Page 21 of The Pursuit of Elena Bradford

21

Ivy’s enthusiasm was contagious. Elena danced with her down the hallway without the first worry that somebody might see and think they were acting silly. She supposed they were, but she didn’t care.

Whatever else came from their summer at the Springs, Elena was glad for how sharing the hotel room forced her to spend more time with Ivy. At home in Lexington, their paths always seemed to be away from one another. That was her fault. She had been the one to keep the distance between them. She had been the one to spend hours in the garden painting or in her room reading. She had been the one to discourage Ivy whenever she tried to step closer.

Ever since she had been tasked with watching Ivy when they were children, she had nursed an unreasonable resentment. She knew it wasn’t Ivy’s fault. She had only been three, but Elena, at nine, had been a child too. Then Ivy was so much prettier than Elena could ever hope to be. And had such a sweet nature. It was only natural for everyone to look past Elena to admire Ivy.

Elena had become the sour older sister, something like the older brother in the Bible story about the prodigal son. Not that Ivy was like the younger son. She wasn’t. But Elena had never been ready to celebrate a party for her sister, even when she deserved one. That made her ashamed, and she wanted to find ways to make it up to her little sister.

After she and Ivy did another whirl in the hallway, Elena peeked back at her mother to see if she was frowning at their silliness. But no, she was smiling, not looking bothered at all. That was Ivy. She had a way of bringing sunshine wherever she was. Elena hoped some of that would rub off on her now that she was ready to leave her resentment behind.

Music floated up the stairway to them. It was no wonder General Dawson came here to escape his loneliness. Such a wonderful place that aimed to make a person healthy and happy. When they reached the ballroom, she wasn’t surprised to see him coming to meet them.

He gave a little bow. “Ladies, I’ve been watching for you because I knew you would all three be a treat for these old eyes.”

Ivy smiled with a quick nod to acknowledge the compliment, then slipped away before the old gentleman could ask her to dance. Elena looked at her mother. Was that flush on her cheeks from their walk down to the ballroom or from the general’s greeting?

Whether her mother was right about his intentions to court Elena or Elena right about his possible interest in her mother didn’t really matter on this night. She was there to dance. She would keep a smile on her face, pleasant words on her lips, and let tomorrow take care of itself.

“Since it seems young Miss Ivy has rushed away to find a better dancing partner, which of you lovely ladies will agree to take a round of the dance floor with me?” He smiled at Mother, then Elena.

“Why don’t you take the first dance, Mother? The song they are playing is one you like and with a slow tempo.”

“The very kind of dance that is best for a man like me.” The general held out his hand toward Mother. “Come, Juanita. Won’t you dance with me?”

No Miss or Mrs. there, Elena noted.

“I couldn’t, General.” Mother whipped out a fan from some unseen pocket and unfolded it. She fluttered it in front of her face. “It wouldn’t be proper in my state of bereavement.”

“Very well,” he said. “Then I will circle the floor with your lovely daughter and afterwards, if you will allow me, come sit a spell with you. I want to hear more about those twin boys you say love horses.”

Elena didn’t shrink away from his hand as he reached toward her. She didn’t even want to. “I did promise you a dance.”

He was old but such a gentleman that she no longer had any aversion to dancing with him as she had on that first night at the Springs. It helped that she had learned how to keep her toes away from his feet.

“If I remember correctly, you may have promised me two dances.”

Elena laughed. “Perhaps I did.”

They moved out onto the dance floor among the other dancers. “Where is your friend, Miss Vanessa?”

“She will be down soon.”

“Good. She promised me dances too.” He looked very pleased with himself.

“So she did. You may be the most popular man on the dance floor tonight.”

“The most envied, for a certainty.” He smiled at her.

They chatted about their lawn bowling adventures as they moved to the music. While Elena listened and smiled, she did notice Kirby Frazier when he moved past them with one of the older women. That was part of Dr. Graham’s instructions for him if he wanted to continue here at the Springs, or so he told her on the first night. He was not only to paint the ladies’ portraits but also be a willing partner at the balls. The doctor didn’t want any of his guests feeling like unhappy wallflowers, whatever their age or appearance.

She smiled. Perhaps that was the reason he danced with her. Not that she’d had to worry about being a wallflower. Not with the men so outnumbering the ladies.

Ivy rolled her eyes at her and grinned when she swept by with one of the young men who seemed to always be in the line to dance with her. When Elena had asked her his name, Ivy had shrugged. “I don’t know. Aaron or Adam. Something with an A, I think. He’s a good dancer, but not much of a talker.”

“He surely told you his name.”

“I’m sure he did on the first night we were here, but so many names circled in my head that night, I couldn’t possibly remember them all. And now, since he is forever saying ‘Miss Ivy’ this, ‘Miss Bradford’ that, I can’t very well let him know that I forgot his, now, can I?”

“I’m sure Mother could find out for you.”

“I don’t care what his name is, and I certainly don’t want Mother deciding he might be a good match for me when I’m already matched with Jacob.”

Yes, Jacob. Elena should have talked to Ivy about how to get a letter to him. The general would no doubt know someone headed back to Lexington who could take it. That might have made Ivy stop running away whenever she saw General Dawson coming to ask for a dance.

Kirby danced past again and winked at her. She was almost sure he did. It made her forget to listen for a moment to General Dawson’s story about his horse coming up lame somewhere in the west years ago and the miles he had to walk. But she nodded. He really didn’t need very much encouragement to continue his stories.

As the music ended, they started off the floor to where her mother had found a seat.

