Chapter 3

CHAPTER3

What has happened to me?

Anthony wasn’t sure what had gotten hold of him. Ordinarily, he would have been very aware of what his mother would think about him asking such a lady to dance. Her hair was wild, not quite tucked away as other ladies’ hair was, but it didn’t matter to him.

One dance. Something tells me it will be interesting.

“If I am to answer your question, Your Grace, will you answer mine first?” Lady Curtis was playful as she raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you a man of propriety?”

“Not propriety, exactly.” Anthony sought out a better word for it. “Perfection. I seek perfection, that is all.” Lady Curtis laughed again, before shaking her head. “I have amused you.”

“Purely in that your answer has perplexed me.” She lifted her hand between them. “Yet as you have answered my question, I will now answer yours. Yes, I will dance.”

Anthony took her hand with his. There was something there in that touch, a sort of warmth that jolted up his arm though he tried not to respond to it. Slowly, he led Lady Curtis through the ballroom, heading toward the dance floor. It only took a couple of steps for Anthony to notice people were glancing his way then they whispered.

Are they whispering about us?

He flinched at the possibility. He did not like the idea of being talked about in such a way. The mere thought made him look at Lady Curtis as she walked alongside him then another thought bothered him.

He waited until the previous dance ended then he led Lady Curtis onto the floor. With the opening music came a bow and a curtsy then the tune properly began, revealing a rather upbeat cotillion. With the opening steps they moved toward each other, circling one another in a four-time step though they didn’t once touch.

“What did you mean just now?” Anthony couldn’t keep his curiosity to himself. “When you said my answer to your question perplexed you.”

“That is really rather simple. You said you were a man that sought perfection.” She smiled even more with her own words. “Surely you have noticed that perfection is an impossible thing, Your Grace?”

“Impossible? Surely not.” He shook his head at the idea. They stopped circling one another then circled the dancers to the left. The forced separation meant he could not continue the conversation just yet. He still looked at her, with his eyes lingering, until they returned to face one another again. This time, they held a hand as they circled round. “Perfection is in everything, if one seeks to find it.”

“Is not perfection just a little… bland?” Lady Curtis wrinkled her nose with the idea.

Bland?

He didn’t understand.

“Surely it is the extraordinary which makes life interesting.” Lady Curtis mused as they switched hands and circled each other in the opposite direction. “It makes things thrilling.”

Thrilling.

He found himself repeating the word in his head, all too aware of the pressure of Lady Curtis’ hand in his. That touch was a thrill indeed, though he couldn’t quite understand why.

“How do you mean?” he asked, pretending innocence as they stopped to face one another.

“Would you like me to show you, Your Grace?” she asked, with a mischievous smile on her face.

Say no, you fool!

Anthony could feel his mind shouting out him. If people were already whispering about him dancing with Lady Curtis, then he didn’t want to give them any more cause to do so if she were to do something unorthodox, yet at the same time, he wanted to know more.

“Perhaps it is best we save this for another time,” he whispered to her as they moved to stand side by side.

“Ah, are you worried what onlookers may think?” she asked, goading him further. Anthony found his head jerked upward, and he looked at the crowd at the edge of the dance floor, curious to see how many people watched him. Some did, no doubt whispering of just whom the Duke was dancing with.

Then something odd happened. Lady Curtis went the wrong way in the dance.

“Lady Curtis, this way.” He took her hand rather quickly and steered her round.

“Oh, my apologies.” She smiled and followed him anyway, unruffled by the mistake.

Oh, good Lord. She does not know the dance!

He led her round another couple before they turned back to face each other. When she performed the wrong step, going off on the incorrect beat, Anthony felt a tightening in his stomach. This was never how he usually danced. His partners always danced elegantly without a single error.

“Not yet, Lady Curtis.” He held her hand, stopping her from going off on the wrong beat again. When he moved her forward, he found his mind whirring. “Was this what you meant by showing me imperfections?”

“You think I would intentionally go wrong in a dance? No, Your Grace. I am afraid that is merely natural imperfections you see. After all, we cannot all dance like angels, can we?” she said then stepped away from him.

Her words had caught his interest so much that he nearly made a mistake himself. He had to hurry to catch his place and circle two other gentlemen before returning to her again. This time, he took both of her hands, very aware of the warmth that was in her touch, even through her gloves. Some ladies would just barely touch his fingers as they danced, but not Lady Curtis. She firmly held onto him.

“I apologize if I have embarrassed you,” she whispered to him. “That was never my intention. I am merely a little –” She tripped. Anthony brought up his hand suddenly, reaching for her waist. One of his hands was holding hers whilst the other was placed on her waist, holding her up.

