As Elsa was now out of the presence of the mischief-maker from earlier, she began to think more clearly. He's disrespectful towards high-ranking people, she thought. And he clearly has far too much time on his hands if he can slither into a debutante ball and waste his time collecting gossip. But he is just a frivolous youth, and I refuse to let someone that I'll never see again take such importance on such a crucial night in my life.
But that didn't stop her from still feeling slightly angry. Angry at him for being right about Baron Von Wegberg, and even angrier at him for having the audacity to make her laugh. She was supposed to be prim and composed! And prim, composed debutantes did not find such vulgar things to be funny. Suppose she wasn't destined to be such a debutante? Oh, why does everything have to be so confusing? Elsa thought, as she moved around hastily, accidentally bumping into a milksop of a man and knocking him over.
Her eyes widened in shock as she took a few steps back. What was she supposed to do? It would be unspeakably rude and arrogant to walk away as if nothing had happened, but it would be terribly forward if she were to talk without being introduced. Her heart thumped wildly as she attempted to piece together the best possible solution.
Or, at the very least, the solution that would cause the least amount of damage socially.
Perhaps she could apologize briefly, and leave the situation? That surely wouldn't be considered too intimate, would it?
She cleared her throat, having made her decision. A voice echoed through the air, shattering the silence that filled the room.
But much to her surprise, it wasn't hers.
"Heinrich, this is Adalbert's niece, Elsa."
Heinrich stood up and bowed in a rather stiff manner. "Pleased to meet you." he said, his voice scarcely more than a murmur.
"It is wonderful to meet you as well." Elsa replied, with a slight curtsy and an artificial smile.
All of the people who stared intently seconds ago immediately resumed their own conversations and dances as the music once again picked up, and Elsa and Heinrich started a waltz.
And despite it not being clumsy, or intimate, or complicated, Elsa yearned for it to end the entire time.