"We have eaten well and the score remains close enough to to prevent too much quarrelling. Tonight, we may enjoy ourselves. It would be a pity to end the evening sensibly."
Harriet sat forward. "What do you suggest?" she asked, her eyes bright in anticipation.
Lady Hortensia looked towards the open doors at the far end of the dining room. Beyond them lay the drawing room, where a pianoforte stood near the windows. "I suggest music."
"And dancing?" Harriet asked at once.
A murmur of approval rose from several places around the table. Jane looked towards Richard before lowering her eyes, while Mr Hadley turned immediately to Mrs Cartwright.
Lady Hortensia raised one hand. "Nothing formal. A few sets in the drawing room, provided someone can be persuaded to play."
Miss Grey offered before anyone else could speak. "I should be happy to."
"Excellent," said Lady Hortensia. "Then we shall have dancing."
The company rose in a cheerful confusion of shifting chairs and overlapping conversation as everyone moved towards the drawing room. Colonel Fitzwilliam was beside Jane almost at once, asking for the first dance with an eagerness he made no attempt to conceal, while Mr Hadley offered his hand to Mrs Cartwright with rather more ceremony than the occasion required. Henry Blackwood approached Amelia more cautiously, but she spared him the difficulty of a formal speech by smiling before he had finished asking and assuring him that she would be pleased.
Elizabeth watched them go with considerable satisfaction. Jane's happiness was evident in every glance she exchanged with the colonel, Mrs Cartwright was laughing before she had even reached the doorway and Amelia looked more at ease than she had since arriving at Chaffley Hall. Elizabeth had almost followed when Darcy spoke beside her.
"Miss Elizabeth."
She turned. He had risen with the others but remained near his chair, watching her with an expression so direct that she knew what he intended before he spoke. "Will you dance with me?"
The question ought not to have surprised her. Almost every other pair had already formed and it was natural enough that the two captains should stand together. Even so, her pulsequickened in a manner which had nothing to do with the warmth of the dining room.
"I suppose I must," she said. "For the sake of peace between the teams."
Darcy offered his hand. "Of course."
Elizabeth placed hers in it, and his fingers closed around hers with familiar warmth as he led her into the drawing room. The furniture had already been pushed back, leaving space before the pianoforte, and Miss Grey was settling herself upon the stool while the company arranged themselves into two lines. Lady Hortensia took a place near the fire, declaring that she intended to judge the dancing even if no points were attached to it.
Darcy and Elizabeth stood opposite one another as the opening notes began. For the first few figures they exchanged no more than the necessary courtesies, though each time they came together his hand found hers with a steadiness that made her increasingly conscious of the contact. He danced well, without display, and his attention never wandered from her even when the movement carried them apart.
"You appear very solemn for a man engaged in making peace," she said when they next met.
"I am concentrating upon the task."
"Is dancing with me so difficult?"
His gaze held hers. "More than I expected."
Elizabeth nearly missed the next step. Darcy's hand tightened briefly around hers, steadying her before the movement separated them again, and she was grateful for the distance in which to recover herself.
Across the room, Jane and Colonel Fitzwilliam were making no effort at all to conceal their enjoyment. He bent towards her whenever the figure allowed it, and Jane laughed often enough that even Clara, dancing beside them, looked amused. Mr Hadley had persuaded Mrs Cartwright to join the set and was guiding her through it with such care that she soon forgot to be nervous, while Henry Blackwood and Amelia spoke quietly whenever they passed.
When Darcy returned to her, Elizabeth glanced towards the other couples. "The Challenge appears to have produced more alliances than rivalries."
"I had noticed."
"Does that trouble you as captain?"
"Not particularly. I have found other matters more deserving of my attention."
His hand met hers again. The words were quiet enough that she might have pretended not to hear them, but the look he gave her made that impossible. For a moment she forgot the nextmovement entirely and remained too close to him until another couple approached and forced them apart.
The dance continued, but the lightness with which she had entered it had altered. Every turn brought Darcy back before her and each meeting seemed to carry the same unspoken question. By the time the final notes faded, Elizabeth was flushed and breathless, though the dance had not been especially demanding.
Darcy bowed. "Thank you."
