Once upon a time I used to have it all. Status, money and love, I lived in London with my husband the Conde of Dyer and my two beautiful daughters: Charlotte and Francesca. We were happy, until a tragedy happened. My husband, the love of my life, the person who knew me better than anyone else since we were children, died of smallpox. Having no sons, the title was inherited by my late husband's second cousin, who mercilessly stripped us of our home with no money to survive. With the jewelry I had taken before leaving, I sold it and with it I could pay for a small room for a few days for me and my girls. It was all so unfair, I had struggled since I was a child, always to be the most beautiful among all in the marriage market and I achieved more than that, not only had I positioned myself among high society, I had married for love, something that many hadn't had such a luxury, now it was all gone and I hated it. The gossip of what happened didn't take long to spread among the high society, the people I thought to be close with, turned their backs on us, without hesitating when I asked for their help. We were the buffoon, the great shame, the pity of the upper class. My hatred grew each day and the income to support my girls was depleting. I needed a solution.
It came just at the right time when Mr. Fère, a merchant, came to London on a business trip, he knew my husband briefly, having heard of his death. He visited us to express his condolences. He knew what it was like to lose the person you love, years ago he had lost his wife as well, leaving him alone with a young girl named Ella. The days that Mr. Fère stayed in London we became very close. On his last night, he asked me to marry him. I had no knowledge of why he did it, but what I did know was that Mr. Fère didn't have the wealth that my ex-husband had, but he had enough to live comfortably. That was my chance to put my daughters back into high society in a new country, where no one knew us. I accepted his marriage proposal and we traveled to France, where we got married. When I met Ella I saw how beautiful she was and how kind she was, I knew that when the time came she would have a long list of suitors, overshadowing my girls, something that was unacceptable. I could not stand her, I took advantage of her great kindness and patience to give up her fine room to my girls and she slept in the garret, upon a wretched straw bed When my husband was at home, I pretended to show motherly affection towards her, but as he was constantly on business trips, he was rarely seen in the house. One time my husband didn't return. All that they told us was he passed away. I felt sorry for his death, I had been very fond of him.
After I went through loss with my first husband, I didn't want to go through it again. I told my girls they will not go through it again. To save money I fired the staff and gave Ella the most miserable job in the house; she had to scour the dishes, tables, etc., and to scrub the floors and clean out the bedrooms. It was my chance to dull her beauty and make her go unnoticed by future suitors for my daughters. When Ella finished her work, she would go to the chimney corner and sit among the ashes, so my daughters and I called her Cinderwench. Until my youngest daughter Francesca came up with the better name Cinderella. My oldest daughter Charlotte and I loved the new name. One day the prince gave the announcement that a ball was to be given, and invited all the higher class people. We were also invited, because we had a great presence among the higher class. We were delighted by the invitation, this was the opportunity to get suitors for my girls. I had dresses, petticoats and headdresses made by the best dressmaker in town. I wanted clothes that would best suit them and hide their imperfections of my daughters. After all a man always looks for beauty first, a woman can have the best education but without beauty, we are nothing in the eyes of men.
The big day arrived and we left to the court where the big ball would take place, it was Cinderella's wise decision not to attend, my girls said that she would be the buffoon of the ball but I knew that in reality it would be difficult for a man to take his eyes off her because of her great beauty, I couldn't allow such a thing, this was Charlotte and Francesca's chance to get a husband, hopefully one of them would catch the prince's attention and Cinderella was not going to ruin it. We were in the great hall, I was meeting people of high society , looking for possible suitors. The prince had not yet made his entrance, but the king and queen were in place, so I waited for the right moment and approached them, bowed and then said: "Your Highnesses, I am Lady Dyer and these are my daughters: Charlotte and Francesca". My daughters bowed and said at the same time:-. "Your Highnesses." The king opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out, his gaze went beyond me. I turned to see what was going on and at once there was a deep silence; everyone stopped dancing, and the violins stopped playing. So attracted by the singular beauty of the unknown newcomer holding the prince's hand. Nothing was heard, than a confused sound of voices saying:-. "Ha! how beautiful she is! Ha, how beautiful she is".
