Page 116 of The Armor of Light

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‘Here we go,’ said Spade. ‘Put your right hand on my left shoulder.’ He put his hand on her waist, which was softly rounded and slightly warm. He held her other hand at shoulder level. Their bodies touched.

‘This is very intimate,’ she said. It was not a complaint.

Spade took the first step and she fitted in smoothly. In no time they were waltzing as if they had done it many times before.

‘We’re the only ones dancing,’ said Arabella.

Spade noticed that the hubbub of conversation and laughter had died down somewhat, and a lot of people were watching him with the bishop’s wife. He began to wonder whether this had been a mistake. He did not want Arabella to get into trouble with her husband.

He noticed Hornbeam staring at him with a furious expression.

Arabella said: ‘Oh, dear, everyone’s looking at us.’

Spade had his love in his arms and he did not want to stop dancing. ‘To hell with them all,’ he said.

She laughed. ‘You fool, I adore you.’

Then Deborah Hornbeam dragged Will Riddick onto the floor and Deborah’s brother, Howard, followed with his new wife, Bel; and both couples began to waltz.

‘Thank heaven for that,’ said Arabella.

Spade looked at the young Hornbeams and said: ‘They’ve been practising at home. I bet Hornbeam didn’t know about it.’

More couples joined in, and soon a hundred people were waltzing, or trying to. Feeling more confident, Spade pulled Arabella’s body closer, and she responded, pressing herself against him as they spun around the floor. She whispered in his ear: ‘Oh, my, this is like fucking.’

Spade smiled happily. ‘If you think fucking is like this,’ he murmured, ‘you haven’t been doing it right.’

*

The waltz came to an end and the bandleader announced a cotillion. Kenelm asked Elsie to partner him, and she agreed. He led her well, and she thought her clumsiness did not show much. Afterwards he said: ‘Let’s get champagne.’

It was her third glass, and she was relaxed. She said: ‘Did you dance much at Oxford?’

Kenelm shook his head. ‘No women.’ Then he added: ‘None that an aspiring clergyman would dance with, anyway.’

‘Stop it,’ she said.

‘Stop what?’

‘Being judgemental. It’s charmless. You’re a clergyman, everyone assumes that you have no interest in unsuitable women. You don’t have to underline it.’

He frowned resentfully, and seemed about to argue; then he hesitated and looked thoughtful.

*

Amos liked dancing, and he knew how to waltz, but he did not join in. He was following Jane and Northwood. He knew he was behaving badly, but they did not observe him, because they were wrapped up in each other. No one else had noticed either; not yet, anyway.

They went to the buffet, then joined in the dancing, and then moved to the promenade walk. Finally they passed through the doors into the lamplit garden.

The night air was cold and there were few people outside. Amos tasted mist.

Jane had put on a cloak against the chill. They strolled up and down. Northwood’s steps were a bit erratic; Jane was completely in command of herself. It was hard to see their faces in the gloom, but their heads tilted close, and their conversation was clearly intense.

Amos leaned against the outer wall of the building, like a man in need of fresh air. Something big was going on between Jane and Northwood, something beyond flirting.

Then they vanished.

They had slipped behind a clump of tall bushes, he realized. Now they were out of everyone’s sight. What were they doing? He had to know. He crossed the lawn. He could not help himself.