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“I do have questions,” Rebecca said. “I want to know what happened between you and Mr.—”
“And I shall be more than happy to answerallof your questions,” he said, cutting her off before she could utter the blackguard’s name. “But not tonight. This isyournight, and any other concerns can wait until tomorrow to be addressed. I did not travel all the way from Lincolnshire to stand in a ballroom and deliver a speech or make lengthy explanations, especially when the orchestra is so fine. What do you say?”
She searched his face, and he held his breath. “Very well,” she said at length. “Butonlyif you promise me you will explain everything tomorrow.Everylittle detail.Nothingleft out for any reason.”
“Rebecca is not as strongheaded as my duchess, but she definitely doesn’t shrink away from confrontation,” Aylesham said, arriving with his duchess in time to hear the end of the conversation. “An excellent quality, if I do say so myself.”
“Cheeky,” the duchess replied.
Aylesham chuckled. “I have asked the orchestra to play another waltz when this current dance concludes so I may have the opportunity of dancing arm-in-arm with my beautiful wife one more time this evening,” he said as the reel the orchestra was playing came to an end. “Shall we, my dear?”
“Gladly,” the duchess replied. “Dear little sister, I leave you in the care of Lord Winton,” Susan said. “Enjoy yourselves. I certainly intend to enjoy myself.” She laid her hand on Aylesham’s offered arm, and then they joined their guests on the ballroom floor.
“She must have momentarily forgotten that you were the cause of my original accident,” Rebecca said. “She has more trust in you in that regard than I do, I believe.”
“My dearest Miss Jennings,” Ben began with feigned decorum, his heart lightening even more now that he was with her. “I shall take exceedingly great care as to where I place my feet since you are still convalescing, and I shall not attempt any wild spins with you in my arms; I shall be as staid as an old politician giving an oration before the House of Lords.”
“Beginning to exaggerate just a bit, are we?” she said.
“Perhaps just a bit, if it makes you happy,” Ben said as he led her out onto the dance floor. “However, Idovow to exert great effort not to trip you or startle you in any way—at least while we are dancing. I cannot make any guarantees once the dance concludes.” He dearly wished to take her fully into his arms and kiss her as he had done before.
“You are a rascal, Ben,” Rebecca said. “I trust you can count to three, since it’s a waltz.”
“One,” he said and held out his hand to Rebecca. She placed her hand in his. Ah, heaven! At last! “Two,” he said next. He put his arm about her waist and brought her closer to him than Society would most likely prefer, but he was beyond caring now. “Three.” They moved together smoothly, gracefully. She was in his arms, his Rebecca, and she was gazing at him with . . . curiosity, perhaps? That shouldn’t surprise him after his business with Mandeville. But also, he hoped that her gaze was filled with love—the love she’d declared to him before. Oh, he hoped he had not ruined that love. He had strained it, he knew. He vowed he would make amends.
And Ben also vowed that from this evening forward, he would accept that love and return it with his whole heart, a heart that might now truly be whole.
* * *
Rebecca was in Ben’s arms.
Not because she was being carried to the house following an accident, not because she needed help getting to an area laid out for a picnic, and not because he was angry at her for riding a horse astride to his home.
She was in his arms because he had traveled to London for her ball and he had asked if he might dance with her.
Waltzing with him like this, one hand resting on his shoulder and the other hand clasped in his, was heaven. His height added a sense of masculinity and power that hadn’t been as noticeable in the other young gentlemen she’d danced with this evening. Or maybe it was simply that she was aware ofhim, Ben, in a way she hadn’t been with the others. Their partnering should be awkward, but instead, it simply felt right. She had no other words to describe it.
His steps were measured, and Rebecca easily matched them. His shoulder and upper arm flexed under her hand as he led her in the steps of the dance, their legs occasionally brushing against each other. She tipped her head back slightly so she could gaze up at his face, which wore a solemn expression but held less strain than it had earlier in the evening; in fact, he looked less strained now than she’d ever seen him before.
“What has changed?” she asked.
“Everything,” he said. “Everything has changed, my dear Rebecca. But we shall leave it at that for now. Tonight isyournight.” He swung her into an unexpected turn, which brought her closer to him still. “You seem to have recovered your ability to dance, as well as walk, quite satisfactorily, Miss Jennings,” he said.
“I have,” Rebecca said, smiling at his formal use of her name. “Thank you for noticing, Lord Winton.” She sighed gustily. “I am finally dancing at my own come-out ball during the Season I am finally enjoying. You entreated me to come, to make new friends and acquaintances, to flirt and be flirted with. To dance. I have done all of those things, Ben, and I am content, especially if it has freed you from any guilt you may have clung to over my accident. But I am most content right now because I am dancing withyou.”
“Ah, Rebecca,” he said, drawing her even closer to him. “I missed you terribly after you left. I had no intention of taking a wife and had determined to scorn the idea of love when I arrived at Lower Alderwood.” They were barely dancing now, their steps small and close, and he pressed his lips to her ear. “But I have fallen in love with you, my sweet Rebecca. I am utterly and completely yours. And I intend to court you properly and speak to your father as soon as possible—as soon as you may agree to it.”
He then moved back to hold her at a proper distance, and Rebecca’s heart pounded, her gaze transfixed upon his eyes, which were ablaze and determined and looking directly into her own.
The music drew to a conclusion, and eventually, so did their steps, but they remained where they were on the ballroom floor, still in each other’s arms. “Thank you for the dance,” he murmured at length, his eyes still locked with hers. “I shall treasure this moment always.”
“Oh, Ben,” she said on a sigh. “My dearest wish was that you would be here tonight. I am beyond happy.”
He laid her hand on his arm, and they began to make their way slowly away from the center of the ballroom to Aylesham and Susan and Mama and Papa. Rebecca didn’t look too closely at the smug expressions on their faces. She simply wanted to savor this moment and Ben’s words and the joy in her heart.
“I have business with the House of Lords to attend to first thing tomorrow, but I wish to call upon you in the afternoon, if I may,” he said to Rebecca when they’d nearly reached the others. “I promised to give you a full explanation, and I intend to fulfill that promise. Will you be free to receive me when I arrive?”
“There is no need to ask,” Rebecca said. “Of course I will. Gladly.”
