all the time. He didn't have much fun in those balls, but he insisted to be present to keep an eye on Ivanna.

            “Wouldn't the sun wish to light up the terrace outside? There are many lights out there, but certainly none of them will be capable of illuminating the garden more than your presence...”

            The strong voice coming from over her shoulders startled her. She looked back and saw a tall gentleman, dressed in a black costume. He was wearing a mantel, a hood and a mask, also black, and the mask covered his whole face. Over the mask, there were two small teardrops that seemed to be falling from his eyes. The costume was really sober and mysterious, which called Alexia's attention immediately.

            “Thank you for the compliment, sir, but I prefer not to be absent from the ballroom.”

            “So would you give me the pleasure of this dance?”

            Alexia had already refused some dances, since her foot was really painful. But she had to pass the time. Then, she accepted it. She hoped that the mysterious gentleman would not ask her to raise her mask, because she definitely was not in the mood to do so.

            They danced for a couple of minutes, until Alexia felt her foot too painful. Politely, she tried to dismiss the gentleman.

            “I'm sorry, sir, but I'm a little bit tired. Could you excuse me?”

            “Then allow me, milady, to bring you a drink and be your company. We could go to the terrace and breathe some fresh air”, he insisted.

            Alexia got very upset. That man wanted to stay alone with her, he would certainly try to flirt with her and would probably ask her to show her face. She didn't know what to do. Ivanna gave her many advices, but she forgot to teach her the main thing: how to get rid of undesirable gentlemen.

            After hesitating for a few seconds, that seemed eternal to the gentleman, Alexia agreed to wait for him at the terrace. She knew that Louis was watching over her and that he would be nearby. A wave would be enough, and she would be free from the inopportune presence.

            So Alexia headed to the terrace. She was sure Louis was right behind her. When she arrived at the doors that leaded to the terrace, she noticed, to her astonishment, that Louis was not behind her. She couldn't see him anywhere! It looked like he had vanished.

            The ballroom was really big and there were hundreds of guests. Alexia considered running to the other side, where her godfather was, certainly Louis had lost sight of her. Again, she entered the ballroom, but, to her anguish, she fell in with the masked gentleman right before her, with two glasses of drinks in his hands.

            “Please, milady, allow me.”

            Giving his arm to Alexia, he conducted her to the terrace. Alexia felt like screaming! What if he tried to grab her, what would she do? The terrace was not dark, quite the contrary, there were torches everywhere. And many pairs of guests, talking, dating and, at the darkest corners, doing God knows what.

            The mysterious gentleman offered one of the glasses to Alexia, who, almost in one draught, drank it all, so nervous she was. The gentlemen noticed her agitation and, solicitous, tried to talk to calm her down.

            “The ball is really cheerful, don't you think so?”, he asked, leaving away the formal tone of the conversation.

            “Yes, it is true”, she answered, visibly nervous.

            “I noticed you as soon as I arrived. Your costume is really impressive, it obscures all the others.”

            Alexia was already getting annoyed. There came the gallantry! She didn't want to hear those things. She only wanted to talk; having to thank all the times she was complimented was really stressful. She knew it would be really rude what she was about to do, but she thought that, doing that, she would feel safer. She decided to scare him a little bit to keep him far from her.

            “Milord, before you bother thinking about more gallantry and, maybe, in courting me or bothering me with waggery, I would like you to know that, as a guest in this palace and as an intimate friend of Your Highness, Princess Ivanna, my steps are being closely followed by the real guard, most precisely by the captain Marcus de Lanpré.”

            When he heard the name of the captain, the gentleman became startled.

            “You said... captain... Marcus de Lanpré?”

            “Precisely, gentleman. You surely know him, don't you?”

“Yes... I know him”, answered the gentleman, hesitantly.

“Well then, Captain de Lanpré is my official guardian. We can talk, only, but I ask you not to dare anything more audacious, since the captain can appear anytime and you can be asked to leave the ball.”

