Page 78 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
They danced until the pipers stilled, and the flutes picked up, and fires gave way to embers.
People partnered up, sliding together like clockwork.
He looked across to Adeline, and held out his hand.
There was a moment’s hesitation. Of course there was. You did not dance like this with your employer.
But maybe, maybe you danced this way with a friend.
Or whatever they were to each other.
She was certainly not his maid, but ‘friend’ seemed all at once too little and far too much. She was his only friend in the entire world, and he did not want her to be.
Her waist felt so small beneath his hand, and yet he could feel the warmth of her through his gloves, through the air that misted beneath them. She missed a step, and he gripped onto her, harder, steadying her against him.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I am not the best of dancers.”
“You’re fine.”You’re perfect.
She snorted, and her eyes turned to the other couples. Some of the women were resting their heads against their partners, and he wondered if she had any inclination to do the same.
She glanced back up at him, her dark eyes taking on the shimmer of the firelight, gold and gleaming.
“Dimitri?”
“Yes?”
“The best things in life reallyarefree.”
Dimitri gathered her closer. “I don’t know. I pay you an awful lot.”
Adeline glanced down, and a flash of red dusted her cheeks, caused by the light, surely.
“I was trying to complimentyou,” she muttered.
“Oh? How so?”
“Becauseyou’refree,” she insisted, wriggling out of his grasp. The song had ended a few moments ago. “The dance was free. The whole…thing…that we didn’t pay a penny for. And… it was really fun and it didn’t cost us anything and now I’ve explained it, it’s ruined.”
“You liked dancing with me?”
“I like dancing.”
“With me?”
“Yes, with you.”
Her words shimmered down his body like liquid, cool and warming all at once. Something must have shown in his face, even beneath the mask, because Adeline broke his gaze.
“You can dance with me anytime you like!” he called after her. “I’ll hire an instructor, if you like. Or we can do it privately. I don’t mind!”
“I’m leaving now.”
He hurried after her, away from the dancefloor, away from all of the festivities to a quieter street nearby. She stopped outside a small, single-roomed building with a high roof, and peered through the window.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“It’s the library. They display new books here. I was just checking…”
