Page 14 of Snowy and the Seven Doves
Drew was a familiar port in the sea of strangers; he shook hands with Snowy and bowed over Lady Charmain’s hand. “We have danced together a time or two, my lady. Have you met my sister, Rosemary?”
The ladies acknowledged they had met. Something about a committee to raise funds for the widows and orphans of soldiers. Lady Charmain kept going up in Snowy’s estimation. Then it was his turn to be presented to Lady Rosemary. Like her brother, she did not stand on her dignity as a duke’s daughter.
“I’m delighted to meet you, Mr. White. My brother thinks very highly of you. Am I meant to comment on how much you look like Chalky Snowden?”
“Families are complicated things,” Snowy offered. Lily had suggested that as a response to anyone who was bold enough or honest enough to question the resemblance.
Another couple joined them. Intriguingly, the lady wore a mask covering one side of her face from just above the lips. It was painted and trimmed to match her gown, but the lack of an eyehole declared that the aim was concealment rather than adornment.
“Arial, Peter, may I present my escort this evening?” Lady Charmain asked the newcomers. “This is Mr. Moses White, a friend of mine. Mr. White, Lord and Lady Stancroft are my dear friends. Arial and I have been as close as sisters since we were children.”
“We were neighbors,” Lady Stancroft explained. “Or near enough. Lord Snowden owns the intermediate estate, but we were only thirty minutes from one another by the country lanes.”
The mention of Lord Snowden was deliberate. Lady Stancroft’s eye was alive with curiosity, but she did not ask the questions that clearly hovered on her mind.
Lord Stancroft changed the subject. “Lord Andrew tells me you have an interest in railways, Mr. White.”
Drew and Snowy both laughed.
“Drew has an interest in railways,” Snowy corrected, “and his friends are obliged to keep up with developments in the interests of self-preservation.”
In moments, they were deep in discussion. Lord Stancroft was part owner of a coal mine in Leicestershire and used a steam engine to pull wagons from the colliery to a nearby river for transport. “What about wrought iron to surface the rails?” he said.
“My brother Barnaby says Birkinshaw of Bedlington is experimenting with an I-beam in wrought iron. He predicts a tripling or more of the lifespan.” Rosemary added.
“Is your brother here this evening?” Snowy wondered. “Your brother has quoted him so often I almost feel I know him.”
“Oh yes,” Drew assured him. “Our stepmother commanded the presence of any of us in London, both Father’s family and her own. I’ll make sure to introduce you and Barney before the evening is over.”
The orchestra, which had been playing quietly in the background, produced a crescendo of sound, and the assembled gentry turned obediently to the stairs. The Duke and Duchess of Winshire stood on the top landing, a debutante and her father or uncle behind them. His Grace spoke into the sudden silence.
“My ladies, my lords, and gentlemen, welcome to Four Winds House. Thank you for being with us this evening to welcome to Society six lovely young ladies, goddaughters to my dear wife.”
The duchess took her cue. “Our debutantes will lead off the dancing. Dear friends, Lady Diana Parrish.”
The older man escorted the young lady down the stairs and onto the dancing floor, which had miraculously cleared of its cluster of chattering people.
One by one, the duchess announced each girl, who descended the stairs to the dancing floor on the arm of whomever had been appointed to lead her out in this first dance, and then the duke led the duchess onto the floor, another couple made up the set of eight, and the orchestra began to play.
“I had better find my own partner,” Drew murmured. “Aunt Eleanor expects us all on the floor after they complete the first full pattern, to signal to the rest of the company it is time to join in. Come on, Rosie.”
They didn’t go far. Another couple, also brother and sister by the look, greeted them with smiles and split up, the gentleman to escort Lady Rosemary, and the lady on Drew’s arm. They took to the floor, as did several other couples.
“May I have the pleasure, Lady Charmain?” Snowy asked. She took his offered hand. The dance instructor that Lily had hired years ago had insisted that dancing was courtship. “Fix your gaze on your partner, Mr. White. A lovely lithesome lady, swaying in time to the music, deserves every ounce of your attention. With the right partner, a dance can be an expression of love.”
Snowy thought that a piece of poetic nonsense. Love in the romantic sense, as far as he could tell, was a polite word for lust. In any case, in the dancing he’d done since those long-ago lessons, he’d never had a partner who captured his full attention. Nor to be fair, had he ever had a partner more interested in gazing at him than in conversing with everyone around them.
He led Lady Charmain out into a round dance with a pattern of eight, and when she began to sway in time to the music, he could not look away. His gaze was well and truly fixed, and she, that lovely lithesome lady, gazed back.
Around him she went in the pattern of the dance, her eyes lingering on his until she passed behind his back. He turned his face to hers as she came around to the front again, crossed the other lady in the pattern and turned around the other gentleman.
He watched her all the way, until she was going around him again and then stepping to his side to take his hand as another lady took his other and they circled in their group of eight.
Snowy did not take his eyes off her, nor did she stop looking at him, as they stepped through all the patterns, circling, turning, stepping forward and back, promenading down behind the rows and up between them.
When the music drew to a close, they stood for a moment more, hands linked. It was a comfort to him that she looked as dazed as he felt.
She took a deep breath and the wonder on her face transformed into her usual social smile. “You did not overstate your ability, Mr. White,” she said, her voice quavering slightly. “The dance was very enjoyable.”
