“It is the first ball of the season, do not tell me you are already fed up?” Barlow teases Annie, who would rather be anywhere but at the edge of the ballroom. She tried to avoid attending, but her attendance was required. Alicia encourages her to make a good impression and find a suitable match. Annie, however, finds the idea of marriage dreadful. She’d rather spend her time in the library than engage in courtship. She escapes the ballroom and finds solace in the estate library.