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Lark was already laughing as Henry secured his footing, then splayed out his arms to the side of him.

“Stop laughing,” he said, pulling on a look of extreme concentration. “This is serious.”

But Lark couldn’t help it.

He continued, dipping his head up and down before jumping in the air and spinning in a complete circle.

Another laugh blasted forth from Lark. “Oh, heavens,” she said, covering her face with a hand. “Stop, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

“Rules are rules, my love.”

He made the motion again, kicking up an errant leg every so often which made her laugh even harder.

“Now this is the best part,” he said, a look of excitement on his boyish face. “The sound they make.”

He made a noise akin to a monkey’s chatter at the back of his throat, and it echoed around them.

Lark laughed, glancing at the others, though Aunt Harriet was the only one who’d turned at the noise. She smiled in amusement, then continued her walk with the rest of the party.

Lark watched Henry again as he kicked up his leg again, sand flying into the air with his movements.

“Stop!” she cried out, her side beginning to ache due to her laughter. “You look utterly ridiculous!”

“Utterly ridiculous? I can assure you, I am putting every sandhill crane to shame right now due to my fluid movements.”

He ducked his head back and forth again, smiling as he used her embarrassment to his advantage. “Now, the dance mustn’t end until the other crane joins in.”

He looked at her with a waggle of his eyebrows, but she shook her head. “There is no chance. I didn’t lose the challenge.”

He walked toward her, stalking her like she was his prey.

“No, Henry,” she said, holding up her hands between laughs.

But he seized her, securing her hands in his and pulling her arms up in the same flapping motion he’d done before.

“There you go,” he said, laughing now in return. “I tell you, I’d take this sort of dance over the ones at the balls in London any day.”

“Perhaps you can start a movement next time we’re there. Mother will be thrilled.”

He laughed, still flapping his arms madly. “Now the spin!”

He released her, spinning around again, but this time, his boot caught in the sand, and he fell on his backside with a grunt.

Lark could no longer stand up straight. She doubled over, gasping for breath in between her laughs.

“Are you all right?” she asked, rushing over to him and kneeling at his side.

Henry laid back in the sand with another laugh, shaking his head as grit stuck against his tanned skin and dark blond hair. “Better than ever,” he said, though clearly winded.

She brushed aside the sand from across his features, peering down at him with a grin.

“How was that?” he asked, still lying down. “Are you officially wooed?”

She shook her head. “I am officially something right now.”

He looked up at her from the sand, then slid his hand round the nape of her neck and pulled her toward him. She leaned over him, returning his kiss in between their labored breaths.

After a moment, he abruptly pulled back and laid deeper into the sand, splaying out his hands at the side of him. “I’m ready to sleep now, I think. That dance was exhausting.”