The party was aesthetically something to appreciate, he supposed, but like most balls he found himself regretting his life choices and wishing he'd steered his evening in a different direction. He had begrudgingly danced with a lady or two but was trying in earnest to avoid much more dancing. His dance partners seemed always to be either vapid and thus incredibly dull or they were the sort who had varying hints of Noelleishness about them and he wanted nothing to do with them.
His efforts to avoid further females had been going well and then they suddenly hadn't. As usual his gut reaction was to internally groan at being trapped by etiquette and this was no different when the female opposite him was Tatiana Lestrange. Charles defaulted to autopilot almost immediately and it wasn't until she mentioned his promotion that his brain started to actively join in the conversation. His perception of Miss Lestrange was vague at best - he could probably count the number of words he'd exchanged with her in the past on one hand if he could actually remember what they were. What he did know about her was that her father was Tybalt Lestrange and if pushed for an opinion he'd probably shrug and say that she'd never caught his attention (nor apparently that of other men) so she was probably a bit vapid and uninteresting.
"Thank you, I'm pleased to say that you've been well-informed." It didn't necessarily mean anything but it suggested she wasn't entirely vapid and self-absorbed. It also gave him pause. What did he really know about Miss Lestrange? Yes, she was the daughter of mass murderer Tybalt Lestrange, but a Lestrange all the same which carried plenty of weight. Hadn't she also been at finishing school or was he mixing her up with another Lestrange? She was unmarried, he could think of no immediate gossip or scandal involving her name, and she was actually attractive. Why wasn't she married? Something had to be wrong with her.
Perhaps she was too clever or too desperate, she wasn't one of the younger ones anymore was she? "You must have your ear quite close to the ground, I didn't think anyone knew yet."
His efforts to avoid further females had been going well and then they suddenly hadn't. As usual his gut reaction was to internally groan at being trapped by etiquette and this was no different when the female opposite him was Tatiana Lestrange. Charles defaulted to autopilot almost immediately and it wasn't until she mentioned his promotion that his brain started to actively join in the conversation. His perception of Miss Lestrange was vague at best - he could probably count the number of words he'd exchanged with her in the past on one hand if he could actually remember what they were. What he did know about her was that her father was Tybalt Lestrange and if pushed for an opinion he'd probably shrug and say that she'd never caught his attention (nor apparently that of other men) so she was probably a bit vapid and uninteresting.
"Thank you, I'm pleased to say that you've been well-informed." It didn't necessarily mean anything but it suggested she wasn't entirely vapid and self-absorbed. It also gave him pause. What did he really know about Miss Lestrange? Yes, she was the daughter of mass murderer Tybalt Lestrange, but a Lestrange all the same which carried plenty of weight. Hadn't she also been at finishing school or was he mixing her up with another Lestrange? She was unmarried, he could think of no immediate gossip or scandal involving her name, and she was actually attractive. Why wasn't she married? Something had to be wrong with her.
Perhaps she was too clever or too desperate, she wasn't one of the younger ones anymore was she? "You must have your ear quite close to the ground, I didn't think anyone knew yet."
