𝑀iss 𝒫erfection.

dialogue prompts from the remains of the day by kazuo ishiguro.

you look like you could make good use of a break.

take my advice: get out of the house for a few days.

there is no virtue in clinging to tradition for its own sake.

i had to choose my moment wisely.

i'd never have figured you for such a ladies' man.

you won't get a better view anywhere.

you're in good shape for your age.

you really are the best.

you know when somebody's got it, and you know when somebody hasn't.

i'm still not clear what you are getting at.

you and i have to work as a team.

i do not believe i am confused at all.

if only i had as much spare time as you apparently do.

ladies and gentlemen differ in several key respects.

would you mind coming to the point?

______ is perpetually underestimating me.

i hope i've been a good ______ to you.

i'm proud of you.

what you describe as 'amateurism' is what i think most of us here still prefer to call 'honor'.

'professionalism' appears to mean 'getting one's way by cheating and manipulating'. ordering one's priorities according to greed and advantage, rather than the desire to see goodness and justice prevail in the world.

are you alright? you look as though you're crying.

at one point, i would have sworn you were at least three people.

you talk almost like a gentleman.

you're the real thing, aren't you?

i may have given you a slightly misleading picture.

why did you tell such a tale?

i have chosen to tell white lies as the simplest means of avoiding unpleasantness.

i know i should be sorry.

things have not been all they might.

we must not allow sentiment to creep into our judgment.

it was wrong, what happened.

where could i have gone?

i feel so ashamed of myself, but i just couldn't leave. i just couldn't bring myself to leave.

what's done can hardly be undone.

why do you always have to pretend?

i suffered all the more because i believed i was alone.

can it be that you're flesh and blood, after all?

why is that guilty smile on your face?

i am slightly amused by your astonishing capacity to talk nonsense.

we don't have money, but who cares? we have love, and who wants anything else? we've got one another. that's all anyone can ever want.

it seems you were right, and i was wrong.

no doubt it's refreshing to leave the house, from time to time.

i really cannot imagine what more you might wish for, in life.

i am very, very tired. can you not appreciate that?

what is the sense in forever speculating what might have happened, if such-and-such a moment had turned out differently?

he may have had a lot of money, but he was no gentleman.

_____ took us all for fools.

a lot of hard talking and thinking goes on in this place. there's plenty of good, strong opinion around, and people aren't shy about expressing it.

some mistake acting high and mighty for dignity.

i suppose i have been very fortunate. i would be the first to admit that.

it's a great privilege to have been given a part to play, however small, on the world's stage.

public life can change people unrecognizably in a few short years.

in my own small way, i believe i'm doing my part.

people here want to be left alone to live their quiet little lives.

i do wish you'd sit down.

don't you care at all? aren't you at all curious?

today's world is too foul a place for fine and noble instincts.

i'm really sorry. i had no idea things had been so bad.

will you wait with me? it will only be a few minutes.

one can't be forever dwelling on what might have been.

it is too late to turn back the clock.

sea air does you a lot of good.

you never know who you're addressing, when you start talking to a stranger.

i gave _____ the very best i had to give, and now i find i do not have a great deal left to give.

i've given what i had to give. i gave it all to _____.

you want a hankie? i've got one somewhere. it's fairly clean.

i can't even say i made my own mistakes. what dignity is there in that?

you've got to enjoy yourself. the evening's the best part of the day.

what can we ever gain in forever looking back and blaming ourselves, if our lives have not turned out quite as we might have wished?

surely it is enough that the likes of you and me at least try to make a small contribution count for something true and worthy.

he is not one for conversation , the idea that he had been brought to THIS particular gathering didn't sit quite right. it had been his sister georgiana who had convinced him , had voiced that it might be nice if -he- attended a social gathering. there is indeed kindness that blossoms beneath , yet ? there is much upon shoulders. the legacy of a name and fortune that he was already well-aware brought the sort of attention that he had always fought so hard against.

it wasn't that he was too pratical for love , it was the notion that the sort of love that he craved was not needed for an ideal match. there was love between his parents , a mutual respect that he had always thought was as close to love as one could get.

marriage in their world was built upon the foundation of furthering legacy , of keeping a sense of balance to their world ; a balance that was slowly changing. love was not a needed ingredient but there was perhaps hope that he would one day tie his name to someone who would find comfort in his arms.

