- This chapter opens with the funeral service for Ella's mother. Cheery.
- Apparently, the High Chancellor's speech is pretty boring. Ella's weirded out to be around her father, who insists on holding her hand as though he hasn't ignored her for her entire life.
- The casket is beautiful, with carvings of fairies and elves, but Ella isn't in much of a mood to appreciate it.
- In fact, she breaks down crying in front of the whole court, and her father tells her to leave until she can be quiet.
- Her father doesn't even know about the curse, because he's apparently kind of a dunce. Still, for once, she's happy to obey an order.
- She runs into the graveyard and hugs a tree while thinking about all the stuff she misses doing with her mom, like sliding down banisters. Some mom, right?
- Oh, surprise! The prince is hanging out there as well. He's two years older than her and tells her to call him Char, rather than Charmont (which we can all agree sounds rather stuffy).
- The prince walks Ella back to her mother's grave. Along the way, he tells her that he always liked her mother; she used to make him laugh. Also, their cooks gossip together, so he's heard that Ella is funny and inventive and, oh yeah, clumsy.
- Back at the grave, Ella's father calls her by her full name: Eleanor. It was also her mother's name. No way, she says: she's Ella.
- She rips her skirt getting into the carriage, which the prince finds funny. Oh, yeah, hilarious. But it's okay: it's a nice laugh.
- Ella's father seems keen on the fact that the prince was friendly to her but not too bummed that his wife is dead. Nice guy, eh?