We sat together in front of the fireplace embroidering napkins. Una was much faster than me, her stitches neat and uniform. āItās a shame,ā my mother remarked as she held up my work, āYour buttonhole stitches look square. I donāt know how you do it.ā
āEverything I do is cornered,ā I tried not to look up and failed.
āYou donāt have to do it,ā Mother crumpled the napkin, letting it fall into the basket of scraps, āUna could finish the set for you.ā
I waited until she left the room to retrieve my napkin, āI like my work.ā Folding it into quarters, I placed it on top of Unaās three, the buttonholes perfect yellow suns in each corner.
āWork puts the song in my heart,ā Una began to hum. Her voice was a bird-like soprano that made mine sound like a child playing violin.
āWell, youāll have lots more of it coming your way with the princeās bal masquĆ©. It will be, āUna, polish the doorknobs. Una, take in this bodice. Una, clean the fireplace.ā Because you know, the prince will somehow see our cinders,ā I stuck myself with a needle and winced.
āI would love to see a bal masquĆ©. Perhaps I should attend,ā Una finished another napkin.
āIf you wore gloves and a very high-necked gown I suppose you could,ā a smile pricked at the edges of my mouth, āOh, and if thereās a conversation you donāt understand, giggle and fan yourself.ā
āI will understand.ā
āWhat if itās about shipping or smithing? I can only follow conversations about clocks. Last dance I told William how to fix his pocket watch. He wouldnāt speak to me for the rest of the night. I should have giggled and fanned, but he makes all my edges come out.ā
āI will court the prince and rule the world.ā
I set my half-finished embroidery on the arm of the settee and fished the key out of my pocket. āCould you pick up the green floss?ā
Una leaned forward and I slotted the key in her back. āYou always keep me well wound,ā Unaās fingers closed around a skein of floss, āDo you need this color, or are you giggling and fanning.ā
āAh,ā blush crept into my cheeks, āI have been found out.ā I turned the key anyway. At least she hadnāt noticed that I always wound her when she said strange things. Iām going to subjugate all humankind. Wind. Someday I will open up Father and see what makes him tick. Wind.
āWilliam,ā Unaās voice slurred, āWill he be at the bal masquĆ©?ā
āI suppose.ā Just thinking of him made me feel sharp. A week ago he had given me a glove, the button torn off the cuff. It sat neglected underneath a half-stitched handkerchief.
The glove stayed there over the remaining months, and I forgot its presence as preparations for the bal masquƩ reached a fever pitch. The entire house was cleaned from the eaves all the way down to the root cellar. Una had no time to do anything other than chores. Even the last-minute alterations had to be done by me and Mother so Una could continue scrubbing.
So it was with regret that I took my place across from my parents in the carriage. Una would not be able to attend.
The carriage rattled its way over the cobblestones, the inside lit like a giant jack-oā-lantern. Children waved from windows, standing on tip-toe to catch a glimpse of a feathered mask.
The castle rose out of the skyline, its turrets towering over the surrounding buildings. We rumbled onto a drive that circled a statue of a lion, its head thrown back mid roar. Carriages halted, one behind the other, and a footman opened the door and placed the step. Between the darkness of night, my skirts, and the edges of my mask, I could see very little until we arrived at the ballroom.
The ballroom seemed to throb with color and voices. I recognized no one, and I found myself staring at the shed feathers that lay on the floor. I was counting them when a man approached me.
āMay I have this dance?ā
āIt would be . . . ā I stopped mid-curtsy. He wore only one glove, and through his tri-color mask, I could make out the sparkle of recognition in his eyes. āYou could have worn another set of gloves,ā I took his hand.
āI am still waiting for a certain lady to repair my other one,ā William rested his other hand on my waist.
āNo gentleman would want a glove repaired by that lady. Somehow she will get your button crooked.ā
William laughed. āI shall wear it anyways because her stitches show her esteem,ā he waltzed me over to one of the grand staircases. There was a woman descending it and her costume caught my eye.
āOh look,ā I gasped, āHer dress is clock themed.ā Interconnected gears were stitched all over her gown and her mask was made of moving clock parts.
āAt first I thought that was you,ā William steered me under the stair, ābut it was only Una.ā
āUna?ā
āYes, I spoke to her.ā
āOh no, I didnāt bring her key. What if she winds down and canāt move?ā
āThen you can fetch her,ā William tightened his grip on my hand, ābut for now you are my partner and thereās something important Iāve need to tell you.ā
āImportant?ā My eyes were on the man to whom Una was speaking. I couldnāt be certain, but he had a royal bearing.
āI have been thinking about . . . is that a clock?ā William wasnāt the only one who turned. Everyone swiveled, their eyes searching for the source of the bonging.
Out of force of habit, I counted them. āTwelve oāclock,ā I stepped on Williamsās foot as the crowd shifted, āIt isnāt though.ā
āUnaās gone,ā William looked to the door, āLetās go.ā
We pushed through the crowd, past the prince, his hands cupped around a shoe made of watch bezels and domed glass. Una was waiting for us under the lion, posed on the bare mechanism of her unshod foot, the other lifted in the air. William helped me load her into his carriage.
He didnāt remove his mask until he sat on the carriage seat across from me. I cradled Unaās head in my lap.
āI have been thinking about who you fancy,ā William rapped on the top of the carriage. It moved forward with a jerk.
āNo one.ā
āNo, thereās someone you think of always. And I realized Iām jealous of Una,ā he shifted on the bench, āI wish that you thought that often of me.ā
āBut William, have you thought of how it is to be her, to be stuck in a body that must constantly be wound, to be regarded as an item instead of a person?ā
āI think,ā he rested his head in his hands, āthat we should not speak again for a while.ā
āYes,ā I blinked hard, the cogs on Unaās gown blurring until they resembled a series of squares, each stitch a repetition that I could not escape, āwe bring out the worst in each other.ā