[Reviews - 4]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 2294 times

- Text Size +




Chapter 9 – The Ball

Buffy sat at her dressing table, preparing for the ball. Lady Lilah had sent up Amy to help her prepare, but Buffy still felt uncomfortable being waited on, so she had dismissed the girl, despite Amy’s protest. She had just finished putting the finishing touches on her hair when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

“Oh you look so gorgeous!” shrieked Dawn.

Buffy was surprised at Dawn’s appearance. Her hair was down and straight; she only wore a touch of lip gloss and no jewelry. The dress she wore was a light blue satin gown with an empire waist. The sleeves were long and the neckline was high for that style dress. Dawn looked very pretty – but it was not what Buffy expected a 15 year old girl to be wearing, especially to a ball. Buffy glanced down at her own heavily beaded Versace gown that Lady Lilah had brought to her that morning, and a the family jewels that had been presented to her that must cost a fortune.

“You look very pretty Dawn.” Buffy smiled at the girl.

“No I don’t, but thanks for saying so. I can’t get glam like you until I make my debut next year.”

“Debut? You’re kidding! What is this, 1940?”

“Yeah, it sucks, but it’s tradition. So are you excited about the ball?”

“More like nervous. The fanciest party I’ve ever been to was the prom. Ethan coached me a bit earlier, but I’m afraid I’ll make a fool of myself and embarrass Grandmother.”

“Don’t worry about Lilah, she is too excited about having you here to get embarrassed. And all the guest know your American, so they’ll understand.”

“Thanks.” Buffy replied wryly at the way Dawn said ‘American’. People were definitely not digging the Americans here.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Ethan poked his head in. “Dawn, its time for you to go down and sit with your grandmother. Buffy, come with me, I’ll be escorting you for your entrance.” He held out his arm to her. Buffy noticed Dawn’s face darken for a moment, but then the girl gave her a big smile and darted out of the room.

Buffy took Ethan’s arm. She was very grateful about how nice he was to her, but she was starting to wonder about his relationship with Drusilla and Dawn. Hopefully once she got to know Dawn, she would find out more.

“Are you ready dear?” Ethan smiled at her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Replied Buffy. They made their way out of the room and down the long hallway. When they reached the end of the hall, Ethan signaled to a man standing at the top of the stairs. The man nodded and the music that has been floating up from below stopped. Ethan led Buffy to the top of the stairs. Buffy nearly gasped when she looked down. There were over a hundred people looking up at her. At the very bottom was Lady Lilah, beaming up at her. The string quartet started again as Ethan led Buffy down the stairs. At the bottom, Lilah took Buffy’s hand and led her to the center of the room – all eyes following them. Once again, the music stopped.

“Lords and Ladies, please allow me the pleasure of introducing my granddaughter, Lady Elizabeth Anne Summers Giles.”

A murmur of approval went around the room, and Buffy stood frozen. Lady Lilah looked at Buffy, and Buffy remembered she was expected to say something.

“I would just like to thank everybody for so graciously receiving me this evening.” She smiled and curtseyed. The room broke out in applause and Lady Lilah beamed. She then led Buffy over to where Ethan and Dawn stood so the receiving line could begin. Buffy wondered why Drusilla wasn’t with them. The girl had problems, but she was still family.

Buffy followed Lady Lilah’s lead in greeting the guest. She could tell Lady Lilah had made an effort to have many young people attend, and she especially noticed what pleasure Lilah too in introducing her to Lord Liam Angelus. He was certainly a handsome man, and Buffy promised him a dance when he asked. She also met his sister, Lady Darla Angelus, and promised to go horseback riding with her. There were so many names and faces, she was sure she would forget them all. She was relieved when there were no more guest to great and she was free to move about the room. At fist she was lost, not knowing whom to talk with, but then she saw Darla waiving to her across the room, and she moved to join her.

“Elizabeth, please meet my cousin Winifred Burkle – we all call her Fred.”

“Well hi Fred! And just to let you guys know, I go by Buffy, not Elizabeth.”

“What an odd name!” Exclaimed Fred. Darla looked at the girl as if she was batty.

“O.k., Fred.” Fred blushed.

“So Buffy, how do you like it here so far?” asked Fred, attempting to change the subject.

“Well I’ve only been here 3 days, so I can’t really say.”

“Will you be starting school this fall?” Asked Darla. “Angel, Winifred and I all attend Oxford. Angel’s a grad student, and Fred and I are seniors. Fred and I share a flat, and Angel rooms with some of his friends from the rowing team.”

“Who’s Angel?” asked Buffy, puzzled.

“Oh that’s our nickname for Liam. All the girls say he has a face of an Angel.” Darla snickered.

Fred giggled. “Angel is one of the most popular boys at school – him and Spike!”

“Well I guess I’ll fit right in, everybody around here has odd names!” laughed Buffy. “So who’s Spike?”

“Trust me dear, he’s not the sort you should be associated with,” Darla said seriously. “He is not in your class.”

This made Buffy very uncomfortable. She wondered what Lady Darla would think of her is she saw her modest home in Sunnydale. Buffy wondered if everybody here was so snobby. As she was pondering, Lord Angelus approached.

“Sister dear, what foolery have you been filling Lady Elizabeth’s head with?”

“”I’ve just been chatting Angel. And Elizabeth here has told us she prefers to be called Buffy.”

“Well Lady Buffy, could I have this dance?” Angel held out his arm to her. Buffy accepted and let him lead her to the dance floor. For the first time in her life, she was grateful her mother had made her take all those ballroom dancing lessons. Angel was quite a good dancer and an attractive partner. He didn’t try to make too much small talk, and for that Buffy was grateful. She wasn’t sure what she would discuss with a man who was so much older than she. She had never dated a college boy before, much less a grad student. As Angel whirled her around she could see Lady Lilah looking approvingly at them. ‘Oh no’, Buffy thought, ‘She’s trying to set me up!’

When the dance ended, Angel escorted her back to Darla and Fred’s table and sat down to join them.

“Angel, Buffy’s coming over tomorrow to ride. Why don’t you join us? We can have a picnic.”

“That’s an excellent idea sister, I’ll have Wesley join us.”

The rest of the ball went smoothly, and when Buffy collapsed in her bed that night she was exhausted and finally relaxed enough to sleep the whole night through.


A/N: Please review!





You must login (register) to review.