Topaz's first instinct on hearing him proclaim her a romantic was to protest, but she held her tongue. She did read romance novels on occasion, but only because she read everything she could get her hands on. Particularly before she'd turned seventeen and been able to practice her spellwork on her own time, she'd had plenty of hours to while away at home. It was the same reason she kept up correspondence with so many people, whom she hadn't even been particularly close to at school. Letters were her only interaction with other people, just as books were her only view point into the world beyond the walls of her home (and the Ministry); she wasn't in a position to turn down anything available to her. If asked, however, she would have said that she'd always found romance novels a little silly, a little contrived. She was not a romantic.
Her fascination with the couple across the ballroom came more from a fascination with people than with romance. Prior to tonight, she simply hadn't realized that things like this really happened. She'd thought her books were blowing things a little out of proportion when they described the delicate cat-and-mouse of suitors in a ballroom, but now it was playing out right in front of her eyes. How could she not watch to see the resolution? She might never get another chance to see someone in this particular state. She wanted to soak up every detail and write it down in her journal and revisit it now and then for months to come.
But she could hardly tell this stranger that. It would, she suspected, have alarmed him. Even if she said something mildly innocuous like I don't get out much, it wouldn't track with her cover story. She was supposed to be Ruby tonight, and Ruby could go to balls whenever she pleased. So tonight, for the sake of her secret identity, Topaz supposed she was a romantic. Hopefully Ruby wouldn't mind the label — Topaz suspected it was more true than Ruby would have wanted to admit, anyway.
"Your sister?" she asked with mild interest — if he told her the sister's name she'd be able to deduce at least a part of his identity, and she was curious. She probably ought to have steered clear in case his sister was around her age and would have been overly familiar with Ruby, thus putting her ruse in danger, but... well, if she ended up trapped in a conversation she couldn't weather she could always feign a sudden headache and ask Aunt Evelyn to take her home. "Perhaps I would. Perhaps I already do," she added with a slight smile.
Her fascination with the couple across the ballroom came more from a fascination with people than with romance. Prior to tonight, she simply hadn't realized that things like this really happened. She'd thought her books were blowing things a little out of proportion when they described the delicate cat-and-mouse of suitors in a ballroom, but now it was playing out right in front of her eyes. How could she not watch to see the resolution? She might never get another chance to see someone in this particular state. She wanted to soak up every detail and write it down in her journal and revisit it now and then for months to come.
But she could hardly tell this stranger that. It would, she suspected, have alarmed him. Even if she said something mildly innocuous like I don't get out much, it wouldn't track with her cover story. She was supposed to be Ruby tonight, and Ruby could go to balls whenever she pleased. So tonight, for the sake of her secret identity, Topaz supposed she was a romantic. Hopefully Ruby wouldn't mind the label — Topaz suspected it was more true than Ruby would have wanted to admit, anyway.
"Your sister?" she asked with mild interest — if he told her the sister's name she'd be able to deduce at least a part of his identity, and she was curious. She probably ought to have steered clear in case his sister was around her age and would have been overly familiar with Ruby, thus putting her ruse in danger, but... well, if she ended up trapped in a conversation she couldn't weather she could always feign a sudden headache and ask Aunt Evelyn to take her home. "Perhaps I would. Perhaps I already do," she added with a slight smile.
pinned my hopes to the summit of someday
Magnolia