If the slipper fits

If the Slipper Fits…
A Cinderella story
Maureen ‘s father died soon after his marriage to Ellery. Ellery’s two daughters Talia and Megan were pretty little girls with splendid manners. They had grown up rather nicely but still they were spoiled little girls and behaved like it around Leila, the ‘poor relation’. Leila was never jealous of them for their clothes and gifts. She did envy them for their many friends and wished that she could be as carefree as them. Leila was always worrying and wondering about the future. Talia and Megan were never worried about anything.
Talia and Megan grew up and turned out to be the belles of every ball. Megan was blonde with curls and big blue eyes whereas her sister Talia was a brunette with emerald green eyes. Leila was one of the only people let in on the secrets that the sisters used for beauty and their gossip. Megan married early to her dearest childhood beau, Charming. Talia was her bridesmaid but Leila sat in the back of the church wearing her best dress: a shabby old blue velvet that used to belong to Megan. Leila was too ashamed of her delicate beauty to stand next to the radiant bride and her equally radiant sister as bridesmaid.
Talia was the most beautiful girl in the kingdom with Megan so happily married. It was a widely aknowledged fact. The only problem with this was that Talia knew it. She wasn’t obliged to be humble about it either and with her beauty men from miles around came in courtship by the time she was fifteen years of age. Talia spent hours in front of the mirror primping delicately at her looks and applying cosmetics. Leila often thought spitefully that without makeup Talia would feel naked to the world. Leila never wore cosmetics, her meager wages for housekeeping were barely enough for good clothing let alone cosmetics. While Talia held court in the best parlor, Leila was relegated to the back rooms, polishing silver.
There were handsome princes with fortunes and jewels and kings with lands far away that held untold wonders. Talia cared not a whit for any of her suitors and she dispensed rapidly with each one of them. Leila often watched as she got rid of them and wished for once that one of them would come for her. Leila wished that one of the princes would notice the slender maid who so carefully swept the hearth and tended the fire but her beauty was naught compared to Talia’s glory.
One day there was a knock on the door. Leila answered it eagerly to reveal a liveried footman with gold buttons winking in the sunlight. He clicked his heels smartly and handed her a cream colored sheet of paper with embossed letters that read,
To the Ladies of the household,
By royal proclamation, your presence is required at a ball on tomorrow’s eve. Prince Honor wishes to meet all of you and to find among the ladies of this kingdom, his future wife.
By the King’s Command.

Maureen gasped excitedly and ran up the stairs to Ellery’s sitting room.
“Look! There is a ball tomorrow. We are all supposed to attend.” Ellery looked coolly at her before turning to Talia.
“Darling, the prince no doubt has heard of you and wishes to see your beauty in person. Leila will help you prepare.” She paused and took an eloquent look at Leila, “ My dear girl, do not excite yourself. You may wear an old dress of Talia’s . Go start your preparations dear.” She finished, giving Talia a peck on the cheek.

The next night, Leila looked at herself anxiously in the mirror in Talia’s room. She had her long brown hair piled up on her head and she wore a shimmering blue gown with a big skirt and tight bodice just as she’d always wanted. Megan’s old pearl eardrops hung from her ears and she looked perfect to herself.
Maureen knocked on the door and entered. She had let her midnight waves fall to her waist in a glistening cascade, she wore a pure white confection that was simple and elegant.
“Do you like it Leila? I made it for Meg’s wedding but she didn’t like it.” Leila looked at her. All of her hard work to trap Prince Honor would be for nothing if he saw Talia. She smiled a sickly sweet smile.
“Of course, I do it’s simply delightful. Be a dear and get me my slippers out of the closet over there?” Talianodded happily and smiled brightly. Leila followed her over to the closet and shoved her in before securely locking the door.
“Leila! Talia! Get down here this instant before we miss the ball!” Ellery called. Leila hurried downstairs and entered the carriage with her mother.
“Talia was… indisposed. Shall we?” Ellery simply nodded and they continued. The place was lit up brightly and it looked beautiful. Leila entered the line in wait for the prince excitedly. He entered with a fanfare of trumpets and he began to receive the women. Leila had just gotten to the front of the line and was making what she hoped was the most graceful and elegant curtsy that he had seen when he looked past her smiling face at the doorway where a sudden hush had arisen.
Leila turned and looked. A dark haired beauty in a white gown stood shyly in the doorway. The prince rushed past her to meet the stranger. Leila looked down at the ground, shamefaced. He didn’t like her that very much. She felt disappointed that all of her hard work was for nothing and she would never rise above the position of lowly servant.
The orchestra began a waltz and the prince twirled the stranger around in a beautiful dance. Leila burst into tears, feeling as if all of her hopes had been shattered like a crystal glass.
“Pardon me, miss. May I offer you my handkerchief in your time of distress?” Leila turned and a tall dark man stood there holding out a handkerchief. Leila smiled like the sun after the rain.
“But of course. I thank you for your consideration. My name is Lady Leila, Leila if you like me,” she said. She dabbed at her face with the handkerchief. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. What should I call you?” He dipped a low bow and introduced himself as the Earl of Point de Vue. “Shall we waltz,” he asked. Leila smiled and took his hand as a response.
When Leila returned home, she found that Talia was no longer in the closet and as suspected was at the balll dancing with the prince. Yet when Leila closed her eyes, the handsome Earl was the first to come to mind. He had asked for permission to call upon her the next day. Leila sighed. Miss Perfection, Talia, wins again but the consolation prize is much more my style, she thought.
The next morning, a footman came around with a proclaimation reading,
Whosever foot fits this slipper is the one the Prince shall wed.
By the Prince’s Command.
The fooman held an elegant glass slipper. Ellery disappeared upstairs before serving the tea to the footman. Leila entertained the footman. Ellery returned and nodded to the footman who handed the delicate shoe to Leila. Leila eagerly tried to put on the slipper but the shoe kept sliding off her tiny foot. The footman turned away with a sad face.
“Wait, Wait!” Talia called out down the stairs. She came hurrying downwards. The footman eagerly slipped the shoe on her foot. It fit perfectly.
The next day Talia and Honor were married with the greatest of pomp. Leila attended the wedding and watched sadly as her greatest hope was taken away from her. She hugged Maureen and congratulated her, all the while wishing that she could have been the one who the slipper fit. At the same time, Leila thought if that slipper doesn’t fit then this one does, looking at the Earl who was escorting her.