[George Hackett (Rose)]

George did not know whether to smile in relief at her having found a suitable topic of conversation or to groan at the fact it was one he had already had many times before this evening. Naturally he did neither.

"You are not being impertinent," he replied with a smile. "Actually, I have been away from England for a long time. I have lived in Italy for the past four years and only arrived back this spring. Before that I travelled around the Continent for some time on a Grand Tour."

He wondered if she would be surprised by this. Many men of his rank did travel, though the situation in France did make it a bit more difficult.

[Juliet Landon (Izzie)]

Juliet was thoroughly surprised at how able she was at keeping up this (rather dull, in her opinion) persona. In stark contrast to the misbehaviour that had marked her last dance, being meek and dull wasn't all that difficult. But it was dreadfully, dreadfully dull. Which is why Juliet was extremely grateful that Lord Selwyn had given her an excuse to be interesting.

"Italy?" she said, eyes lighting up. "I have always wanted to travel there. It must be as beautiful as I hear, for you to have spent four years living there!" she exclaimed, growing quite excited. As many of the company present here this evening - the Duchess of Beaumont and the Earl of Denholme, particularly - had discovered this evening, Lady Juliet was quite fond of the topic of travel, especially of places on the continent.

[George Hackett (Rose)]

Lord Selwyn was a little surprised at Lady Juliet's sudden animation at the prospect of discussing Italy, though not in a bad way. Just as he himself was growing tired of it, it seemed he had found somebody who was truly interested.

"Yes, certainly," replied George with a smile as they crossed hands over, "it is a very beautiful country with a much more congenial climate than our own! Once I had arrived, I found it very difficult to leave." They turned round the person next to them and then George asked, "You sound very enthusiastic, Lady Juliet, and I hope you will have an opportunity to travel. Is there anywhere in Italy you particularly want to visit?"

[Juliet Landon (Izzie)]

Juliet was quite happy that Lord Selwyn seemed to take a genuine interest in her sudden interest in the topic. Most people she knew couldn't quite tell her the exact details of their trip, or what certain historical wonders looked like in person. But here was Lord Selwyn, asking her questions, and had been a resident of Italy for 4 years! Juliet could jump up and down and clap she was so excited.

She made her turn in the dance, and came back to face her partner. "I confess that I do not know much about the country," she said. "By my desire to travel is quite healthy. I would, of course, love to visit Rome. I find Ancient Roman history quite fascinating," she said, separating from him again momentarily, to make another turn in the dance. "Are there any other places in Italy that I should direct my attention to, my lord?" she asked, curiosity still alight in her deep brown eyes.

[George Hackett (Rose)]

George was no longer surprised that Lady Juliet was interested and well read. Almack's seemed to be stuffed with intelligent young ladies- and he had thought Lady Julianne was the exception! Well, perhaps he had simply been lucky in his choice of partners.

"Well, if you are interested in Roman history," he replied thoughtfully, "you must also turn your attention to the Bay of Naples. You have probably heard of the discovery of the buried town of Pompeii last century. That is a fascinating place to visit, as is the Roman city of Herculaneum nearby, though there has not been any new excavation there since Pompeii was discovered. Of course, there many other beautiful places to visit in Italy that are not connected with Rome. Venice, for instance, is unmissable."

((OOC: Shall we wrap this one up now?))

[Juliet Landon (Izzie)]

OOC: I think we should, we're almost at our 2 pages...and I'm running out of ideas for things Juliet could say, haha

Juliet made a turn in the dance thoughtfully. She was thinking back to her lessons that she had had in Ancient History, and trying to remember the discovery of Pompeii...

By the time she had returned to Lord Selwyn, she knew what he was speaking of. She remembered Richard mentioning something to her about excavations, rather off handedly, when she had gone through her Ancient Rome period, when she had been fascinated by the culture and history of such a long lost civilization, and yet was still prevalent in the modern era. "Indeed, I have heard of the site of Pompeii. I must confess that I haven't heard of the site of Herculaneum, although I should think it would be fascinating to visit," she said politely. "And as for Venice, I would most certainly love to visit there, particularly during Carnivale. It should be so interesting to see everyone dressed in masks, would it not?"

[George Hackett (Rose)]

George had visited Venice during Carnavale season, though not by choice. From everything he had heard of it, it would be fearsomely crowded and noisy. Patrizia had been before and everything she had said confirmed his fears. Nevertheless, her opera troupe had been booked to perform during the festival so he had accompanied her as a matter of course. It had been rather ghastly. George was not so fond of a masquerade and it had been far too crowded to see anything properly. He could imagine women enjoying it, however. He had much preferred when they had gone again the following year in May.

"The masks were certainly impressive," he replied, and was surprised to find this brought them to the end of the dance. It had gone remarkably quickly. He bowed to Lady Juliet. "Can I get you any refreshment?"

[Juliet Landon (Izzie)]

Juliet performed the finishing steps to the dance, and curtseyed to Lord Selwyn. She hadn't realized how quickly the dance had ended. In the short time she had danced with Lord Selwyn, she had come to the conclusion that he was rather dull, at the end of it all. While his travels made for an interesting story, to be certain, she wasn't entirely impressed with the gentleman.

Or perhaps her standards were far too high, after dancing with such wicked gentlemen earlier that evening. The Earl of Denholme sprung to mind almost immediately. Shaking her former partners from her head, she returned to the task at hand. "That would be quite lovely, thank you," she said to her partner. Juliet had yet to try the beverages at Almack's, although she had heard they were dreadful. "Shall we move closer to the side?" she asked, gesturing to a fairly uncrowded area near the refreshment table.

[George Hackett (Rose)]

"Yes, certainly."

There was no leisure for conversation as they weaved their way towards the refreshment table. George found tw0 glasses of lemonade and presented them to his partner where they talked for several minutes longer before they left to find their next partners.

((OOC: Thanks for the thread, Izzie! I think we might actually have finished now! She might think he's dull, but he quite likes her!!))

[Juliet Landon (Izzie)]

Juliet smiled gratefully at Lord Selwyn as he presented her with a glass of lemonade. "Thank you, my lord," she replied as she delicately sipped at the weak beverage that had been given to her.

She spoke with him a few moments longer, before Elizabeth reappeared. "Thank once again for the wonderful dance, and the lemonade," she smiled. The two sisters curtseyed, and took off, each in search of their next partners.

OOC: I'm glad to hear someone likes her! Haha. I also quite enjoyed this thread, I can't wait to get Felix and Juliet together!