Silence fell between them, and after a while he asked, "What shall you wear?"
"To the ball? Pink silk. A heavenly pink. I have just bought it, and I paid more than I should for it."
"Such extravagance!"
"I'm to be Cynthia Warfield—like the portrait in the Crossroads library of my grandmother. It came to me when I saw the silk in the shop window. I shall have to do without the pearls, but I have the lace flounces. They were left to my mother."
"And so Cinderella will go to the ball, and dance with the Prince. Is Brooks the Prince?"
She flushed, and evaded. "I can't dance. Not the new dances."
"I can teach you if you'll let me."
"Really?"
"Yes. But you must pay. You must give the Blind Beggar the first dance and as many more as he demands."
"But I can't dance all of them with you."