“Now, if you’ll excuse us, I believe Her Grace and I have a dance to enjoy,” Duncan declared, his gesture leaving no room for argument.
As they glided onto the dance floor, Duncan whispered to Sophia, “Let’s not let the nonsense of others taint this evening. Now, shall we dance?”
“Oh, I was not planning on it.” Sophia’s voice held a hint of sadness. “But Lady Barbara was quite persistent.”
“She wants to be you,” Duncan replied in a matter of fact tone, “but she is not, and she is resentful of that. I hope you see through her tactics; they are as clear as day.”
Sophia’s face searched the Duke’s for any signs of insincerity. When she did not find any, she gave him a small nod.
“Well, I suppose that you know how to read people better than I do, so you must be right in your assumption,” she noted.
“Of course, I do. Lady Barbara just wants to stir up trouble and make you feel bad.”
Sophia shrugged her shoulders and let out a small sigh. Duncan could feel that Lady Barbara’s eyes were still on them. Perhaps she could not fathom that her speech had been cut short.
“What do you say we give her a show?” Duncan suggested, his eyes flickering back to Lady Barbara for a fraction of a second. “The jealousy is blatant on her face, and it might be a fun idea to make her even more so.”
Sophia laughed out loud.
“I am not sure if my dance skills are particularly worthy of envy, Your Grace…”
“And why not? You did a fine enough job when we danced together at our wedding reception.”
“Well, you are the first and only dance partner I have ever had,” she admitted softly, “thus any experience that I have is severely limited only to you.”
“The honor is mine, Lady Sophia. It seems the gentlemen of the ton are quite foolish for not having had the privilege of dancing with you.”
Sophia blushed at the compliment.
“You are already aware of my aversion for attending balls of any kind,” she replied. “I suppose it is a blessing that I did not have go through that process.”
“Indeed. You have saved me from dancing with the other ladies of the ton, too — especially the likes of Lady Barbara.” Duncan’s brow furrowed as he said her name. “Who, by the way, is still looking at us.”
Duncan gave Sophia a twirl, and she landed back into his arms. Now with her so close, the atmosphere between them became charged with a subtle intensity.
The desire to kiss her tugged at the Duke’s restraint, and his fingers wrapped themselves around her hand, holding her gently.
“Do you think we put on enough of a show?” Sophia asked, amused. Duncan had been so preoccupied with trying to keep himself from kissing her that he had not even noticed that the dance had come to an end.
He stole a final look at Lady Barbara, who was fuming now.
“I would say so,” he replied and began leading her off of the dance floor.
“Well, then, I suppose my limited dance abilities came to use after all,” Sophia teased.
The two of them looked around the room and then back at each other. It seemed that both of them were thinking the same thing, and that was how badly they wanted to avoid engaging in small talk with the ball attendees.
“Some fresh air?” Duncan suggested.
“Oh, the idea has never sounded more promising!”
They exchanged a laugh, and then Duncan led her out to the balcony. It was a welcome change from the stuffy atmosphere inside the ballroom.
Duncan observed Sophia looking at the starry night with fascination.
“Splendid, is it not?” the Duke said, standing beside her. He was close enough to hear her breathing and tried once again to distract himself from the thoughts of wanting to kiss her.
Even though a starry night like this would be the perfect backdrop.
