The Gentleman of Greenstoke

XVII.

"So, who is Mr Adnan's sister?" Sakura asked briskly; she had to admit that she was still thinking about the conversation between her Greek dancing partner and his friend or rival – she did not know how else to describe their relation.

"Oh, well she is a very . . . special person; her manners are not quite ladylike, but she is somewhat endearing and very pretty."

The Japanese's interest was caught; she eyed Mr Karpusi as the moved with the music's rhythm. She had to admit that she liked his company and their conversations.

"Is she attending the ball tonight?"

"Unfortunately not," the man answered sincerely before glancing at the surrounding dancers, "I heard your uncle is trying to build his trading company in England?"

"Yes, he wants to establish it in Europe. It was successful in Asia, but I cannot disclose any other details to you. I don't want to discuss my uncle's business affaires on a ball and I know not much of it."

Heracles nodded, understanding what she meant. He smiled before continuing the conversation, "I am honoured to dance with you, Miss Honda."

This statement caused the petite female to blush while her face formed a small grin, "The honour is mine, Sir."

Mr Karpusi was delighted by her reaction.

"May I ask, if I can have the fifth dance? Apparently, Mr Adnan had forgotten to write his name on the card," he stated with a glorious grin, seeing that the Turk had indeed forgotten claim a dance by writing his name on the dancing card. It gave Heracles the opportunity to dance another set with Miss Honda.

To say that Arthur and Gilbert graced the ball with their positive looking presence was a blatant lie. Both were sulking at the border of the dance floor, observing the dancing couples – or rather the men that were holding their beloved ones.

"How long is the music going to play?" Gilbert asked a little annoyed, glaring at his cousin while holding a glass of alcohol in his hand.

"That's a good question," his partner answered in a hissing tone, his arms crossed.

Indeed both were not presenting their best mood to the public, and the surrounding people noticed; especially their relatives who were approaching them as fast as possible as they recognised the air of tenseness around them.

"Arthur," Alfred spoke as he neared his cousin – avoiding the use of his soubriquet for the sake of not provoking him any further. The American's eyes looked for Miss Honda of whom he had thought would be not far from his cousin. Only as he noticed her in the crowd of the dancing couples, did Alfred understand what was upsetting the English man. "She is dancing with Karpusi," he expressed a little baffled and earned a piercing glare from Arthur as he muttered these obvious words.

"No, seriously? How can you be certain? Oh my eyes must have deceived me, I did not notice she was dancing with that Greek," Arthur chided sarcastically, looking back at the dancefloor. "He is telling her something and she is smiling," he commented with a low voice, but the ill-tempered sound was unmistakable.

"Maybe he was jesting and she found it comical?"

Alfred's answer was enough to receive another glare by his cousin – again, although the green-eyed man had never stopped looking furious.

"Then it seems that my dear cousin was jesting too," Gilbert mocked, drinking from his glass, before mimicking his friend's piercing gaze. It was a scene that looked – and absolutely felt – hilarious and miserable at the same time. Not long before Alfred had reached his cousin, Ludwig had approached his brother as well, his hand already on the bridge of his nose: he was uncertain of how to calm his family member; he had observed Mr Edelstein and his female companion – of which he was surprised to see, knowing that a servant would have never had the opportunity of receiving an invitation.

"Bruder?"

"Oh Ludwig, good you are here, we have to stop the music," the oldest of the siblings uttered, while his British friend approved that plan with a nod.

"Indeed, Mr Beilschmidt, the music is far too long for this one dance," Arthur commented and realised that he had never thought he would consider something of this kind. For Alfred and his German friend this sounded absolutely outrageous – although the former still chuckled over his cousin's obvious jealousy; first he complained about Ludwig being too close to Miss Honda, and now he wanted him to support the English man in order to disrupt the dance because his object of love was engaged with another man.

"Das reicht jetzt. Hör auf mit deinem kindischem Blödsinn!"

His voice was not booming through the room, but the tone of Ludwig's voice was stern enough to frighten his American and British friend. His older brother – who was concerned to accept this brotherly advice – did not retreat from his position. On the contrary, he raised his glass to express his next intentions by emptying the content of the glass in one gulp.

Arthur shook his head upon seeing the Prussian's reaction.

Unbeknownst to Arthur, his American cousin had slipped away from the scene, looking for any friends of his in order to distract the English Gentleman from observing the dancing couple because Arthur could not become any angrier; he was already murdering people with his glares.

Alfred's eyes quickly met those of the French Baronet who was on the other side of the room. Alfred knew that his British cousin would not be amused by this occurrence, but the American claimed to justify his actions with the saying "Desperate times call for desperate measures". And Alfred was a bit desperate with the situation. As he approached the French Baronet, he apologised formally; Both of the French siblings were engaged in a conversation and he would interrupt them. "Beg your pardon," he exclaimed, "I am delightful to see you."

"Bruder? You know how your behaviour is affecting people's opinion about you?"

"Pff," the oldest Beilschmidt sibling laughed until Ludwig's expression grew less annoyed; he had gotten an idea and Gilbert did not like that.

"What about Miss Elizabeta Héderváry? Even if she is engaged in dancing, she can still observe your distasteful behaviour."

As if lighting had struck him, the white-haired Prussian set his glass on the table nearest to him and straightened his body; his composure was completely different now. As Ludwig glanced at him with a raised brow, Gilbert tried to relax himself against the pillar of the room, a small blush adorning his pale face. "Don't you dare to speak of this," he murmured to his brother, clearly annoyed by the fact that his sibling knew how to manipulate his brother.

Only seconds afterwards, the melodious sound stopped, and Ludwig was quite certain that God must have heard his prayers. Unfortunately, the ceasing of the music indicated that the next dance would proceed anytime soon, causing the two sulking men – although Gilbert had changed his demeanour a little – to wait nervously for their Ladies. It was a picture that no one would forget so quickly.
___________________________
[A/N: I am so sorry for posting today; I went to a convention two days ago and arrived at home at midnight. I was just too tired to write :'D. I wrote the whole chapter today but split it in two parts. ]

Translation:
Das ist reicht jetzt. Hör auf mit deinem kindischem Benehmen! – That's enough now. Stop that childish behaviour of yours!