She shook her head. "It won't do any good. Not until all of this is over. There's too much going on for the next week to get any real rest."
The minute he had a chance, he'd text Byron and tell him to make sure a getaway happened as soon as possible once the coronation was over.
A woman Jake recognized, but couldn't quite name, opened the door and motioned to them. She held it open as she told them it was time for them to make their entrance.
With his hand still covering Catherine’s, they left the ante room and headed for the ball room a few steps down the corridor. Two men dressed in the old-fashioned uniforms of footmen, held open the doors for them to enter.
A loud, booming voice came from someone Jake couldn't see. "Her Majesty Queen Catherine and His Royal Highness Jacob, the Prince Consort.”
There were tables scattered around the outside edges of the ballroom as well as on the mezzanine above. Everyone stood as the sounds of polite applause came from all sides.
Jake had been told where they would be seated, but found himself a bit flustered and turned around now that he was in the moment. "Where do we go?" he whispered as quietly as he could without moving his lips enough for anyone to read them.
"We make a circuit then dance." As he looked down at her, he could tell Catherine's smile didn't dim even slightly as she spoke. He wondered if anyone outside of her family would know it wasn't her real smile.
Since when did he know what her real smilelooked like?
They worked their way slowly around the outskirts of the dance floor, not stopping to talk to anyone, but able to exchange brief pleasantries with most. When they'd made 3/4 of a circuit, they only had the "front" still to complete. Jake didn't know if that was the actual name, but it had a small stage so maybe? Instead of continuing, Catherine used light pressure on his arm to turn him toward the dance floor. When they reached the exact center of the starburst set into the wood, they stopped and turned to look at each other.
Jake bowed from the waist. Catherine acknowledged him with a tilt of her head.
And then she was in his arms as a waltz began.
They'd never danced together. Jake wondered why they hadn't practiced so they didn’t make fools of themselves out here. Rather that he didn't make a fool of her with his occasional two left feet.
It took more focus than he would have liked, but he managed to keep it together long enough to get through the first dance.
"When we're done, we go to the dais at the other end," she whispered, looking adoringly at him.
"Good to know." Jake could imagine a similar look on his face.
At least he knew one of them really meant it.
The last notes died out, and he took a step back to bow again then offered her his arm.
He held her hand as she held her skirt to climb the five steps to the dais.
Fortunately, he could easily tell which of the two empty chairs belonged to Catherine.
He could feel the relief flow through her as she took her seat. It was the same kind of relief he felt.
The rest of the ball lasted entirely too long for his taste - and he knew Catherine thought the same thing.
Jake danced with more than a dozen women he'd never met before - and likely wouldn't remember - except the one who reminded him at least six times that she was married to the Prime Minister.
Too many hours later, he and Catherine were the first ones able to leave, and for that he was grateful.
Catherine led him out a back way and through corridors much narrower than the main ones. Eventually, he recognized where they were. They stopped at the room that had been turned into Catherine's dressing room for the day so she could change out of her evening gown before going to the cottage.
Jake didn't feel the need to do the same, but a tuxedo was much more similar to his daily wear than Catherine's dress was for her.
"Sir?"
He turned to see Byron walking into the area outside of her dressing room. "I was going to text you or send you an email for you to see in the morning," Jake told him before his assistant could say anything else. "As soon as the coronation is over, I want to get Catherine out of here. Go to the house at Novilacu or some other place where she can truly rest."
Byron tipped his head toward Jake. "Agreed. I'll check with her senior aide and find out if there's anything already in the works."
"Thank you."
