[Charlotte Tolson (Izzie)]

OOC: Yay!

"10 years is a long time," Charlotte remarked, taking a sip of her lemonade. She wondered how old Klara was, if she had been living here with her brother for all that time, and still hadn't made her debut yet.

"My brother and I were both born in India," she continued. "We only arrived in England last month, and spent the time at our country estate. We have only been living in London for almost two weeks," she said with a small smile. "My parents seemed to believe that living so far away from England was adventure enough for both of us; we have never travelled anywhere else except to England," she said, taking another sip of lemonade.

Finally admitting that she couldn't spend the entire evening avoiding Marcus' gaze, she turned to look at him. Damn him and his messy hair! "Canals in London would certainly be a sight," Charlotte agreed, before turning her attention back to her lemonade. It wasn't fair that her heart rate picked up every time he came near her; especially when he so clearly had no desire to dance with her that evening. "I should very much like to have seen a Venetian theme, I'm sure that it was simply beautiful," she said, almost wistfully.

[Marcus Fairmont (Alexandra)]

"Very well thank you, sir," Marcus replied to Christiakov, politely adding his hopes that evening found all of them well also.

"It most certainly was," he agreed with Charlotte. "Tonight's theme no less so, though skewed in favour of the fairer sex, I feel, fairies not really being something many gentlemen take an overly keen interest in." He grinned, recalling the conversation with Sterne about men in tights. "Appropriate for the occasion, however." He suddenly caught a glimpse of Miss Pritchard though the crowds: even if one deb is more siren than fairy tonight...

Chairty was on the arm of Lord Layton and together the duo were leading the way to the middle of the dancefloor. It looked as though the first dance was soon to begin. Fortunately, Marcus would have little trouble locating his partner: Lady Elizabeth Dunford was so tall that they could make eye contact above the other ballgoers heads! He liked her already.

[Charlotte Tolson (Izzie)]

"I would have to disagree with you, my lord," Charlotte said. "For have not many gentleman been prey to fairies? Most folktales tell of men being lured away from this world to the fairy world, much more often than ladies. So perhaps the theme is fitting for both sexes tonight, as the ladies present this evening are most certainly attempting to lure men to write on their dance cards," she continued, one eyebrow raised, half a smile settling on her face.

Edward sent a swift glance over to his sister, wondering what exactly had gotten into her. Perhaps it is time to find her first dance partner... he thought, wondering who the first unlucky gentleman of the evening was. Given Charlotte's current mood, it would be a damned miracle if she married this Season at all; she was more likely to scare men off than lure them in.

[Valeri Christiakov (Brandy)]

I wonder if it is always like this between this lady and this particular gentleman, Valeri wondered to himself, amused at the banter going on between Lord Fairmont and Miss Charlotte Tolson. Her brother seemed to look rather mortified at the verbosity of his sister, and he silently praised the Lord that Klara was not as outspoken as Miss Charlotte, or as difficult. Klara was the definition of what a man looked for in a wife...sweet, gentle, and kind. Though the latter lady was rather amusing this evening, and he could not help but smile in between sips of his tart drink. "Might I interject and say that it is quite difficult for a man to resist the lure of a beautiful lady that wishes to dance with him, no matter how horribly the man might dance." He laughed, and managed to gulp down the rest of his lemonade, placing the empty glass on a passing servant's tray.

"However, Greek Mythology speaks of the sirens, beautiful creatures with their gorgeous and haunting songs, that lured many a sailor to their deaths. I do not think that any woman here, though, would ever lead a man to their deaths. Reality is not as brutal as the Ancient Greeks painted it out to be." Valeri nodded. "There are many beautiful creatures here tonight, and I happen to be dancing with five of them. My duty, however, will be to find them, which might prove to be quite difficult in this crowd." Thankfully, he had until the third dance to find his first dancing partner, Miss Katherine Winter. "I trust that your dance card for tonight is full, though, Miss Tolson. Pity. I would offer myself graciously for a spot on your dance card." He gave a slight nod of his head, and smiled at the other two gentlemen. "I know not how young ladies keep track of all the partners they are to dance with."

[Marcus Fairmont (Alexandra)]

Marcus surveyed Charlotte carefully as she lectured him on the matter of fairies.

"Well I for one am a willing victim," he laughed, shrugging off Charlotte's tart response. He took a long sip from his champagne glass whilst inspecting the chandeliers. Damn women and their blasted confusing moods. Not that it should matter: it was not as though they were to be dance partners tonight. Thank God, he tried to add... but could not muster too much enthusiasm for the sentiment.

The Russian stole his next words right out of his mouth.

"Indeed, it is impossible to be surprised that Miss Tolson is so popular," he agreed with a courteous nod to the lady. He did not make a habit of listening to idle gossip but it was not idle gossip when it came from Rosalind's lips and the lady's look seem to confirm that she did, indeed, have a full dance card.

