"Thank you," Henrietta replied, again all smiles. Hopefully her voice didn't sound as tight as her chest suddenly felt, now that she knew her brother was out of reach and she'd have to start her search for him all over again. Was it really too much to ask that he come and shield her from attention for thirty seconds? She had been doing this all night, and surely he must have known how exhausting it was? But no, she supposed maybe he didn't have the faintest idea. Holden had never been a debutante, and he had never taken any interest in her or any of their sisters whatsoever. Sometimes she thought if he could disappear in the middle of the night like Hector had, he would.

Not that she really blamed him. Sometimes Henrietta fantasized about it, too.

So what was she supposed to do now? Just wander the ballroom looking for him? Put on a brave face and dance with someone else? Surely the dancing must come to an end at some point. Her feet hurt and she wanted to sit down, but there was no place to sit in this ballroom tonight, even if she thought her mother might have allowed it. She scratched at her wrist beneath the primrose corsage and made one of the petals fall to the floor, but paid no attention to it. She was scanning the ballroom for any sign of Holden, who might as well have disapparated for all she knew. He was nowhere to be found.

"What time is it?" she asked abruptly, turning back to the gentleman (whose name she also did not know). The clock that normally adorned the far end of the ballroom had been removed for the evening, replaced, of course, with more blasted primroses. Surely they were nearing the end of the evening? Maybe if it was already after midnight, she could just take a few deep breaths and steel herself and get through without her brother's assistance, since it seemed so unlikely she would have it.