AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, I am well aware of it, but when you are in the company of few, or surrounded by those you know well, you are not as reserved or anxious. You can hold conversations. Dash it, Liss, the night we met I was a stranger and still you spoke comfortably to me.”
I had, hadn’t I? It was a truth I had not considered before now. “Hmm. I wonder why that was.”
“Because I was so dashing you could not help yourself,” he said simply. The sparkle in his one visible eye reached my heart. “In all seriousness, I imagine it was because you felt comfortable with me.”
“I suppose that would make the most sense.” I agreed. I had felt comfortable with James then, though I hadn’t made the connection until now. “So, you did not come to the conclusion that you and Miss Whitstone would not suit simply because she was shy?”
“Not at all. I am not opposed to a quiet woman.” He winked at me. “But she could not carry any conversation at all. It was nothing but silence between us, always. I would, at least, prefer a wife who speaks to me.”
“That is understandable. There is a gentleman somewhere who will make Miss Whitstone equally comfortable, I am sure.”
He eyed me warily. “For her sake, I do hope you are correct.”
We moved from the promenade into the dance, and the further the song progressed, the more at ease I felt in James’s arms. We danced the same figures we had danced in the Huttons’ library, though this time to real music, and I did not once avert my eyes from his. His strong arms and sweet smile made me feel safe and loved, and when the song came to an end, I stood before him, grinning widely.
“I’ve done it,” I said triumphantly.
“I knew you could,” he murmured, placing a kiss on my temple near my ear.
