August 31st, 1891 — Theatre - La Travieta

She hadn’t been dreading this per se, but unsure as to what Mister Foxwood remembered of their interaction in the gardens, of the fool she had made of herself, practically throwing herself at him she was not eager for this first meeting.  She half expected him to admonish her publicly for kissing him, or make some comment so that the world would know how embarrassed she ought to be. 

Natsuko, of course, had met Poppy since the incident, telling her nothing of the liberties she had taken with her cousin, but trying to make it clear to the other girl that she believed that any notion Poppy may have had for a future between Suki and her cousin was gone, not least of which because of the deal she had with her Aunt.  Inspite of that, she had no intention of cutting Poppy off, of losing Poppy’s society because Natsuko had behaved poorly with her cousin.  If that meant seeing Mister Foxwood on a regular basis and learning to live with that embarrassment, then so be it. 

Still, she knew this first proper meeting would be hardest, and being stuck in so small and so intimate a space, as the opera box, all evening was probably the worst possible circumstances.  Ida and Poppy had had horrible months, and it was hardly surprising when both had needed to excuse themselves, Miss Valendurs, Mister Chang and Mister Valenduris had followed them to help. As the hostess she couldn't run out of the box without causing a scene, leaving herself and Mister Foxwood alone in the box. Her Chaperone, her grandmothers maid, was sound asleep in the box.

Had it been a ball, she might have, engineered a full dance card – something to ensure that they needn’t pass more than polite friendly words, but the 8 of them in their box made contact unavoidable, and on the basis that it was unavoidable, like any good battle she thought it best to tackle it head on.  ‘Good evening Mister Foxwood’ she greeted, her most serene and cordial smile on her face, hoping to god he couldn’t sense the depth of her discomfort. 

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