I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 107 Dance and Duel (Part 2)
As night fell once again over St. Petersburg, a young woman nervously checked her attire in her brightly lit bedroom. Although she knew the dress code and etiquette for the ball by heart, she still paced back and forth in front of the mirror, checking for any oversights.

For the attendees of the ball, the ladies are usually required to wear fashionable dresses that expose their necks and shoulders. When wearing this style of dress to the ball, both wives and young ladies are required to wear jewelry around their necks. Young ladies can wear ordinary pearl necklaces and necklaces with small pendants, while married wives can wear expensive jewelry.

This young lady's attire was roughly like that, and for a young lady like her, ball gowns were usually brightly colored and decorated with light ribbons and artificial flowers such as sunflowers and half-bloomed roses, while she also wore the same small bouquets in her hair.

Then there's a small fan and snow-white gloves made of silk or soft sheepskin.

She spun around in the mirror several times. Under the light, the young woman's skin seemed even brighter than her gloves, but her slightly nervous expression somewhat marred her elegant demeanor.

She undoubtedly noticed this situation as well. After giving herself a little mental encouragement, she relaxed a bit. After checking again, she prepared to walk out of the room.

It was already quite late, and her mother was waiting for her outside.

In Russia during this period, married women could attend balls with their husbands, or if their husbands were absent, they could attend with their girlfriends and their husbands. Unmarried girls, on the other hand, had to be accompanied by their mothers or, alternatively, by a vigilant middle-aged man who would offer advice if necessary.

But before leaving, Nadya took a deep breath and couldn't help but look at the ball book she carried with her. There were almost no names on it, except for one name written in beautiful handwriting in a very obvious place.

This situation is indeed very rare for a young woman like her who is very popular in high society.

After all, in the so-called high society, not everyone can be a handsome man or a beautiful woman. For this reason, the host of the ball usually asks his male dance partner, whom he knows well, to invite the ladies who are forced to sit aside because they have no external appeal to dance.

As for the ballroom, ladies attending the ball usually carry it with them and attach it to the waistband of their dress to help remind each other. They can write down the names of male partners they want to dance with and decide whether to dance with them based on their own situation.

For a popular female companion, her ballroom will be filled up at the beginning of the ball, but showing off her full ballroom ballroom in front of others, especially female companions who are rarely invited, is considered to be an excessive display of charm.

However, since Nadya's family were the hosts of the ball, she was able to focus less on dancing and more on entertaining the guests. Although she could do this, she still reserved a dance for one person, even though that person hadn't invited her.

Fortunately, after Nadya inquired around, she discovered that the other party had never formally attended any ball, and therefore had not invited any ladies to dance. This relieved her somewhat.

Despite this premise, the young girl was initially quite annoyed, until Mikhail explained in a reply that he was not good at dancing, which calmed her already low temper.

When she learned that the other person seemed to be practicing recently, Nadya felt that it would be best not to perform until the other person was fully prepared, but she still held onto a little hope and left this dance.

According to the current customs of Russian high society balls, the ball usually begins with the Polonaise, followed by the Kadriel, then the Waltz, and the Mazurka is the climax of the ball, which ends with the Kotilon.

The young woman planned to ask the other person which dance they knew best before making a decision.

When Mikhail told her that he was practicing dance, one could infer something else: Mikhail's background was probably very ordinary. But the girl already knew this, and Mikhail didn't shy away from it. He even told her about how he lived in poverty.

This incident doesn't seem to have had any impact on them.

After checking herself over to make sure she was alright, the elegantly dressed young woman finally emerged from the bedroom. As soon as she stepped out, her more formally dressed mother greeted her, touching her cheek and smiling as she said:
“My dear, you will be the most eye-catching lady today.”

"really?"

The girl couldn't help but glance at herself again.

"God is my witness, of course it's true."

The mother keenly noticed her daughter's unease: "What's wrong with you? You usually don't seem to care about this, but you've been a bit restless these past few days."

"Huh? Nothing."

After a brief moment of panic, the remarkably calm young woman quickly regained her composure, then took her mother's hand and walked into the hall.

Seeing this, her mother didn't say anything more, but happily walked forward.

Balls are usually held in a spacious and magnificent hall with columns on three sides. The hall is brightly lit by countless candles on the exquisite glass chandeliers and wall-mounted bronze candlesticks. On the high platforms on both sides of the hall, there are many card tables with unopened playing cards on them.

People often play cards, spread rumors, and make grand pronouncements here, while musicians sit on many semi-circular tiered benches along the walls of the front hall.

As soon as she arrived, the young woman couldn't help but look around. It was already getting late, and guests were arriving one after another, but she still couldn't see that familiar figure after looking for a while.

Just as she was feeling somewhat disappointed, she suddenly heard her father's loud laughter. Looking in the direction of the sound, she quickly saw her father talking excitedly to a young man.

The handsome young man seemed somewhat helpless. His attire was standard ballroom wear: an evening suit, a white bow tie, and a decorative bouquet. Even though many people present were dressed similarly, he still stood out at a glance.

