Proceed to a quiet place.

The two of you leave behind the dancing and the music atop the dais, exchanging the commotion of the ballroom for the relative quiet of the courtyard. You avoid the besmirched statue, climbing a flight of steps beyond a vine-covered stone archway that leads up to a small balcony. It gives way to a beautiful -- if not slightly enclosed -- view of the courtyard. It seems Groundskeeper Nevrin did discover the statue, as you’d feared. He looks all around several yards below, as if the culprit will pop up and introduce himself.

“That the groundskeeper?” Ravi asks casually. He takes a lazy sip off the wine glass he carried up here.

“Yes,” you say.

“Hm.” Another sip. “He looks right irritated.”

“Yes. Can’t imagine why.”

“Oh, that’s an insult to what I’m sure is quite the imagination.”

“Ravi--”

“Want to get out of here?” he says, sliding the empty wine glass to the corner of the bannister.

“Sorry?”

“Do you want to vacate the scene? Ditch the party? Escape the gossip?” He looks up somewhere, like he’s searching for something through all those vines. “There’s something I wanted to try, and I can think of no better company for the venture than who I’ve got right in front of me.” He looks back at you, and smiles.