“Come on!” Cinders said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s go and enjoy the ball!”

Inside the palace, there was a massive ballroom with a domed roof. A band was playing. People were dancing and servants were hurrying around, offering people drinks. Delphie took a glass of fruit punch. It tasted delicious like strawberries and peaches mixed up together with lots of ice. She could see Augusta and June dancing with two young men who both looked like they would rather be somewhere else. Their toes were being trodden on and they were being bossed around.

“No, not like that! Hold me tighter!” Augusta was complaining.

“You’re not spinning me round properly,” June moaned to her partner. “And you haven’t once told me how beautiful I am!”

In another room there were huge tables with white tablecloths; throughout the other rooms there were comfy chairs and sofas to sit on and outside in the garden there were jugglers, fire-eaters and men walking on stilts.

“Oh, I love this music!” said Cinderella as the band started to play a march. She and Delphie went through to the ballroom. A procession of palace servants was marching with huge trays of food. It was all so beautiful. The servants laid the food down carefully on the tables before dancing together, one way and then the other. Then they all marched on the spot, their arms coming above their heads as they made a circle. Delphie watched, enchanted; she could feel herself aching to join in.

An idea hit her. Maybe she, Poppy and Lola could do a march like that for Madame Za-Za!

But then she was distracted by a gasp from Cinderella. She looked around. The Prince, wearing a white and gold jacket, was standing at Cinderella’s side. “You are finally here,” he said softly. “Will you dance?”

Cinderella nodded wordlessly and taking her hand, he led her on to the centre of the floor as the march finished and the band struck up a waltz.

Delphie sipped her punch and watched as the Prince put his arm round Cinderella’s waist and they began to dance. She had never seen two people waltz so lightly. The Prince spun Cinderella around the room as if she was as light as thistledown. Their eyes never left each other’s faces.

Delphie smiled in delight.

“It’s all working out perfectly,” a voice said beside her. She looked round and saw Sugar standing beside her.

“It is,” Delphie said happily.

The Prince and Cinderella danced all night and then at midnight, just as happened in the fairytale, Cinderella broke away from him and ran out of the palace. As she ran one of her glass slippers came off.

Sugar and Delphie were watching from the garden. “I think your job is done, Delphie,” said Sugar softly. “Everything is happening just as it should.”