A/N: Thanks so much to Laylah - my first commenter! Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter as it introduces another character - again not mine.

Paris Opera House - Paris, France 1849

A steady buzz filled the ballet dormitories of the Paris Opera House, one night in early April 1849. The young girls who were training to become dancers had worked incredibly hard during the past few weeks. After putting on a performance of great magnificence, the ballet instructor, Madame Ombre had agreed to let the girls visit a traveling gypsy fair that had come from Eastern Europe to Paris. It was so rare that Madame Ombre allowed the girls to have a night to themselves, much less letting them leave the Opera House. And the stories that the older male stagehands told of gypsies mystified and intrigued the young ballet dancers.

They bustled around the dressing rooms, making last minute preparations and stuffing a few francs in their pockets. "Hurry now," said one girl, tying up her long curls. "You all know how Madame gets when we're late."

"Speaking of late," said another as she pulled on her overcoat. "Shouldn't someone go find Adele? She's always late for everything!" A group of girls that stood nearby her nodded and groaned.

"I'll go find her," came a faint voice. All the girls turned to see Marie Lambert standing in the doorway. They all exchanged unsure glances.

The second girl who had spoken, Lisette d'Arbre, scoffed a bit, then said, "You might as well. Go on."

Marie spun on her heels and hurried down the corridor that led to the sleeping quarters. The girl's dark locks were pulled back into a simple ponytail that swayed back and forth as she ran down the abandoned dormitory hall. "Adele! Adele, où est tu? Where are you?"

"Je suis ici, Marie," came a voice from the sleeping quarters. "I'm here." Marie poked her head in the doorway to see a tall, thin girl of about sixteen lacing up the front of her burgundy bodice. Her long, blonde hair had been pulled back and twisted into a tight bun.

"Oh Adele," pleaded Marie, as she entered the room. "Hurry, please. Madame Ombre is becoming quite flustered."

Adele let out a long sigh as she donned her faded gray cape. Then as she slipped into her flat-soled shoes, said, "I'm coming as fast as I can." She snatched up her drawstring bag of her saved francs. With one final tug on her wine-colored skirt, she glanced up at Marie, "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."

The two friends hurried back down the hallways of the Opera House and joined the small group of their fellow dancers that stood in a circle around their petite dance instructor, Madame Cecile Ombre. Madame Ombre's bony hands tightened around her thick shawl that draped around her tiny shoulders. Her beady eyes narrowed at the sight of the two girls. "Adele Dubois and Marie Lambert, I might have known. If you had been a second later, I'd see to it that all of your visitation privileges outside of this Opera House were withheld for the rest of the year. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Madame," the girls whispered softly as they hung their heads.

Madame Ombre then returned her attention to the group. She cleared her raspy throat, then spoke, "The evening is yours. You may spend your francs however you see fit. But if every, single, one of you is not back in the dormitories at precisely eleven o'clock this evening, the entire company will have an extra hour of practice tomorrow. Is that understood?" A chorus of "Oui, Madame" was heard. Madame Ombre smiled dryly. "Bien, now I will take you to the fair grounds. From there, you will be on your own."

A/N: Don't forget to review!