Ugh. Ezra hadn't particularly wanted to waltz with anyone, and he certainly didn't want to put his name down on anyone's card for the last dance of the evening; it closed off the possibility of being able to leave early, if he needed to. Not that he was expecting to have to leave the event early, but it was good to keep the option on the table. If the shadows got too close, it was better to quietly go home than to cause a scene the way his brother had at the Museum party last summer. But obviously that wasn't an excuse he could use in casual conversation, and he didn't have a ready cover story for why he might not be able to stay until the end of the night. There was nothing for it but to accept.
This was Rosalie's fault. If he'd been left to his own devices he could have asked for a specific dance, the next dance or the one after, and then if neither were free he could exit the conversation with some grace intact. Now if he refused it was going to look rude — and he didn't know what Priscilla would make of him anyway, given that he'd started trying to leave and then immediately after said he was planning to ask for a dance. Not that he cared what Priscilla thought of him, particularly, but if she was on a first-name basis with Rosalie they might discuss the matter later, and he cared very much what she said about him to Miss Hunniford.
"I'd be delighted," he agreed, with a flash of a smile at the young woman — a little too fleeting to be genuine, but otherwise a passable approximation of charm. He reached to take her card, holding it delicately so as not to pull her wrist. The number of blanks on it surprised him for a moment — why had Rosalie said the last dance, if she had so many free? Purely out of spite, to ensure he couldn't keep talking to her now? To ensure that Rosalie had enough time to talk to Priscilla first, maybe, warn her off so that they couldn't possibly enjoy their dance together?
"Oh, but I couldn't allow you to sit out the quadrille," he said, tapping the blank space she had for the dance after next. "If your mother's mystery man doesn't claim it, I hope you'll come back to find me?"
There, he thought with a burst of spite. Two dances in the same evening, Rosalie, what would you think of that?
This was Rosalie's fault. If he'd been left to his own devices he could have asked for a specific dance, the next dance or the one after, and then if neither were free he could exit the conversation with some grace intact. Now if he refused it was going to look rude — and he didn't know what Priscilla would make of him anyway, given that he'd started trying to leave and then immediately after said he was planning to ask for a dance. Not that he cared what Priscilla thought of him, particularly, but if she was on a first-name basis with Rosalie they might discuss the matter later, and he cared very much what she said about him to Miss Hunniford.
"I'd be delighted," he agreed, with a flash of a smile at the young woman — a little too fleeting to be genuine, but otherwise a passable approximation of charm. He reached to take her card, holding it delicately so as not to pull her wrist. The number of blanks on it surprised him for a moment — why had Rosalie said the last dance, if she had so many free? Purely out of spite, to ensure he couldn't keep talking to her now? To ensure that Rosalie had enough time to talk to Priscilla first, maybe, warn her off so that they couldn't possibly enjoy their dance together?
"Oh, but I couldn't allow you to sit out the quadrille," he said, tapping the blank space she had for the dance after next. "If your mother's mystery man doesn't claim it, I hope you'll come back to find me?"
There, he thought with a burst of spite. Two dances in the same evening, Rosalie, what would you think of that?
![[Image: 5WWaDR1.png]](https://i.imgur.com/5WWaDR1.png)