Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and I make no money from this work of fiction!
Is a Dance JUST a Dance?
While planning the Pear-Picking Festival Ball the autumn following her coronation, Mia had Charlotte, Joseph and Clarisse come to her rooms to discuss the music and the seating arrangements for the banquet. Charlotte was occupied writing down the suggestions in her book, and Mia was sitting with her jean-clad legs dangling over the arms of the comfortable chair by her desk. She was studiously ignoring Clarisse's rather exasperated and pointed remarks on posture and clothing befitting a queen.
"We'll have the traditional Genovian dances first, of course, but then I want some of the ones I'M used to!" Mia declared.
"Like the one you did for me the day I gave you your first dance lesson?" Joseph asked gravely. "The one where your head bobbed like a doggie ..."
"No!" Mia interrupted him quickly, laughing in spite of herself. "But Joe, I gotta say, you ARE a divine dancer. No wonder Grandma fell in love with you ... you two danced a lot, didn't you? Hey, I think I read in a book something about dancing being like making out publicly on the dance floor. I think they were talking about waltzing. Something about the waltz being the dance of romance. Well, maybe it wasn't a book. Might have been a TV show." Then she turned to Clarisse. "Grandma, who taught you how to dance?"
"My father," Clarisse smiled. "Most of the dances, anyway. Rupert and I danced only a little as he was not fond of it. For many years, I only had a few duty dances with Rupert. For the most part, my dancing was confined to the traditional dances with the members of Parliament or some visiting royalty. To be honest," she admitted, "I always loved dancing, although Rupert said I danced more with grace than with liveliness. I never thought I would admit this, but I would have loved to sparkle and act the hoyden more often. However, first my parents and then Rupert drilled into me that a queen must always be in complete control of her emotions and her actions. Duty taught me discretion ... and control and discretion generally reigned even on the dance floor."
"Even when doing the Wango." interjected Joseph with a grin.
"You remember when I called it that, too, do you?" Mia asked Joseph. Without waiting for his answer, she plunged into telling Charlotte about her first lesson learning the Spanish dance which was supposedly a mixture of a waltz and a tango. "I called it a Wango, and Grandma just put her head in her hand as if she was giving up on me. But I managed to learn it pretty well, so now I can do it when I need to, which is just about every ball here! Must be your favourite dance, Joe, is it?"
"I believe it might be," Joseph agreed. "Especially since it was the first dance I ever had with your grandmother, and more importantly, it was also the first dance we shared after King Rupert's death."
Charlotte rather hesitantly mentioned intruding on Joseph and Clarisse when they were dancing alone in San Francisco five years ago. She admitted that she had watched for a moment, then had backed out unnoticed. "Is THAT what you are referring to as the Wango?" she asked curiously.
"Yes," Clarisse said. "Actually, that WAS the first time Joseph and I had danced together since Rupert's passing. Joseph had been starting to teach Mia how to dance and when she left for home, Joseph turned the music back on and drew me out onto the floor. It was ..." she broke off, then continued on a different tack. "I must say, I hadn't realized that we had been seen! Joseph taught me that dance many years ago."
"Clarisse was my first and, forgive me, Mia, my most apt pupil in the Wango."
Charlotte smiled at them both. "Watching the two of you for the few moments I did in San Francisco is when I first knew you were in love..."
"We weren't in love THEN!" Clarisse protested, faintly.
Joseph smiled. "Maybe not you, my dear. Actually, I never thought I would admit this, but dancing with you IS like making love in public."
"JOSEPH!" Clarisse's face flushed deeply when Mia and Charlotte laughed. "Honestly...with my reputation?"
"Your reputation back then as the Ice Queen, you mean?" He chuckled, and looked at Mia and Charlotte. "You may not be aware of it, but when I first came to the palace, I somehow had the reputation of a rascal. It was my darling Clarisse who persuaded her young husband to take me on. I believe she hoped deep down to be my saving grace. On the rare occasions that I was permitted to dance with her, you may be sure that it was I who would have to say, 'Honestly ... with my reputation?' The maids certainly had something to talk about the first time we danced publicly."
"Tell me!" Mia sat forward eagerly, and even Charlotte edged closer.
"It was a glorious night ..." Joe began.
"I thought it was awful!" put in Clarisse. She shuddered. "Raining a thunderstorm, actually it was cold, and the band was playing TERRIBLE music! No wonder Rupert was in such an ugly mood. He practically THREW me at Joseph and said that if I wanted to dance with such abandon, I could see how the ..." she broke off.
"...the peasants do it," Joe continued calmly. "I heard him. But I didn't care. I thought it was awful the way he treated you, especially when the whole episode was not your fault. Be that as it may, I was telling the story, Clarisse, not you. Now, ladies," and he smiled at Mia and Charlotte, "as I was saying, it was a glorious night. Clarisse was resplendent in a bright blue gown which was the exact colour of her eyes..."
"You even remember my dress?" Clarisse asked, wide-eyed.
"It was unforgettable, the way it molded to your figure and the plunging neckline which almost encased your ... er ... attributes."
"ALMOST?" Mia choked, laughing hysterically at her grandmother's indignant expression.
