When Morgan had returned to the party after the debacle in the classroom-turned-writing-room, he spent the first fifteen minutes or so looking for signs that he was in trouble. Threats or no, he wasn't sure he trusted Rhiannon not to mention anything to his mother. Even if she spared him that, she might still have said something to someone else in the family thinking it was perfectly innocent, and word might still make its way around. He had no desire to find himself accosted by an angry Mama this evening, and less still to see the unfortunately debutante who'd stumbled upon him dragged into the mix. He still didn't know her name, and that would be a hell of a way to learn. He supposed he could ask Annie later, if the two really had gone to take a stroll around the garden together. Merlin, he hoped Annie wasn't interrogating her even now.

Finally satisfied that he wasn't about to have anyone descend on him to question him about his involvement with some nameless young woman, Morgan still wasn't sure exactly how to transition back into the party properly. Fortunately, Basil saved him. There was no world in which Morgan didn't agree to sneak out of a party with Basil, but he still made a show of looking around to see if anyone was likely to notice that he was dodging out.

"Alright," he agreed, moving towards the nearest passing waiter to take a drink. "But I have to be back in the ballroom by midnight; mother would have my head if I missed the big moment." More like: Annie might get suspicious and think he was off with some other young woman, and he didn't want to deal with that potential headache.

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