She had made a point of avoiding the Duke the whole day and assumed he had been doing the same. But now that she saw him, she found she had no desire to let him know that.
“Are you here to tell us off for daring to fence in such an inappropriate place?” the Duke called as he spotted Emily and Jane.
“Fencing is hardly the most scandalous activity I have seen you engage in.” Jane rolled her eyes. “Besides, I think it is rather brave of you to show everyone how much of a novice you are.”
The Marquess and Emily both laughed.
The Duke canted his head, an odd expression on his face. “And what would you know of fencing form?” he asked.
“Enough to know that yours is awful. I thought all of you men had excellent tutors for such things?”
“We do.”
“Then why are you holding your sword like that?”
“And what is the problem with holding it like this?”
Jane sighed. “You are practically asking for someone to disarm you.”
“I don’t see how.”
“I do.”
Something unbidden rose inside Jane, and before she could stop to think twice about it, she grabbed the Marquess’s discarded sword and, in one swift movement, knocked the Duke’s weapon from his hand.
He gaped at her. Emily let out a delighted cheer while the Marquess whistled low. Jane curtsied to both of them, before turning to face the Duke.
“Like that.” She grinned.
When was the last time I fenced?
“It seems you have some skill with a foil.” The Duke grinned back. “How then should I be holding my blade?”
Jane showed the Duke the way she was holding her foil and waited as he imitated her hand position. Losing patience, she guided his fingers around the hilt without thinking. He raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing. She felt the warmth of his skin against hers, a slight tingle flowing through her fingers up to her arms.
She released his hand and stepped back. “There, try a few swings now. You should find you have much more control.”
The Duke swung the foil experimentally, and Jane noticed a distinct improvement in his form. She nodded approvingly.
“Do you have any other tricks you wish to show me” The Duke took up the starting position. “You seem to be rather an accomplished fencer, and I find I am sorely in need of a worthy opponent.”
“And what of the Marquess?” Jane asked.
“I would quite happily watch you take Rochester down a peg or two,” Lord Glastonbury called.
“Then what say you?” Blake’s eyes glittered in the sunlight. “Shall we?”
For a moment, Jane hesitated. She heard a mix of voices detailing the myriad of ways this was unladylike behavior.
“No man will want to marry a woman who is better at swordplay than himself. You need to stop such foolishness.”Her governess’s voice echoed in her head.
She saw her schoolfriends jeering at her ‘mannish interests.’ The lines of potential suitors, laughing at her assertion that she was a skilled fencer. She remembered the man who had looked so angry that she had feared he might strike her when she corrected his form. Some part of her screamed at her not to do this.
“Prove it.”
She wanted to do this. And what did it matter if people thought her unladylike? Her father was searching for a match for her, and she certainly did not need to impress the Duke.
“Well?” Blake asked, smiling at her.
