The floor was tiled with white marble, and the two-story walls were lined with Ionic columns. Huge windows filled the far wall, surrounded by heavy, gold-colored drapery tied back with large tassels. It was dark outside, and since there was no surrounding light I guessed the location of this place to be somewhere in the country. I looked up, amazed by the glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling—I’d never seen a chandelier so large in my life. But the strangest thing about it was that instead of being electric, it was lit by candles. I didn’t have time to think about it anymore, because people started to appear, blurry at first, and gradually coming into focus. They were dancing, and dressed from a different time. The women wore long, flowing dresses with empire waists, and the men wore fancy tuxedos and jackets. Most of the dresses were pastel, with puffy sleeves, and lots of the girls wore gloves that went up to their elbows. Many of them wore ribbons around their waists that tied in the back and went down the length of their dresses.
