"Oh, just look at you Ben! You've been fighting haven't you? Oh just think what your parents will say! You have taken it too far, young man!" Mrs Potts kept on scolding Ben for his injuries. She had yet to know who he fought and why.

"What have you got to say for yourself, Ben?" Finally! Mrs Potts wanted an explanation.

"I'm so sorry, Mrs Potts. I got into a fight with one of the boys, Danton, because he was trying to hurt Ada. She cried for help and everything. I was just protecting her. It won't happen again." He said apologetically. "Can you do anything to prevent mom and dad from finding out?" Ben asked hopefully.

Mrs Potts' firm expression softened when Ben explained what happened. Soon, she had a faint smile playing on her lips. She thought for a moment, then said, "As a matter of fact, I do have something for those cuts and bruises. Come with me, but be quiet about it."

Ben followed the maid through the castle until she reached her room, where she pulled out an antibiotics box. She quickly tended to his sure-to-form bruises, then put antibiotics on the cuts and splits on his face. "There. They should be fine by tomorrow. The bruises will show up, but only a fraction of what they would've been if you hadn't come to me. Let's hope your parents don't notice. If they do, just say you were walking in the garden and tripped into a hedge, ok?"

Ben readily agreed. Once again, he was thankful that Mrs Potts was on his side.

"Oh, and Ben, I'm going to be in the village in about two weeks' time. So you have to come home early if you don't want to be caught. Your parents will be there too." Mrs Potts added.

"Why are you going to the village? What's happening in two weeks' time?" Ben inquired.

"My goodness, Ben! I think you might've taken too many hits from that 'Danton' boy." She said with a very amused smile. "It's the village dance! You should know that! We've been talking about it for months now." Now she was chuckling.

The village dance! How did I forget? Ada's probably going… He stopped short. Ada. I should invite Ada to the dance! Maybe she'll say YES!

Mrs Potts' laugh interrupted his thoughts. "I know that you're thinking of asking Ada to the dance. And yes, you can ask her." She said with a smile. "You can go but ONLY if she says yes, ok Ben?"

Ben felt like jumping for joy. He was going to ask Ada to the dance.

Ben couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

Ada knew what she wanted to do to complete her music box. She knew what she was going to paint on the top of the box to make it perfect. But not now. Not yet. She had to wait for the perfect moment to make it work.

She was home alone again, and even eagerly waiting for Ben's visit. She heard a knock on the door, and remembering what happened last time, cautiously crept over and peeked through the hole.

It was Ben.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and opened the door with a wide smile.

Ben returned the smile. "Do you want to walk around the village today? Get a bit of fresh air?" he said with a lop-sided smile.

Ada was pleasantly surprised with this offer, and happily agreed. She ran inside to get some money if needed, and then they went for the walk. The air was crisp and cool, and the pair walked in a comfortable silence.

Ben was the first to speak as they sat under a tree.

"Danton given you any more trouble?" he asked softly, so as not to bring back too many bad memories.

"No, I think that you scared him off yesterday. When he sees me he just moves away with a scowl." She said with a smile. Then she added fearfully, "I think he might be planning to hurt you. I don't want that to happen."

Time to ask her. "He won't. Because we'll be surrounded by lots of people."

"When?"

"In two weeks' time. At the village dance. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me. Danton won't be able to hurt us, if he even tries, because we'll have so many people around that he won't be able to get near us. What do you say?"

Ada was silent. Ben wondered if he'd come on too strong. If he was being too confident that they would be safe.

Then she smiled softly, linking her arm around his, and leaning her head on his shoulder. Ben was blushing like mad. She had never touched him like this in the time that he'd known her.

"That sounds wonderful." She said dreamily. "Yes, I will go to the dance with you Ben."

She could almost feel his face light up with joy.

He rested his head on hers. They stayed like that for a long time both thinking the same thing:

Two weeks can't come any faster.