For a long moment, the Duke said nothing. Then he stood up, walked around the table, and held out his hand.
“What are you doing?” she asked, glancing from his hand to his face, which was frustratingly impenetrable.
“I’m asking you to dance.”
Leah breathed in sharply, but she tried not to let any surprise show on her face.
“Come on,” he said, a small smile cracking his expression. “Let me show you how to waltz. So that you can find your prince charming.”
Reluctantly, she took his hand, and he pulled her decisively onto her feet and into his arms. And then they were dancing. There was no music, of course. It was just the two of them in the kitchen, the candlelight flickering around them.
Until this moment, it hadn’t struck her how very alone they were, how intimate this moment might look to an outsider. The Duke was a very confident dancer, and as he moved back and forth across the kitchen, he murmured the steps quietly for her to follow.
“1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3…” His voice was a gentle refrain, even better than any music she’d ever heard, and slowly, she felt herself starting to relax into the dance.
“I see what the problem is,” he said after a minute or two. “You’re wanting to lead. It’s an easy mistake for an inexperienced dancer to do. You get nervous and overcompensate.”
“So what are you saying?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “You’re experienced?”
“Very experienced,” he said, a sparkle of wickedness in his eyes and voice. She felt chills go up her spine, but she ignored them.
“So how do I overcome the urge to lead?” she asked after another moment.
“You relax,” he said. “You already have, but I want you to relax even more and just follow my body’s cues.”
“Like what?” she murmured nervously.
“Like when you are supposed to move backward, you will feel a pressure on your hands, as if I am pushing you just slightly. And when you are supposed to move forward, my hands will pull you. It’s subtle, but if you are attuned to m— to whomever your partner is— then you will feel it.”
And sure enough, as they continued to dance around the kitchen, Leah began to feel it: the small amounts of pull and push in her hands when the Duke wanted her to move in a certain direction. He knew what he was doing, and in the strongconfidence of his lead, she felt the dance becoming natural. She even forgot to think about the steps and just let him lead.
“Very good,” he murmured, after another minute or two. “You’re much more relaxed now.” He winked at her. “You must have been very nervous in the beginning.”
“Why would I be nervous?” she retorted, raising an eyebrow. “I have no interest in you, after all.”
The Duke laughed--a deep, throaty sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck prick up. He leaned close to her, bringing his lips just inches from her ear. “You are the first woman to ever say that to me,” he breathed, and she felt her legs grow weak.
But she was determined not to let any of that show. Her body was betraying her because she wasn’t used to dancing like this with a man--especially one as objectively handsome as the Duke.
But she was too clear- headed about how to save herself to let his flirtatiousness disturb her, so she just rolled her eyes.
“I can see it now,” she said. “The rake in you.”
“You are surprisingly immune to it,” he said, leaning away from her again but continuing to lead her around the kitchen.
“Well, I know what I want, and it certainly isn’t to flirt with rakish gentlemen at balls and parties.”
“And what is it that you want?” the Duke asked. “Now that a traditional love match is off the table, I mean. What is it you hope for out of your marriage, since you cannot take your time to choose your husband?”
“Well…” She hesitated, sure he was going to make fun of her. “I would very much like a loving family. And I believe that I can have that, even if I don’t love my husband.”
“Ahh, so you want a whole brood of children?”
“Look at the family I grew up in,” she said with a small laugh. “It was wonderful growing up with so many siblings! Perhaps I should have mentioned this sooner. From now on, will you help me find gentlemen who also want a large family?”
“Of course,” he said, but there was something distant in his voice, something reserved in his eyes. A few moments later, he released her, bowing low and murmuring, “That’s enough dancing for one night. You should get back to bed.”
She did as she was told, but all the way back up the stairs to her room, she thought about the Duke--his insistence he didn’t want to marry coupled with his strange behavior whenever he mentioned happy marriages and families.
