location: palace gardens — the garden party.
with: @countenanced — amelia.
as it stands to reason, his aunt and uncle would be much better off sinking their time and energy into finding a match for nadir's own cousins. yet he has been pointed to no small number of lords and ladies tonight alone, so it seems like he must accept the dull reality: that not even he, a foreign ship captain with no real grasp over london society, may be spared from the marriage market. how he wishes that his aunt and uncle know of the deal he had made with franscesca toussaint already.
well, no matter. a garden party is no worthy adversary for captain nadir gulse. surely being thrown to wolves—the horde of dancing partygoers, that is—could prove to be great fun.
his feet land him in front of the lady amelia zhang, though he's certain that the shove or two from his aunt helped nadir find himself exactly where she wants him to be. he supposes that he could have done much worse than her, so he offers his hand. "forgive the intrusion, my lady," he drawls, not sounding the slightest bit sorry. "i may have found myself in a predicament that only you can solve by dancing with me. it's my aunt, you see. she is, of course, the loveliest lady, but ah," here, he pauses, leaning in to lower his voice. laughter threatens to bubble over his lips, but he presses on. "she can be quite forceful. i simply must dance with you, she says. surely you would not let me return to her without having earned this dance with you?"