' something dangerous about surprise ' voice flat which to some would imply a disinterest yet? it is quite the opposite. ' there are those who would flee from such a concept ' his eyes scan the crowds , ' take tonight ... there is of course the understanding that we are all on display ' it is then when his hand tenses ever so , fingers digging into palms as he feels his throat becoming dry , ' change is inevitable ' his jaw tight as he feels he heat of candles the flames somehow dangerously close.

His musings on the idea of surprise is itself unexpected. In her eyes, it seems as if all anyone desires these days is to be surprised, all those ears pricked up to catch onto a new scandal or another. “Dangerous? Oh, yes, I suppose it can be quite troubling at times. But I would like to be surprised one day. If, for example, my sister were to fall ill one night—and just for one night! With nothing terribly serious, of course—and thus Mama might look upon me for more than a mere moment. That would be a lovely surprise.” Nothing more than a dream, of course. And nothing Mr. Darcy's likely to want to hear, either. Posy's cheeks catch flame, the embarrassment pinching her skin red. “Ah, but yes, surprises can be unpleasant as well.”

She turns away quickly, much too cowardly to watch Mr. Darcy's face twist into displeasure at what is surely another conversational blunder. Even a lifetime of Araminta's stinging disappointment and harsh lectures has not cured Posy of her tendency to ramble. A surprise would indeed be wonderful. She's sure her mother thinks the same.

“I do hope change won't keep me waiting too long. If this season is to mirror the last, I'll be quite disappointed.” She sighs softly, casting a longing glance to the smiling faces across the room. “I'd hoped to dance more.”

Posy fidgets with her glove, and her thus far empty dance card.

Even now, she still feels so out of place, still too foreign or too much of an actress, no matter how much time has passed. Even with the blessing of a queen and the demise of an emperor, the stain of such a bloody legacy follows her like a cat at her heels, the cruel gossip of the ton ringing in her ears like the crashing of the guillotine's blade — a memory where she was too young to recall. Yet, it is moments like this that manage to soften the walls built up around her heart; when the hopefulness and light bubbles to the surface once more, allowing the drama of the ton to fade away just for now.

❛❛ Perhaps, if you'd rather prefer a life of idleness, ❜❜ a small smile, coy and knowing, blooms on her face then, timbre teasing, yet soft all the while. ❛❛ Frankly, I’d grow terribly bored. What kind of fun is there to have when all you do is listen and obey to some arbitrary rules for your entire life? You only live once, you know. It's imperative that you make the best of it. ❜❜ Looking at Posy was like looking in a mirror, her companion sharing that same wide-eyed, curious look that she had once worn so many years ago, that she had shed once reality had finally caught up to her. Even now, Marguerite still had a penchant to dream, to see the world in soft, vivid colours, still blissfully unaware of its cruel, vicious underbelly. Perhaps, with Posy, she could indulge in that fantasy once more.

“In truth, I don't quite know what I prefer.” A smile is met with a smile, despite the uncertain contents of Posy's speech. “I should like to have some fun, I believe. But Mama always says I'm not clever enough to think for myself. Of course, I continue to think regardless, she simply thinks all my thinking to be wrong. Being in your company today is wrong, as well, according to her. Though I see nothing worth getting upset over. You are far more interesting than any of those suitors she has my sister meeting, at any rate. I wonder if my mama has merely been starved of good company so long she's forgotten what it looks like.” She takes half a breath, angered again suddenly, at the memory of Araminta's disapproval. She'd said actress with almost as much disdain as she said bastard, though with markedly less vitriol. Posy had held her tongue then, and simply went and met Marguerite anyway. It must be that she'd held it too long, which is why she's loosened it so carelessly here. “Oh, no. I did not mean that. Well, I did mean it, a little, but if anyone asks, I did not.” A flush graces her cheeks, as she realises how much she's inadvertently revealed.