Chapter Three

"A re you fond of dancing, Lady Augusta?" Lord Royston presented his arm as soon as their dance ended. Smiling breathlessly, Augusta took it. She'd requested a polka to begin the evening's festivities, hoping to take the measure of Lord Royston's abilities on the ballroom floor. Surprisingly, she'd been quite satisfied with his performance.

"I am, my lord. The polka is one of my favorite dances. So spritely and challenging."

"You seem to enjoy challenges, my lady." He chuckled. "My congratulations again on winning at chess yesterday. My cousin is not often bested. You should be exceedingly pleased."

"I have to say I was. He's the first gentleman I've played against other than my father."

"Then your father is to be commended on his very apt pupil." Lord Royston's compliments were gratifying, however she didn't wish to belabor her victory.

"Did you enjoy today's hunt, my lord?" The gentlemen had taken themselves off early in the day to shoot red deer.

"Very much. I had a shot at a buck, but missed by that much." He held up his fingers to show an infinitesimal gap.

"Well, I wish you better luck next time." They had arrived back at the place her mother had taken up as her station for the ball, at the end of the room farthest from the orchestra. Her next partner, Mr. Quartermain, stood next to her, chatting as though they were old friends.

Lord Royston released her arm and bowed crisply. "Thank you so much for the lovely dance, Lady Augusta. If you are not engaged later in the evening, I would like to partner you once more at least."

"You really must give the other chaps a chance, Harry." Lord Boxted appeared like a bolt out of the blue, looking splendid in his well-cut evening dress. "And Lady Augusta must need time to recover from your woefully lacking skills on the dance floor." He smiled as he quipped with his cousin, as though it were of little consequence that he had not won the wager to partner her in the first dance. Then his gaze turned toward her and she caught her breath at the intensity of his countenance. "Good evening, Lady Augusta. I fear I must apologize for losing the wager yesterday."

"A…apologize for losing, my lord?" Something in his penetrating gaze made her shiver—as though he read her mind.

"Yes. You see, if I had won, you would not have been forced to endure my cousin's fumbling attempts at social dancing." His smile electrified her. "Instead, I would have been able to lead you out and show you how a polka should be danced."

Scrambling to pull her thoughts together, Augusta nodded. "That would, of course, have been a fortunate turn of events for me, my lord." She recovered her wits and smiled up at him. "However, I believe I will keep the victory in chess and live for the promise of a future dance with you."

"I will hold you to that promise, Lady Augusta." His blue eyes mesmerized her until a tug on her arm broke her away from Lord Boxted and Mr. Quartermain instead led her onto the dance floor.

Her dance with Mr. Quartermain was a Galop, so there was little time or breath for conversation. The dance was lively, and her partner acquitted himself well, but Augusta's thoughts kept straying back to Lord Boxted. Such a singular gentleman, with a more intense stare than she'd ever encountered before. Well, perhaps save Mr. Burton's dark-eyed gaze. But he'd never peered into her face with the force of Lord Boxted's regard. The gentleman was truly quite thrilling. Such a pity by her own decree she could not dance with him.

The Galop ended and Mr. Quartermain entertained her with a very funny account of the first time he'd ever tried to polka as a lad of ten. They were laughing in earnest by the time they reached her mother where the group of gentlemen milling about her had increased. Lord Boxted was still ready to dance attendance, which spoke well of him. He could have gone off to find a young lady with whom he could dance. Her attention went to Mr. Price, her next partner, standing next to his brother.

"Mr. Price, I believe I am promised to you next if you are not too weary from the hunt today." Augusta gazed at the sea of faces surrounding her and suddenly wished her mother had not been quite so zealous in her efforts to invite half the ton for the weekend. She'd like the opportunity to converse more particularly with a few of the guests.

"I must confess, Lady Augusta, I did not avail myself of the hunting today." Mr. Price did not seem abashed at this confession at all. "I do enjoy it, but I kept to the study, writing letters instead. Some correspondence simply cannot wait."

"Did you spend your day writing letters as well, my lord?" Augusta shot a sly glance at Lord Boxted.

"Indeed, I did not." Lord Boxted looked offended that she would have suggested such a thing. "My brother may have demurred in favor of his scribbling, but you will not find me turning down a day of stalking."

"And were you successful today?" She scarcely needed to ask the question, so ebullient was his lordship's demeanor.

