"It's just that I don't like occasions like that. I think the best stage is beneath moonlight like this, with only the two of us."
Froy froze for a moment.
Connie covered her little mouth as well.
Chen Lun took off his top hat and solemnly extended his hand in a perfectly proper invitation.
"Miss Froy, would you dance with me?"
Thump, thump!
Froy's heart skipped a beat.
She pressed her lips together and remained silent for a moment.
Then she gently lifted the edges of her skirt and gave an earnest curtsy.
"I would be delighted, sir."
Froy extended her hand and placed it in Chen Lun's palm.
Connie held her breath as she watched Mr. Jack lead Miss Froy into a leisurely twirl across the manor's open grounds.
The Purple Moon hung high above, spilling down its tenderness.
A jaunty harmonica tune from some unknown source drifted faintly into the manor, accompanying the two beneath the moon.
Froy felt happy as she danced lightly, following his rhythm.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her heartbeat quickened.
Bibu, the White Kitten they had adopted, leaped into their circle, following curiously and hopping around their feet.
Their palms pressed together, like the slowest instant in the world, time pausing for them, like a half-filled painting of amber beneath a curtain of stars.
Rising onto tiptoe brought the fastest heartbeat, the melody keeping time with it, composing a poem for two beneath the moon.
The scene etched itself deep into Connie's heart.
Perhaps Miss Froy and Mr. Jack really are better suited to each other.
She thought to herself.
The Moonlit Waltz ended.
Her cheeks faintly flushed, Froy lifted her skirt and curtsied to Chen Lun again.
At a corner of the wall outside the manor, a blond young