[Charlotte Tolson (Izzie)]

Charlotte bit back a tart reply that would have been aimed towards Marcus, and to her complete horror felt a blush creep over her cheeks as Lord Christiakov and Marcus both sent compliments her way, remarking on her dance card. She wouldn't go so far as to say that she was popular, but for some reason people seemed to be taking great interest in her.

"Yes, it is full enough," she said with a smile, referring to her dance card. In truth, she still had her last dance empty, for reasons that she would not admit to. Instead, any gentleman who asked if she was engaged for the tenth would be disappointed, as Charlotte would claim it had already been taken, and to ensure no one saw her card, would write in her partner's names herself.

She felt foolish to be even holding out hope that the gentleman beside her would perhaps ask her for the dance, even on the off chance she did have a dance free. And indeed, if the situation was as hopeless she believed it to be, she would simply beg out of the tenth dance and head home early to nurse her headache, foul temper and pride simultaneously.

But that moment was a long way off, and Charlotte had an entire evening of dancing to make her way through first. "I shall do my best to ensure that my dance card does not fill up quite so quickly at the next ball," she said with a light laugh. "Perhaps I shall have to fall into the practice of waiting until the evening of the event to accept partners to dance with."

[Marcus Fairmont (Alexandra)]

"Do," Marcus encouraged genially, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"I ought to seek out my partner for the first," he added slowly, lingering reluctantly. He had still extracted but a few words from Mr. Tolson and was mildly concerned that he had somehow set off on the wrong foot with the man - dashed awkward if so. Perhaps a repeat of last Wednesday night was called for, this time with Tolson along for the (drunken) ride. That is, if the man was a member of Whites. If he was not, perhaps that could be arranged. Perhaps Tolson's coolness explained Miss Tolson's? He could well understand a sister being wary of befriending a man her brother did not regard. However, the marquess was confident that this would not last long. He had many friends and only very enemies. Well, that I know of...

[Valeri Christiakov (Brandy)]

Valeri retrieved another lemonade and sighed, glancing around at the other ball patrons. He did not have a partner for the first dance; otherwise, he would be seeking out the lovely lady he was to dance with. Nevertheless, he needed to prepare himself, and seek out others here at the ball, to see if there was anyone he knew. It would be rather impolite of him to not let his other friends and acquaintances know he was here.

"I must apologize; a person of my profession unfortunately cannot linger in one place for an extremely long time. We have to mingle and make nice with everyone." He gave a small sigh, and bowed to his new acquaintances. "I hope to see all of you later on tonight. Mr. Tolson, Miss Tolson, Lord Fairmont." With this farewell, he disappeared into the school of Englishmen and ladies.

[Charlotte Tolson (Izzie)]

"Yes, I should as well..." Charlotte said, looking down at her card. She was supposed to be dancing with Lord Patrick Grove, whom she had only met briefly, but decided he should be an easy partner to find. He was very tall, as she recalled.

Her brain flickered over what Marcus could have meant by "Do". Had the man never heard of asking a lady to dance with him before the evening of the ball? Charlotte grumbled to herself. In India, sir, gentlemen would ask me for a dance two days before an event, so that they could secure a dance with me, she thought as forcefully as she could. But it was quite impossible to hate Marcus, so the thought didn't come out quite as forcefully as she would have liked.

"It was lovely to meet you, Lord Christiakov," Charlotte said politely, curtsying, while her brother murmered a similar sentiment, bowing.

"Well Lily, should I take you to Lord Patrick?" Edward said with one eyebrow raised. Charlotte glanced over to Marcus, almost wishing that he would be the one escorting her. But that would be incredibly improper. "Yes, I suppose we should find him," she replied. "I'm sure I will see you again sometime this evening, Lord Foxford," Charlotte said, curtseying, and taking her brother's arm.

"Don't break too many hearts tonight, Foxford," Edward said with a half-smile and a small wink, inclining his head to the gentleman, before leading his sister towards the direction of Lord Patrick Grove.

[Marcus Fairmont (Alexandra)]

Marcus suddenly found himself quite alone and pondering Tolson's statement. Hearts? What the deuce...? In the matter of heartbreaking, if anything, it was he who should be erecting walls around his heart. He was far too apt to develop silly passions for pretty girls were then crushed by the cold fist of reality weeks later. Suddenly noticing a grating laugh or oversized feet were telltale signs that a fledgling love was no such thing and was fading fast. There had been one or two relationships that might have blossomed into something more real if given the chance but they had not been given such a chance: Viola was (probably quite rightly) having none of him and he had forever dashed his chances with Grace Torrington by dragging his feet in the matter. He would not do so again - when he found the right lady he would not dawdle.

But how to know for sure in a short time?

Setting aside his champagne flute, he cast about for Lady Elizabeth. He was mighty keen for this evening to resume its normal course: chat, flirt, dance, drink. Balls ought not be complicated.