Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha or the plot of Pride and Prejudice
Many thanks for the reviews! I hope that I'm doing this idea some justice, it's quite a difficult one to write.
"Why would a lord come to Meryton?" asked Kagome incredulously.
"I have heard," replied Lady Wolfe. "That their families have always been on friendly terms, and that Mr Miroku has a particular friendship with Mr Inuyasha. I can only imagine that his brother has come to keep an eye on him."
Kagome looked round with interest towards the subjects of their conversation and found that Mr Miroku was being led towards them by Sir Wolfe and Aoyame. As they rose to greet him Kagome raised her eyebrows at Sango who rolled her eyes and looked at Sir Wolfe as he started to speak.
"Mrs Higurashi, Mr Miroku has expressed a wish to become acquainted with you and your daughters."
"That is very good of you, sir," she said to Mr Miroku, with a friendly smile. "Here is Sango, my eldest, and Kagome, and this is my youngest, Rin."
"I'm very pleased to meet you all," he said.
He bowed and they all curtseyed in return.
"Are you fond of dancing, sir?" inquired Mrs Higurashi.
"Yes, indeed," he replied enthusiastically, followed by a pause where he looked intently at Sango. "And if Miss Sango is not yet engaged, may I be so bold as to claim the first two dances?"
"I am not engaged, sir," replied Sango, eloquently and with a warm smile that made Miroku's innards do a loop-de-loop.
Till now Lord Sesshoumaru had prevented Mr Inuyasha from joining Miroku by detaining him in conversation near the door. They now wandered over to the little group together.
"Ah, ladies, allow me to introduce my good friends the honourable Lord Sesshoumaru and Mr Inuyasha," said Miroku as he spotted them.
He re-introduced everyone to his friends and they bowed, Inuyasha somewhat awkwardly, and the ladies curtseyed in reply.
"Good sirs," smiled Mrs Higurashi. "Do you also like to dance?"
"I dance but rarely, madam," replied Sesshoumaru coldly.
He bowed abruptly and walked away in a proud manner.
"You will excuse me," said Inuyasha.
He bowed a little more respectfully and followed angrily after his brother. The music then struck up for the first dance and Miroku led Sango away to join in.
"Mr Miroku seems such an amiable gentleman," began Mrs Higurashi with a frown. "But his friends are quite different."
"Yes," agreed Kagome, bewildered. "Lord Sesshoumaru is so cold and austere, and his brother seems to be not wholly at ease with his surroundings. Maybe he too feels our society is beneath him."
She sighed, what a disappointment.
"Don't sigh so, Kagome. It's far too soon to decide on their characters!" assured Mrs Higurashi, cheeringly.
"Its true, Kagome," piped up Rin. "There's good in everybody, you just have to look for it!"
"I wish I could think as well of people as you do, Rin!" said Kagome, laughing.
Meanwhile…
"Sesshoumaru," began Inuyasha in a low growl. "You just gave me a lecture about behaving like a gentleman and then you go and act like that!"
"Inuyasha," began Sesshoumaru, with a cool glare. "I am a Lord, and I will not indulge the whims of lowly company such as is present here. I will not stoop to dance with any other than Mr Miroku's respectable sisters, and if you have any sense of proper pride, you will not either."
"I will have nothing to do with your stupid pride! Father never acted like that so neither will I," Inuyasha snarled and stalked back to the Higurashi group.
"I apologise for my brother's manner," said Inuyasha, awkwardly.
Kagome was struck by his fierce manner, but soon after saw it soften somewhat into mild curiosity and interest. She blushed when she realised that he was looking at her.
Inuyasha was fascinated by the loveliness Kagome's features gained from the innocent blush of modesty. Unfortunately the women he had been most accustomed to were whores of London, as he often went there with Miroku to indulge in the idle pleasures of young gentlemen of fortune. Needless to say Miroku indulged himself far more, as Inuyasha was rarely tempted by those trashy women and found most of them ridiculous. He thought to himself that if he had known there were such pretty wenches in genteel society he would have come to gatherings like this more often.
He was also determined to defy his brother.
"Miss Kagome, may I dance the next with you?" he requested, in as polite a way as he could manage.
"I thank you, yes," replied Kagome, somewhat surprised at the change in his address.
He bowed, she curtseyed and then he walked away to talk with Mr Miroku's sisters, avoiding the glare he was receiving from Sesshoumaru, who stood alone on the other side of the room.
"See, Kagome?!" smiled Mrs Higurashi. "What did I tell you? It seems he is not so proud and disobliging as you thought!"
"Perhaps not," replied Kagome, as she watched Sango and Miroku dancing with a smile.
She was relieved that she would have at least one dance partner of interest in the course of the evening, and hoped that Mr Inuyasha would be more at ease with dancing than he was with making polite conversation.
When the music of the first dance ended she perceived that Miroku and Sango were standing ready for the next dance with a space next to them. She hurried through the crowd of retreating dancers to find Mr Inuyasha so they could take the space before someone else did. She waited impatiently for a couple to pass in front of her and then hurried forward, and then immediately collided with the solid chest of someone else who was also trying to hurry through the crowd. This gentleman grasped her arms with strong hands before she could topple backwards onto the floor, and she looked up to find the surprised face of Mr Inuyasha!
"Mr Inuyasha!" gasped Kagome. "I sincerely apologise!"
Kagome, realising how close he was holding her, pulled away quickly and turned a deep shade of red. Inuyasha continued on in a stunned silence until she spoke again.
"Come, sir," she said, regaining her composure. "We must get a place!"
Inuyasha merely nodded and led her onto the dance floor, where the space they had both wanted was miraculously still vacant. Kagome and Inuyasha took their places opposite each other, and Miroku shot his friend a dirty smirk, which Inuyasha dismissed with rolled eyes and which was missed by the sisters in the opposite line who were conversing in whispers.
"Your partner dances well!" remarked Kagome to Sango.
"Yes, let's see if yours is any better!" added Sango, giggling.
They were silenced by the music starting, and thereafter Kagome observed that, although rough and unrefined, Mr Inuyasha danced with lively animation and enjoyment. Indeed, she did notice that he concentrated far more on his own performance than Mr Miroku, who seemed to concentrate almost wholly on Sango to the point where he even made a few mistakes, although Sango seemed to observe these with humour rather than displeasure. She often heard them laughing together when he tripped or went the wrong way.
The dance ended with a bow from the gentlemen and a curtsey from the ladies, and Inuyasha and Kagome shared the mutual smile that is inspired by a pleasing dance. She saw Sango arm in arm with Miroku, who led her towards his sisters. Inuyasha offered his own arm to Kagome and they followed them.
This is turning out to be a pleasant evening after all, thought Kagome…