Basil was impervious to the flickering emotions of anxiety that seemed to overtake the lady’s pretty visage even as he spoke. He didn’t want to upset her, obviously, but he was starting to think she really wasn’t taking him seriously at all! The quip about being drunk furrowed his brow entirely, but Basil rather liked the sound of ‘darling.’ It was an endearment they’d passed between them so many times before, merely as friends, but… well… he could imagine himself being her darling if she just paused a moment to listen to what he was actually saying!

Talk of snacks and lemonade fell on deaf ears as Basil realized the lady was trying to pull back. “Victoire please,” he insisted. “It’s not easy for me to be so forthcoming. Just… listen a moment.” Here he released her hand and made to lace his fingers behind his back to keep from being forceful. If she wasn’t going to hear him, there certainly wasn’t anything Basil could do but keep imploring. He’d get down on one knee and beg her to marry him if he had to, but somehow he imagined that might not be so convincing either.

Taking a step closer so that they were only a mouse length apart now, he kept his hands trained behind his back. “I am not drunk,” he whispered. “I only ask that you give me one chance, please, and if you really tell me you don’t feel it too then… I will step aside willingly and die a broken-hearted bachelor.” He let a soft laugh bubble up, twisted with anguish as it was. Cold fingers came up to ghost just by her cheek again, touching only lightly, and brushing a ginger curl that had come loose.

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