Tommy stayed there with Lady Floor for the rest of the day. As the day went on, her ill and pale complexion seemed to slowly return to normal.

 "Are you feeling any better?" he asked. "You don't look as ill anymore."

 "I am beginning to feel better," she replied. "I'm happy to hear you had a good visit with your brother and his friends. I actually do understand that you wanted you spend a little time at your old home. You must have missed it terribly while you were here."

 "I did miss it," Tommy replied. "But longer I spent here with you, the less I began to miss it. When we began to be friends, I felt less lonely. I've come to like it here, honestly."

 "Have you? I...really didn't think anyone ever would." She looked out the window. "The sun is setting. You should go down to the dining room and have supper. You must be hungry by now."

 "What about you?"

 "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow, Tommy."

 "All right. Goodnight, Lady Floor."

 She nodded. "Goodnight."

~~~~~~

 When Tommy got up the next morning, he decided to go to Lady Floor's room first to check on her and see if she was feeling any better. He knocked on the door and called, "Lady Floor? Are you awake?"

 There was no answer, so he tried again. "Lady Floor?"

 When he heard nothing, not a sound, he turned the doorknob and slowly opened it. "Lady Floor, are you here?"

 He opened the door open the entire way to find that her bed was empty. In fact, the entire room was empty. There was no one there.

 Tommy spent most of the rest of the day wandering around the castle and the grounds, looking for her. There were so many places she could be, but everywhere he looked, she wasn't there. She had seemed to be recovering, so perhaps she was feeling better and simply got out of bed, and he just couldn't find her. He didn't want to think about something worse happening to her.

 As the sun was setting, Tommy slowly walked back into the castle. All day, he had looked for Lady Floor, and she was nowhere. Something must have happened to her. He could only hope whatever was wrong with her hadn't killed her.

 So, when he walked into the dining room, he was shocked to find Lady Floor herself sitting at her usual place.

 "Good evening, Tommy," she said with a smile. "How was your day?"

 He stood, shocked, staring at her. She seemed perfectly well, and not ill at all.

 "I thought you were dead!" he cried. "I looked for you all day!"

 She raised her eyebrows. "You did? I thought you would have assumed I had recovered. I awoke earlier than usual this morning feeling much better. I didn't want to wake you. You hardly ever saw during the day, so I didn't think that...you worried about me." Behind her mask, her eyes seemed to soften. "I'm terribly sorry I worried you so."

 He sighed and sat down in his chair. "Well, I know now you're alive. I hated to think you could be dead."

 Lady Floor stared at him for several seconds before saying, "Tommy, I know I've asked you this before, but you were clearly unprepared then. You are now. So, Tommy, will you marry me?"

 Tommy stared back at her before nodding and saying, "Yes, I will."

 Each one of them broke into a smile. But before they could do anything else, Lady Floor's smile disappeared, and she pressed her hand against her forehead.

 "What is it?" Tommy asked her.

 "I-I don't know. It's my head, my hands." They both looked down at her hands to see her long fingernails begin to shorten and disappear.

 Tommy rushed to her side, since she looked like she might faint. He took her by the arm, and helped her to stand upright. He held her hand in his, and he saw that the fingernails had shrunk down to a normal length. 

 Sensing what seemed to be happening, he reached over and gently pulled off her mask.

 "What is it?" she asked.

 "I think you'll want to look in a mirror and see for yourself," he replied.

 She seemed to sense it, too. She gently pulled out of his grasp and hurried to the mirror which hung in a nearby hallway. She gasped when she saw her reflection, and she looked like she might cry.

 "That was it, wasn't it?" Tommy asked. "That was how I had to break your curse. We had to fall in love."

 She smiled. "Yes. And you did."

 She pulled him close and kissed him passionately.