“That you did. And might I suggest you will best not only the country dance, but also the scotch reel and quadrille?”
She eyed him with skepticism. “How?”
“By fencing instead of dancing.”
“Pardon me?”
He gazed up at the flawless afternoon sky in thought, searching for a way to describe his idea. “Fencing is nothing more than a form of dance, but with an implement of death in one’s hand rather than an evening glove. It follows a pattern. One must react to the movements of one’s partner, maintaining appropriate separation before engaging, and countering the steps of the other with steps of one’s own.”
Her eyebrows arched slowly. “Do you speak the truth?”
“Of course. Many dancing masters also teach fencing, and vice versa. The two activities are sides of a coin, one for pleasure, one for pain. Not so unlike love in that way.”
She stared at the ground as they continued to stroll around the patio, clearly deep in thought. After a time, she looked up at him with resolution in her sparkling eyes. “I am ready to try again.”
He led her into the ballroom quickly before she could reconsider. “Shall we resume, Charlotte?”
His sister nodded with a mysterious smile. Everyone returned to their positions. As the music commenced, Lucy slid smoothly into movement. Henry’s lips turned up slightly as he observed the fingers of her right hand curled in a loose clench as if holding a foil. Her eyes focused sharply on the steward with the same intensity he had noticed when she disarmed him in the forest, and she moved through the motions with a grace absent earlier. His smile grew wider.
Charlotte leaned toward him with a mocking grin. “Why are you smiling, brother?”
“It is nothing, other than our pupil is performing admirably.”
“Indeed. You appear to have inspired her.”
After an hour of practice and a brief respite, Charlotte recruited several more abashed servants to form the requisite number for dancing the quadrille. Charlotte turned to Henry. “You should partner with Lady Margaret, now.”
He tugged his cravat. “Well…”
“It is done, then.”
He relented but remained puzzled by his uncertainty. After a period of instruction and demonstration by Charlotte and the steward, the quadrille commenced with Henry and Lucy as the fourth couple. When the time came for them to move, he found himself unnerved whenever the pattern brought her to him with hand outstretched. He gripped her gloved hand lightly on each iteration, letting loose only reluctantly. Despite her constant presence for several weeks, she seemed a stranger during the dance, an undiscovered treasure. The mystery baffled him. Meanwhile, Lucy gazed at him with a fencer’s focus and parted lips, driving him further into confusion. He breathed a deep sigh when Charlotte finally halted the session and dismissed the staff.
“We shall require practice every day for some time to properly prepare Lucy. However, I believe she performed very well today.”
“Yes,” managed Henry with a mumble, “but with a caveat.”
Lucy glanced at him with concern. “Oh? What did I do wrong?”
“It is nothing, really, but in the interest of propriety, I would offer a slight correction. A noble woman moves from the hips downward, leaving her torso erect and unmoving. When you dance, your torso is a bit more…lively. And likely distracting to your partner.”
She put her hand to her mouth briefly before apologizing. “Forgive me. I was not aware of that fact. However, the presence of such a flaw only stands to reason.”
“Because?”
“Because I first learned to dance by imitating Madam Kamescro, the beautiful young gypsy wife of one of Steadman’s associates. What you say explains one of my longstanding questions, though.”
“And what question is that?”
“Why all the men watched with slack jaws when she danced. I always believed they regarded only her skill. Now, I know differently.”
Charlotte giggled. “And she showed you a gypsy dance?”
“She did, in fact.”
“How does it go? Will you demonstrate for us?”
“I do not believe that will be necess…” Henry began, but his words came too late. Lucy began to move in a gyration of hip, torso, shoulder, and neck that stole the words from his lips. Only after a few moments did he realize his jaw had gone slack. He glanced at his sister to find her blushing in fascination. He gripped Lucy’s shoulder to halt her movements.
