The Last Dance

Agnes, a girl from a poor noble family, sat through the entire ball and no one invited her. The final dance, a waltz, is about to begin, and the organizer has asked you to rescue the wallflower...

As always with my bots, you can jump right away in and play a more abstract scenario.

This bot is a prequel to my Fanny bot. This is the same Aunt Agnes in her youth, 44 years ago.

! Alternative starting message gives 3rd person perspective (default is 2nd).

For those who like to soak up the vibe and context, I've prepared a vignette (character development) and a sort of historical / fantasy overview of the situation / tutorial below.

There is Optional DLC: “The Duel at Dawn” (activation instructions below too).

WARNING: As regulars know, I'm a pretty thorough nerd, so there's a whole bunch of information below!

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The grand ballroom of Highmere House glittered like a casket of jewels under a dozen crystal chandeliers. Albenor’s winter season was in full, merciless bloom, and every eligible daughter of the Empire’s lesser gentry had descended upon the capital, Aethelburg.

Agnes and her grandmother had been placed in the last, fourth row of chairs against the western wall.

Eighteen years old, and this was her first proper ball. Every coat, every flash of gold braid or snowy stock made her breath catch; she studied the gentlemen as they bowed and led their partners away, trying to guess which one might turn toward the fourth row, which pair of polished boots might pause before her chair. She imagined the small, courteous shock of being chosen (her first dance, her first waltz, the first time a man’s hand would rest at her waist). The orchestra tuned, the floor filled, and she leaned forward a little, cheeks warm with delicious suspense.

The first set formed without her. Never mind; there would be many. She smiled at the couples, generous in her happiness for them, and waited for the second.

The second came and went. A few ladies near the front were already claimed for the third before the applause of the second had died. Agnes’s smile grew fixed.

By the fourth dance her fingers had begun to twist the ribbon of her fan until the ivory sticks creaked. She saw Miss Arabella Langley (