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He led her onto the dance floor to a place between the other couples. Most of them stood there, awkward, fidgeting, not knowing where to look. Edmund and Ella knew exactly where to look, and it wasn’t at their feet. They stared at each other’s faces as if beholding an angel from heaven. I had slight worries that they might trip during the first turn, considering how they couldn’t take their eyes off each other - but somehow, they managed not to.
As the music began in earnest, they seemed to sink into each other’s arms. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, fluid, and graceful. I stared in awe. This I had not expected. All right, Ella was not as bad a dancer as I - she was far too timid to step on any gentleman’s feet. But I doubted the piano tuner’s son had had much experience with waltzing, and there they were, waltzing away as if they wanted to win a dancing competition.
It couldn’t just be their infatuation, could it?
Suddenly, I remembered that when dancing with Mr Ambrose, I hadn’t stepped on his feet either, though I had been sorely tempted to. Why did I remember this now? I couldn’t imagine that I was…
‘They make quite a couple, don't they?’
I jumped about a mile high. Captain Carter had appeared next to me out of nowhere. It was an astonishing feat for a man wearing a waistcoat with glinting golden tigers on it that were visible from a mile away.
‘Now I see what you meant when you said there might be complications if your sister were faced with marriage to Flip,’ he said, smirking. The dance had just ended, but Edmund and Ella hadn’t moved away from each other. They were still standing there, each locked in the other’s gaze. ‘Do you think if we go over there, you could introduce me to the complications? He looks like a nice young man.’
‘Certainly not,’ I hissed, grabbing him by the arm, as he was already starting forward. ‘It’s supposed to be secret! Nobody must know about them.’
He looked back at me, a quizzical expression on his face. ‘They are conducting a secret liaison in the middle of a ballroom full of people?’
‘Well, um… yes.’
‘Not the brightest pair of candles in the shop, are they?’
‘Oh, shut up! That’s my sister you’re talking about!’
He bowed his head. ‘Yes, Miss Linton. As you wish, Miss Linton.’
‘And… thank you.’ I looked down, but not quickly enough to miss how he raised one of his eyebrows.
‘Thank me? For what?’
‘For helping Ella.’
‘You mean for helping you.’
I moaned. ‘Yes, if you must put it like that.’
‘I must,’ he said, nodding gravely. ‘To help a lady get rid of a prospective husband - now that is no particularly honourable deed. But to help a lady save her sister’s honour and happiness? Now that’s something entirely different. Something I might confidently brag of when I next drink with my comrades.’
My eyes shot up to his. ‘Don’t you dare! If you breathe a word of any of this…’
‘…You will hamstring me and subject me to the most terrible tortures you can devise,’ he finished my sentence cheerfully. ‘Don’t worry. I know when to keep my mouth shut. It’s only when it’s already open that the wrong things come popping out of it.’
I eyed him, the doubt obvious on my face.
‘Promise?’
He put a hand on his heart. ‘I swear on the honour of my regiment,’ he said. ‘Except for me, its members actually have some.’
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
‘That’s better.’ He smiled back at me. ‘This is an hour for joy and celebration, Miss Linton.’
And he was right - it was. Ella was saved, or to be more precise, she had never been in danger. Later, I might rampage a little about the fact that all my worry and scheming had been for nothing. But for now, simple joy filled every part of me, and I was happy and secure in the knowledge that Ella would stay happy, her honour intact and her future once more in her own hands.
Captain Carter stepped closer and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something - but just at that moment, a man in the uniform of a colonel waved him over. ‘Carter! Come over here, I’ve got to tell you something. I just got a memorandum about the Sinai situation.’
The Captain gave me an apologetic smile. ‘I fear I have to depart, Miss Linton. Work calls me even in my leisure hours.’
‘That’s all right,’ I assured him. ‘You’ve already given me enough of your time. Thanks again for your help.’
‘It was my pleasure.’ He winked at me. ‘If ever you should feel the inclination to go searching for a romantic interest again, I hope you’ll come to me.’
Before his words had fully registered, he was already gone.
‘There you are, Lilly!’ My aunt and Maria appeared next to me, waking me from my stupor. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I… um…’
Doing my best to prevent the marriage that is your heart’s desire.
‘I… I’ve been dancing,’ I fibbed. ‘Yes, that’s what I’ve been doing. Dancing all the time.’
‘Really?’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘I didn’t see you on the dance floor. With whom were you dancing?’
‘Um…’ Quickly, I looked around for a suitable candidate. My eyes fell on a tigered waistcoat. ‘That gentleman, over there.’
‘Where? Who do you…?’ My aunt trailed off as she beheld the muscular figure with his long mahogany locks.
‘You have been dancing with him?’ Maria said. ‘You are joking, aren’t you?’
‘No,’ I said, desperately hoping they would believe me.
They didn’t.
‘Well, if that’s so,’ Maria said, ‘you won’t have anything against introducing us to your friend, surely.’
‘What a brilliant idea, my dear,’ my aunt exclaimed. ‘Lilly, go on, introduce us.’
By now, Captain Carter seemed to have finished his talk with his military friend. I had no other choice, though I would rather not have approached him, particularly after what he said to me last.
I approached, my aunt and sister behind me like a pack of hounds behind the poor little fox.
‘Captain?’