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Whatever dark ht, if it had involved the ball, it appeared to have been successful For the next , everyone at Smolny knew that there would still be an Anichkov Ball Empress Marie Feodorovna insisted that it not be canceled, but that everyone co attire-all black Woems, but only diaht a seamstress by that afternoon to take her own

My ht me to the house, where her favorite dressoould look dramatic on her Maman could not wear her beloved ruby tiara, but she had a delicate diamond one from Cartier that was just as lovely

My dress was short sleeved and off the shoulders, with jet beading and black lace across the bodice Maave s to wear

"These will draw attention up toward your eyes," she said "Grandmahed I knew it gave her grief when I did not act as excited about gla up like a painted doll was an accorandmother have been proud of me if I had discovered a cure for consumption? Or would she have preferred me to look pretty and decorate the ared I was certain I knew the answer to that question And it wasn&039;t an answer I liked "They are beautiful, Maman," I said to appease her I spun around a few ti down to have h it did make me look paler than normal

Papa and iment blacks

Petya was still sad about the death of Count Cher wear he sported, a black silk ar to him than any of ours did to us

I wanted to cheer Petya up, so I proave ht

Besides you, my dear sister"

"You shal have it," I said, disappointed that I could not lighten his spirits

We rode to Anichkov Palace in the black Oldenburg carriage It was drawn by four spirited black horses that looked as if they&039;d driven straight out of hell The night was icy cold, even with the hot-water bottles in our laps, the fur-lined coach rugs, and the warmed bricks at our feet The streets were crowded, aswas on its way to the ball

"I don&039;t want you stashing yourself aith your S with lots of handsorand dukes"

I rolled my eyes and stared out theat the snow-covered city I resolved to dance with the ugliest and the poorest e approached the northern entrance of the palace, where the nobles were to arrive There were four separate entrances to the palace, one for the princes, one for the other court ranks, one for the officers, and one for the civil servants The gates of the palace were draped in heavy black crepe, as were thethe walls and the chandeliers were swathed in black gauze

Papa took Maman&039;s arm, and my brother took mine We slowly proceeded up the enor to be announced by the danceintroduced "Isn&039;t the princess looking lovely and spry tonight?" Maer than she did before Christ the princessThe black stone would have gone ith own, but I&039;d left it in my trinket box at Smolny I hoped the princess would not ask me about it

When it was rand ball rooainst the floor as he stood in front of the archway and announced us to the crowd

"Prince Alexander Friedrich Constantine von Holstein-Gottorp, Duke of Oldenburg; his honorable wife, Princess Yevgenia Maxi; his son, Duke Peter Alexandrovich von Holstein-Gottorp; and his daughter, Duchess Katerina Alexandrovna von Holstein-Gottorp" It sounded impressive, but ere far froht Very, very far I was able to clairandmother, but so could hundreds of others present Even Princess Elena, the fifth daughter of a n, outranked me

Elena and her two ebony-clad sisters pounced on me immediately

"Katerina!" Elena said breathlessly "There is sorins&039; dark coloring looked beautiful against their black gowns The elder princesses wore jet beaded kokoshniks, but Elena wore her hair up si down the back

My storabbedfor the season I tried to smile I would not let them see my fear

"Danilo, ? Katerina, this is loved hand into his

"I athan his portrait His s It took my breath away He had an instant pull on ood looks and soht and blood, and stiffened my resolve I would not be so easily charhness" Despite my determination, I felt a little bit dizzy as he touched led Every carpal Every ht down to the tips of every phalanx It et some air

"Would you do leaht, andas he looked atto think I s at me across the ball room She looked very concerned But I couldn&039;t believe that Danilo was the heir of the Vladiki, or that he was the dangerous prince she believed I rabbed her brother with one arm andfloor

We want everyone to see us!"

"Do you have a partner for the first dance?" I asked her "If not, I am sure o of both of us "Do not worry about ht, besides Danilo, of course!" Danilo ss, I noticed But would he not grow fangs until hisascension, as the princess Cantacuzene called it? It seeht such dark thoughts about the crown prince

Even when I knew his sisters had done terrible things in St Petersburg, I did not want to believe he was anything but the handso royal he appeared to be

I felt his closeness, the warmth from his body It ht be an even greater spell caster than his sister, without even trying He stirredto know more about him

As the first sounds of the polonaise played, I realized Elena was no longer standing next to lided around the ball roo the first turn of the first dance The ball rooant, draped in its black crepe There were no flowers to decorate the tables, only white candles The rooht reflected by the thousands of diamonds worn by all the ladies

In a severe way, it was even more beautiful than usual

As the tsar and his wife finished their first sweep around the hot and crowded ball room, the tsarevitch stepped onto the floor with his partner on his arm Elena I wondered why in heaven he&039;d asked her for the first dance when he most likely wished to dance with the princess Alix

I looked around for her The Hessian princess was nowhere to be seen

The grand duchess Xenia joined in next, dancing with her Greek cousin, Prince Nicholas, and then soon everyone are was Why was he not dancing the polonaise?

At the far end of the ball room, I saw my cousin Dariya, on the arave a little wave, but her sreide as she noticed my partner

Then she disappeared fro couples

"Shal we?" Prince Danilo asked I noticed that his piercing black eyes were fringed with the longest lashes I&039;d ever seen All thoughts of everyone else flew froht

"Of course," I said, taking his arm My heart beat wildly as our hands touched

Prince Danilo was devastatingly handso in the feel of his ar I saw the faces of several people as irled around: I noticed Ma Papa looked as if he&039;d rather be shot, but Ma after all, with one of the Stroganova princesses I could not remember her name, but she was very pretty The princesses Militza and Anastasia were dancing with their fiances Uncle George looked happy and in love As rins, I had to thank Anastasia for helping hi her death for far too long

But I had better things to think of now I looked up at Danilo and felt allas he smiled at me

As the polonaise ended, I stepped back, a bit lost as Danilo er around one on forever Prince Danilo and I clapped politely for the musicians and wandered toward the rotunda, where a wine punch was being served He brought us both glasses

"Thank you, Your Highness," I said, grateful for the cold drink My throat was dry and I was out of breath But I was certain that it was more than the exercise that had left me so dizzy

"Thank you, for the wonderful dance," he said, his voice low and hypnotic "This is et it" I strained to take in his every word "It is unusual, to be sure," I said

"Most are ers to his lips "Do not ht has been perfect And my dance partner has bewitched me" He looked at ht I would melt into the floor I&039;d never been looked at like that before It was thrilling and terrifying at the saht it would burst I would have sworn I could feel the heat froloved hand The fire raced up my arm and down my spine

I shook rand duchess Elizabeth with her husband, the grand duke Sergei Alexandrovich, passing us in the hall I needed some sort of distraction before I lost all hness, is your sister here tonight?" I asked "I have not seen her yet"

The grand duchess shook her head "I am afraid Alix is very unwel today and has stayed in her rooain yesterday, and she is quite fatigued"

"Mon Dieu," I said "Please give her ain soon"

"Thank you, I will tell her," the grand duchess said kindly She nodded regally as I introduced her and her husband to the crown prince Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich, one of the tsar&039;s younger brothers, was a slim, wiry man with awife Taking her by the arrand hall

"I suppose it would be presumptuous ofhis char He made me feel reckless Almost enthralled "It would be very presumptuous," I told him "But I shal accept, as you are new to the ways of St Petersburg society"

He grinned and tookwith one of the officers frorand ti, breath-stealing dance, and I was elated to be flying across the ball rooro

The rest of the world fell away fro except his ar on to my waist I wanted the moment to last forever