Page 26 of The Meaning of Love
He chuckled. “I have to confess my skills hail from skating. I always loved it as a child and continue to enjoy it whenever I can. Hence—” He stepped farther and whirled her into an effortless glide, then gracefully swept on without missing a beat.
She laughed. “Yes, I can sense that now.” She smiled up at him. “I remember skating on the village lake at Little Moseley.”
He smiled into her eyes, and for an instant, it seemed as if they were both looking back at the younger people they had been.
Then the music slowed, and they did the same. The dance ended, and he released her, stepped back, and bowed. She curtsied, then he raised her. Looking around, she felt as if she was seeing those about them for the first time since she’d stepped into the dance with him.
He twined her arm with his and, when she glanced his way, nodded toward a nearby archway. “It seems that supper is upon us.”
They ventured into the supper room and joined the queue for the buffet table. They nodded and chatted to others as they progressed, but once they’d helped themselves to a selection of the delicacies on offer, Julian spotted a small table tucked in a corner—a table large enough for only two.
Melissa subsided onto the chair he held with something akin to relief. She smiled as he sat across from her. They settled to consume the tidbits, freely sharing likes and dislikes as they did. As the minutes sped past, she grew increasingly aware that, even in this setting, she was far more relaxed with him than she’d ever been with any other gentleman. Perhaps it was her habit of holding herself aloof, always at a slight distance, untouchable in a way, that shone such a clear contrasting light on her very different feelings when sharing time with him.
He had such a dry sense of humor—one that meshed well with hers—and a ready appreciation of the absurd; they spent their later minutes in the supper room in an irreverent exchange revolving about matrons’ evening caps.
When, finally, they reluctantly rose to return to the ongoing crush in the ballroom, she took his arm and tipped her head closer to his. “As a recently affianced couple, we can stay together, and if we keep moving, we should be able to hold the vultures at bay.”
“Vultures as in those determined to pick our secrets from our brains?” He nodded. “I’m all for that.”
They managed reasonably well. During the next hour, Julian allowed Melissa to steer them through the chattering horde while he kept a weather eye out for the sharp-eyed ladies and gentlemen who made it their business to always know the latest sensational story and whose welcome at ton events largely rested on their ability to satisfy others by recounting the juicy details.
The entire ton, or so it seemed, wanted to knowexactlyhow their unexpected engagement had come about.
Of course, he had to check with Melissa that he was correctly attributing motives to those hovering, but his instincts proved sound; in all but one instance, after glancing at the person he indicated, she took evasive action.
The previous afternoon, he’d found time to look up Gordon and ensure he understood that sharing any details of the circumstances preceding Julian and Melissa’s shock announcement would result in Gordon’s allowance from the earldom’s coffers being cut off. Gordon had fallen over himself to assure Julian he hadn’t breathed a word and wouldn’t dream of doing so. He’d been convincing, and Julian felt confident that source of sensational titillation had been blocked.
As they tacked through the crowd, via the introductions Melissa made, it eventually dawned on him that the people she deemed worthy of their time were socially useful, politically useful, or both. Thereafter, he paid greater attention to the people and their affiliations, and as his realization firmed to fact, he glanced at her, but could read nothing in her serenely assured expression.
The next time they moved on, before they joined anyone else, he dipped his head close to hers and murmured, “Are you deliberately choosing to introduce me to people it will help me to know?”
She looked at him as if surprised he had to ask. “Of course.” She shrugged. “If we have to be here—and there’s really no help for that—then we might as well put our time to good use.” She arched a brow at him. “Don’t you agree?”
“I do, indeed. And thank you. After my years away, I’m seriously rusty when it comes to who’s who in the ton.”
She huffed. “I’d noticed.”
He smiled and allowed her to lead him on. He’d never appreciated crowds of this magnitude, where shoulders and elbows constantly brushed, yet he was entirely content to remain by her side.
Shortly after, when they were once again in transit between groups, he softly said, “We seem to be attracting a number of supplicants who, apparently, are keen to remind you of their existence.”
“Now that I’m in line to be your countess?” Melissa dryly added. “Indeed.”
In truth, she wasn’t all that surprised. If she became his countess, she would be a sure conduit to his attention, and there were many in the ton who saw value in such indirect routes to influence.
The observation made her realize she’d been operating under an assumption. “I should have asked earlier. Do you harbor political aspirations, and if so, what are they?”
“Having only just taken up the mantle of the earldom, at least in a political sense, I’m currently very much feeling my way. I do share Rufus’s concerns regarding the corn prices and similar issues, but while in Ireland, I became more aware of the inadvisability of consistently ignoring the well-being of our people, those who have a right to expect our protection in a general sense.” He frowned. “While forming any political agenda will necessarily have to take second place to the estate and my pending change of circumstances”—he briefly caught her eye, one dark eyebrow lifting—“I suspect my ultimate political direction will be a synthesis of what I learned while away and the realities of managing the earldom.”
She steered him away from the group she’d intended to join; by keeping moving, she could continue this discussion. “What you learned while you were away—does that include your impulse to rescue Kieran?”
He inclined his head. “In part. He’s an orphan with a valuable skill, and I was there and could offer him a way to make a living from it.” He paused, then added, “If I can do that for others nearer to home… I’d like to explore that.”
She filed the information away; she was a trifle stunned to realize how closely his interests in such matters aligned with hers.
“After my time in the Home Office,” he went on, “I accept that effecting meaningful change is often best done from within the halls of power, and regardless, it’s a long-term process.”
“Indeed.” She met his gaze. “As a daughter of the Foreign Office, so to speak, I couldn’t agree more.”
