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Ned, sitting next to his father, leaned in close and murmured, “Look at that.” Ned nodded toward Henry. “He looks at Sarah like she is all the crack.”
“Ned, where did you pick that up from?” Edward sighed. “Never mind, I do not want to know. Just finish your breakfast, will you.”
Two days before the ball, Marianne and Elinor sat on the sofa in the drawing-room enjoying their tea as well as endeavouring to chaperone their children. Anne sat at the card table across from Henry while Sarah occupied the chair between the siblings.
“Henry,” Anne chastised her brother, “you are looking entirely too serious for a gentleman discussing an evening of dancing. This is supposed to be fun.”
“Anne, do you plan to dance with everyone who asks you, without being partial to any one in particular?” Henry asked.
“That is exactly what I plan to do! And though you may be partial to someone in particular, you do realise you cannot dance with Sarah all night? You must dance with many different partners. How many times do you intend to dance with her?”
“Two, as is proper. Though I confess I should prefer twenty.”
“Now, Henry,” Sarah began, “we must be sensible about Thursday. Two is the proper number for us at present. But,” she looked sweetly at Anne, “we must choose them wisely.”
Henry leaned forward. “I thought we might take two country dances together, early in the evening.”
“An excellent plan,” agreed Sarah. “A country dance may last fifteen to thirty minutes, and if we dance two successive sets together, we shall spend a considerable portion of the evening in one another’s company. That is no small declaration, Henry.”
“Nor is it one I should make lightly.”
“Then perhaps our first dance should be early, and the second later in the evening. In between, we must each dance with other partners,” Sarah suggested.
Anne interjected here. “Though it will be my first ball as well, I have learned a thing or two these last weeks from Cecilia. Had you two been paying attention to anyone other than yourselves you might have learned something,” she sighed.
“We are listening,” Sarah answered obediently.
“You cannot make a definite plan because you do not know what arrangements Lady Ardleigh will include,” Anne said firmly. “She may have two country dances together or she may schedule other dances between them. She may include the cotillion, but you cannot count on it. If she does, then that would work in your favour, because there will be four couples in a square, performing figures together. You might face one another, pass the opposite couple, or meet during a promenade. Some cotillions also include temporary changes of partners before everyone returns to their original places.”
Henry looked delighted. “Then we might even dance together for a figure, though we began with different partners?”
Sarah reminded him, “If the particular cotillion calls for it. We must not count upon it, but it offers another opportunity to meet without monopolising the evening. You must not neglect your acquaintances, nor I mine. Besides, we are not yet engaged, and it would be unwise to appear inseparable.”
“Very well,” agreed Henry. “Two dances together, with other partners between them. But might we arrange to join the same country dance with different partners?” He looked to Anne.
“Certainly,” she answered. “In a longways English country dance, the gentlemen form one line and the ladies another. As the figures progress, couples move up and down the lines, meeting neighbouring dancers in repeating groups.”
Sarah added, “If you are dancing with a lady and I with another gentleman, we might still find ourselves opposite one another or in the same minor set.”
“And during a right and left?” Henry asked.
“We should pass one another as the figure requires.” Then Sarah murmured, “Perhaps even allowing a chance to exchange a glance or a brief smile.
“And a poussette might bring us around another couple, depending upon the dance. We must, of course, continue the steps without delaying anyone.”
Henry nodded. “So, we may meet without appearing to seek one another.”
“Precisely,” Anne confirmed. “And country dances often have intervals when dancers wait their turn in the line. There may be opportunities for a quiet word, provided you do not make a spectacle of yourself, Henry.”
“I begin to see that dancing is a far more ingenious arrangement than I had supposed.”
“It is, if one understands how to use it,” remarked Anne. “Now, according to Cecilia, if you carry your ivory fan you may want to pencil in your plans beforehand. You may want to note how to proceed based on the country dances being a set or separate.”
No-one noticed Ned at the doorway.
“Do not forget to include how often Henry may look at you on Thursday,” he replied cheerfully, before disappearing again.
When everyone finally retired for the evening, Elinor was removing the last of her pins, when Edward came to stand behind her, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
