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Unable to stop himself, Luke looked back toward the dance floor where Annie was dancing with Mr Knight. The two seemed uninterested in conversing with each other. Mr Knight kept looking away from the dancers to the side of the room as if seeking out another. The occasional word he offered Annie still made her smile, though, and that irked Luke.
If I were the one dancing with her, I would make it my endeavour to see her smile constantly.
“I see you do not deny it tonight,” Adam whispered, elbowing Luke in order to get his attention again.
“I see no point in denying it anymore.” Luke’s words made Adam blanch and look up.
“What? Do you mean to say…are you actually considering a courtship, Luke?” Adam appeared in disbelief.
“I cannot answer that now.” Luke had thought about it constantly. After what had passed in that study between him and Annie, they had agreed to be discrete. They would keep seeing each other, but for the sake of protecting Annie’s reputation from his, they would keep things a secret.
Do I truly wish for it to be a secret, though?
The night before, when trying to sleep, he had thought often of what a courtship could truly be like with Annie. It had made his heart thud harder, before he had drifted off into deep sleep.
“If you would excuse me, Adam.” Luke attempted to step away, but his friend pulled on his arm.
“You cannot really leave me with this small piece of information and not elaborate.”
“I must, for at this moment, I cannot explain it further myself.” Luke offered a smile to his friend. “I’ll make you a deal. The day you tell me more about what you are doing with Miss Grove, I will tell you of what is passing between Miss Storey and I.”
Adam smiled too and stepped back, clearly fighting his laugh.
“You know you have me beaten.”
“For now. I’ll speak to you later.” Luke nodded his head in farewell and crossed the room, heading straight for the dance floor. He knew he couldn’t ask Annie to dance, not if they were going to be completely discrete. If he did dance with her, then merely the way he looked at her would no doubt give away that there was something between them.
All the same, I have to see her. Alone.
He waited until she had finished her dance with Mr Knight. As the gentleman escorted her from the floor, the two not conversing at all, Luke took his opportunity. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small scrap piece of paper on which he had written a note earlier that evening. He walked past the pair, making an appearance of greeting them with a smile and a nod, then he passed his hand beside Annie’s.
Under the cover of all the dancers that were leaving the floor, he hid the action of passing the note into her hand. It told her of the room where he wished to meet her in. He felt the subtle brush of her fingers against his before he moved away again.
Success!
With haste, he made to leave the room. He had been to these assembly rooms so often over the years that he knew every corner of the building, including every room that remained empty during these nights.
Stepping out of the main assembly room, he passed into a corridor lit by candles, with servers passing him carrying silver trays topped with crystal glasses. He easily stepped between them all and made his way to a set of spiral stairs that led into the rafters of the building.
Up here, the candlelight died. There were only shadows and the occasional glimpse of moonlight that shone through the windows. Making his way to a chamber at the far end, he stepped into a room that was a sort of library. Filled with a collection of books, all piled together in stacks on tables, it was the perfect room in which to hide. For who would come to read during an assembly?
Luke considered lighting a candle and then decided against it, not wanting the light in the room to draw attention through the windows to the fact that there was someone here. He waited and paced back and forth, longing for Annie to arrive.
It was some minutes until he heard her footsteps outside of the door. When she arrived, peering in through the door, he smiled at once, thrilled she could come so soon.
“This is illicit!” Annie cried with a giggle as she stepped in. “Were you seen sneaking off?”
“I do not think so. It is so busy in there, no one would notice anything that does not concern themselves.” He crossed the room toward her and took her hands, quickly bending toward her for a stolen kiss. He meant it to be a brief thing, a kiss of greeting, yet he found his lips lingered the moment he touched her.
Will it always be impossible to stay away from her?
“Come, I want a few minutes with you before we must return. If I cannot talk to you freely downstairs, then I will talk freely to you here,” Luke said as he released her hands and grabbed a nearby salon chair. He wedged it against the door under the door handle so that no one could come in and disturb them.
“Talk? Is that what you wish to do?” Annie said teasingly.
“Ha!” Luke laughed heartily. “Well, maybe I wish for a few stolen kisses too.” He turned back to her and kissed her lips quickly in emphasis. “Yes, I did also want to talk to you. I will admit, seeing Mr Knight able to hog your attention all the time. It makes me quite…envious.”
“You have no reason to be envious. Here….” She took his hands and drew him back to a rococo settee at the far side of the room. She pushed some books to the side and sat down, drawing him with her. “You wish for my attention? Then you have it all. Completely!”
“Thank goodness,” Luke said with another laugh, wondering what had happened to himself. He couldn’t remember ever being so in need of another’s company or longing to speak to someone as much as he did long to be with Annie.
“What do you wish to talk about?” Annie asked, sitting back on the settee with their hands entwined. She began to play with their fingers, curling them together in such a way that Luke felt his desire for her stir in other ways.
“Everything,” Luke murmured slowly. “First, tell me of your childhood, Annie. I find I wish to know everything about you.”
