Adelaide was surprised to say the least to catch his eye contact a second time, a sheepish grin remaining on her face as she averted his gaze furthermore by looking up at the two gentleman she spoke with. Her earlier mindset of allowing herself to be sated by his visual attention alone was thrown out the window, the prospect of speaking to him again much too appealing for her to admit up to. This time, his reaction even seemed a bit different. Dare she say she saw mischief twinkling in his eye? She'd taught herself to be wary of seeing such things, but in this scenario, Adelaide found herself itching to know what thoughts had brought that look on.

It seemed that she found this out on her own rather quickly as he approached the guards, spouting the news of a scuffle that the lady didn't quite buy into for some reason. Instead of even allowing her gaze to trial after the two men or attempt to try to catch a glimpse of said scuffle, it focused in on Comte de Frontenac in understanding. He'd just excused them of her presence. It had been a lie without a shadow of a doubt, but her thoughts didn't spend much time on that concept. She had lied to escape the presence of others before, though perhaps not in such smooth a manner. "Good luck, gentleman." Adelaide spoke casually after the two guards, her own form of goodbye as her eyes lit with curiosity. It was now clear to her that the comte was indeed interested in her to some extent, to have done such a thing to the poor Summer guardsmen.

"Comte de Frontenac," she greeted him with another warm smile, nodding slightly in his direction as he approached. She had caught a couple of glimpses of him since she had parted from his side earlier, but standing before him again was an all too different task. It was one thing to see a handsome face from a distance, but to have its attention at a close range was something else. Not only this, but contrary to her time with the prince - whom was indeed handsome - she actually quite enjoyed her time before this man. "I trust you've had an eventful evening." She added, conversationally, knowing that she had indeed felt that way about the night so far.

As he chuckled, she felt what she thought of as a brush of cold against her neck, raising the baby hair that lingered there. It was an invigorating feeling to have approached him again, and have him respond in such a manner, yet his words took a moment to reach their full effect. He thought that I wasn't interested? Letting a small laugh of her own part her lips, Adelaide spoke to correct this. "Of course I--" Catching herself cautiously, her eyes searched his form for a moment before she allowed her gaze to dip. "I appreciated your company earlier. I do believe I told you I intended to find you again later." She finished, only then lifting her gaze with a sheepish grin. This bout of shyness was not caused by her words just now, however, she was not ashamed to admit up to them. It was what she had begun to say without a thought prior to her correction. Of course I like you.

. _ . ______________ . _ .


As the young woman immediately turned on her heel to leave, the voice inside his head celebrated a tiny victory. How she seemed to be so put off by someone that attracted her, he didn't know-- he only knew that she was both attracted and, apparently, disgusted by him. It was a reasonable enough balance for him to manage. Dorian just now wished to work on tipping the precious scales inside of her mind in his favor. He needed to convince her that he was worthy of spending time with, since she seemed so adamant on avoiding him. "I am glad you think so." He replied simply, sending a smile in her direction as she made the move to pass him and exit into the garden on her own. Quirking a curious brow, but saying nothing at first, he swept his plate up from the window sill and followed after her.

The gardens were expansive, and quite obviously to Dorian, up-kept by the Summer Court. Not a flower blooming in the evening like so would really be doing as such without their help, or at least their presence. There were quite a variety of such flowers present, growing in quaint rows, in various sizes of pots along the well-maintained trails, strung along the cross sections of a pagoda standing just ahead of them. It held a central location to the garden, and from where they stood, Dorian was able to catch the presence of at least one bench sitting beneath it. The gentle breeze sweeping by to sway the flowers in the night cast dotted shadows across is, but the moon overhead did enough to light its interior space well yet.

Gesturing to it with plate in hand, his free hand took the mind to gently caress her outer forearm. "Perhaps we should eat over there? The pagoda seems to be a beautiful spot." He suggested, eyes moving with ease from the sights of garden to study Aurelie's soft features, awaiting with patience a reaction to this. She was easily a better sight than the garden before them. Then, hesitantly, he looked back over the exterior to spot other sets of benches set along the hedges further back within the space. Gesturing his plate hand in their direction as well, he turned to look back at her. "Or, maybe, at one of those? They're well-placed, too." He added as a suggestion, hoping one may peak her particular fancy.

Feeling as if he should somehow bring up her earlier attempt to turn her back to him, he cleared his throat a little. "Aurelie, actually... Excuse me, Miss Vallette," He began, then corrected himself, though his words had indeed been chosen carefully. Using her first name was an intimate gesture he was not afraid of braving in this circumstance. "I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be in a hurry to try leaving in the hallway just now." He explained, voice a tad softer, as if he had felt some personal injury at this. "I don't presume that spending time alone with a demon was something you had on your mind tonight. I just wanted to thank you for accepting my invitation. I have to admit, I wasn't sure you'd wish to speak to me again after our dance earlier." He spoke thoughtfully, concern washing over his features as he quietly allowed his gaze to study hers.

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