Now that they were dancing, she wondered if perhaps she should have reconsidered…
“This song is certainly long.” Thalia did her best not to be too familiar with Benedict as they danced. She kept her hips back, her chest free, and made sure her face did not drift too close.
“Growing bored are we?” he laughed as he tried to pull her in closer. He led them as they danced, and she could see how frustrated he was becoming by her stiffness.
“Just wondering if my husband misses me,” she joked.
He rolled his eyes. “I doubt he’s even noticed you are gone.”
“That is where you are wrong…” As they danced, Thalia searched the ballroom for Caspian, unable to find him among the masses.
“Tell me, how is marriage to His Grace?” Benedict asked, still trying to pull her body in close so he could properly lead. “I expect it is rather stiff.”
She laughed. “You would be surprised.”
“Oh?”
“He is kinder than you would think,” she said with a smile. “And not nearly as boring as you imply.”
“Lies!” He threw back his head and laughed. “You know, I still can’t help but wonder what might have happened if you and I had ever –”
“Oh, enough of that,” she chastised him playfully. “Lest I tell my husband what you have been saying.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “A conversation I do not think you would enjoy.”
She knew that Benedict was only teasing her, and that he was not being truthful about the so-called marriage proposal. But that did not stop her from feeling slightly guilty, as if by even dancing with the man she was giving him the wrong idea.
And if not him, the ton. As she danced, she cast her gaze wider, taking notice now of those who were watching. What had felt like an innocent dance was now laced with double meanings and danger.
Which is exactly what I was trying to avoid!
“Is something the matter?” Benedict asked when he noticed the change taking over Thalia.
“No,” she said carefully. “I was just…”
“Just what?”
It was then that her eyes fell on Caspian. He stood at the front of the crowd, on the edge of the dancefloor, and the expression he wore as he watched her dance was rueful.
“Just looking for my husband.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, unable to look away from Caspian who was still watching.
It was hard to tell exactly what her husband was thinking.
Her first thought was that he must be angry with her. They had come here this evening precisely to swat away rumors about them and their marriage, and to be seen dancing with another man would undo all the hard work they had done.
But Thalia looked closer at Caspian, and she started to understand the look in his eyes from a different point of view.
He didn’t look angry so much as he looked upset. But not with sadness, rather annoyance, as if he was at fault. There was jealousy burning in his eyes, a hunger paired with it, and as he watched her and Benedict dance, she could literally see the effort it was taking for him to stand there in silence rather than storm across the floor toward them.
“He does not look so happy, does he?” Benedict noted when he saw Caspian watching them.
“No…” She could not look away from him. “He does not.”
Was it so wrong that seeing how upset her husband was lit a fire inside of Thalia? That the idea of him growing angry to see her with another man made her feel excited?
For so long, Thalia had searched for proof that Caspian cared about her. And not in ways that were typical; a husband wanting what was best for his wife. Rather, that hewantedher. Thathe needed her. She wanted proof that the single night they had spent together meant something to him, as it did to her.
I have it now, the proof I need. The question thus becomes, what is he going to do about it…
This was a question that Caspian answered within minutes.
