The Gentleman of Greenstoke

XVIII.

Arthur detected the tall Greek man among the crowd as he brought a smiling Miss Honda back to the place where they were waiting. During his observation of the couple, Arthur eyed Mr Karpusi's arm – which was being held by the Japanese's hand – and could not suppress the prickling feeling of jealousy in his stomach. An emotion that affected his behaviour more than he cared to admit and everyone had already taken notice of that fact – especially his cousin.

"Oh my, Mr Kirkland," Heracles acknowledged before turning to his female companion who was still holding onto his arm, "it was a delightful dance, Miss Honda, I am looking forward to the next set." With these words, he retreated slowly from her, not noticing how intense the blonde Gentleman was glaring at him.

"The next set?" Arthur asked flagrantly, his eyes following his Greek friend who was approaching a gossiping group of Ladies. His petite companion was taken aback by his tone; she thought she had made a mistake and her mood changed immediately. Sakura had been happy since the beginning of the soirée but now, a small frown adorned her face before looking at the parquet. 'Why is he so angry?' she thought to herself, seeing how coloured his face was, his eyebrows knitted together.

Unfamiliar with this sight, she decided to leave him by himself; an uncertain feeling settled itself in the pit of her stomach. The woman did not want to be faced with his furious, knowing that she had caused him to be in that state. She turned around to walk towards the buffet. Minutes passed before he realised that she had abandoned him for the sake of a glass of refreshment. Arthur was a little troubled by this gesture – witnessing for the first time that she had shown such a move. The feeling of rejection claimed his emotions and at that moment he was more than certain that something was troubling her that involved him.

For Sakura, to overcome her fear of behaving incorrectly by ignoring her host was extremely difficult. After all, this man was still in possession of her heart, but to know how he thought about her and how he was upset whenever she fulfilled the etiquette that society demanded – by not only dancing with him or being engaged in conversations with other people. He had never been clear in his intentions – except for uttering those to his cousin in the midst of the night. She asked herself why his emotions changed quicker than at the beginning of their friendship.

The Japanese was too lost in her thoughts to perceive his approaching, although his aura was more than readable. His eyes were filled with hurt, his eyebrows knitted together, signalling his worries. Despite the obvious fear that he had completely lost her that evening, he was trying to not express it openly. They were in public after all.

Elizabeta was laughing with the Austrian who was holding her hand in a graceful manner, only to be stopped by the oldest Mr Beilschmidt who had steadied himself with one arm on the pillar. His glaring has ceased as he had seen his beloved's smile, which lightened his mood instantly.

"I am aware of the exhaustion you must feel, Miss Héderváry," he commented, ignoring his cousin completely. "If I may suggest that we have some refreshment before dancing?"

"Gilbert!" Roderich exhorted, noticing that the addressed woman was overwhelmed with the situation – which was not the exact truth, she was rather overwhelmed by the fact that she had to dance with the Prussian General. Elizabeta thought of the procedure and the imagination of the two of them on the dancing floor was causing her to shudder. She was not prepared to face his wrath (or whatever he was planning to tell her), thinking that that would happen when the two would dance together.

"Roderich," the white-haired man mumbled with a scowl, growing impatient by the second. He had been waiting for the music to stop – and for him, this was a long period of time to wait for a dance – and to accompany Miss Héderváry further in the room in order to dance. The two relatives were glaring at each other while Elizabeta searched for her friend, who was fetching a drink from the buffet. She noticed her employer's aura, knowing exactly that the man was infatuated by Sakura and his jealousy was obviously clouding his mood – not noticing that she too was triggering the same emotions in her two admirers.