“Thank you,” she said through tight lips. “Mr. Carter, have you met Mr. Davies or Mr. Thatcher?” David knew Lily and Emmaline through the social circles their parents had always run in, but he had never met the men, as far as she knew. While he nodded politely, he didn’t seem overly interested in learning anything more, which grated on Ada.
These were people who meant a great deal in her life, and he was basically brushing them off.
“A dance?” he said, holding his hand out.
Ada sighed inwardly. She didn’t mind dancing, but dancing with David was nearly intolerable.
She was in no position, however, to decline.
The drawing room wall had been removed to combine it with the room beyond, creating a large enough room for dancing. Ada took David’s hand, finding the middle of the floor along with a few other couples. She fit one hand on his shoulder, the other in his hand. For as many times as they had danced before, it should feel comfortable, but she had always felt that they were physically mismatched. He just wasn’t quite the right height, and even when they danced, it was as though he was always pulling her along in practiced steps instead of flowing with the music.
She put on the expected smile, however, and allowed him to lead her — silently, of course — while she gazed over his shoulder.
She felt eyes on her, which was to be expected when dancing in the middle of the floor, especially after such rumors had circulated about her, but she didn’t care about most of the people who watched her.
The only eyes she cared about werehis.
When David turned her, her gaze settled on Jonny, who was watching her from beneath hooded lids, those eyes blazing as he stared at her. Colin and Rhys stood next to him, chatting, but she could tell he wasn’t listening to them. No – he was watching her.
A frown creased his forehead, his lips pressed flat, jaw gripped together tightly.
He was jealous.
The realization washed over her at once, causing her to gasp loud enough that even David noticed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, although he did not sound overly concerned.
“Nothing,” she said. “I must have stepped on something that hurt my foot.”
“Are you not wearing boots?”
“No, tonight my shoes are much more delicate.”
He just made a “hmm” sound as though he didn’t overly care, which wasn’t exactly a revelation.
As they turned, she glimpsed her mother standing with Mrs. Carter, watching approvingly and nodding slightly when their eyes met.
Her father was in another room entirely, likely a card room where he didn’t have to listen to her mother or be part of any gossip that could, potentially, include him.
The weight of it all descended on Ada, the injustice that she was the one who had to bear this burden of her father’s mistakes, that this wooden dance she was currently stuck in was only a preview of the rest of her life if it included a marriage with David.
She had to get out of this — there had to be another way.
For such a lifetime would only drain away all the soul within her.
She was no longer willing to accept it.
The dance mercifully came to an end, and David bowed over her hand before backing away.
He hadn’t even left the dance floor before he was asking another to partner, a beautiful young girl who looked a lot like Minnie.
While Ada wanted nothing to do with him, it was still a hit to know that the only man she had been given as an option was only boring because he had decided he wanted nothing to do with her.
“Ada.”
She turned from watching David to find Jonny standing there, looking completely uncomfortable and yet… such a refuge.
“Yes?”