She seemed to catch her breath at the intimacy of that touch, just as he did.

It should not have felt like that.

Yet Anthony had undoubtedly felt a thrill. She smiled as they began to move again.

“I am a little clumsy,” she explained after a beat. “Thank you, for stopping me from falling.”

“It is no matter.” His eyes raked over her. Now able to see her completely, without the covering of the cloak that she had worn on horseback, he could admire her figure.

There were curves to her that the ivory gown seemed to hug. The sensuality of the way the silk brushed her hips in particular made him feel like less of a gentleman. Anthony tore his eyes upward, finding her face. She didn’t appear to have noticed the way he watched her.

“Do you regret asking me to dance, Your Grace? I would not blame you if you did.” He led her side to side for a minute before they returned to the beginning of the dance, circling without touching.

He didn’t answer her very quickly. Did he regret asking her?

“No. I do not regret it,” he murmured. “Yet I cannot help feeling…” Before he could finish the words, she nearly tripped again by standing on his foot. He caught her, though, and he tried to make it look like part of the dance, taking her hand and then leading her into another circling motion.

“Flustered?” she offered.

“Perhaps that is the best word.” He glanced off the dance floor, aware that some of his friends were looking his way now. Even Joseph was there, his good friend of many years. Joseph seemed quite amused though, tilting his head to the side and making the fair hair on his temple fall away as he watched the two of them dance. “Forgive me. I do not mean to speak ill of your dancing.”

“Ha! My feelings are not hurt so easily, Your Grace. I would not mind if you did.”

“It is merely that when it comes to dancing, like many things, I look for something that is a little more…” He paused as they parted from each other, circling other couples. At all times, his eyes were on her, only this time, she returned that look.

Anthony found he couldn’t explain this feeling. Lady Curtis was exactly the kind of lady he would normally stay away from, yet staying away from her seemed like an absurd thing in this moment.

“Perfect?” Lady Curtis offered as she returned to his side and offered her hands to him. He took them quickly, eager to show her this part of the dance before she could go wrong. “Perhaps it’s time to bend the rules of perfection a little.”

I like my rules.

“What do you strive for in life, Lady Curtis?” The words fell from Anthony’s lips surprisingly easily. After all, these rules were how he lived his life, and having someone challenge that idea was a little jarring.

“Imperfection,” Lady Curtis declared with a happy smile. “I once had a gentleman describe a perfect life to me. He told it as some sort of story of a young girl who grew up and did exactly what her father always told her to.”

They parted, standing opposite each other, and staring as another couple walked between them. She waited for them to pass before she continued on. “Then after that, she went onto her husband’s house and did everything he told her to do too. If that is a perfect life, well, then perfect doesn’t sound very happy to me.”

Anthony reached for her hands as they circled each other again. This time, he didn’t use the opportunity to glance at the ballroom or to even seek out Joseph. His eyes only rested on Lady Curtis.

“We are having a peculiarly serious conversation for two people who have just met,” he commented, watching as she laughed again. He was intrigued by the way she laughed. Never once did she hide that smile. There was something very freeing about it.

“Should we make small talk instead? Perhaps we should comment on the weather or the number of couples?” They turned and took both hands this time. He felt her fingers sliding against his own in such a way that something jolted in his stomach.

Attraction… this is not what I should feel.

“I don’t know about you, Your Grace, but I have infinitely preferred our more serious conversation. I feel as if I know you better.”

“Perhaps so.” Anthony felt the song draw to a close. He stepped back from Lady Curtis and released her hand, ready to bow. “I am strangely reminded of our race this morning.”

“You are?” she asked as she curtsied. To his surprise, she didn’t look down to the floor as she curtsied. Instead, she held his gaze, unashamedly.

“Well, I lost a challenge then. For some reason, I feel as if I have lost one now too. As if you have won an argument that I did not know we were having.”

“I was not aware we were arguing either,” she pointed out, ready to step off the floor.

“Not an argument, then. A debate.” Anthony eagerly stepped forward, taking her hand, aware that she was prepared to escort herself away.

“Do you think I will fall if I do not hold a gentleman’s hand to walk away from this floor?” she whispered to him, clearly amused as she smiled.

“It is what is done, Lady Curtis. A gentleman always escorts a lady away.”

“Well, we best do what is the done thing then, shouldn’t we?” She was playful as she took his hand and let him lead her off.

Anthony held back his temptation to laugh. There was something incredibly intriguing to him about this woman. He didn’t quite understand how he was both charmed by her and flustered. He knew people would still be looking their way, whispering, but he tried his best not to meet their gazes. He drew Lady Curtis across the room, returning her near to the drinks’ table where he had found her.

