At The Plaza Majestic.

Chapter 6

The following lunchtime, Smart and I had planned to go out, but I had slept in too long and we'd had to stay at the Plaza. As we walked from the dining room to have a proper look around the circus, Smart's eye was caught by a poster on one of the pillars, advertising a ball at the Plaza that same evening.

"What is it?" I asked, as he pulled me over to take another look.

"Shall we go, Hannah?" Smart asked, looking keenly at me. I bit my lip.

"Why not?" I replied. "Although I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to wear."

"You'll find something" Smart assured me. I rolled my eyes.

"I hope I do" I replied, reading the rest of the poster as I did so.

"We have to be down by five" I commented, allowing a look of horror to cross my face.

"That's almost four hours" Smart replied disbelivingly.

"That's barely long enough!" I groaned, looking desperately back up the stairs.

Smart sighed heavily, folding his arms.

"What am I supposed to do for the afternoon, then?" he asked.

"You'll find something!" I waved my hand dismissively, hurrying up the stairs and back to my room. I needed a dress. Stat. Rifling through the ones I had brought with me, I picked out something I hadn't worn in ages; an emerald green affair styled similarly to a black dress Isabel had handed down to me a long time ago. This one, on the other hand, fitted me much better. I slipped on a pair of new black shoes I had bought recently, as Isabel had insisted I throw the old ones out, and then sat down to see what I could manage with my hair. I wanted to be able to wear the tiara-thing I wore last time I'd worn this dress, so that did rather limit my options, I decided, as I took down something I had been trying out.

I did find something to do with my hair in the end; although I did have to pin a few stray bits down afterwards. Where was Isabel when you needed her?

After wrestling with my makeup for a while, I looked up at the clock. It read ten past five, and I could scarcely believe it. That time had passed altogether far too quickly, and I had to say, it worried me.

It was a few minutes more, though, until Smart knocked on my door. I had just begun to get worried, but didn't show it on my face as I let him escort me down.

The lobby was a buzz. People were everywhere-I had no idea there were so many people staying at the Plaza. All the women looked very beautiful, and I hoped I fitted in. I didn't feel like I did at all.

"We know so few people here, Jack" I murmured disappointedly, as we made our way into the ballroom along with the general move of the crowd.

"We'll see who we can become aquainted with, then" Smart replied, smiling. I agreed with him, looking nervously around the room. Something which I feared Smart hadn't taken into consideration was my own recognisability in public places. In the past, I had been picked out numerous times, mainly due to the famous journalist Adam Hart's publishings in many popular London newspapers. I hoped that, in this case, I wasn't recognised.

The band had just begun a rather speedy waltz piece, and I could see Smart was watching them carefully.

"Jack, you know I'm not the best of dancers..." I said quickly, before he could get any ideas. To my utmost horror, Smart laughed.

"It's a good thing I can, then, isn't it?" he asked wickedly. I began to shake my head to say no, but it seemed Smart was having none of it.

"Next dance. I'll teach you as we go along" he said determinedly.