Even Nadya's mother remarked in her ear, "What a handsome young man! Whose husband is he? The Moldvinov family? Or the Bolkonsky family? Otherwise, why would your father be so enthusiastic?"

At the last banquet, Nadya's mother was not at home, so she naturally did not get to see Mikhail in person.

Faced with her mother's question, the girl gave a vague reply and then continued to look in that direction, slightly lost in thought.

Only after those dark eyes finally met hers did she blink rapidly a few times before slowly looking away. Having finally seen an acquaintance, Mikhail, who had been somewhat apprehensive, relaxed a little.

There was no other way; he really wanted to attend the banquet discreetly without anyone accompanying him, so he arrived at a moderate time, intending to simply blend in with the crowd.

However, the general in uniform spotted him in the crowd at a glance and warmly ushered Mikhail in.

To be honest, Mikhail didn't know much about balls. What he remembered most clearly was that before the Decembrist Revolt, members of their secret organization often used balls as a cover to exchange political opinions.

If I hadn't crammed on the rules of the dance these past few days, I might have run into trouble at some point.

Just as an unmarried young lady cannot frequently dance with the same unmarried male partner, frequently choosing the same young lady as a dance partner is like announcing to the entire upper class that he will soon marry her.

If the man does not propose shortly after the ball, it is considered that the woman's reputation has been damaged, and her parents will naturally feel that their family's honor has been insulted. Therefore, the man is required to give a serious explanation to the woman's parents.

The outcome of the explanation is either that the man proposes to the woman and marries her, or that a duel that could result in death must take place.

In short, there is something to be aware of.

Because of these things, Mikhail was already a little nervous, and then the general continued to talk to him with great interest:

“My dear Mikhail, I really wish I could present your poems directly to the Emperor! Unfortunately, they are not perfect in some places. How about this? Let us write some beautiful poems together, and even if we cannot present them to the Emperor, it would be wonderful to present them to other members of the royal family.”

Mikhail: “.”

Turtle, let's write together. General, would you also like to experience the Siberian cold wind?
Although the general was a feudalist fighter, he had always treated Mikhail well, so Mikhail could only give him a vague response for the time being.

And because of the general, Mikhail's plan to keep a low profile was completely ruined, simply because the general, while talking to him, was also introducing Mikhail's identity to the passersby: "Hey! A poet! His poems are known to everyone in St. Petersburg recently! You know, he seems unwilling to go anywhere, but today he came to my house! He came last time too!"

Mikhail: “.”

After the general said this, probably because those few poems had indeed spread quite widely, many people at the ball cast interested glances at Mikhail.

While poetry may not have any real meaning for these people, it is undoubtedly a wonderful decoration. Don't European royalty and nobility take pride in supporting poets and artists?

Despite feeling a little nervous under such gazes and from those who approached him, Mikhail remained outwardly composed, simply offering a polite smile befitting his social interactions.

Because so many people came to talk to him, Mikhail hadn't been able to exchange more than a few words with Nadya, whom he knew well. It wasn't until just before the ball was about to begin, when Nadya intentionally or unintentionally approached him, that the two finally managed to strike up a conversation.

The girl's face seemed a little pink, but she still blinked and asked, "How's your dance learning going?"

"It should be pretty good."

Thinking about his recent learning progress, Mikhail made a slightly uncertain joke: "At least I won't step on your feet."

“Then I’ll step on it back, and then we’ll be even.”

After making a similar joke, seeing that Mikhail seemed quite relaxed, the girl, who had been a bit tense, also relaxed considerably and asked directly, "So, is the first dance alright? There shouldn't be any problems. I'll guide you through it, so don't worry."

The Polonaise, which opens a ball, has been popular since the time of Catherine II. This dance lasts for nearly thirty minutes and all the invitees are required to dance it, even if they spend the rest of the night at the card table.

At the same time, the rhythm of this dance is relatively slow and the movements are not complicated, so anyone can dance it, no matter how old they are.

Undoubtedly, this is a dance that is very suitable for newcomers to get familiar with the venue, and since everyone dances it, it will not attract too much attention.

So, although Mikhail was a little surprised by the girl's straightforwardness, he nodded after thinking for a moment.

As the time drew near and the music began, couples walked toward the dance floor, the men holding the women's hands, forming lines and exchanging greetings and other ceremonial gestures in a solemn and slow procession.

Mikhail and Nadya, a slightly eye-catching duo, also joined the grand parade to the music.

Mikhail was a little nervous at first, but the girl kept saying, "You danced very well!"

Mikhail finally relaxed, and after relaxing, he immediately smelled a certain fragrance and felt a certain softness, which made him tense up in another sense. So he simply cleared his mind and obediently danced the rest of the dance to the music and the rhythm of the other person.

The young woman didn't seem so calm and composed. Although she wanted to say something, she couldn't say anything for some reason. So she could only continue to focus on the dance she was doing, even though this level of dance was already ingrained in her very being.

But the distance was always so close, so their eyes kept colliding, avoiding each other, and meeting again, just like the twilight and night in St. Petersburg.

(End of this chapter)