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Ashford felt bad for making light of her words. He could see she wanted to slip away as their dance came to an end. He reached out and touched her elbow.
“I can fully understand why you would love maps and wish to see more. I hope you get to do so.” She nodded but couldn’t quite bring her gaze above his chin. “I promise to tell you more about my island this week.”
It must have been the right thing to say as her eyes finally met his, and he could see excitement in them once more.
He could see that she was going to leave him, but just before she did, she almost whispered, in a shy voice, “I don’t actually wish to be a boy,” and then she hurried away.
Throughout the rest of the evening, Ash felt as though he were dancing an invisible dance to which only the two of them could hear the music or knew the steps. They would come together and dance or speak for a few minutes before one or the other of them would pull away, as though they were having second thoughts about their association. But then, before long, as though they couldn’t help themselves, they were drawn back together for another dance or another brief conversation.
He couldn’t decide if he ought to rejoice or despair. He had no interest in a flighty, moody partner for life. Perhaps he ought to put Lady Vigilia from his mind completely. He considered the other options at the house party and made an effort to speak and dance with other women. But still he kept coming back to Vigilia.
Despite his negative response to spending lunch with the lady, Ash thought to give Lady Delilah a second chance. She was a pleasant companion and an excellent dance partner. She even seemed somewhat intelligent, asking reasonable questions and expressing herself coherently when they were discussing various aspects of the Season. But she didn’t seem to have any interest in his pursuits and couldn’t seem to fathom being anywhere other than the English countryside. He tried not to laugh at her reaction to what ought to have been a simple question.
“Have you ever wanted to see other parts of the world, Lady Delilah?”
“Do you mean like Leeds or Sheffield?” she asked with wide eyes, seemingly naming the most adventurous places she could think of.
Ash wondered if she were jesting. “No, I was thinking of perhaps another country, like France or the Rhine, maybe even America.”
The wide-eyed stare she offered him made him wonder if perhaps he had been too quick in considering her to be intelligent.
“I would never consider France, as we have been at war with them. And the Americas strike me as being far too barbaric to bother visiting. The Rhine or even Prussia might not be too bad, though. Have you been there?”
Ashford was at a momentary loss for words. He couldn’t really respond to most of what she had said, at least not in any way that would be considered polite for the aristocratic house party. He hoped he wasn’t snarling when he finally managed to answer her question. “I have, yes. It was quite lovely.”
There wasn’t much more to say to her, from his perspective. He hoped he was remaining polite, but she was certainly not one he would consider as a potential wife for himself. That thought somehow drew his eyes back toward Vigilia just as she was curtsying to Lord Clifton at the end of their dance. He felt the impulse to ask her to dance with him once more, but they had already danced twice that evening. Even though this wasn’t London, there were still enough members of Society present that it could be considered a declaration he wasn’t ready to make. He turned instead to Miss Kitty.
It was a bit of a relief when the announcement was made that this was to be the last dance of the night. It was a lively country dance, which would relieve him of the need to have much conversation. But when he briefly crossed paths with Vigilia, she wouldn’t quite meet his eyes, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on his chin. Ashford fought down the urge to give the girl a shake, but it was a challenge.
