The Gentleman of Greenstoke

XIV.

"I am so excited," Miss Honda admitted as she stared out of the carriage. The party – which consisted of her friend Elizabeta Héderváry, Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland – was sitting in the driving vessel for the ball. And Sakura was not the only one of them who was nervous about the assembly (with the exception of Alfred): Elizabeta was happy to see a grand dance but had no great desire to face the oldest Mr Beilschmidt even if she wanted to thank him for the head accessory he had bought her days ago. Her hand slowly touched the gift which was completing her knot. The only one, who was conflicted with himself – and not only for that day but for a week – was the English Gentleman who sat next to his cousin. Arthur felt extremely content to have the first dance with Miss Honda, while he was afraid of her distant manner she had demonstrated towards him over the last days. But the most unsettling thought his mind harboured was the thought of her meeting someone she wanted to court. He remembered the conversation he had with her and their visiting party last week; she had shown a great interest in Mr Karpusi and Arthur disliked the imagination of the Greece and her dancing arm in arm at the ball.

Earlier, when she had descended the stairs to approach the men in order to enter the carriage, Arthur had felt his breath stuck in his throat. The blue muslin dress she wore, the flower in her styled hair and her light flustered expression had created the illusion of an angelic creature – which he found to be the most accurate description of the Japanese. He had stepped forward, offered her his arm and had wished that nothing would interrupt their moment. But she had been reluctant at first and the distant look in her eyes had returned. It affected him so greatly that he had decided to finally ask her after the ball. He would confront her, noticing that he could not endure another day with her being cold towards him.

Alfred nudged him in his ribs and this move brought Arthur back to reality. "You are staring," his cousin concluded in a whisper as Arthur's eyes did not leave Miss Honda. Since they had entered the carriage, he had observed her rather obviously. But he did not blame himself, she looked absolutely lovely. In addition to that he was rethinking of any reasons that could have inflicted her neutral behaviour towards him. He admitted that it drove him mad; after so many days of facing her cold shoulder, he felt hurt and misunderstood – not knowing that Miss Honda had been hurt by his spoken words and had taken the decision to keep a certain distance.

The carriage was moving in a constant rhythm until it suddenly stopped. The two females' excitement increased as their sight ventured the ambience outside the window of the carriage: People were streaming in the Beilschmidt's house; lots of servant opened the doors, accompanied some older guests to the door and greeted them while music played inside the building.

"Marvellous," the Japanese voiced, her eyes shining with awe. Her chaperone nodded, silently agreeing with her statement.

The carriage driver opened the door and Arthur decided to assist his guests with the exiting of the vessel. The party proceeded to the grand entry and were greeted with welcoming words and dancing cards. Of course, Arthur suggested writing his name on Miss Honda's dancing card; having been promised the first dance after they had brought their jackets in the cloak room. One could already feel the warm air as they approached the ball room: Couples were dancing, the music was playing and the guests were engaged in conversations.

Sakura's excitement was causing her to smile even if some of the attending guests had given her strange and curious looks. She was aware of people's questioning expressions; most of them had never seen an Asian woman attending an upper-class ball before. But she could not care less about their opinions as she observed the ball room. She had always read about it in books or heard from Miss Jones of the enchanting balls. And now she was here and could not say that she was disappointed.