Victor's smile went a little lopsided at that remark. "Perhaps," he allowed. He had initially wondered if she'd kissed him because she liked him or because she had plans to trap him, but given her demeanor since then he had settled on it being the former. Just because she was suitably charmed at the moment didn't mean that she would remain enamored of him in the future, though, at least not without some effort on his part.

"Or perhaps after yesterday you think me more of a romantic than I am, and I'll be obliged to step up my performance in order to satisfy your expectations." It had become clear by now that they could expect nothing in the way of actual oversight from her chaperone, and consequentially Victor was eyeing the vacant seat next to her on the couch. He moved there on the pretense of adding an extra bit of sugar to his cup of tea, then let his arm edge closer to her when he leaned back into the cushions. He offered her a mischievous smile. "In fact, it's possible I'll outperform myself at every juncture, and you'll have to see me less and less often as I take increasingly long periods trying to plan how to impress you. For today... I'm not much familiar with this part of the countryside. Perhaps after our tea we could go for a stroll?"

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