Eloisa rolled her eyes in the most unladylike fashion. ‘Your mother needs a very good talking-to and one of these days, I am going to be the one to do it.’ Eloisa paused, tapping her chin. ‘No.Youare going to be the one to tell her. It is going to be glorious.’
‘Hm, much as I like this fantasy, it will not happen. I have my life to live and spending it with my mother furious with me does not bear thinking about.’ Another point in the duke’s favour. He would be an excellent escape; heaven knew Emily was getting increasingly desperate. And yet… Emily could find no enthusiasm for the idea of marriage to him, no matter how much she tried. He wasn’t the Dashworth brother whose lips she kept thinking about, which was becoming as ridiculous as it was pointless. Freddie Dashworth was not thinking about her mouth, of that she was certain, or almost certain. There had been that moment in the library when…
Eloisa crossed her arms under her ample chest. ‘Emily, your mother is stripping you of your confidence. You are gorgeous, funny, clever and loyal and she does not seem to be able to see all these wonderful qualities.’
Emily didn’t know how to answer that. She wasn’t so browbeaten by her mother that she took everything she said as the absolute truth. Emily knew she looked good this evening; the blue ribbons she’d threaded around the bodice complemented her skin tone and showed off the length of her neck. However, she also knew that some of her mother’s complaints were founded in reality. Emily had no bosom tospeak of; no man was going to subtly glance at her breasts, which she knew was a good thing, but also it wouldn’t hurt to see a spark of desire in a man’s eyes when he looked at her. She didn’t even have to like the man for it to happen. It would be good to, at least once, feel like an object of desire instead of like an overgrown sapling. And, if she was as gorgeous as her dear friend said, why had she not found a match during all the seasons in which she had been out?
‘Tell me more about your mother’s sudden grand aspirations. How on earth has this come about?’
‘Oh, I…’ Freddie hadn’t said that his niece’s existence was a secret, but nobody appeared to be talking about the little girl at the ball tonight and they would if they knew. The Dashworth family was always a topic of good gossip for the Ton and discovering that a new one existed would certainly stir the honeypot. Emily could trust Eloisa, but even so, this was not her news to tell. ‘We managed to strike up a conversation with the family,’ she said instead, ‘and my mother has leapt several stages ahead and is practically planning the wedding.’
‘I still do not see…’
‘There you are.’
Both girls jumped at the sound of a new voice in their hiding place. Peering over Eloisa’s shoulder, Emily saw Freddie looking back at her. Neither she nor Eloisa had heard Freddie’s approach. Emily sent a quick but fervent prayer that he had not heard her talk about the duke and marriage in the same sentence. It was bad enough that their last encounter had ended in sheer mortification; she did not want to add more layers of awkwardness to it. ‘I should have known I would find you hiding amongst the foliage.’
‘I am not hiding.’
He raised an eyebrow.
‘Very well, I am hiding.’ Beside her, Eloisa choked. Admittedly, it was not wise to confess to doing something out of the ordinary, butFreddie, although he might be a menace, would not tell anyone. He hadn’t mentioned about her trespassing; her mother would have rained down fire and brimstone had that one been revealed. She could be herself around him and he would treat her as he always did, as if she were a burr under his skin. Well, not always. They had managed to get along briefly in the library, until she had unthinkingly grabbed his arm and made the whole situation uncomfortable. ‘Did you need me for anything? Is there anything wrong at home?’ For why else would he be looking for her unless there was a problem with Lotte? He only needled her when there were other people around; he’d yet to seek her out to do it in private.
He rolled his eyes. ‘I would not be here if there was something amiss.’ He tugged at his cravat. ‘I came to ask if you would care to join me for the next dance.’
She could only gape at him in response. Not once, in all the years they had sparred at the edges of ballrooms, had he asked her to dance. She’d never admitted to herself how much that stung, how much she would have liked to be spun around the floor by a laughing, smiling Freddie. But now that he had asked, she could not form a response. Eloisa nudged her with her elbow, the pointy bone digging into her ribs. ‘Ow.’
‘What my friend is trying to tell you—’ Eloisa spoke for her ‘—is that yes, she would love to dance with you.’
Freddie’s lips twitched, and in that moment, Emily could have happily murdered Eloisa, even if that was what she had been thinking. ‘I am?’
‘Yes.’ Eloisa gave her a small shove; really, there was very little pressure, but it was so unexpected, Emily stumbled. Freddie’s hand closed around her arm, his grip tightening to keep her upright.
Emily had replayed her touch on Freddie’s arm a thousand times. She’d thought she’d imagined how it had made her feel, but it wasnothing compared to this. His fingers were holding her firmly but not tightly. He wore gloves and hers came up over her elbow, so there really was no reason to feel anything at all. And yet… she could feel his touch everywhere, tingles racing along her skin, awakening every nerve ending.
‘There is no need to frown quite so fiercely,’ Freddie told her. ‘Dancing is something I can actually do. I will not embarrass you.’
Emily tried to straighten her brow. She had not realised that her forehead had been creased.
‘What are you doing to your face?’ Freddie’s eyes shone with amusement.
This was more like the person Emily was used to, the man who irritated her beyond reason, the man she didn’t fantasise about kissing. It was almost a relief to experience the familiar emotion of annoyance. ‘You told me to stop frowning.’
‘I did,’ he agreed. ‘But I am not sure what you’re doing is an improvement. It looks like you have smelt something unpleasant. I can assure you, I do not smell.’
Instinctively, she leaned towards him and sniffed. He smelled deliciously of bergamot and of freshly cut grass. She caught sight of his raised eyebrow and her skin burned; she was messing up her one chance to dance with him by behaving like a candidate for Bedlam. She held her head up high. ‘You are right, you smell perfectly pleasant.’
He flung his head back and laughed and her heart fluttered oddly. Freddie was always laughing and smiling at something, unless his niece was crying, as it turned out, but making him laugh like this was still new to her and it was a heady experience. She was strangely proud of herself.
They faced each other on the dance floor. Her breathing was funny, as if she had been running, but the walk across the ballroomhad been slow and not very far. Perhaps she was sickening for something or else Freddie’s presence was starting to have an impact on her being. She rather feared it was the second of those two. She’d always thought him handsome, but now she was coming to want to see him, to touch him and be touched and to discover if there really was more to him than there seemed. In short, it was a disaster.
‘What did you mean by your comment about this being the one thing you are good at?’ she asked as they waited for the music to begin.
She’d never really noticed his size before. Being a tall woman meant that her partner was often the same height as her, which was sometimes a little awkward if the dancing required them to be facing each other closely. Her head only reached the top of Freddie’s shoulder, which looked like the perfect place to lay it.
If she hadn’t been so close to him, she would have missed the light tinge of pink that briefly crossed his cheekbones. ‘As you know, I am not good at most things, despite the drawing you seemed to enjoy. But I can twirl about a ballroom. A useful skill, I am sure you will agree.’
The violins began their introductory chords and Freddie held out his hand for her to take. She paused, before sliding her hand into his. She thought his breath hitched but she couldn’t be sure.
