Publisher's Synopsis
The Story: When Baron Beaumont marries a plump widow, seventeen years after the death of his first wife in childbirth, he discovers his new wife comes with some appalling baggage: two very ugly daughters who are immediately jealous of the Baron's beautiful daughter, Ella Beaumont. When Ella's father is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit, the ugly stepsisters Ermentrude and Agatha De Ville take full advantage of the situation. Ella is demoted to the role of kitchen maid and prevented from attending the Royal Ball held in June. King Louis is hosting the ball to allow his shy son, Ferdinand, to meet some pretty girls. After the ugly sisters have left for the palace with high hopes of meeting some rich lord, Ella has an amazing spiritual encounter and is given the lost key to her dead mother's bedroom, a room that had been locked for many years. After the unexpected arrival of her Aunt Althea, Ella is dressed for the ball and with the assistance of Althea's coach is delivered to the palace. There, Prince Ferdinand is captivated by her beauty and some very extraordinary things occur. Set in the later eighteenth century, prior to the French revolution, real and fictional events are intermingled in a lively and entertaining manner.
