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“Be my guest.” Benjamin waved him forward another time.
Leo placed his glass down behind him on the table and turned to walk away, intending to ask Chloe to dance. He was rather glad he’d had that one last swallow of claret, needing the courage it could bring him. Yet he’d only taken two steps forward before it all went wrong.
With his gaze so set on Chloe’s position and the way her green gown shimmered in the candlelight, he had not seen that one of the table legs was outstretched at an angle. His foot collided with the table, and rather than being able to right himself straight away, Leo was forced to slam his hand into the surface.
At once, glass began to shatter. Leo looked up, feeling as if his insides were withering as he watched a tree of crystal glasses that had been elegantly stacked together, coming crashing down. It looked like a cascading waterfall, except not with water, it was crystal smashing to pieces.
Some of the glass fell on Leo’s hand. He shook it off and stood back, well aware of the noise the incident had made. Many people looked his way and some whispered, no doubt pointing at the foolish Lord Felton who could not even look where he was putting his own feet.
“Well, on the bright side,” Benjamin’s voice appeared beside him. “I think she has noticed you now.”
“Thank you, that helped,” Leo muttered sarcastically as Benjamin beckoned forward another servant. “Benjamin, I am so sorry. I will be happy to pay for all of the damage. I can promise you that.”
“Leo, they are just glasses.”
“And they cost a pretty penny; I do not doubt that!” Leo gestured to the mess he had made. They were the sort of glasses his own parents could only dream of buying these days. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Leo had to look away from the mess as the servants began to clear it up. “I am so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing. I hardly mind that they are broken, why should you?” Benjamin’s words made Leo look up again.
For a duke, he cares surprisingly little about money.
Leo was thankful for it.
“What happened!?” Maeve’s sudden cry made Leo look round.
“Ah . . . well . . .” He struggled for words, staring at not only Maeve, but Chloe who had appeared alongside her. Their collective gazes looked over the mess, wide and unblinking.
“A little incident, that is all.” Benjamin brushed off the matter with a shrug.
“An incident!” Maeve repeated. “Benjamin, look at what Leo has done.”
“Time for a dance, I think. What do you say, Maeve?” Benjamin stepped forward and took her hand.
“A dance, you wish to dance now—ah!” She was jolted away.
Leo kept his laugh behind his hand, pretending to scratch his jaw.
“Look at all that mess.” Maeve’s words faded away as her husband led her to the dance floor.
Leo looked to Chloe and his stomach felt as if it dropped inside of him.
My quest to impress her has hardly started well.
He would not have blamed her for smiling politely and walking off. After all, who would wish to associate themselves with him when so many people were staring their way and whispering about his clumsy ways?
“I was not very impressed by the stack anyway,” Chloe said, walking toward him with joviality in her tone.
“You think it looks better as it is now?” Leo asked, thrilled that she had come toward him.
“Do not tell Maeve I said that,” Chloe whispered, as if it was a horror to admit the truth. “I tried to take a glass out of the tower earlier myself. I was so scared of knocking it over, I abandoned the endeavor entirely and opted for a different drink instead.”
“Ha! That would have been a wise decision, after what I have just done.” The two of them laughed together. Leo couldn’t believe how easy it was to be with Chloe. In the space of a few short sentences, she had made all his nerves dissipate.
Chloe continued to stand beside him as they watched the servants clear up the glass. Eager to be of help, Leo offered to collect some of the crystal, but one of the servants assured him all was well and ushered him away. Leo stepped back, with Chloe still at his side.
“I think you are getting under their feet,” she whispered, tugging on his arm and pulling him further away. She only touched his sleeve, but it was enough to prompt him to follow her with ease. When her hand left him, he couldn’t help being a little disappointed.
At least I have the chance to talk with her at last!
