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“Lady Helen?” Lord Northrive called to her as she jumped up from the bench. “Here, let me escort you inside.” He ran toward her and snatched up his jacket from nearby, using it to shield her from the rain.
Violette watched in horror at the intimacy of the two of them together as they hurried into the house, with Lady Helen standing very close to Lord Northrive.
The opportunity to tell him the truth had slipped by Violette, leaving her standing in the rain. She didn’t follow for a few minutes. She stayed in the rain, letting it drench her to the bone. She figured it was better to let the sky do its crying so that it hid her own tears from view.
***
“Dancing?” Mr Blake said in surprise.
“Of course, what is wrong with dancing?” Marcus said with a laugh as he requested the footmen to roll back the rugs. It was a suggestion that had been made by Lady Helen after dinner and was now being taken up enthusiastically by everyone, including Lady Katherine, who was showing more and more interest in Walter, not that he seemed to notice very much.
“There is nothing wrong with dancing,” Mr Blake said hurriedly, yet he sat down in a chair at the far side of the room.
“Ha! If that is the case, then why have you set yourself as far away from the dance floor as possible?” he said, elbowing his friend.
“It is nothing. It is just that I…” he paused, then looked down to his feet. “I twisted my ankle today when we were playing cricket. I think it for the best that I rest it up this evening and avoid such things as dancing.”
“You twisted it?” Marcus asked in surprise, for he couldn’t remember seeing his friend have such an accident.
“What’s going on over here?” Peter said, coming over to their side of the room. “Marcus, aren’t you dancing? If you’re not, then I’ll take the chance to ask Lady Hel—”
“No, you will not,” Marcus said, taking Peter’s shoulder and stopping him from running off to Lady Helen’s side before he could have a chance. “You’re too young to dance with her for starters.”
“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “Then it looks like I’ll have to turn the sheet music for Laurie to play the piano. Mr Blake? Will you be dancing?”
“Not tonight. I have twisted my ankle.” He pointed down to the injured ankle.
“How strange. I thought you might say something like that,” Peter said with a chuckle. The words took Marcus so much by surprise that he frowned at his brother and was about to ask what he had meant when he felt an arm slip through his own.
“My lord.” It was Lady Helen. “I hope you will lead me through the first of our dances tonight?”
“I would be delighted to,” Marcus said, shifting her arm so that her hand fell into his. He was expecting there to be some sort of jolt or excitement when her hand touched his, but there was nothing. No fluttering sensation in his stomach, not even the temptation to smile all the more.
Distracted, Marcus found his eyes slipping back to look at Mr Blake, who seemed to say something to Peter in dismissal. Peter laughed and returned to the piano to turn the sheet music for Laurie, though he kept looking back to Mr Blake repeatedly.
In the end, Marcus asked Lady Helen to dance with him three times, even though propriety dictated it should be less, and he had only asked her sister to dance once. When it came to asking Lady Helen to dance a fourth time, more than one comment was being made in the room. Even Peter and Laurie were elbowing each other and sniggering under their breaths.
“What an honour this is,” Lady Helen said as they took to the floor for the fourth time. “If we were in public, the ton would be whispering about us by now.”
“So they would be,” he said, returning the flirtation, yet he didn’t focus on her. As they danced the opening figures, he was far more aware of Mr Blake across the room, who had stood to his feet and gone to the door, slipping out quietly. No matter how many times Marcus looked back to the door the whole evening through, Mr Blake did not return.
