Page 39 of The Reckless Love of an Heir
‘I am so excited. I have felt giddy all day…’ Alethea said.
Henry ceased daydreaming. ‘I am not surprised, it is your first London ball.’ As they danced he tried to maintain the conversation, but his thoughts kept finding their way back to Susan, andwhen he looked into Alethea’s eyes, it was Susan’s that appeared in his mind.
He bowed over Alethea’s hand when the dance ended, and was about to walk her back to Uncle Casper and Aunt Julie, when a man who was older than him, who Henry did not know by name, came to escort her for the next dance. A jolt struck through Henry at the thought of a stranger dancing with Alethea, and yet numerous strangers had danced with her at the assembly in York. Or rather, people who had been strangers to him.
‘Lord Stourton,’ Alethea acknowledged.
He left Alethea to the stranger, as she had obviously been introduced, and looked for Susan. He had promised Susan the second dance.
There, she was still with Harry, he had walked her back to her parents and was conversing with them.
As Henry walked across, William approached her.Damn.
‘This is my dance, I believe, Susan!’ he called forward. His gaze was on her profile as she turned to William. She looked less dignified without her spectacles but somehow more… more…touchable.
He waited for the moment when she would try to renege on him.
But her head turned and she smiled. ‘It is.’
Those exceptional eyes struck him full force.
It was a country dance. He wished it was another waltz, he had not forgotten their dance in York. She was a very good dancer, and a woman with light feet was a pleasure to lead in a waltz.
She accepted his arm, and held it gently, as she always did, in the way only she did. He wondered if she knew that most women merely lay their hand on a gentleman’s arm. ‘William.’ Henry bowed his head towards his friend. William smiled wryly. Harrythrew a conspiratorial smile at Henry, he had enjoyed his waltz with Susan too.
Henry led her to join a set which made an eight. He could have joined the set Alethea and her partner stood within, but chose not to.
‘You are looking very well,’ he said when Susan let go of his arm.
‘Because I am not wearing spectacles.’ She smiled. The charm of her ballroom smile struck him in the gut – and the chest. Why was she so different in a ballroom?
‘When you let a maid style your hair it looks…’ What? Prettier? Every woman’s hair was prettier when it was styled for an evening affair. More grown up… More… tempting… He longed to touch her nape, to clasp his fingers about that delicate curve and pull her lips to his. ‘I like your hair like that’ was the only thought he let himself voice.
‘Thank you.’ She gave him a little mocking curtsy.
He breathed in. He should not be thinking such things, Susan was Alethea’s sister. He was supposed to be establishing more responsible behaviour – and it was Susan’s charge of selfishness that had urged him to change.
Yet it was only instinct – it was simply the attraction a woman’s body wove about a man. Nothing more. It was what he must learn to overcome if he was to become a married man.
As he stood opposite Susan, awaiting the commencement of the dance, he recalled her leaning over her orchid paintings, focused on the task, and playing the pianoforte, lost in the music, and now… When the dance began she smiled at him gleefully, enthusiastic and excited. He smiled too, threw himself into the dance and lost himself in watching her. Susan was a rare woman. There were not many who had such variety to their nature.
When the dance came to its end, William approachedbefore they reached her parents. ‘Is it my turn at last? Are you free to dance with me, without my stepping on any man’s toes, Susan?’
She smiled at him. ‘You may claim the dance, William.’
Her fingers let go of Henry’s arm and when she walked away she threw him one of her ballroom smiles across her shoulder.
The absence of her hand on his arm left a strange sensation.
He turned and looked about, unsure what to do. He did not care to dance the next. A sense of bereavement caught at him. It was bizarre, yet he felt deserted, empty now Susan had gone. He swallowed, trying to clear the odd feelings.
Fred, another of his friends and Harry’s cousins, stood nearby. Henry collected a glass of champagne from the tray a passing footman held on the way, then joined his friend.
While they talked he watched Alethea and Susan dancing. Alethea was always bright and jolly, there was nothing surprising in her manner, or the smiles she gave to her partners. But Susan… She expressed a depth of vibrancy when she danced that was entirely abnormal for her nature. She had hidden her true self for years. Either that or he had been blind.
Harry joined Henry and Fred as the dancing continued. ‘Susan is in fine spirits tonight,’ Harry said, smiling at Henry. ‘I did not know she could dance so well, nor smile so brightly. The girl is a charm. I do not remember her so when we were children.’
‘She was not so,’ Henry replied. ‘She hid in corners.’
