Page 31 of Twelve Drummers Drumming

He hesitated, then said softly, “I have never met anyone so blunt as you.”

The musicians started up the opening musical phrase that heralded a slow country dance, and she did not look away from him.

“Why not,” he said, striding forward as best he could and standing opposite her. “You amaze me, Miss Jemima Fitzroy.”

Jemima amazed herself. It was not the first time she had ever danced with a gentleman at a ball, of course—the name Fitzroy alone was enough for most young men to show even a partial interest—but there had been few that had truly asked out of their interest in herself. She was fully aware that many of them had merely crumbled under the gaze of her father.

But this was the first time she had asked a gentleman to dance, and it was Hugh that stood opposite her. The handsome man in a uniform.

Trying to ignore the whispers spreading around the room like wildfire, Jemima looked down the new set to see who was going to be dancing with them. She was unsurprised to see Caroline and Dr. Walsingham were next to them, and on the other side of them was a slightly older couple she did not recognize.

Arabella and a young man Jemima thought was a Mr. Caversham, although she could be wrong, were further down the set, and a slightly portly and elderly gentleman led a woman in an old-fashioned dress to stand beside Jemima and Hugh.

Jemima smiled at her partner, who gave her a half-smile. Hugh was clearly uncomfortable, but for all of his fears, he stood there, holding his crutch and not taking his eyes away from hers.

Jemima almost stumbled into the woman next to her when the music started. She giggled, unable to help herself, and she heard Hugh’s laugh joining hers.

The dance was not fast, which was fortunate for Hugh, but Jemima saw no one considered his crutch a hindrance.

In fact, the dance progressed and got slightly more lively as people threw themselves into the movements. Hugh even became more animated, the smile growing on his face, and he started to join in with the whoops and shouts.

Each time their hands touched, Jemima felt as though the gravity of the world shifted slightly. Heat passed between them, a knowing heat that promised something delicious and forbidden later on that evening.

Jemima attempted to focus on the dance and not wonder whether it would be possible for the two of them to find a moment in a quiet corner. For a man with six daughters, her father had disobligingly made it rather difficult to speak to a gentleman alone.

Not that she planned to do much speaking.

When they drew closer in part of the dance, Hugh said quietly into her ear, “I can’t take my eyes off you.”

Jemima blushed. “You amaze me, once again. It is so wonderful to see you enjoy yourself.”

Their hands touched once more, and Hugh shivered slightly.

Jemima whispered, “You feel it, too?”

The dance was ending, but in an act of daring when they came together, Hugh placed his arm around her waist. “I feel nothing else.”

Jemima opened her mouth, determined to ask him just exactly what he meant by that comment. Surely, he could not say such things without expecting her to question—

But before she could, a scream was emitted by the woman beside her who was dancing with the portly old man. Jemima and Hugh turned to see the man clutching his heart. He staggered but fell to the floor, his face red.

Screams could be heard from around the room, and Jemima could pick out Caroline’s in particular. Her stepsister and Dr. Walsingham rushed over to the man.

“Make way, I’m a doctor!”

One of the men who had been dancing pushed past Jemima, who had stepped forward although she didn’t know exactly how she would be able to help. Hugh’s arm was still around her, and she leaned into him, his strength holding her as nothing else could.

Dr. Walsingham knelt down, loosened the cravat from the man’s neck, and reached for his wrist to feel his pulse.

Jemima had never experienced such silence before as the entire party waited to hear Dr. Walsingham’s pronouncement—but she did not have to wait long for him to speak.

As soon as Dr. Walsingham dropped the elderly gentleman’s wrist down to the floor and stood up with sadness and shock on his face, she knew.

“He is gone.”

Chapter Eight

“Great-Uncle Edward!”

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