“Of course she does. We must make certain she’s not going to look foolish at your wedding ball!”
“I’m sure Lady Madeleine’s dancing is more than satisfactory,” Thomas said.
“I’m afraid it really isn’t,” Madeleine admitted. “I wish I could claim otherwise, but your mother is right, Your Grace. I had hoped I would have time to learn to dance this season, but it never happened.”
“So you see?” Henrietta said rather smugly. “She does need the practice.”
“But I’m more than happy to practice with Rachel,” Madeleine said quickly. She couldn’t think of anything worse than the Duke feeling forced to dance with her and not wanting to.
“Really, you’re all being ridiculous,” Henrietta said. “You’re not going to dance with Rachel when Thomas is right here. What a foolish idea.”
“Mother is right,” the Duke said, looking as if he had finally collected himself. He held out his hand to Madeleine. “Of course you and I ought to dance together. It’s what makes the most sense.”
Madeleine hesitated, then took his hand and allowed him to pull her close. It felt strange to be near him like this. They hadn’t been this close since the evening he had been attacked. She found herself thinking about the scar Rachel had mentioned. Even though years had gone by, she remembered clearly where she’d held her hands, trying to stem the flow of blood. She knew exactly where that scar would be.
Henrietta didn’t seem to have noticed that she was affected by the Duke’s nearness. “Rachel,” she said, “if you wish to help, why don’t you play the piano? Then they’ll have music to dance to.”
Rachel skipped over to the piano and sat down at the keys. A moment later, a beautiful melody filled the air.
The Duke moved as if in response to the sound, leading Madeleine into the steps of a dance.
Madeleine tried to follow his actions, but it wasn’t easy. She thought she might have found it easier to dance with him if he’d been willing to look her in the eye at all, but his gaze was fixed over her shoulder. He seemed to be pretending that the person in his arms wasn’t a person at all. It was as if he thought he was dancing with a doll or a dressmaker’s dummy.
Madeleine tried to imagine that she, too, was dancing with something other than a real person. She focused on his feet instead of his face or his arms. She tried to copy his steps, to move in time with him so that she could practice this dance later, on her own.
Rachel began to play faster, transitioning into a different melody.
The Duke adjusted quickly, picking up the more rapid tempo. But Madeleine struggled. She couldn’t make her feet move as quickly as the steps demanded, and she found herself tripping over the Duke’s feet.
She would have fallen, but he caught her with an arm around her waist and held her upright.
Now he was looking at her. “Are you all right?” he asked.
Madeleine wanted to sink right into the floor. She couldn’t believe she had made such a foolish mistake right in front of the Duke. “I warned you I wasn’t a good dancer,” she said, her face growing hot.
“And I can see that you weren’t exaggerating.”
“But this is so romantic!” Rachel exclaimed. “It’s like something out of a story, Madeleine—you tripping and Thomas catching you like that…in the stories, this is when the hero and heroine would share their first kiss.”
“Rachel!” Henrietta exclaimed. “What books have you been reading?”
The Duke released Madeleine quickly. Madeleine imagined he was just as embarrassed as she was by what Rachel had said. He took a quick step backward, and Madeleine did the same. It felt strange to be too near each other suddenly—it felt as if they had done something very forward or inappropriate. It was almost as if the kiss Rachel had suggested had been made real just by her words.
“I think that’s enough dance practice for now,” Henrietta decided. “Thomas, you and Rachel may go. I have more things to review with Lady Madeleine.”
Madeleine wondered if the Duke would put up a fight and insist upon staying—but he seemed to want to be finished with this debacle just as much as she did. He nodded and left the room without even waiting for his sister.
“I was glad to meet you, Madeleine,” Rachel said. “I know we’re going to be good friends.”
“Off with you,” Henrietta said firmly, and Rachel scampered from the room.
Madeleine turned away from Henrietta, embarrassed to meet her eyes after what had happened.
“You need to be careful, Madeleine,” Henrietta said, her tone very gentle.
“I didn’t mean to stumble.” Much to her dismay, Madeleine felt as if she might be about to cry.
“Of course you didn’t,” Henrietta said. “And you didn’t do anything wrong, I know that. But you saw how quickly a mistake can turn into a rumor the other night at the ball and how quickly a rumor can turn into a scandal.”
