Another masquerade, but August did best at the Shakespearean ones. His mask was simple, but his outfit was stylized in the manner of the Shakespearean time, complete with a ruffled neck collar — he was playing at being Falstaff, even though the character had several qualities that August found abominable.

Of course, any ball meant that he was shoved in the directions of varying women by his friends. August rolled his eyes in his brother-in-law's direction and tried for a soft smile at the woman he'd been aggressively introduced to.

"I'm afraid he lied to you," August said, with a half-smile. "I wasn't in Italy last year." He'd been to Italy, while on a brief tour before he joined the DMLE, but he certainly hadn't been as far south as Palermo. Leon knew that, of course — Leon was trying to make sure that August stayed on the flirtation-horse by any means necessary.