Eleanor wished, almost angrily, that she could allow herself to be simply ruled by her head. It would be so much easier. That way, she wouldn’t find herself breaking out in goosebumps over standing so close to a handsome man that shedid not like.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Henry said in a low voice, once the dancing had started, “but you looked as if you were about to strangle the man with your bare hands, and you might have ruined your gloves.”
Eleanor made a choking sound, swallowing back a laugh.
“Well, you came to my rescue quite neatly. And I didn’t think you were the sort of man to make jokes, Lord Henry.”
“Generally, I’m not. But then, I do try and steer clear of men like our dear Mr Black.”
“Very wise.”
The dance picked up speed, and for a few minutes they had no breath to speak. Usually, Eleanor found this a relief. Her dancing partners were, at best, good dancers but poor conversation partners, but with Lord Henry… well, it was odd. Dancing together was easy enough, but Eleanor wanted to speak to him. She wanted nothing more than for the dancing to stop so that she could find out why, exactly, he felt so moved to come and rescue her from Mr Black.
Chance would be a fine thing. He came to save me, so once the dance is over, he’ll leave.
“Has your father seen any of your sketches, Miss Fairfax?”
She nearly missed a step. Only Henry’s hand on her arm stopped her from tripping over her own feet and shaming herself in front of the whole ballroom.
“My… my sketches?” she managed.
“Yes, I saw some of them, and they were remarkably good. I felt quite sure Mr Fairfax would incorporate them into the designs sooner or later.”
She bit her lip hard, tasting copper. Missing a step had shaken her, and she was now clinging onto Henry a little harder than was strictly necessary.
It’s not my fault if he makes me feel safe. No, wait, I didn’t mean that! That’s not what I meant!
Oblivious to her churning thoughts, Henry lifted his eyebrows, staring down at her, waiting patiently.
“Papa has seen a few of my sketches,” Eleanor managed at last, “But I don’t believe he thought they would be popular.”
Henry pursed his lips. “Hmph. Well, all due respect to Mr Fairfax, I must strongly disagree. You’re very talented.”
“I’m not a silly little girl, Lord Henry. You don’t need to patronise me with compliments.”
Again, the eyebrows shot up.
“Do you think I’m the sort of man to hand out false compliments? I can assure you that I’m not.”
She had to smile at that. “I certainly don’t think anything of the sort. I’m just used to people not meaning what they say, I suppose.”
He snorted. “Yes, it’s infuriating. If people said what was on their minds, I think life would be a lot smoother.”
“Perhaps. But on the other hand, do you really think you’d enjoy hearing exactly what people thought about you, all the time?”
He winced, shaking his head. “Your point is made. But I’m sure a balance could be found.”
“Agreed.”
The dance continued, and they didn’t speak much. But it didn’t matter, and Eleanor could not quite get to the bottom ofwhyit did not matter.
Then it was over. The music ended, applause broke out, and Eleanor had not quite worked out why she was out of breath. The dance hadn’t beenthatenergetic.
“I don’t see Mr Black around,” Henry said, breathing a little too hard himself, “But could I perhaps get you a cup of punch?”
She smiled. “Yes, I think I’d like that. I could show you my latest sketch.”
She wasn’t sure what had made her say that, and Henry did a double take.
