En route to the ball - a historical nano tale

hello,
I'm still surfing the fast track of inspiration, so, here is another NANO TALE. A bit of adventure  now...

En route to the ball

Princesse de Broglie, por JA Dominique Ingres, 1853

Dominique sighed in frustration. So much she had demanded, planned, bristled to assure she’d be absolutely perfect. That ball was so important, so influential and… There she was, rooted to the drawing room watching ladies run to use bordaloues behind the divider screen or mantua makers’ assistants mend and stitch cheap dresses. One more sigh, this one almost audible. Maybe she could snooze on her feet leaned on a tall chair’s back, immense as it was her ennui. She had spent the pin money her dad had given her for the season solely to secure the best seamstress in the fashionable quarter, chosen fabric, lace and stones, all in vain: every uncivil gentleman in the nation was present in the ballroom, her white sleepers already reached the ugliest shades of grey. How many steps did she take on her toes took for accepting company for two dances? Oh, dear Heavens, too many.
The arrival of the biggest gossip in the neighborhood propelled Dominique to move, she realized her idle presence in the drawing room suggested her dress was also of low quality – if she couldn’t leave the emergency mantua makers, she should really be dressed in rags! She stood up, ran her hands on her summer sky blue satin skirts and left using the balcony. There, one mere step off the shelter, she stopped. There was a card on the floor. She made an effort to distinguish the tiny letters without the aid of the spectacles safely hidden inside her reticule (from where she’d never ever take them during a ball) and noticed another, a few steps ahead. With care, as if it might bite her, she stooped controlling the many layers of petticoats and took both cards; equal but each folded in a different corner. She then saw another, and a few more. It was a fairytale trail! So enchanted, she wasn’t aware of her direct path towards the lord of the mansion’s chamber. That was when, on seeing the man’s shadow alone in the room turned towards her, Dominique read the cards in her hand.

*the end*

So?...
Ah, the adventures of long skirts and top hats... 

Curiosities, shall we?
-Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn, Princesse de Broglie is in the Met... Great place to live!
-In reality, there were these side rooms in great balls where seamstress and assistants waited to mend dresses and solve emergencies. All dresses were sewn by hand, any sudden move coud cause a catastrophe! 
-Bourdaloue was the little device used by a lady outside from home. Almost a creamer - hahaha - it was easy to fit between the legs inside those many skirts and could be used in a jiff. Those little pots, the bourdaloues were colored, designed, very feminine little trinkets.

Jane Austen World

François Boucher no LBCHistorical

-The cards existed! Yeah!... Flirt cards (the one above came from shewalkssoftly) were pretty popular. What gal, right? It was a kind of Tinder! So direct! I love them, have many saved.

A Mays

A Mays

The image I get is the worst kind of catcall we can get on the street, or a professional like the movie bellow... Ew...

pinterest

Could it be some kind of escort service? Friends with benefits kind-of-stuff? 
Couldn't find dates, but  'cable address' suggests turn of XIX century. Right?

Anyways...
For other NANO TALES, come here.

See ya.