Page 17 of The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess
Her face hides nothing. It is like reading a book.
“Your Grace, do you like to dance?” Frances asked brightly, breaking the gaze between him and Elizabeth. “I like to dance.”
“Is that a fact?” Leonard asked. “While I do enjoy dancing very much, I have a companion who would be much better suited to partner with you than me, I daresay. I have been told I am quite a horrendous dancer, in fact. No, Miss Follett, do permit me to find you a decent partner.”
Leonard turned to search for Herbert whom he found in quite a short time. The man lingered off to the side, watching the Duke with a bitter awe in his eyes. Leonard waved him closer. The lawyer’s face turned pale and he tried to shake his head and avert his eyes but Leonard was having none of it.
“Mr. Barlough!” he yelled through the crowded ballroom. “Your presence is requested!”
Herbert saw he had no choice in the matter and reluctantly approached.
“Miss Follett, I understand you have met my attorney, Mr. Herbert Barlough.”
“Indeed!” she giggled.
“Mr. Barlough, Miss Follett has requested a dance. Would you do the honors? I would not like to shame her with my awkward movements.”
“I do not think that is wise!” David said quickly, his eyes darting toward Elizabeth. She wore the same expression of concern on her face.
“Oh please!” the oldest sibling begged, tears pooling in her gentle eyes. “Please, David?”
“You cannot say no now,” Elizabeth muttered to her brother almost inaudibly. “She will have a fit.”
It hardly seemed a reason to Leonard to permit Frances a dance but he was quickly learning that the oldest Follett sibling was not in full capacity of her senses.
“You may have but one dance!” David told his sister sternly.
“Two!” Frances called but she was already out of earshot, dragging Herbert in her wake. When they had moved away, Leonard turned to the remaining sister.
“May I have this dance, Miss Elizabeth?”
She eyed him warily but an amused smile touched her lips.
“Your Grace, with respect, you did speak rather ill of your dancing abilities,” she reminded him and Leonard could not resist a laugh. Her wit was sharp. He had not expected it.
“Perhaps with the right pairing, I would do better, Miss Elizabeth. Will you help a struggling man with his ineptitudes?”
Before she could decide, he swept her into his arms and led her toward the dance floor. Elizabeth gasped at the brazen move but she did not fight against him which Leonard took as a good omen.
Surely she, too, can feel the connection between us .
“Your Grace, may I be frank with you?” she asked as they fell into a quadrille with other couples and he was instantly disappointed at having to release her from his arms.
“I expect it,” he replied cordially, stepping in time to the music. “I feel that is the basis of a solid friendship.”
Elizabeth ignored his bold assessment of their relationship and continued in a rather serious but low tone.
“My sister has the mind of a child. She does not appreciate the affections of a man vying for her attention. She cannot return his desires the way he would wish.”
It was not what Leonard had anticipated from her sweet lips. He frowned slightly as they paired off separately before returning to one another’s company. He dipped down and as he came back, he met Elizabeth’s surreal eyes. For a moment, he lost his train of thought but quickly regained it when he saw the concern in her golden irises.
“If she has the mind of a child, should she not have the heart of one, too?”
Elizabeth turned to the side as he did and back before he saw the look of perplexity on her face.
“I am afraid I do not understand,” she confessed. “My sister is like a child in most ways, if that is what you are inquiring. Do not be fooled by her womanly appearance.”
Leonard offered her one of his disarming smiles and stopped in the middle of the dance. Taken aback, she did the same, permitting the couples to move around them as the music continued.
