Seb did not miss the way the lady bit her lower lip and his blue gaze zero’d in on it, momentarily distracted. He tried to trace the action through countless memories, hoping it might stir something— anything— but it did not. All he could say was that she was pretty, from what he could see of her at least, and that didn’t help him at all. (Because of course she would be, if he had anything to do with it.) He resisted the urge to comment or ask, or even make assumptions as to why she felt inclined to do such a thing here and now, and instead turned his attention to the Valenduris women. His companion was graceful in her subtlety, he could note that much. She did not whip her head around, merely casting a cursory glance to take in what it was he’d indicated. So upperclass was certainly looking more promising and that was a helpful enough detail. It ruled out the one person that had been niggling at him, somewhere down near the base of his spine. (Besides, it’s not like she could have managed an event like this; Irene had always been a bit of a bull, or maybe that was just how Sebastian wanted to remember her…) Pursing his lips he inclined his head noncommittally at the woman’s response. “I don’t,” he clipped petulantly. “Red is such a garish, attention drawing color and blonde much too common.” The woman’s tone did nothing to dissuade him either. Perhaps she had a sister with unseemly hair; he wasn’t pressed.
The music continued to turn them about the marble floor and Sebastian wondered if his prying questions would get them anywhere. He supposed he could ask her outright, or find a delicate way to tug her mask off and see if he recognized her, but he didn’t want to be such a brute. He had something of a reputation to uphold, even if he wasn’t doing the best job of it. Her response caught him off guard then and some ground seemed won, momentarily. “Seems like an awful experience?” He echoed. Had she not been through it herself? Or was it so long ago now she didn’t quite remember? “With an aura as magnificent as yours, I can’t imagine you ever being out of it,” he chirped. The spotlight, of course. He grinned teasingly at her, as if sharing some private joke. “Is your husband terribly jealous then?” Jealous enough not to let her out and about too often? She seemed perfectly comfortable ‘in these types of settings’ so it had to be a situation of lost opportunity. “I know I would be.”