October 21, 1893 - East Ridge Farm, Outskirts of Hogsmeade, @the Autumn Festival

If Hugh had been uncomfortable out in the fields for the festival this afternoon it was nothing on how he felt in the press of people that had flooded into the barn for a dance. He'd promised he'd make an effort, but now that he was here all he wanted to do was escape back to the quiet of his rented room with his books and quills and forget all about this. Instead he hunched in on himself and stood near the very edge of the room. He just needed to ask one lady to dance and then he could report back that he had tried when he was asked later. After that Hugh would be free to go.

Problem was that there wasn't a single lady Hugh even felt he could approach. They were all bright eyed and smiling and he.... well he had always been an outcast, someone better suited to shelves of books and the dusty research rooms than to conversations and dancing. He wasn't even sure he knew the steps to this dance. Or the last one. Or the one before it. And the room was sweltering around him, too many bodies making him all to conscious of the sweat that was forming. He'd spent so long in the hot climates of the equator that he would have thought nothing of the scent, but as it were, this was not Egpyt, or India, or the Ottoman Empire. No, it was Britain, and here he highly doubted any lady would want to dance with him if he were sweating, no matter what cologne charms he'd used before coming.

Hugh swallowed, looking around the room. The crowd parted for a moment and there she was - a lady on her own, Hugh accidently met her gaze and knew that now he'd have to interact with her. He started toward her, trying to feel some confidence but as the crowd filled back in between them and he had to wind his way to her he found that he couldn't quite approach her and so he tried to walk right on past her as if he'd never even been looking at her in the first place.

Penelope Fawcett

  

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Penny had spent the majority of the evening in a whirl of motion. This dance was one she had looked forward to all season long, if only for the more relaxed nature of it. For while she didn't particularly mind attending balls or galas (in fact, she rather enjoyed them), being able to not have to worry over her posture and manners was liberating. So much so that she hadn't sat out a single dance until her cheeks were rosy with a mixture of heat and movement and her feet were aching with exhaustion. One dance, she'd allow herself to miss out on one dance before continuing her quest to bury all thoughts of him in absolute joy.

Or, that was her intention until a rather shy looking fellow caught her eye and Penny had smiled at him in greeting. The next dance then. Besides, they were about to play her favorite set.

He appeared to be heading her way and so Penny had readied herself, she wiped away any trace of moisture and took one last sip of her drink before placing it on the table besides her. Only, the man never got close and then seemed to have abandoned the thought of approaching her altogether.

If she was smart, Penny wouldn't have maneuvered herself to be in his path once more. She had done the sullen and broody thing before and it had ended in a heartbreak so devastating that she wasn't sure if she'd ever open herself up as fully again. But, she wasn't always smart, and this was her favorite set, and he did look so painfully lost in this crowd that she felt almost obligated to help him. One dance, that was all that she was obligated to supply. If the stranger remained broody after that, well Penny would be wise enough to walk away at that point.

This time, there was no chance of him walking past her. When he finally made his approach, Penny met him with a cheerful grin.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

Feeling utterly ridiculous Hugh passed the woman by, trying for all intents and purposes to look like had a mission. Such a walk and served him well in the crowded markets of Cairo and Istanbul, perhaps it was suited to dance halls as well? Feeling he'd made his way past the lady enough he turned and circled back, intent on his original location.

But then there she was again, right in front of him, and she was grinning. His maneuver so spectacular in its failure Hugh could do nothing more other than mutter out a greeting that was likely lost in the crowd and then held out his hand, his eyes unable to meet her gaze as he asked, "[b]Would you like to dance?" The mortification was white hot in him that he could barely even focus on anything, how he'd even managed to get the words out in the proper order was beyond him. Although in this noise if she'd even heard him was another matter all together.

  

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His discomfort was obvious enough that Penny briefly wondered if interrupting his escape was a good idea. Had she imagined the entire scenario? Was he looking at someone other than her, or even at the door behind her? If that had been his plan, then why not continue on right past her altogether? Penny wouldn't have stopped him a second time.

It was too late now for second guessing, for his hand was outstretched and she was already moving to accept. "I'd love to, Mr....."

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Merlin blessed, the lady placed her hand in his. It surprised him, but he had little time to dwell on it as he replied to her inquiry. "Bailey." His fingers large chubby hand closed around her own delicate palm. "Miss? - er, begging pardon, I suppose, you are... a miss?" It would be his luck to have just asked a married woman to dance but it was much too late to back out now.

  

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"Yes, Miss Fawcett," Penny chuckled. Married women weren't generally putting themselves in a man's path willingly. Or, Penny hoped they weren't. She was aware enough to know what took place in the marital bed and that it didn't only have to be married folks that partook in it. Perhaps there were some unhappy wives that did just that, there were certainly rumors of plenty of husbands that sought attentions elsewhere.

(Had Mr. Bailey been propositioned by a miserable wife, then? Did he happen to notice she wasn't married and opted to avoid her for better options Merlin, Penny hoped not.)

They began navigating their way to the floor as Penny asked, "are you recently returned to society, Mr. Bailey? I don't think I've seen you around before.

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Thankfully the lady seemed to take his bumbling in strid giving Hugh the chance to recover enough to murmur the expected pleasantries, "A pleasure."

Her hand in his, he began to lead her toward the dance floor, grateful that she asked something. He ought to be able to answer simple questions, he reasoned. "'Yes. Quite recently." He almost regretted letting go of her hand to move to his position across from her. Miss --- had drilled the steps of such dances into him in the month he'd been back, she was quite adamant that her brother's quest to see his protege married would succeed - enough so that he often thought that she herself had motives regarding this.

"I've only been back a month." He added, thinking of his ill fated arrival in London just as dragons had escaped the docks. He might love history, but he really didn't feel any desire to actually be a part of history. Unless someone found a way to escape into the past, that kind of history Hugh would gladly stomach. He felt he'd rather make a good navigator for a band of pirates in the Indian Sea, at least there his size might be put to use in the motley crews that the pirates had gathered, rather than simply marking him as other.

  

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A month - what a month to come home to. The dragon attack was still fresh in everyone's mind, as was the election that had happened only days before. Penny had felt like a fish out of water when she returned in calmer times, she couldn't quite imagine returning to the chaos Mr. Bailey had. "Well, welcome home." She replied as she took her place to begin the dance.

She waited until they were close enough to not shout at one another before posing her next question, "where were you visiting?"

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"Thank you." He nodded at her kind welcome and then he bowed to her for the music.

The music started and Hugh tried to remember the steps. It took more concentration that he'd anticipated and much to his dismay the lady seemed to want to talk to him as they drew close again. "Egypt. Ottoman Empire." He shrugged casually. There had been other places as well but there was not time to list those as the steps moved them away. It seemed a moot point to try and explain that he hadn't been around in ten years and before that he had really only been on the British Isles for his school years and shortly after them. He had not even grown up in Britain, he had grown up in India. What a British citizen that made him. He had resided in Britain barely long enough to even have voted a few days ago - which had not made him the most informed voter out there. All this floated through his mind but he was not about to explain it all to her. She likely would not care for those details.

So what did he say to the lady before him? If she expected him to have a conversation with her as he tried to remember these steps. Her own story? The weather? The dance? Now she was almost back to him, close enough he had have to say something. The words that escaped him certainly made no sense in relation to what he knew of her, but at least he managed to say something and not to stumble in the steps as well, "And yourself?" She likely had not traveled, and such a fumble in words had Hugh's cheeks heating not only from the exertion but also from embarrassment. And this was why he should not be out in polite society. He was simply a mess.

  

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