The two earls rushed down the apartment steps with overcoats half dragging on the floor and masks tangling in their hair. Had they been playing cards for this long? It was not eleven of night and yet they had witnessed the sun set fifteen minutes prior. Or so it felt. The carriage stood waiting conveniently at their doorstep although the look the coachman gave a look that this inconvenience would need to be paid in extra. What a waste. Considering all they had gambled away that evening.
Goerge enjoyed balls as much as he enjoyed promenading his charm amongst his equals. His presence was not only expected but always warmly welcomed as the golden Spencer boy was a gifted bag of entertainment. His love of parlour games and skill at the gambling table ensured that any friend to his right would have a memorable evening---that is of course, if they managed to avoid bullying from one of George’s dares. Yet, this night was different, everyone was to be masked and George’s attendance would go relatively unnoticed until the latter half of the evening when guests who knew of his ability to conjure a pleasant drinking game would go searching for him. Hence, George spent the earlier part of the night with the Duke of Chester, his close companion and fellow bachelor who accompanied the Earl whenever he felt disinterested in presenting a new lady to his societies criticisms. The pair, however, were to closely engaged in their own leisurely activities at the Duke’s Mayfair apartments and only whence he had won the last of his friends pocket money did George remember he had promised his sister he would make an appearance in a mask not too annoying. In such, referring to the last time George showed up as Zeus to a mask with a pair of swords for lighting strikes.
The bachelor pair were already far too late to enter through the main hall and opted to pass through the back, pretending as if their absence was only momentary. To their dismay, the back veranda seemed to be locked to avoid miscreants looking to indulge without an invitation. Yet, a lucky figure seemed to read the pairs misfortune through a latched window. Their mask hiding familiarity but a smile confirming that they would have luck sneaking in with their guidance.
“I’ll have you know, I do not often make a habit of entering this way…” George’s panting voice assured as he reached to the stranger’s hand for guidance through the window.