“Are you looking forward to this evening?”
Jane had reached the final step on the stairs and realised her eyes were level with his. She forced herself not to drop her gaze, hoping that her love for him was not apparent. “It is always pleasant to find oneself amongst good company. One piece of news that may interest you, my godfather has recently married Miss Susannah Courtney. I take it that you will not be surprised and I thank you with all my heart if you helped the union along in some way.”
Archer held out his hand as support as she stepped down onto the shining marble floor. He was smiling. “That is good news indeed. I doubt that anything I said or did would have changed the final outcome, but I did point out to Colonel Fitzwilliam that the attraction seemed to be on both sides of the partnership, something he was having problems believing.”
Jane released her hand from his; she found even the touch of his fingers on hers caused her exquisite pain and she forced herself to speak. “There is an old saying in our part of Derbyshire that everything goes in threes. Andrew and Celeste, the Colonel and Susannah—everyone is expecting a third announcement tonight.”
“I am hoping for that as well,” he replied smoothly and she fought down the cold shivers that swept over her. “Now, if you will excuse me, I must pay my compliments to your parents and my grandmother.”
The door to the ballroom was opened in front of them and a wave of colour, heat and sound swept out, surrounding them, overwhelming Jane’s senses. The air was thick with the smell of perfume, candle grease and the chalk that had been laid on the polished floor to avoid slipping had already been sent swirling up into the air by dancing feet.
Finding refuge on a small gilt chair on the far side of the ballroom, Jane watched as Archer approached her parents, making his bow, kissing Lady Goddard’s cheek, listening gravely to something she said, then turning to speak to Anne and Bennetta, giving both, to Jane’s surprise, equal attention. She could tell, even from a distance that her twin was not happy by this. She obviously wanted to be the only recipient of his regard.
“There you are, Jane! I have been looking for you.” Susannah, regal in dark lavender, all diffidence gone from her manner, kissed her cheek and sat down next to her. “I was beginning to think you were unwell.”
Jane shook her head and forced herself to smile. “Not at all. I am just tardy in my dressing. I am delighted to see you tonight. I had wondered if you might be too tired to attend after the long journey.”
The new Mrs Fitzwilliam laughed. “Not at all. Happiness is a great reviver of weary limbs and nothing can dampen our spirits. Oh, Jane, I can hardly believe what has happened to me. To have found love at such a late time of life and for that love to be returned, why, it is nothing short of a miracle. Who would have thought our trip to Dorset could have ended in such a fashion.”
Jane smiled and squeezed her hand. She wondered what Susannah would say if she knew that she was not the only person to have found love at Deerwood Park!
In a flash of gold, Anne crossed the room to sit next to them. Her eyes were sparkling with half-concealed excitement. “Goodness, Jane, you are so late coming downstairs and why are you hiding yourself away right over here, away from the rest of the family?”
“I am sure you do not need me.”
“Need? No, but I want you here. I want all my friends and family around me.”
Jane nodded. She had no doubt that the proposal was about to happen. Archer obviously intended to make it a very public affair. She wondered if a heart could actually break or if the pain she was feeling would ever lessen.
Just then the music started up again and she realised they were playing a waltz. By the time she had realised that it was the same piece of music she had danced to with Archer, the man who would always be her best beloved was walking across the floor towards them.
She felt, more than saw, Anne stiffen in her chair, then her fan moved swiftly and Jane knew she was gazing at Archer over the top of the feathers, her blue eyes sparkling with invitation.
“Miss Jane! How good to see you again. May I say how well you are looking? Surely I recall that dress. Why it was one you wore when we last danced together. Did you wear it tonight for that reason. Ha! Come, dance with me. I promise not to step on your toes as I did in the summer. Haha!”
To her horror, Digby had stepped out of the crowd, looming over her, his prominent blue eyes bright with what she could only suppose was feigned passion.
“Miss Jane, I believe this is our dance. The one we never finished.” In two paces, Archer was standing next to Digby, ignoring him in an extremely arrogant fashion, gazing down at her, his dark eyes full of feeling as he held out his hand.
She was only just aware of a muffled exclamation from Digby and a stifled gasp from her twin and out of the corner of her eye she saw Susannah’s hand shoot out to grasp Anne’s arm, to stop her from rising from her chair.
Then nothing else mattered but the warmth of Archer’s fingers clasping hers, his hand on her back, the closeness of his body and the way they moved to the music as if they had been born to dance together.
“This is madness,” Jane whispered as they circled the room, aware that people with expectations of seeing a different couple, were viewing them in puzzlement.
“I agree.”
“We must stop! You must ask Anne to dance. You must—”
“I am dancing with the woman I love, the woman I believe loves me in return.”
She gasped. “Archer!”
“Be a coward and tell me you do not love me, Jane!”
The music faded away and all she could hear was the thumping of her heart as she realised that with those few words he had thrown open the doors to the cage that had both protected and imprisoned her entire life. He was giving upwealth and a life of power and influence for love. And he was asking her to join him.
“Sir, I am not very brave…no, you may not laugh…I know I am not. But, Archer Maitland, I love you with all my heart and soul and will do so until the day I die.”
