Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong...
Slim, powerful fingers danced across the piano keys.
"To Alice", the melodious tune, began to rise slowly, notes leaping at the fingertips as the graceful body wrapped in a gauzy veil shimmered in the glow of the furnace, as if coated in a layer of golden sheen.
Dong, dong, dong!
The last few notes fell.
Duniko Hyacinth released her hands and let out an imperceptible sigh all at once.
Behind her, a maid holding an evening gown spoke softly, "Miss, don't you want to attend tonight's banquet? Sir Richard is waiting to dance the first dance with you."
"I am only eighteen years old, Luya, do you understand? I am only eighteen, and I don't want to get married so soon. Why does this Richard act like an old man, starved for affection for fifty years, clinging to me, clinging to the Hyacinth Family? Can't he wait a few more years? He hounded me before the festival, and he's back at it again after the festival!"
