*

THE NEWS OF THE IMPENDING ball in the castle traveled quickly enough for Gretchen to hear of it within a day. The staff expressed their surprise and excitement about Ethan's decision to throw one, but Gretchen simply thought it was none of her business. Her business laid with caring for Ellie, not with planning a ball. However, it fully became her business when Ethan extended his invitation to her one evening, and she was left confused with nothing to wear.

She rummaged through her pile of new dresses, finding nothing worthy of the kind of ball she knew was expected of Ethan. And as the days progressed, she found that her anxiety progressed with it for she was desperate to impress, not the crowd, but Ethan. Of course she wouldn't admit to it out loud, but it was the truth.

Finally deciding on a simple but elegant day dress that Sue had made, she placed it on the dresser, praying with all her heart that it would be enough to impress Ethan.

Chapter Thirteen

The ballroom swarmed with people. Surprised by the number of people who were willing to show up, and feeling highly uncomfortable, Gretchen pressed her back to the wall and focused her gaze on the intricate gold and white designs of the marbled flooring.

A part of her wanted to run back up the stairs and lock herself in the nursery, knowing full well that she could never fit into this class of people. She became fully aware of the poor quality of her yellow dress, the fashion of it dulling in comparison to the other women in the room. The feeling of smallness and insignificance made it impossible to do anything but remain glued to the wall with her gaze fixed perpetually on the floor.

She stood for several minutes, planning her escape to the nursery, when her eyes caught sight of a black set of male's shoes drawing close.

She stiffened, silently praying that whoever it was wasn't really coming her way. But her prayers went unanswered as the shoes paused before her.

“Good evening, my lady.” An unfamiliar voice said, forcing her to raise her gaze to whoever it was.

She stared at the stranger who smiled back at her, exposing clean set pearly white teeth as a dimple dented his right cheek. Light blue eyes stared back at her with interest, his handsome face made more prominent by the slick blond hair.

He held out a hand to her. “My lady,” he said.

Reaching out, she placed her hand in his and watched as his fingers curled around it. He bowed slightly, his lips grazing her knuckles.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” his straightened, his hand still holding hers captive. “My name is Lord Jeremiah Ashton and I can hardly imagine what a lovely lady like you is doing standing here all alone.”