"It was one of those embarrassing moments," Clarisse muttered, her face red with the remembrance of that horrific dance with the Prime Minister of the day. "Lord Palimore was a little too exuberant with his swinging, and, well, I just ... fell out of my dress, you might say."
"Lord PALIMORE?" Mia repeated, tears streaming down her cheeks at the thought. "Oh, oh, oh, please, I'm so sore!" and she held herself while trying to stop laughing.
"I do believe that is when your grandmother began her love of roses," Joseph added. Seeing the question in Charlotte's dancing eyes, he elaborated. "I very quickly handed her the bouquet of roses in the vase near me, and she clasped them to her, er, bosom and made her escape to put herself to rights."
"Then, when Rupert thrust me into your arms after I returned, you had the nerve to say that the colour of the roses rather clashed with my gown," Clarisse challenged him. "I've never particularly liked the pink roses since."
"Is that why you have mostly mauve roses in the garden?" Mia asked.
"I suppose it is," Clarisse nodded.
"Please," Charlotte put in, "I'd like to hear the rest of the story about learning the Wango!"
"If my darling wife can keep her mouth shut, I shall endeavour to continue." Joseph said, looking severely but lovingly at Clarisse who narrowed her eyes and tilted her chin haughtily. "Well, the music for what is now known to us as the Wango, thanks to Mia, began to play. Clarisse stopped moving and murmured something about not knowing the dance. I merely chuckled and informed her that I had been born knowing how to do it and would have no difficulty whatsoever in teaching it to her, as she was a particularly graceful dancer."
"Aww, that's sweet, Joe," Mia grinned.
"Of course. Your grandmother was as attuned to music then as she is now, so I merely had to whisper the instructions, which she followed to the letter, I might add, and she managed the spin in with nary a bump."
"Ooh, low blow, Joe!" Mia grimaced. Charlotte looked a little puzzled, and Mia quickly said, "Never mind. Did your eyes meet and you both knew that you would never love anyone else ever again? Did you kiss her then?"
"Amelia! Might I remind you that I was married to your grandfather at the time?" Clarisse frowned at her grand-daughter.
"Oh, right." Mia sighed. "Okay. But I don't think it's fair that Charlotte got to see you dancing together for the first time after Grandfather Rupert died. SHE said you two were drowning in each other's eyes ..."
"WHAT?" Clarisse and Joe exclaimed together, looking at Charlotte who squeaked and hid her scarlet face behind her hands.
"You weren't supposed to say anything like that, your Majesty!" Charlotte protested in a muffled voice. "And I DIDN'T say that! I only said yes when you ASKED if it was like that!"
"Grandma, Joe ... I have the CD somewhere here ...please, will you dance it just for me?" Mia begged.
"Now?" Clarisse questioned.
"Please? Just 'cause I'm asking? Charlotte won't mind, will you?" Mia looked at Charlotte, who was still trying to hide her face from the others. "Come on ... please?" Jumping up, Mia rummaged through her CD's and finally waved one triumphantly in the air. "Got it!"
Sighing audibly, Clarisse allowed Joseph to pull her to her feet. Mia started the music and pulled some of the chairs out of the way as the two began to dance. Mia went over and perched on the arm of the chair where Charlotte was watching, and both were entranced to see the older couple losing themselves in the music and each other.
"They're so sweet together, aren't they, Charlotte?" Mia whispered.
"Yes, your Majesty, they really are. I'm so glad you orchestrated that wedding!" was Charlotte's almost inaudible response.
"Me, too." Then Mia looked at her watch. "Darn. We've got to go, Charlotte. Don't I have a meeting in a couple of minutes?"
"Oh! I'm sorry, your Majesty! I completely let it escape me ..." Charlotte jumped to her feet, horrified at the neglect of her duties.
"Shhh!"
As the two crept out the door, Mia looked back and for a moment Joseph lifted his head and caught her eye, winking before he looked back at his lovely wife.
Charlotte shut the door firmly. "Queen Clarisse doesn't approve of spying or eavesdropping, you know."
"But Queen Mia is dying to finish seeing this dance," Mia argued, "and they won't know if we just open the door a crack and peek in!"
"Your Majesty ..." Charlotte's protests died away as Mia carefully turned the knob and put her head against the door.
Looking up suddenly, Mia caught Charlotte with an expression of longing and hesitation on her face as she chewed her lower lip. Mia grinned. "I won't tell if you won't!" she whispered conspiratorially.
Charlotte threw up her hands in resignation, and leaned in to peek as well. The two watched Joseph and Clarisse dancing, their bodies moving perfectly in time to the music spilling out into the room. As the music for the Wango faded, and waltz music took its place, the two dancers continued, completely oblivious to anyone who might be watching. Mia privately thought that every movement the couple made was poetry in motion. As far as Clarisse and Joseph were concerned, they were the only two in the whole world, let alone the room.
Just as Mia and Charlotte were about to close the door, they heard Clarisse say dreamily to Joseph, "Joseph, darling, you're right. Dancing with you is like making love in public."
Suppressing their giggles, Mia and Charlotte fled.