“A dance?” She sounded more suspicious than thrilled.
How else am I to get the lady alone to talk?
Her two sisters beamed. They seemed to understand his intentions much more than she did. Dominic nearly wondered if he might ask Cassian for one of them instead, and yet the thought flew away at once. Something about Verity intrigued him.
“Yes, a dance. I trust you have left room on your dance card for me?” He asked with a note of optimism in his tone.
Verity had no choice but to lift her wrist. She fumbled with the card, so he reached out with both hands. One cradled her hand and the other on her card. It was blank.
“I…” Her cheeks warmed into a strawberry pink.
“Perfect, I may claim this next set. Shall we?” He tucked her hand into his arm with ease.
The movement had her eyes widening. “Oh, I don’t know. My sisters…”
“Are perfectly fine,” Octavia piped up. “Enjoy yourself!”
“But––”
Dominic forced himself once more to try. “I should think a dance is a perfectly innocent opportunity to get to know one another better. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Comprehension cleared her vision at once as she understood he was requesting an opportunity to talk with her. To have the conversation that they both clearly needed.
Her shoulders relaxed. “I agree. Thank you very kindly. I’ll return soon,” she added for the sake of her sisters who were already skipping through the crowd.
Together, they neatly wound their way through the layers of people to reach the dancefloor. It only took a moment to find a place together as other attendees glad madly room for them.
“Very well.” Verity spoke softly in front of him. “You have me alone. What is it you wish to say?”
“You are direct.” The words slipped off his tongue.
Her lips twitched. “I can be when the occasion calls for it. As you were introduced as my intended, I rather feel like that may be warranted in this situation. Would you not agree?”
The dance begun and they separated for a spell, giving him a moment to consider his answer. “Very well. It would be ideal for us to understand one another.”
“Good.”
She was very satisfied with herself and it annoyed him as much as it amused him. Did she think she had a leg up on him? From what he had discussed with her brother, it seemed unlikely she truly knew anything…
And he wasn’t going to say a word of it. Secrets were best when nobody knew them.
“You don’t know my brother very well at all, do you?”
Dominic refocused his attention on Verity. “Not particularly. It doesn’t mean that is a permanent situation,” he added. Then he had to pause when another couple joined them in a circle before it was just the two of them together. “I should like to know you and all of your family better.”
“It makes no sense. We have nothing to do with you, Your Grace,” she added sardonically.
“We have a complex relationship, your brother and I. There is much between us that is complex.”
“Too complex for a tiny female brain?”
Dominic might not have been raised with many women but he knew better than to try answering that question. “I can reassure you that his actions were not made lightly. It was a practical suggestion, this match. It should be agreeable.”
“Not to me.” Her bold gaze met his as she said those words. He nearly stumbled, caught by her stubbornness. “I’ve little interest in this marriage and while I live my life by strict principles, I never sought a purely practical marriage.”
“Then what is it you seek in a marriage?”
Her mouth opened and closed. She didn’t know, he realized. The way her lips curved inward and downward proved that. While she sorted through her thoughts, he took a moment to watch her during the dance. She was a fine dancer and had yet to step on his toes though part of him felt reassured she would dearly love to do just that.