            The man in black got stupefied. And then? What would he do? Would it be better to excuse himself and leave the lady alone?

            For some time, both stayed quiet. Alexia was exultant, she knew she had alarmed the man and that now he would not try anything. Behind the mask, she was laughing at the young man's embarrassment. She was waiting for the moment he would excuse himself and run away. It would be the funniest thing to happen, something really great to tell Emilie.

            After moments that seemed hours, the gentleman in black addressed Alexia:

“Milady, it would be too flighty from my side if we continued talking after what you said. Thus, if you allow me, I will introduce myself and, after that, if you wish, I will go away.”

When he said that, he raised his mask, revealing to be nobody less than captain Marcus himself.

Alexia got so red that her mask almost got burned. She coughed, choked, trembled and finally accepted to drink some of the refreshment Marcus was offering her, since she had already drank all her own.

“I'm terribly sorry, milady, it was not of my intention to embarrass you. But, since you said it was captain Marcus, I mean, myself, what by the way pleases me a lot, the responsible for your safety, I could not let you think that I was deceiving you, since you judge to be safe with his protection, I mean, with my protection...”

Marcus tried to apologize, but he got more and more tangled by his own words. Alexia was shaking, she couldn't say anything, she was dying of shame! She had simply declared to feel safe with the captain's protection to nobody less than... himself! What a confusion! Her first ball and her dream to meet him had been a total blunder.

Like all women do when they are cornered, after recomposing a little bit, Alexia attacked.

“I was told so, noble captain, that the gentlemen in this court are very flattering. I heard a lot about you too! Thus, I'm not at all admired to see you, sir, behind this mask of a mysterious gentleman!”

Marcus didn't understand anything. What was she saying? He hadn't done anything, he had only been honest to her.

“I'm sorry, milady, I apologize once again. It's not my intention to be flattering, but I need to defend myself and tell you that what people say about me is not the truth. All I wanted most was to come to this ball to see you!”

Alexia was perplexed.

“Why, captain, you still insist saying you are not flattering? You don't even know me, we barely talked, and you want to convince me that you came here only to see me?”

Alexia was convinced that the mask, the golden wig and the costume totally protected her identity. She needed to manage that Marcus left the ball before the time everybody was requested to take their masks off, or she would have to get out off there running herself, or he wouldn't discover who she was. If he did, she would be lost, since, when she told the lie that he was responsible for her personal safety, she practically had confessed her interest for him.

“But this is the most clear truth, milady, it was really hard to come to this ball without being noticed, I only did it because I hoped to see you, even if it were for a single moment.”

“But you don't even know who I am beneath this costume! You surely say these things to all ladies, I'm sorry, but your gallantry is too bad, it won't convince me in a thousand years!”, said Alexia, madly.

“I'm sorry again, milady, but I know exactly who you are. I would know how to find you in a crowd.

Emilie warned her so much, he was used to a life with many women. How treacherous he was! He only wanted that she opened her defenses and revealed her identity to him, but that she would never do!

“You are bluffing, gentleman. Now, if you do allow me, I'll go back to the ballroom, since my absence has surely already been noticed.”

Alexia did a gracious reverence but, as she turned her back to him, she could still hear Marcus saying:

“I hope your foot is better now, milady.”

Alexia stopped, petrified. That would be the perfect time to run away. However, Marcus took her delicately by her arm and asked, with the sadest voice in the world:

“Please, milady, allow me to talk to you for just a while. After that, if it's your wish, I won't bother you anymore.”

His tone melted her. Her mind was whirling, many things were disturbing her, she could hear Ivanna's and Emilie's voices warning her: “Be careful, Alexia, you are too innocent, take care with the 'wolves' that live in the court”. But it was late, too late.

Alexia faced Marcus and looked deep into his eyes. She could not see any shadow of malice on those beautiful, big brown eyes. She could only see kindness, tenderness, they looked like the eyes of Duckie's puppets when they wanted to be caressed.

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