Her father had no particular fondness for the unnecessary frivolities of any costume parties, but Mattie had already decided they would be too fun to miss, so she had wheedled an aunt into coming with her, and had swiftly separated from her to spend more time chatting with her friends.
She had come in an adapted red dress, spotted and with a new black bodice, to resemble a ladybird* without looking entirely ugly, and supposing the brightness would help her to stand out. So far, she seemed to be doing well enough – and here came another gentleman. Not one she had yet met. That meant she had to pay more attention; she had not yet struck him off her list of prospects and intrigues like some.
“Miss Matilda Farris, and certainly,” she agreed easily, offering him her dance card at her wrist to write his name upon. Because she had not heard of him particularly, and could not see his writing from this angle – and because a minute without something witty to say was a minute wasted, Mattie inquired playfully: “And is that Knight as in the dark kind, or the chivalrous one?”
*something a bit like this
She had come in an adapted red dress, spotted and with a new black bodice, to resemble a ladybird* without looking entirely ugly, and supposing the brightness would help her to stand out. So far, she seemed to be doing well enough – and here came another gentleman. Not one she had yet met. That meant she had to pay more attention; she had not yet struck him off her list of prospects and intrigues like some.
“Miss Matilda Farris, and certainly,” she agreed easily, offering him her dance card at her wrist to write his name upon. Because she had not heard of him particularly, and could not see his writing from this angle – and because a minute without something witty to say was a minute wasted, Mattie inquired playfully: “And is that Knight as in the dark kind, or the chivalrous one?”
