She willingly set her hand in her brother’s. They had learned the steps together a number of years ago, and they waltzed well with each other. She could recall the two of them demonstrating the steps for Anna soon after she had arrived in London from Bath, though it was Avery who had finally taken her from the clutches of the fussy dancing master and persuaded her to relax and enjoy waltzing. The two of them were on the floor now, waiting for the music to begin. So were Viola and the Marquess of Dorchester and Camille and Joel and several other members of the family. Alexander led her onto the floor and they smiled warmly at each other.
“It is a wonderful evening,” she said. “Everyone will remember it for a long time to come, Alex. But that means you will have to do it again.”
“Of course,” he agreed. “I cannot think of many things Wren and I will enjoy more in the coming years than putting on merry entertainments for our neighbors.”
They both turned to look expectantly at the musicians. But someone clasped Alexander’s shoulder before the music began.
“Why should we each have our sisters for partners for such a romantic dance, Alexander, when there is a simple alternative?” Colin asked. He had Wren by the hand.
“Why, indeed?” Alexander agreed and released Elizabeth in order to clasp his arm about his wife’s waist.
“I hope you do not mind,” Colin said half apologetically to Elizabeth. “But Wren looked quite forlorn when she saw that your brother already had a partner.”
“I am perfectly delighted,” she assured him. “I will be waltzing with the most handsome young man at the ball.”
He laughed. “Isit a ball?” he asked her. “But whether it is or not, it is a cracking good party. It was an inspired idea of Wren and Alexander’s to invite virtually everyone. It is the way parties should be, especially at this time of year. Christmas ought to be for everyone. I mean for everyone to enjoy together.”
There were, of course, the servants who must work. But no system was perfect. And Elizabeth had heard that Alex was paying them double their normal wage for the past two days and today and was giving them four paid days off as well.
The music began then, and Colin set an arm about her waist and took her right hand in his while she set her other hand on his shoulder. And oh dear. Oh dear, she had to think very firmly about her resolution while trying not to cling to his hand and shoulder. She concentrated for a few moments upon her steps, but he obviously knew how to waltz, and she soon relaxed and followed him into a wide twirl about one corner of the room.
…such a romantic dance…
Oh, indeed it was. She had always thought so. She had always thought that waltzing with someone special—withthesomeone special—must be the most romantic experience in the world. Colin surely was the most handsome young man at the party. His hair glowed almost golden in the candlelight and his blue eyes smiled into hers. She could feel the warmth of his hands and his body heat. She was aware of the light spicy smell of his cologne. And she was aware too after a few minutes of something incongruous—of hands that clapped in time with the music, of feet that thumped on the wooden floor to add rhythm to the lilting waltz tune. She was aware of someone whooping, and she laughed. The guests gathered around the dancing area were watching with appreciative pleasure, she could see.
“So much for the romance of it all,” she said.
“I am not at all sure it has not been enhanced,” he said, grinning back at her. “Just listen. The waltz is usually a stately, solitary pleasure—solitary for each couple dancing it, that is. These people have made it into a communal pleasure. Feel the joy of it, Elizabeth.”
And she did.
He twirled her with more enthusiasm than before, not changing the rhythm so much as taking it into himself and bringing it into her and sharing it with the room. She was not sure anyone would notice it as she did, but someone whistled, and they both laughed. And it was not just the two of them. Avery and Anna, Alex and Wren, Thomas and Mildred, the young tenant’s son and Jessica—allthe dancers had caught the joy of a Christmas dance that just happened to bear a close resemblance to the waltz.
She had never enjoyed it more. Colin’s eyes laughed into hers as they danced. There were boisterous cheers when the waltz drew to a close, and Elizabeth, absurdly perhaps, felt that surely she had never been happier in her life.
“How fortunate I am,” Colin said, tucking her hand through his arm as he led her in the direction of the refreshment tables, “to have had the loveliest lady in the room with whom to perform such a memorable dance. The waltz is going to seem quite flat when I next perform the steps at a very propertonball.”
“What a flatterer.” She smiled at him.
“Oh, but I did not call you the most beautiful lady here merely because you called me the most handsome man,” he told her.
“Well, then,” she said, “I am much obliged to you, sir. And yes, please.”
He was offering her a glass of punch.
“Your tone suggests that you do not for a moment believe me,” he said, regarding her with his head tipped slightly to one side as she took a sip from her glass. “But you are. You are poised and beautiful from the inside out and I feel honored that you agreed to waltz with me. Did I offend you terribly yesterday?”
“No, of course you did not,” she hastened to assure him. “It was of no more significance than any of the kisses I have seen you give beneath the mistletoe.”
“Was it not?” he said. “You wound me. I still think you ought to marry me and save us both from the chore of having to go shopping separately at the marriage mart during the coming Season.”
“How absurd you are,” she said, wondering what would happen if she tried to take another sip of her punch. Would her hand be steady? She decided not to risk it. “For one thing, I am not going to be going shopping, as you so indelicately describe it. If someone should ask, I may say yes. Or I may say no and continue my life as it is. I shall be quite happy to do so, you know.”
“And if I should ask?” he asked her. “In London during the Season, that is? On bended knee? With a single red rosebud in hand?”
“I should call you absurd again,” she said. “Before taking the rosebud.”
“Would you?” he asked her. “Call me absurd, that is?”
