The Birthday Ball Read Free Page B

it is an odd command?"
    "Yes, miss, I suppose so." The chambermaid looked a little uncertain.
    "Tess," commanded the princess, "take off your clothes."

4. The Disguise

    "Miss! I couldn't!"
    "Don't be silly. Of course you can. First the apron. I want to see what dress you wear beneath the apron."
    Nervously the chambermaid untied the sash of her starched white pinafore and let the wide apron fall loose. She pulled her arms free from the ruffled shoulders, folded the apron, and laid it on a pink damask chair.
    "It's quite ordinary, isn't it? The dress, I mean." The princess examined it and felt the homespun brown fabric between her thumb and forefinger.
    "I think it's nice." The chambermaid spoke a little defensively. "I never had one so nice till I come here to work."
    "Of course it's nice. I simply meant that it is quite ordinary compared to the satins and organdies I have to wear every day. Tell me something, Tess. Would this be the kind of dress a village girl might wear to school?"
    Tess wrinkled her face, thinking about it. "Aye," she said, "I guess. Maybe more raggedy and patched, for most. And not with shoes." She looked down at her own feet, shod in sturdy buckled leather over thick black stockings.
    "No shoes?"
    "No, miss. Not in this weather, at least. In winter, when it's cold, maybe clogs. But these"—she pointed to her feet with a certain amount of pride—"these here are castle shoes."
    "Well, you keep those on, then. And your underclothes. But give me your dress."
    "My dress? Why?"
    "It is a command."
    Tess sighed, curtsied, and began to unbutton the simple brown dress.
    ***
    "There, now! Tell me what you think. Do I look like a simple village girl?"
    Princess Patricia Priscilla stood back and posed against the embroidered draperies that framed the large double window. She was wearing the homely dress and her feet were bare.
    The chambermaid, wearing her muslin under-shift, her bony shoulders and arms exposed, looked critically at her. "Hair too fancy. Feet too clean," she said, after a moment.
    "I was afraid of that."
    "I could fix the hair, I guess."
    "Do so, then."
    The chambermaid mussed the princess's long curls and then braided the hair into two uneven pigtails.
    "Shall you put a ribbon at each end?" the princess asked.
    "Oh my, no. That would be princesslike. Here's how we do." The chambermaid removed the sprigs of flowers from the crystal vase on the breakfast tray. Deftly she tied the ends of the braids with twisted flower stems.
    "Oh, I think I look wonderfully rustic and primitive!" said the princess, standing before the long

    looking glass. "I'll dirty my feet when I am outdoors."
    The chambermaid, standing beside her, staring at her own reflected image, groaned. "Blimey, I look bare-naked! I'm downright humiliated."
    "Here." The princess handed Tess the dressing gown that was draped on the bed. "Put this on and wear it till I return."
    "I can't, miss! They'd see, and I'd be punished!"
    "No. No one will see you. You stay right in my room and I will leave instructions that no one is to enter.
    "Look over there, Tess, at the bookshelves! Filled with books. You said you could read. You may read any book you want. That will pass the time while I'm gone.
    The little freckled chambermaid stared in rapture at the crowded shelves. "Lordy," she breathed. "I hope my ma is looking down and can see this. Me in silk, with books!"

5. The Escape
    Princess Patricia Priscilla, her homespun dress hidden under a cloak, made her way down the castle stairs, followed by Delicious, twitching her thick tail. She knew that she would not encounter her father. An old nursery rhyme contained great truth: The king was in his counting house...
    The princess's father, King Lepidoptera, spent most of his time in his counting house, which was a separate small building to the left of the west tower. He was not there to "count out his money," as the rhyme described, because a team of exchequers worked continuously on that task in