" You forget one other thing, Father,” I said. “Dmitriv thinks balls are deadly dull. Can you expect him to fall in love at the equivalent of one of your Council meetings?”...
Father stamped his fist on the table and pushed himself up. His moustache was bristling—he did not often take kindly to my poking holes in his schemes.
“You forget, dear daughter,” he roared after me, “deadly dull places are best to distract oneself with a love affair! Why else would balls have worked for all these centuries, eh? "

― Harma-Mae Smit , Prince Charming