"That I was." A wide smile split his handsome face. "I brought down a stag just before lunch. I had a shot at another one later in the afternoon, but the wind shifted and it loped away."

"No need to cull the entire herd single-handedly, Jules," his brother piped up. "You needed to leave some deer for the others to find."

"I assure you, brother, there were plenty to go around." The brothers' sparring was entertaining to watch, but Augusta interrupted them.

"Lord Boxted, are you engaged for the dance after this one?"

"I am not, my lady." Lord Boxted made a small bow. "I have not asked any young lady for a dance this evening. As I am not allowed to dance with you, I intend to spend the time in-between dances amusing you instead."

"Then I am writing your name on my dance card for the next one, which is a mazurka." She took Mr. Price's arm, despite the wide stares of both gentlemen.

"But Lady Augusta—" Lord Boxted's panic was oddly comical. "The wager… I cannot—"

"I have decided to rescind the wager I won and instead require you to dance the mazurka with me." Augusta's thoughts raced as she improvised. "I think that will be a more difficult task than allowing you to laze about all evening not dancing at all." She cocked her head. "You do know the dance, do you not?"

"Yes, my lady." He nodded his head soberly. "I know it quite well."

"Then be prepared when I return with your brother." She tossed her head and steered Mr. Price, who had not a word to say, onto the dance floor. "Cat got your tongue, Mr. Price?"

"Apparently so, my lady." The tall gentleman with the riotously curly hair grinned briefly, then led them off in a waltz. The young man seemed to be concentrating hard on his steps, so Augusta gave him some time to settle into the dance before remarking, "You and your brother seem to be very different, Mr. Price. One would scarcely believe you were brothers at all."

"We are not quite as different as night and day, my lady, but we do not see eye to eye on many things. Lord Boxted quite enjoys the outdoor life of stalking and shooting, riding to the hounds as you may have surmised from his enthusiasm for the hunt today. My tastes run more toward books and music, and the arts in general."

"Then you do not hunt or ride?" Augusta had never met a gentleman who didn't enjoy those sorts of pastimes.

"Oh, I can and I do from time to time, usually to keep my brother or cousins company, but I don't enjoy it nearly as much as they do." He met her startled gaze and his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "What we are all most passionate about, however, is wagering. You may have heard us in the study yesterday for we were so engrossed in the wagering and the game, none of us realized you had entered the room until you spoke."

"You all did seem consumed with your wager. Your brother seemed terribly outraged just now when I changed the rules." Augusta had been startled at the vehemence in Lord Boxted's voice when he tried to keep to the terms of the original wager.

"My entire family, the Quartermain side of it at least, is like that. Nothing is so sacred to any of us as making wagers and fulfilling the terms of them." Mr. Price shook his head as they rounded the turn at the end of the dance floor. "Wagers are usually considered debts of honor, my lady. However, my family takes that axiom to heart to a serious degree. Nothing could ever induce any of us to renege on a wager."

"Well, I hope Lord Boxted was not offended that I merely changed the forfeit."

"Oh, I daresay he was not. Startled perhaps, but not offended." The gentleman who held her in his arms tilted his head to the side, like a curious bird. "Why did you decide to do that, my lady?"

Now it was Augusta's turn to disguise her intentions. "As I said, it seemed a much more difficult task for Lord Boxted to dance the mazurka with me than to stand idly about all evening."

"You think that, do you, my lady?" Mr. Price's mouth puckered, trying not to smile. "Well, I will leave you to be the judge of that after your dance." He twirled her one more time, then they bowed to one another, and he offered his arm. "Thank you very much for the waltz. It is my favorite of the dances."

"Thank you, Mr. Price." Augusta kept her face shielded from his by nodding to several people as they made their way back to her mother. "It was rather illuminating."

Mr. Price gave her over to her mother and the crowd of gentlemen closed in on her, those whom she had not granted dances to yet putting themselves forward most forcefully.

"Now gentlemen, I am certain dances can be found for all or most of you." Augusta removed her dance card and pencil from her reticule and studied the remaining slots. There were fewer than she'd thought. "Mr. Eastman I can give you the third polka. Sir Roger, will you take the dance directly after supper?" She wrote busily, all too aware of Lord Boxted hovering at her elbow. "Lord Boxted you are down for the mazurka that's making up now."

"Thank you, my lady. I feared you might have changed your mind—again."

