Your parents had been bugging you about finding a husband. With your brother inheriting the family estates and wealth, you would have nothing if you didn’t find a suitor.

That’s how you got here, in a ballroom much too loud, bustling with too many people. Several men had already asked for your hand — both in marriage and simply to dance — but you had given none of them the honor.

Now, standing on the outskirts of the ballroom at the table of drinks, yet another person approached you.

“Pardon, but I’m not interested-” you begin, but your cheeks flush as you find another woman staring back at you, clad in men’s attire, hand offered up to you. You were sure two women together would be frowned upon, ridiculed, yet you already felt yourself reaching to accept her hand.

“Have none of the men asked a pretty lady like you to dance?” the woman questions, a soft smile on her lips. “Would you do me the honor?”