Now, he slipped one arm around her waist and held her hand with his free one, guiding her motions until they skated as one.
“That reminds me, I never asked. How was your meeting? Did the police drag you away again?”
“You know they did not,” Prim chided. “I saw you when you came to collect Mrs. Preston. I know you were there watching for quite some time before then.”
It had surprised her to see him there, leaning against the wall at the back of their meeting room with his arms crossed over his broad chest. He’d watched and listened for a long while without scorn or verbal abuse.
“Mrs. Preston enjoyed herself immensely. Thank you for inviting her,” he added. “She got more than a wee bit fired up, lecturing me over dinner though I never voiced a single protest. I believe she’s writing a letter to your congressional representative today.”
Prim relished the thought. Though she’d known Margaret for years, having come out into society just after her daughters, she’d never had intimate conversations with her. They’d enjoyed a long lunch together the other day and had found much in common. Not only would she be a fine asset to the cause, but maybe a good friend as well.
James rotated skating backward in front of her. He slid an arm around her waist, drawing her close as if they were waltzing along the ice. The close contact ground her thoughts to a halt and she gaped up at him. Of course, he grinned down at her. The man was ridiculously jovial most of the time, but Prim thought he was enjoying her disconcertment.
“What are you doing?”
“We can hardly be seen as a courting couple if all I do is tow small children around the ice,” he pointed out. “What suitor worth his salt wouldn’t take the chance to hold a lovely woman so close? As she clings to him helplessly, of course.”
Prim frowned, though her outrage was largely feigned. “But of course. It’s what men expect, isn’t it? Helplessness? Dependency?”
“Don’t rain recriminations down upon me, Mrs. Eames,” he teased. “You know I don’t believe that.”
Did she? Whatever tales he told of a headstrong sister, however attentively he listened to speeches, he was still a man.
“Och, you’re looking angry again,” he said with a chuckle that belied his mock fear. “Your lips are pursing…the frown is forming—look at the lovely snowflakes.”
Unable to help herself, Prim burst out laughing at his foolishness. The release drew all the tension she’d hadn’t even been aware she was holding onto out of her. She was happy, free as she hadn’t in years.
“You’re an impossible man.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet. Hold on.”
James hugged her close. His cheek bent close to hers. He glided them across the ice, turning tight circles that left her dizzy. Euphoria such as she’d never known welled up inside of her.
Ellis had been right, she never had fun anymore. She’d almost forgotten how…well,funit could be.
CHAPTER 13
…be content to labour for independence until you have proved,
by winning that prize, your right to look higher.
~ Charlotte Brontëfrom Villette
“I know it’s late, but could you have Nanny put them down for a short nap?” Prim handed Hazel over to one of the maids before turning to take Luella from James. Her daughter was draped heavily over his shoulder, exhausted from the long afternoon.
“I can take her up if you like,” James offered. “She’s dead weight at this point.”
Prim nodded and led him up the stairs. Two flights up, they deposited the girls into their beds. Ellis shuffled along behind them, grumbling that he didn’t need a nap, but didn’t protest at the suggestion of a book before the fireplace. James wagered he’d be asleep the moment they closed the door.
“I must apologize for Ellis,” she said as they headed back down to the main floor. “He talks your ear off.”
“I don’t mind,” he assured her. “I managed to tune him out about the time he got to his third recounting of his ‘amazing’ spin.”
Prim chuckled at that. “I’m just glad he didn’t break an arm when he fell.”
“Even if he did—”
“I know, boys must be boys.”
