She felt caught near instantly by this stranger. How was that even possible? “Oh, my. . . well, I suppose I just needed a moment to myself. Or at least away from the house. It’s quite. . . chaotic. . . in there currently.” Not to mention her own nerves had bundled —

“Oh!” she said and did a hair toss and sly little smile at the other, “Why thank you ~ I thought you might have lovely taste. Everything truly 𝘪𝘴 better when it’s 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 ~ !” She giggled before stepping closer to properly introduce herself. “Galinda Upland,” —

She felt something flicker inside of her, something that made her eyes light up just a little bit. Philip probably wouldn’t even notice, truthfully. She watched him walk off for a moment before she returned to her chaperone with a smile of hope. Even if Sir Philip was not —

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⋆˙⟡ 𝘖𝘗𝘌𝘕 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘈𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚 ⋆˙⟡ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⋆˙⟡ 𝘔𝘜𝘚𝘌 ⋆˙⟡ ⠀⠀⠀⠀

Maybe she was. Well, on the surface she most definitely was. But that’s how she was raised — that’s how the duchess had intended her to be. Beneath that, though? Beneath the beauty and gilded accessories? There was a genuinely kind young lady who had never known a —

“Oh, wonderful! At least I’ll know 𝘰𝘯𝘦 person there,” she said, tone bright and bubbly as if she were genuinely pleased by his acceptance. “I’ll do my best to save a spot for your name on my dance card,” she said and gently tossed her hair over her shoulder. —