Margaret Bayard’s father wants to know if she has her dress for the Christmas Masquerade Ball. Mr. Bayard, a former United States Senator, has put marrying his daughter to an upstanding man on the top of his Christmas wish list. Margaret, 21, makes it very clear that she’s already in love with her childhood friend James Miller. She doesn’t want to be presented to high society at Christmas by her father. If she has to attend, then at the very least she can wear a mask. James, a law student, was also in the marines, and Margaret is sure he could be a Senator one day. She picks up the golden invitation to the Christmas Masquerade Ball and puts it in her purse. Not only will the event be held in the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria on Fifth Avenue, but there will also be a week of parties leading to the Christmas Eve Ball. She will be escorted by one military cadet and one civilian, but neither of her choice. Despite all, Margaret tells her father that she will go to the Ball—only to prove him wrong—because she thinks that she and James are meant to be together. Her father hopes that by the end of the evening that she is engaged to someone else.
When Margaret arrives in Central Park to meet James, she finds him as it starts to snow. He kisses her, and the couple climbs in a carriage for a ride. Jingle bells jostle as the stately brown horse pulls the carriage through the winding trails of Central Park. Then, James pulls a small red box from his pocket and asks her to marry him. The heart-shaped diamond glistens in the winter sunshine. After saying “yes,” Margaret slips the ring on her left hand and puts the ring box in her purse. She asks James to not tell her father until after Christmas. When a large gust of wind blows, the invitation to the Christmas Masquerade Ball blows from her purse onto the sidewalk. James picks it up and shoves it in his pocket. She is so enamored with her ring that she can hardly speak, but she hides it from her father. She tells James that she is going to the Christmas Masquerade Ball only to please her father, but that she is only interested in him and no one else.
As Margaret arrives in a limo at the Waldorf Astoria, the men turn their heads at her astonishing beauty. When she enters the Grand Ballroom, she is escorted by two masked gentlemen: one military cadet and one civilian. During the dance with the cadet, Margaret wishes she was dancing with James. Near the end of the Ball, the cadet bows to Margaret, but never reveals his true identity. Margaret takes off her mask and gives it to him. He leaves without giving her his mask. Margaret’s father steps from the shadows and suggests that she marry the cadet, not James, as the cadet runs off with her mask. Returning home, she finds James, sitting in a cadet white formal uniform on the bench at the front door. He holds her mask from the Ball. He also holds the mask of the cadet that she had danced with during the evening. James explains that the cadet was him all along. Her father finds them in the hallway kissing, gives up, and blesses her in marriage to James. By Christmas next year, Margaret and James are married, and they dance the Waltz in every spare moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment