“And you are very good at fading into the background after making sure that everyone else steps forward,” Wren had said. “Now it is your turn to bask in the warm rays of the sun. Those colors are going to lookgorgeouson you.”
Well, theyfeltgorgeous, Elizabeth had to admit now as she shook one more hand and submitted to one more kiss on the cheek while guests passed along the line and wished her well and congratulated Geoffrey. She turned her head to smile at him. He looked stiff and large and imposing in his formal evening clothes. He had confided to her earlier that he had never expected such a public fuss over their decision to marry.
She wished suddenly that shedidlove him, that this moment, this event, was colored with the aura of romance. A foolish thought. She could wish too that she was eighteen years old again, but wishing it would not bring it about. Anyway, she would not really want to be eighteen again. And she would not want to be painfully in love again. Besides, there were many different kinds of love. She would continue to cultivate an affectionate respect for Geoffrey, and that would be a good kind of love. Perhaps the best.
She turned back to greet the next guest in line and found herself gazing at Colin. For a moment he seemed like a stranger, and she saw his tall, slim figure and all the golden glow of his youth and good looks. Then he was simply Colin again and she felt a rush of warm affection as she held out a hand toward him.
“Colin,” she said. “I am so glad you came.” She had been half fearful that he would not come after the embarrassment he must have felt at the Arbinger ball when Geoffrey had shown his displeasure that she had told Colin of their betrothal.
He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips. “You look very fine indeed, Elizabeth,” he said. “I could not possibly have missed this of all balls, could I? I do hope you have not been engaged for the first waltz.”
“I have kept it for you,” she assured him. “As always.” Ah, butalways, she supposed, must end after tonight. Perhaps it ought to have ended before tonight. He withdrew his hand from hers and held it out to Geoffrey.
Elizabeth turned to greet Mr. Croft, Colin’s friend.
And then just minutes later it was time for the dancing to begin. Elizabeth and Geoffrey led it off with an old-fashioned quadrille. She smiled at him and settled into a conscious enjoyment of the evening. It felt like the official beginning of something, as indeed it was. It was the beginning of the rest of her life, and this time she had planned it wisely and well. Good sense was a far better guide than…well, than romance.
“I will lay claim to thesecondwaltz of the evening since the first is already taken,” Geoffrey said as the dance came to an end. “At least, Ihopethe second is still open.”
“Of course it is and it will be yours. I shall look forward to it,” she told him in all sincerity. “It is a bit of a joke between Colin and me, you know, left over from Christmas. We danced together at a Boxing Day party in what can only be described incongruously as a jolly waltz. Since we were both planning to be in London for the Season, we agreed to waltz together at each ball we both attended.”
“A justification is not necessary, Elizabeth,” he said. “You may dance with whomever you choose.”
She expected to see a smile on his face, but there was none. And it struck her as it had once before that he did not smile often. Or laugh. He was too serious minded perhaps to indulge a strong sense of humor. There was nothing wrong with that. He was a good man.
He stood beside her until her next partner came for her before going to claim his own. Colin had danced the quadrille with Miss Dunmore, who looked at him with something of a proprietary air, as did her mother, who watched from the sidelines, her hair plumes nodding graciously in their direction. Now he was leading out the auburn-haired Miss Madson.
The first waltz came almost an hour later. Elizabeth was standing with Geoffrey and Wren and Sidney Radley, her maternal cousin, when Colin approached.
“Why is it that you are so favored, Hodges?” Sidney asked, sounding deliberately aggrieved. “I came with five minutes to spare to solicit Lizzie’s hand, but she had already promised the waltz to you.”
“It is my good looks,” Colin said with a grin. “Not to mention the fact that I am Wren’s brother.”
“Lord Hodges has the unfair advantage, Radley, of having reserved a waltz at every ball of the Season with Elizabeth as long ago as Christmas,” Geoffrey said. “I see I will have to put my foot down quite firmly after we are married.”
Everyone laughed except Geoffrey himself. And Elizabeth, turning her head to look into his face, wondered if hehadbeen joking. But surely he had.
“I will reserve the third waltz for you if you wish for it, Sidney,” she said. “I will be dancing the second with Geoffrey. I am basking in all the novelty of being besieged by partners at my betrothal ball.” And she set her hand on Colin’s sleeve and stepped out onto the dance floor with him.
“You are happy, Elizabeth?” he asked while they waited for other couples to gather about them before the music began.
She was. Oh yes, she was. But she wondered again if this was the last time she would waltz with Colin, and the thought that it might well be saddened her. He raised his eyebrows. She had not answered his question.
“Of course I am,” she said. “But beginnings always make me a little melancholy, for they imply endings too. The end of what came before.”
“Am I to expect to see you in floods of tears on your wedding day, then?” he asked.
“I sincerely hope not,” she said with a laugh. “Will you be there?”
“But of course,” he said. “I have already answered my invitation.”
“Have you?” She had not looked at the list of acceptances for a couple of days. But why had she doubted he would come? And why had she half hoped he would not? “I will return the compliment and come to yours.”
“Will you?” he said.
“If I am invited, that is,” she added.
“You will be at the top of the list,” he told her.