She darted a glance at him to find his gaze intent upon her. Augusta's hand clenched her pencil, but she hadn't thought about her silk gloves. The pencil shot out of her fingers and Lord Boxted nimbly caught it before it hit the floor.

"I believe this is yours, my lady." He tried to hold his countenance, but his mouth quivered with scarcely contained mirth.

"Thank you." She would not smile at the smug wretch, although those around him were chuckling and making comments about his agility. Why did the man fascinate and unnerve her by turns?

"We should start toward the dance floor, Lady Augusta. We don't want to be tardy, now do we?" He offered his arm.

Augusta glanced around at the gentlemen still asking for dances and threw up her hands. "I will complete my dance card after this next dance, gentlemen. There are several slots still free, never fear." Hastily, she stowed the card and pencil back in her reticule and took Lord Boxted's arm. "Ready, my lord."

They hurried to the dance floor where couples were gathering into groups of four. Augusta and Lord Boxted took their places in the group nearest to the orchestra. Excited as always when about to dance this most demanding dance, Augusta stood, going over the intricate steps in her head. She'd danced this a hundred times, but she didn't wish to miss any steps while dancing with Lord Boxted.

As though aware of her trepidations, her partner leaned over and whispered, "You have no cause for alarm, my lady. Rely on me and enjoy the dance."

Stunned, Augusta jerked her gaze up to him, but the music began and they bowed to one another, then to their corner couples, and they were off, circling left, leaping in the spritely steps of the mazurka. Almost immediately, Augusta realized her partner had spoken nothing but the truth. Despite the intricate steps of the dance, Lord Boxted danced as though he'd been born to do it. He anticipated every movement and in turn, led Augusta with such sure steps she need never even think about what to do next.

This was an unexpected boon. She'd chosen this dance to see if Lord Boxted was indeed made of sterner stuff than even she had thought. She scarcely needed to think at all as they turned and twirled around the ballroom. Like gliding on air, without a care in the world.

Never had Augusta danced with such a skillful partner. If the dance hadn't been so strenuous, she might have tried to talk with the gentleman, but even she needed to conserve her breath during such a quick moving dance, excellent partner or not. She could, however, smile at him, and did so with pleasure. Lord Boxted seemed a gentleman who did a great many things and did them well. Very much like Mr. Richard Burton. It might not be the worst idea to continue to discover if Lord Boxted had other parts of his character that were similar to Mr. Burton's. With that gentleman out of England for the foreseeable future, it would do her no harm to consider other suitors as well.

Almost before she knew it, the mazurka was at an end. Augusta curtsied to her partner, breathing quite heavily. Lord Boxted, on the other hand, appeared completely unaffected by the strenuous pace of the dance. He bowed and offered his arm. With a nod, Augusta took it, then snapped open her fan to cool her face.

"Thank you, Lady Augusta, for that lovely dance."

"My thanks to you as well, my lord. That was quite the most fun I've had on the dance floor tonight." Pity she wouldn't have the pleasure of a second dance with him, but the other gentlemen would be slighted if she favored him with another.

"Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for allowing me to dance with you, my lady. By rights I should have been relegated merely to watching you dance from afar this evening." He squeezed her arm. "I must thank you again for allowing me the honor and pure pleasure of partnering you instead."

"You are most welcome, my lord. It was well worth changing the wager." Well worth it.

"Now for the remainder of the evening, I shall have to devise some wagers with the gentlemen to whom you have promised the rest of your dances."

"Why would you do that?" Too quickly they had arrived back at her mother.

"If I can persuade them to wager their dances with you, then I have a better than even chance of partnering you once more, Lady Augusta." He bowed and kissed the air above her hand as he relinquished her to her parent. "The thought of such a possibility will keep me well occupied for the rest of this evening."

With a flourish, he turned and headed toward a little knot of gentlemen on the fringes of the ballroom.

Augusta watched his progress until her next partner came forward to claim her for a polka and she reluctantly turned her attention to him. Thoughts of Lord Boxted—of his grace and skill on the dance floor as well as his handsome visage and tall frame—kept intruding on her time with Mr. Easton, a decent enough dancer if one had not just danced with the sublime.

When the Season began in earnest, she must really think seriously about Lord Boxted. If any gentleman of the ton could hold a candle to Mr. Burton, she'd wager a year's clothing allowance Lord Boxted was the one.