Alice was unsure if there was anything that she needed to do after the courtship was announced. She asked Lily and she shook her head.
"It is his job to ask you out on a courting date." She smiled in anticipation.
"Oh, well we might be here for a long while then." They chuckled together, but ceased when Hatter knocked at the door.

He sat and sipped on his cup of tea.
"No babe today?" He asked and Lily shook her head.
"No today he is with Daddy, meaning I can have a little rest." She smiled and he nodded.
"Alice I wondered if you would like to go and see the dancers in the square tomorrow?" He asked and Alice smiled.
"Oh yes, that would be lovely Tarrant." She called him by his name and Lily raised her eyebrows and Alice smiled.
"Lovely, then I shall pick you up at ten tomorrow morning." He told her, before standing, bowing and leaving.
"I suppose not as long as we had thought." Lily remarked and Alice sat, in shock.

Tarrant had never felt so nervous in his life. He had mustered the courage to ask Alice, but now he had to ensure that they had a marvelous day. He felt a little faint when he saw her in her dusty rose dress, all feminine beauty. He was dressed in his pastel suit, perfect for the occasion.

Alice beamed as they walked into town. There was something so lovely about walking with Tarrant. There was no pressure for conversation, they just walked, and smiled every now and again at one another.

Alice was delighted to see that the cheeses were out. Wonderland had all kinds of cheeses that she could never find in her old home. Flavours and textures that she could not even describe. Hatter stood back and smiled as she went along the stalls, trying the different cheeses and commenting on them. Everytime that she thought she had found a favourite, she would find another. Hatter chuckled, seeing her so full of joy.

He bought them lunch and they sat on the town green, in preparation to watch the dancers.
"It is such a wonderful day." Alice smiled, as she kicked off her shoes.
"All the more wonderful for spending it with you." He smiled and she blushed and fell silent for a moment.
"Hatter, what kind of music do you listen to in Wonderland?" She asked and he ran through the different instruments they had and how they could be played and who played them the best in all of Wonderland.

Alice remembered back to when she once heard a band of men from America playing a new kind of music, it was upbeat and made her want to dance. She had been told by one of the young men in London that it was called "Jazz". When she explained it to Hatter, his eyes lit up and he stated that he would very much like to hear this music.
"I am sure they have it somewhere in Wonderland. But with how strange everything is, I would not be surprised if you played it with your toes here!" She laughed and Hatter laughed with her.

They watched the dancers together. But if Hatter was honest with himself, he preferred watching Alice's reaction than the dancers themselves. She knew that he was looking, but kept her attention on the performers.

They walked together after the performance.
"I don't think I have ever simply walked in Wonderland. I have always been on my way to somewhere." Alice mused and Hatter thought to himself that this was very sad indeed.
"Without you, Alice, none of us would be here. I think you forget that." He told her and she looked at the ground as she blushed.
"Well that isn't true." She shook her head.
"Yes Alice, it is. If you hadn't defeated the Gabberwake then we would have all perished." He told her and she sighed, accepting his compliment.
"I hope I never have to do that again. I want an easy life from now on." She told him and Hatter smiled.
"I can give you that, Alice. I can give you a simple life, filled with trips and pleasure and tea!" He felt himself run away with his thought, and felt a little embarrassed. But Alice smiled up at him.
"I would like that. I have never really wanted to be with someone before. I mean share a great deal of my time with them. But when I left Wonderland Hatter, I missed you the most." She told him and he felt his heart flutter.
"It was a sad time for me, Alice. I never wanted you to leave. But I understand that in order to stay you had to come back of your own free will."

Alice sighed as she decided to open up with Tarrant.
"It was so hard. You see, I am from my world and in my world there is a way of doing things. If a young woman is not married, she is an outcast, a victim of cruel jokes, and I couldn't have that." She shook her head and Hatter felt pain for her.
"So I thought I must forget about this place and marry. But then I went home and found that the men there, they do not understand me. They wanted to cage me, they wanted me as a pretty thing to keep and show to their friends and I am not that woman."

Hatter knew that he was going to give Alice everything that she wanted, let her be whoever she wanted to be.
"My Father, he promised me to a man. I was going to be married. But then my parents were killed." Hatter gasped in shock and placed his hand over Alice's.
"I know that I should be dreadfully sad. But I was not so close with my parents, and my Father had insisted that I marry this man, this beast twice my age. He was wealthy and had already had another wife, a wife who was notorious for keeping quiet while he went off with his mistresses." She chuckled, shaking her head.
"Alice, I am so sorry." He told her and she sighed.
"It was awful, the idea of having to marry that man, that I would have to share his bed and his home." She shook her head, wrinkling her nose up.

Hatter understood when Alice told him that she didn't want to talk about it anymore. So, he took her to the local tavern and they sat for a meal.
"My parents have moved close again. They are only a half an hour walk from the town square." He told her and she smiled, glad that Hatter had been reunited with his family.
"That is wonderful." She smiled down, into her glass of apple juice.

They ate a delicious meal and Alice was rather stuffed as they walked back to her home.
"I thought maybe that we could have a game of croquet with Thackery tomorrow?" He asked her and she smiled up at him.
"I would enjoy that, very much." She told him and he blushed as she took a step forward.
"Today has been truly wonderful, Hatter. Thank you." She pecked him on the cheek and his whole body froze.
"Until tomorrow!" He called and she chuckled, closing the door.

Alice had never imagined it, but she was beginning to fall for Tarrant. He was such a wonderful listener and he was truly devoted to her. She fell asleep with that giddy, light feeling that she had not felt fully before.