• CHAPTER 3

    The ballroom was decorated in colours related to the autumn. Bouquets with red roses and orange leaves was centred on the tables surrounding the dance floor.
    “Do you want to dance, my love?,” Alexander asked. Willow almost couldn't hear him, that's how excited she was by the sight.
    “Yes, of course,” she managed to answer him after a while.
    They swirled around the dance floor, as if they had never done anything but dance. Almost all of the guests had stopped and stared. Alexander was a great dancer, Willow barely touched the floor when she was in his hands. It was a strange sensation, she felt safe, safer than she ever had before. She believed that Alexander could save her from anything in the world, even the sadness her mothers' death brought.
    “My dear, will you come with me outside for a while?” Willow shook out of her thoughts and went with him to the front steps. “Willow, I want you to be my wife. I want you to bring me many children and great joy in the following days of my life.”
    “Oh, Alexander, do you really mean that? Of course I will!” Willow was so thrilled, she even cried tears of joy. She leaned her head on Alexander's shoulder and they watched the stars in silence. After a while, they had to walk inside again, so that Alexander could announce his fiancée to the other guests at the ball.
    There wasn't a sad eye to be seen in the ballroom as Alexander announced Willow to be his wife. The whole town knew Willow Miller, the young daughter of the merchant. The marketplace had been her playground since she was at the age of three, and knew almost all of her father's customers. When all the young men had announced their engagements, it was time to go home. As they sat in the chariot, the clock struck eleven. They drove Willow home to her father's house, and she gave Alexander a kiss before she walked inside.

    “Father, you won't believe this! Tonight, at the ball, Alexander asked me to marry him! We will marry this summer,” said Willow, just as soon as she opened the door. But her father had fallen asleep in his rocking chair. She took a blanket and placed it carefully over him as she went to bed.