The King himself, could not take his eyes off her, and he told the Queen in a low voice that it had been a long time since he had seen such a beautiful and charming creature. Without a doubt she was, I had a strong feeling that I had seen her before, there was something familiar about her. Try as I might, I could not locate where I had met this beautiful woman. Like the rest of the ladies, I was admiring the beautiful dress with gold and silver fabrics, all adorned with jewels, accompanied by a pair of the most beautiful crystal slippers in the world. Charlotte turned to Francesca and said:-. "I want the dressmaker to make me the same pattern as the dress." Francesca answered:"I must search for slippers like that." The prince took the beautiful young lady to dance with him. She danced so gracefully that everyone admired her more and more. As people's attention was drawn to the beautiful couple it was difficult to engage in conversation that didn't involve the prince and princess, it was as if everyone had a spell on them. The opportunity to get suitors for Charlotte and Francesca was lost. The clock struck a quarter to twelve, when the princess politely but hastily excused herself from the prince and quickly left the ball. The prince, confused, followed her, trying to catch up with her. Moments later he had returned with a glass slipper, he kept looking at her with love. I saw the moment of departure, even with the princess not present, he was still gossiping about her.
Upon arriving home my daughters told Cinderella all about the princess, she was interested and surprised by what she heard from her stepsisters, but I could detect that there was something different about her, her eyes had a glow and her body language was happy, enchanted and in love, something she hadn't had before leaving for the ball. Her attitude continued for the next few days, on one occasion I heard her humming as she mopped the floor. As strange as the case of the unknown princess, there is a piece of the puzzle I'm missing. A few days later the prince trumpeted the proclamation that he would marry the one whose foot fit the slipper he kept. In the following weeks they began to try it on the different princess, then the duchesses, and then all the ladies of the court; but it was in vain, none of them were the mysterious princess. It was the turn of Charlotte and Francesca. Having even a gentleman of royalty, I had chosen to serve the tea from our best teapot, the last time I had seen it was in my late husband's study. No one had been in there in years, not even Cinderella had entered to clean it, it was too painful for her. I had spotted the teapot on the living room table as I entered, I was about to grab it when I saw a red scarf on the couch next to me, hesitantly I grabbed it, dusted it off, caressed it lovingly and brought it to my nose, it still smelled of him, tobacco and wet earth. The screams and cries of desperation of my daughters in the other room had brought me out of my thoughts.
I put on the scarf and was about to grab the teapot again when I saw the picture frame on the table, I grabbed it to take a closer look. Behind the dust was a picture of a beautiful woman very similar to the mysterious princess and that's when it all came together, the missing piece of the puzzle. I heard in the other room Cinderella saying:-. "Let me see if it fits." I listened to the laughter from my daughters and the gentleman's voice of acceptance. I came out of my trance and rush out of the studio. When I entered the other room it was too late, Cinderella already had the glass slipper on her foot and it fits as if it was made of wax. The astonishment of everyone in the room was great, but it was even greater when Cinderella took the other slipper out of her pocket and put it on her other foot. My daughters soon understood who the mysterious princess was. They threw themselves at her feet to beg her forgiveness for their mistreatment. Cinderella picked them up and, as she hugged them, told them that she forgave them with all her heart and begged them to love her always. I stood silently listening to everything that happened. Cinderella approached the door of the house, stopped turned to me and said:-. "Are you coming?"
I took a look at the house, my ex-husband's presence lived in it, almost all my memories of him were in this house and in London. I was still not ready to leave him behind, as I did with my first husband, who didn't give me the opportunity. My daughters were already in the carriage, I knew that Cinderella's great kindness would give them a home in the palace, and marry them to two great lords of the court. My job was done, I had put my daughters in high society. I stroked and smelled my husband's scarf, smiled and said:"No. I'm at home"
The End