“It was quite an intriguing dance, Lady Curtis,” he confessed as he released her hand.

“Oh, now I have learned even more about you,” she said with sudden delight.

“What is that?” Anthony knew he should walk away now. Perhaps he should find another lady, one that danced much finer to return to the floor with, so he could cement himself in his watchers’ minds as a good dancer. For some reason, his feet stayed exactly where they were.

“I have learned you are kind, Your Grace.” Lady Curtis held his gaze as she spoke. “I embarrassed you in our dance –”

“I never said that.”

“You did not need to. It was easy to read, and I can hardly blame you for it. You would hardly be the first man to be embarrassed by a poor dance partner.” She glanced down for the first time. It was as if she felt the truth of her own words before she met his gaze once more. “Yet you complimented the dance anyway. Yes, you have revealed yourself to be a kind man.”

“I am not certain I deserve that compliment, but as you have given me one, may I compliment you too, Lady Curtis?” he asked, taking a step toward her.

“Good luck,” she murmured. “It may be hard to think of one.”

“You think so ill of yourself?” He was amazed, holding back his bafflement.

“I have a mirror, Your Grace.” She shrugged as if thinking ill of herself did not bother her. “But pray, go on, I would be intrigued to hear the compliment.”

“It may not have been the perfect dance when it comes to the steps executed –”

“Is this a compliment?” Her mischievous smile was back in place.

“Yet I enjoyed it. I certainly do not enjoy every dance, even when the steps are performed just right.” Anthony reached for Lady Curtis’ hand. For the first time, she seemed stumped for words — so much so that as he took her hand, she gasped, startled by the touch.

Lifting the gloved fingers to his lips, he kissed it. Such a spark erupted through that touch that his heart thudded harder in chest. He could have sworn she felt something too, for her breathing fluttered and the swell of her chest rose and fell a little.

“I wish you a good evening, My Lady.” He was about to step away when he noticed her hair was in a greater disarray than before. She turned her head which seemed to make the effect worse. “Oh, your hair.” He pointed to it.

Lifting her hand to it, she pulled down a clip from her head. It released another one of those mad curls. Anthony thought back to the moment he had seen her run her hands through her hair that morning. Once again, he imagined doing it himself. He had to keep his hand tightly in her own to stop himself from living out such a dream.

“These things never stay in place — not with my hair,” she said with amusement.

“Would you like to find somewhere to put it back in?” He was looking back and forth, ready to seek out a door for her to find a private space until her laughter caught his ears.

“Whatever for? The curl has fallen now.”

“Yes, but people…” He glanced around. Close by, he saw Countess Rumpton’s daughters standing together. They were staring at him and Lady Curtis, pointing at her hair and evidently belittling her for it, for one of the sisters flustered with her own hair.

“People will think ill of me for it? Oh, well that has made up my mind then.” Lady Curtis abruptly took her hand out of his.

He snapped his attention back toward her, longing for that touch again, only to find his upturned palm became host to something else other than her hand. Resting on his palm was a hair clip. Silver in design, it was shaped exquisitely into a dragonfly with a blue enamel body though the tail was bent a little out of shape at the end.

“It is a gift for you, Your Grace.”

“What for?” he asked in surprise, holding up the clip between them. It was cold against his skin.

“Because I did not care at the moment if people whispered about my fallen hair. I feel bad that it should bother you so much to cause you discomfort. Take this gift from me as a little message.” She took his fingers and curled them around his palm, making sure he kept a firm hold on the clip.

That touch…

They had been touching each other for longer than was really proper though, but oh, how he liked it. She had started a burn in his gut with that touch, and he just wanted it to continue on. His mind wandered, thinking of what other touches could happen. He imagined sliding those white gloves off her hands and lifting her fingers to his lips.

“What is the message?” he asked, trying to keep his voice level, so he did not betray how much her touch had affected him.

“It is not always important what others think of us, Your Grace.” With these words, Lady Curtis offered another smile, and then she walked off, leaving him behind, standing there with his arm outstretched and the clip in his palm.

He could still feel the tingling in his hand and up his arm as if her touch lingered there with him. His eyes followed her, watching as she disappeared through the crowd of people.

Desire stirred within him, boldly. He could imagine running after her, taking more of those clips out of her hair and bending her face to his. If the touch of her hand was a thrill, then what could it be like to touch her lips with his own?”

“Anthony?”

“Oh God.” Anthony placed a hand to his heart, jumping as he turned round to face his friend, Joseph.

“Who was that you were dancing with? She was not like your usual partners.”

“I know her name, but in truth, Joseph, I am not sure who she really is at all.”

Yet… I rather like the idea of getting to know her better.