Chapter 2 - THE FIRST STEP ON THIN ICE"Play," Alexander Vance commanded the silent orchestra balcony. "Play the waltz. The Danube. Now."
The conductor snapped out of his trance, and a slow melody filled the massive room. Leo kept his center of gravity low. With his left hand holding Clara’s right, he placed his dirty right hand gently behind her shoulder blades.
"On three," Leo whispered. "One... Two... Three."
Leo didn't lift her with brute force. He leaned back, using his own body weight as a counter-balance. Clara felt a sudden, prickling heat run down from her lower back, through her hips, and into her thighs. She gasped out loud.
Tap.
The leather sole of her right shoe touched the marble floor.
"She's standing?" a nobleman whispered in disbelief.
"She's hanging on him!" another voice hissed.
"Shut up!" Alexander roared at the crowd. "Silence!"
Leo took a step backward with his left foot. Clara’s right hip twitched.
Step.
Her right foot swung forward on its own, planting firmly against the ground to catch her balance. It wasn't graceful, but it was an independent step. Her brain had sent a signal, and her leg had answered.
"Did you see that?!" a doctor in the crowd gasped. "That was an active motor contraction!"
Alexander fell to his knees on the polished floor, tears blinding his vision. "Clara..."
Leo moved back again. Clara took another step. Then another. They were dancing—a slow sway in the center of a grand room between a dirty boy with muddy feet and a broken heiress.
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Suddenly, the heavy mahogany doors burst open. Four men in dark raincoats stepped into the room, flanked by six armed city constables. At the front stood a tall, pale man with a silver-topped cane—Lord Richard Vance, Alexander’s younger brother.
"Stop this charlatan at once!" Richard bellowed, pointing his cane at Leo. "Guards, arrest that boy! He is an escaped subject from the Saint Jude Asylum for the Criminally Insane!"
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