"Excuse me, Good Sir. Could you be so good as to tell me where I am to find the Mad Hatter?"

The young gentleman turned abruptly, followed with a gentle flow of his coat, and looked Alice Heart directly in the eye as if he were shocked that any one would ever endeavor to engage him and held in contempt any such person who was impudent enough to attempt it. The princess felt herself rise up and straighten under his scrutinizing gaze, feeling the gentleman's air immediately abused by her sudden and intense dislike of him. His rugged and somewhat odd tone, which dripped in his half-hearted reply, did nothing to remedy the tension between them. His pronunciation and mimicry of her appeared to even a novice ear to hold as much contempt for the name as the way he was holding her in his gaze.

"The Mad Hatter?"

Alice tried to compose herself, repeating as civilly as her disdain would allow, "Ethan Hearttrap, Earl of Lu-Kin-Gelas. He's the host of the ceremonies tonight. I don't suppose you'd be able to tell me where I am to find him?"

The man shook his head more at himself than in reply to her question, as if he needed to be sure his eyes and ears were well in check. He also gained the aspect as if he were struggling just as hard to compose himself, asking with less contempt but more a quizzical air, "The Mad Hatter?"

Alice gave an exasperated sigh, her voice becoming all the more like a shard of ice, cold and sharp. "Yes, the Mad Hatter. I only use the reference largely due that it just so happens to be what you and all the court impertinently refer to him as. I was merely attempting to condescend to your level and enquire to his whereabouts in such a manner that even the likes of you could understand."

Alice never had found herself so impatient in all her life than when standing before this insolent stranger, watching in a forced, if somewhat strained, calm as he took his own sweet time in considering and evaluating her last comments. His gaze left her eyes just as suddenly as they returned. Again, they departed from her slightly coloured face to glance down at the floor. His brown eyes seemed to sparkle for a second and the smile that crept across his lips, for some odd reason, made Alice feel very awkward. When his face fully turned back towards her, all the contempt of her company seemed to melt away to only pure amusement, an amusement she would have preferred not to have been involved in. He let out a deep chuckle, repeating his sentiments for the third time, "The Mad Hatter?"

It was all Alice could do to bite her tongue and turn about to storm away. Every fiber of her being challenged her civility to slap him as hard as possible across his smug face. She had put up with his company long enough and was sorely disgruntled that she had engaged him at all and not left him to his own devices as he had appeared to have wanted in the first place. Unfortunately, it seemed the young gentleman had an easily swayed mind as he quickly reached out and caught the princess' wrist, chuckling airily, "And where are you going?"

Alice did not even bother to turn around, yet answered in a dark, callous tone, "To find Ethan, of course. I'm sure ANYONE would be of more use than you in helping me locate him tonight."

The stranger still held onto her wrist, spitting back, though less venomously, "And from whom will you procure assistance? I am sure you have eyes enough to behold everyone is engaged at the moment and dancing." The thought seemed to strike him, as he suddenly tugged on her wrist and spun her back to face himself. She suddenly realized how little in stature she compared to him, merely reaching his chest. His voice took a new, intrigued tone, stating in the most matter of fact voice, "I think I feel like dancing."

Alice attempted to keep the malice from spewing from her tongue and poisoning her words, only going so far as to reply, "Then I hope you find a willing partner. Good day, sir."

He did not let her even begin to storm away, the deep rumble of his chuckle found very provocative to Princess Heart's ears. "Now, now, pet. Why go through all the trouble of finding myself a willing partner when I'd be much more obliged to dance with you!"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Would you dance with me if I had been the Mad Hatter?"

While Alice could no longer bite her tongue, she still had strength enough to withhold a string of curses that very well could have made a jailer wince at the sound. Compromising, she allowed herself a slight set down which, she supposed, would injure no more than his pride and barely deflate his ego, if even going that far. The extent of which was composed like the following, "Indeed, I assure you that with your cool and easy manners, there is no possible hope of tempting me at all, regardless of who you were!"

She struggled to free her wrist from him in vain, and thus could not distance herself from that heartless laughter that so easily came from him. While she heard him pronounce she had wounded him, she could see she had done no more than amuse him with her little antics. He continued in his prodding, and seeing as he was not willing to relinquish his hold upon her wrists under any other circumstances, she grudgingly agreed. This only sparked more mirth in the stranger's deviant smirk and a murmured comment she barely caught, attempting to assure her he was very light of foot and could prove to be a desirable partner. She responded only with a causal roll of her eyes.

Releasing her wrist and twining his arm about her waist, Alice felt the gentleman whisk her out on the dance floor with a grace yet to be rivaled. Her skirt twirled about her as they spun in and out among other, more charmingly engaged couples, and she began to believe she was enjoying the song before the two fourth ended. As much as Alice loathed to admit it, she was not as put out and had found that his manners as a dancing partner, contrary to his usual manners, were in no way displeasing. Leave it to him to be right; he was a beautiful dancer.

As soon as the dance ended, and she dared to make a comment, the gentleman gave a short bow and turned immediately from her attentions. Doing so, Alice could do nothing but watch with indignation as he promptly blended into the dispersing dancers and fading away into the background. After that last rude gesture, Alice found herself in all the enjoyment of her original dislike of him, regardless of his wonderful dancing. She was acutely and minutely assured that that was the very last creature on the face of the earth that she would ever wish to be engaged with, in any manner, ever again.

Yet while she noticed Mouse, arms locked so charmingly with March, approach where she stood on the dance floor, Princess Heart could not quell the urge to dash away and chase after him. Being both her first and second instinct, and in spite of the fact that it went wholly against her conscious and disapproval of the young man, that's exactly what she found herself doing.

Mouse, at the sight, could only whisper, "Curiouser and curiouser. . ."