Page 9 of The Duke of Kisses
Her heart beat even faster.
Anthony chuckled. “Hold on a moment, proper introductions must be made. St. Ives, may I present my sister, Miss Colton, and her friend Miss Snowden.” He gestured to Sarah and Fanny in turn. “Ladies, allow me to introduce you to the Earl of St. Ives.”
Theearl?
And he dared look at her as if she’d committed an offense. Fanny dipped into a curtsey. “Pleased to meet you,my lord.” She put the barest emphasis on the last two words, but looked at him pointedly and knew he caught it. “I’d be delighted to dance, but I’d reserved this for Mr. Colton.” The plan was for Anthony and the Earl of Ware to come and dance with her and Sarah. Ware was supposed to dance with Sarah so she wouldn’t have to dance with her brother. Only Ware wasn’t here.
Sarah voiced Fanny’s thoughts. “Where’s Felix?”
“Being Felix,” Anthony said. “I brought my new friend St. Ives instead. He’s just come to town and needed to experience a ball. What good is going to a ball if you don’t dance at least once?”
“Well, if he’s taking Felix’s place, he should dance with me,” Sarah said. She flashed a smile at her brother. “I can’t imagine you want to dance with me any more than I care to dance with you.”
They had a loving sibling relationship, but Sarah didn’t often dance, and Fanny well understood why she’d prefer to do so with David. St. Ives. Oh bother, he was already David in her head, and so David he would remain.
And when Sarah found out he was the man Fanny had kissed at Christmastide… That revelation would have to wait until later. In the meantime, she wouldn’t upset her friend’s plan even if she was disappointed not to have David to herself so she could get to the bottom of his lies.
Fanny gave David an apologetic smile. “You must dance with Sarah.”
He had to agree or he’d appear an ass. “Of course.” He held his arm out to Sarah. “Shall we?”
Sarah curled her hand around his sleeve with a grin. “Yes.”
Anthony bowed to Fanny. “Shall we as well?”
“Indeed.” Fanny took his arm, and the quartet made their way to the dance floor, where the prior set had just ended.
“It’s to be a quadrille,” Sarah said. She tilted her head up to look at David. “Do you enjoy the quadrille, my lord?”
His gaze shot to Fanny as he answered, “As much as one can.”
He’d told her he was a terrible dancer. What the devil was he doing dancing at a ball, then? The same thing she was doing—being a bad dancer didn’t mean you didn’t like it, and it certainly didn’t mean that you didn’t hope, one day, to become better. At least that was how it was for Fanny.
“I’ve been practicing,” she whispered to Anthony.
“Is that what you were doing in the country?” he asked. “I thought you were visiting a friend.”
“I was.” Fanny had returned to Yorkshire to visit her oldest friend, who’d just given birth. It had been a wonderful visit, but she’d been eager to leave her parents’ house and return to London—or, more importantly, to Ivy’s house, where she felt much more…loved. “But I also worked on improving my dancing.”
“Excellent. Just the same, I shan’t be getting too close.” He laughed softly, and his eye held a twinkle.
They joined another pair of couples and formed their square. Fanny and Anthony stood opposite Sarah and David. The music began, and they bowed and curtsied to each other. Thankfully, the other couples went first, which gave Fanny the chance to review the steps in her head. Hopefully, she wouldn’t turn the wrong way and crash into anyone. It had been a while since she’d made that mistake.
When it was their turn, she started her steps, dancing forward and back, circling Anthony and then moving to the middle of the square, where she met Sarah, who gave her an encouraging smile. “You’re doing well,” she said, keeping her voice low.
Fanny didn’t dare respond. She was having a difficult enough time not watching David, and she needed to focus on her steps. Then it was time for her to take David’s hand. Her gaze slammed into his, and for a moment, she was entirely lost in their gray depths. The touch of his hand in hers sent a jolt of electricity through her, reminding her wholly and keenly of his kiss and the fact that she longed to feel his lips on hers again.
He released her hand, and, in a bewildered haze, she spun about in mistake. Realizing her error, she turned back and smacked directly into his chest. She’d been moving quickly with the music, and the force of their connection sent him staggering backward. He fell against one of the other young ladies in their square, and in his effort to steady her, they all went crashing to the floor.
It was, without question, the worst dancing disaster Fanny had ever caused, and she’d instigated quite a few.
The dancers around them stopped and stared while Anthony and the other gentlemen in the square sought to help Fanny, the other woman, and David to their feet. Once they were vertical, everyone exchanged hapless expressions.
“Shall we continue?” Anthony asked, as if she hadn’t just brought the entire ballroom—or very nearly—to a standstill.
“Are you sure you dare?” she asked him in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
“I dare,” David answered after straightening his clothing. He sent her a look of warm encouragement. “And you should too. Come.”
