The Gentleman of Greenstoke

XIII.

As if the weather was indicating the tense mood in the Kirkland mansion, some of the family members and guests took ill over the last days. A week after the Beilschmidts and Mr Edelstein had returned to their summerhouses, Miss Jones and Mr Yao's symptoms of sickness such as coughing and sneezing increased. By the end of the week, the two were feverish and needed to stay in bed for the sake of their health. Unfortunately, the ball of the Beilschmidts was the next day. And this situation occurred to be a serious problem.

Miss Jones volunteered to function as Miss Honda's chaperone during the assembly. It was forbidden for an unmarried woman to drive alone in a carriage in the company of a man; Attending a ball without an agreeable female or member of the family was scandalous. And now fate had decided that Sakura Honda had neither of them; her chaperone and uncle were too weak to leave their beds.

This left Arthur Kirkland, Miss Honda – who had recently entered the room, after seeing her uncle in his chamber – and Alfred Jones to muse about a solution for the ball. While the former did want to do anything for Miss Honda to attend the ball with him – in order to dance and to approach her due to their latest lack of social interaction – the latter one had already formed an idea in his head but knew that his English cousin would oppose his opinion on the topic. Nevertheless he decided to word his suggestion.

"I know this is quite inconsiderate but disregarding of Lady Bonnefoy's rank, could she not accompany Miss Honda?"

Gasps filled the room; while Sakura thought it insensitive that she – who had feelings towards the British man – should be confronted with the French woman who in Sakura's opinion had stolen Arthur's heart, Arthur could not think of a more inappropriate chaperone than this Lady. The brunette French would put foolish ideas into Sakura's head – such as marrying her brother or other male guests who would be no good choices as a marriage partner.

"Woah, excuse me, I was only looking for a solution," the American almost cried, holding both of his arms over his head. The reaction of the two had surprised him. Both were blushing – although Miss Honda's colour was not as intense as his cousin's. The Japanese stuttered a shy, "N-no, she does not need to burden herself with me", while Arthur's panting indicated his unsettlement. "No, she will be no good companion," he concluded rather stressful.

"Well, who else do you suggest?" Alfred once again muttered out loud. "Who is a female, older than Miss Honda and spontaneously available for tomorrow's evening?"

Silence filled the room until a small knock interrupted their quiet conversation. "Sir? Due to Miss Jones' illness, Miss Héderváry wishes to discuss the meal for tomorrow's lunchtime."

At that certain moment, Mr Kirkland's brain formed an odd idea. 'What if she would disguise herself and attend the ball with Miss Honda,' he thought to himself, growing desperate by the attempt of finding a solution. A servant was not allowed to attend an assembly which was originally planned for members of the English high-class. But this situation required a rather extraordinary way of thinking to solve the problem. A chaperone was supposed to dress herself nicely but less pompous due to her status. She should not be in the focus of attention on the ball but in the background. Normally, no present in the room would lay their eyes on the unimportant – although her function was important for the Lady's virtue and reputation – chaperone. In addition to that, no one of the attending guests would recognise Miss Héderváry. She had never faced any of Arthur's guest – except for the Beilschmidts themselves but the English Gentleman did not doubt that they would be pleased about her presence; especially the oldest of the siblings – and her dress and Make Up would increase her disguise.

"I will talk to her in a second," Arthur spoke, having decided that he would ask her this favour – which she owed him after the scene from weeks ago, where her temper had clashed with Gilbert's provocations.