COVENT GARDEN
Two snow-white horses drew the elegant carriage up to the marble steps of
London's Covent Garden Opera House as the crowd of onlookers craned their necks
to see who was arriving in such vintage splendor. The coachman opened the door
and Gene Marshall appeared...and a sigh of adoration swept through the crowd at
the magical, storybook vision she made in her breathtaking gown. Gene gracefully
descended from the carriage on the hand of her escort in a luminous, trailing
cloud of white. She floated up the marble stairs to the soaring white columns of
the Opera House entrance as flashbulbs popped like stars. The opera was one of Gene's favorites: Rossini's La Cenerentola, the story of
Cinderella. After the final curtain Gene was on cloud nine, the rapturous glory
of the romantic music still echoing in her heart. She was so entranced that she
didn't even notice her laced velvet shoe had loosened until it slipped right off
her foot on the marble steps upon leaving the opera house! Her escort--a dear
friend and occasional leading man--gallantly retrieved the dainty shoe and laced
it back on as Gene steadied herself with a hand on his shoulder. Neither of them
thought any more about the incident until the morning newspapers blazoned their
photograph with the headline "Cinderella at the Opera!" The article
gushed over Gene's beauty, comparing her own "rags-to-riches" story to
the classic fairytale--and even suggested that England's new two-week old prince
would fall madly in love with her at first sight!
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