Page 22 of A Virgin for the Icy Highlander
I need something better. I need to be like Lord Huston.
Struggling to come up with a plan on how to replicate the vile Earl’s tactics in a way that would appall Hunter, Grace chewed and swallowed in silence, annoyed that she couldn’t enjoy a single bite of the wonderful meal. It seemed that her friends were equally stumped because neither of them made another attempt at conversation.
Grace was halfway through her second helping of heartily herbed pheasant and those buttery, crispy roasted potatoes,washed down with a few mouthfuls of spiced wine, when inspiration struck.
“Do you hold manycèilidhshere at the castle, M’Laird?” she asked, raising her gaze to him.
He paused with his cup of ale halfway to his mouth. “I havenae had the opportunity of late.”
“He didnae before the war either,” Thomas interjected. “Has never been one for gatherings, though I’m hopeful that’ll change once he takes a wife who longs for dancing and merriment.”
Grace smiled at him, grateful for his unwitting support of her growing idea. “I might not be a wife yet, but I wouldverymuch love to dance again.” She concentrated on Hunter. “Your Scottish dances are so lively and exciting, but there’s merit to the English way of dancing, and I do miss it so. If only I had a partner, I would dance right now…”
“Maybe your somewhat betrothed would be willing to help with that,” Maddie said, gesturing to the empty space at the far end of the hall. “There is plenty of room.”
“No music, though,” Lilian pointed out.
Grace shrugged. “If someone beats out the rhythm, that would be music enough.”
“We have musicians,” Thomas said quickly, mischief in his eyes. “I’ll send for them so that ye have music aplenty. I cannae say I’ve ever seen an English dance, but I’m interested in observin’.”
Grace turned and offered him a pleased smile. “Musicians would be marvelous, though I still have the slight problem of having no one to dance with me.” She looked back at Hunter, doing her best to flutter her eyelashes. “Perhaps, while you are fetching the musicians, Thomas, someone will oblige me?”
With all the courage she could muster, she rose to her feet, still holding Hunter’s intense, darkening gaze.
Indeed, standing there, she had a feeling that this might be an even greater test of what sort of man he was—the kind who would leave a woman standing and unsatisfied, or the kind who would concede, even if he clearly didn’t want to.
10
Grace couldn’t have been standing there for more than a minute, yet it felt like hours, waiting for Hunter to make his decision. In the meantime, Thomas had darted out of the Lesser Hall like he couldn’t fetch the musicians fast enough, while her friends sat in tense silence, their anticipation a palpable, electric thing that crackled in the room.
Does this count as disgust? Can I sit down and enjoy my dinner now?
But Hunter didn’t look disgusted, not really. He looked… inconvenienced. His blue eyes glinted in the low, amber light of the hall.
With a jarring scrape that made her jump, he pushed back his chair and got to his feet. Moving slowly, like a wolf that didn’t need to rush to take down its prey, he walked around to her side of the table.
Still wearing that blank, unimpressed expression, he passed by her chair and took her hand. And he didn’t stop, giving her no choice but to follow at his side, feeling the rough calluses of his palm against the softness of hers; his tight grip leading her to the dance thatshehad asked for.
“Are you familiar with English dances?” she asked, finding her voice.
“Nay,” he replied grimly as he brought them to a halt.
She took a small step back, laughing nervously. “Well, M’Laird, I’ll have to teach you. The first rule is: you can’t be so close. There must always be a polite distance between partners. And you shouldn’t hold my hand like that.”
He frowned as if that didn’t make any sense.
“Now, I shall teach you a simple country dance,” she rushed to continue before she lost her nerve altogether. “The steps are very easy. Anyone can do them. Maddie, Lilian, a beat if you please?”
Maddie immediately responded by thumping her hand against the table, while Lilian joined in with the steady tapping of her feet.
Withdrawing her hand from Hunter’s, Grace began to show him the steps of the most difficult dance she could think of, so intricate that it was rarely requested at balls, so as not to embarrass the guests. If done correctly, it would look wonderful.If done incorrectly, it would make a dancer appear very silly indeed, all flailing arms and tangled legs.
“A small spin,” she explained as she demonstrated, “which flows straight into three hops leftward, then another spin, and back the other way again. Here, we leap on a diagonal, front left to back left, front right to back right… sort of making the shape of a saltire, and then we… sweep backward, arms extended.”
She’d always adored this dance, though she’d only danced it once with a partner, and that had been her sister. That happened a lifetime ago, or so it seemed, when her sister hadn’t yet been snared in the net of Society and had still had time—and the inclination—to have fun with Grace.
He’s not going to do it…