“Who is that?” one of the men close to them asked his companion.

A murmur went through the dancers as they seemed to turn as one toward the stairway down into the ballroom.

“I think our beautiful new friend, Miss Vanessa, has arrived.” The general looked practically mischievous. “And can you imagine what all these young fellows are going to think when she gives me her first dance? And after I just danced with another beauty.”

“You are too kind, General.” Whether it was true or not, the words were nice to hear.

“Truth doesn’t take kindness, but let us go welcome Miss Vanessa. She looks a little flustered by the attention.”

He led the way over to where Vanessa did indeed look as though she might turn and run back up the steps. Relief flooded her face when she saw them.

“Oh, Elena, I am so glad to see you. And you too, General.” She sounded slightly breathless. “Why is everyone staring at me?”

“Because of how you look in that evening dress,” Elena said.

Vanessa would grab the notice of every man at the dance no matter what she wore, but her silvery pink dress with darker pink bows tracing a line down the shimmering skirt left no doubt that she was the princess of the ball.

Vanessa touched the low bodice that revealed her pale shoulders and then fingered the ribbons on the off-the-shoulder sleeves. “Is something wrong with my dress?”

“Only that it is so beautiful, it has astounded everyone here,” the general said. “And if I recall correctly from our earlier conversation, you promised to dance with me.”

A smile pushed away her concerned look. “I love to dance.”

“Then you have come to the right place.” General Dawson looked from Vanessa to Elena as she freed her hand from his arm. “Thank you for the lovely dance, my dear. We will dance again before the night is through, but now I will surrender you to others. I must get Miss Vanessa off on the right foot.” He waggled his bushy eyebrows at Vanessa as he took her hand. “I hope Miss Elena warned you to watch your toes.”

Vanessa laughed and stepped out onto the dance floor with the general. The band struck up a new song, and when another man extended a hand to Elena, she took it.

The dance went on, but the whispers did as well. She wondered if there had been as many whispers when Ivy, her mother, and she first came to the ballroom. If so, perhaps she had been too nervous to notice. Then again, something a bit mysterious seemed to hover around Vanessa, a young woman alone.

In the shadows next to a window, Andrew leaned against the wall. The room was very warm with the lit candelabras and the crowd of people. Sheer curtains covered the windows to keep out the moths and other insects drawn to the candlelight while allowing some cooler outside air to flow in.

He pulled at his cravat and wished he could be outside in that cooler air. Earlier he had danced with a couple of ladies. That should keep Dr. Graham happy. Andrew didn’t mind dancing. In fact, at one time he had loved waltzing, but that was with Gloria.

The memory of their last dance, when he had thought all was well between them, came to mind, but the stab of the memory wasn’t as sharp as it had been days ago. Perhaps his grandfather was right to insist he come to the Springs to take the waters.

Not that drinking any kind of water could heal a fractured heart. But this place with its beauty and multiple entertainments, from rifle shooting to battledore to backgammon and bridge, had a way of keeping him too busy to sink into sorrowful reverie.

Gloria had made her choice. He was not that choice. She had gone with another. Not man enough to keep her. That was what his father would have said, but what his father thought or said no longer mattered. So what if he liked roses? Grandfather Scott liked roses, and he had been a captain in the army. While Andrew had no desire to be a soldier like his grandfather, he had learned plenty of other things from him. He had taught Andrew how to train a horse and how to appreciate the beauty of roses.

Thinking of roses brought Elena to mind. Only a few moments before, she had danced past him with General Dawson. Andrew smiled and had to give the old gentleman credit. He always seemed to get the loveliest girls at the ball to dance with him.

Elena. She had looked so lovely, so natural, among the roses that morning. He had enjoyed watching her and, in fact, had watched her for a while before he made himself known to her.

He had liked watching her dance by with the general too. She actually looked as if she enjoyed dancing with the old soldier. And why not? General Dawson had always been full of entertaining stories whenever he visited the farm. He had made a fortune in land investments and owned two of Grandfather Scott’s best horses. The rumor going around was that the general was tired of the widower’s lonely life and was looking to find a new wife. He didn’t look lonely now, but the season at the Springs didn’t last through the year. In the winter months, sunshine could be scant and the world gray.

A lady to sit by the fire with him would surely brighten up a winter day. Could the old man be thinking to capture a wife as young as Elena? Andrew frowned at the thought. He didn’t like picturing Elena in that other chair in front of the general’s fireplace.

With a little shake of his head, he pushed those feelings aside. He barely knew the woman. What she did or didn’t do was hardly any concern to him, but telling himself that didn’t keep him from hoping General Dawson had no plans to pursue Elena as a wife.

When Elena’s dance with the general had ended and the dancers were moving off the floor, a murmur had swept through the room.

The young woman Andrew had seen having her portrait done earlier had come into the ballroom. She looked like Cinderella appearing at the prince’s ball, but if she wore glass slippers, her long ball gown hid them.

The general, with Elena still at his side, had hurried to greet her. Andrew had to smile when the woman’s face lit up as she had let the old gentleman lead her onto the dance floor.

Perhaps he should ask the general to share his magic with the women. The old fellow would probably say magic had nothing to do with it. That a man simply had to ask. And why not?

As Andrew made his way around the floor to be ready to capture the next dance with Elena, he felt lighter on his feet somehow. Perhaps the doctor’s spring water did truly have healing properties. Or perhaps his grandfather had been right that all he needed was to stop hiding out on the farm. Gloria was gone. It was time for him to start living again.