Lord Yarmouth hesitated, then shook his head again.
“I do not know. My only thought was that it might occur during the waltz?”
“Oh.” Joy’s heart clattered in her chest. “You mean, a young lady could have taken it from your hand as you danced? That would have taken some care, would it not? I would think it very difficult.”
A sudden brightness came into Lord Yarmouth’s expression, his eyes flaring.
“Should you like to try to do so?”
Joy frowned.
“I – I beg your pardon?”
“During the country dance,” he explained, moving a little closer to her now as his voice became a little higher due to his excitement. “When we dance, I shall do my very best to focus solely on the dance and you must do your utmost to take the ring from my finger.”
Laughing, Joy waved one hand at him.
“You are teasing me.”
“No, I am not! I should be very glad if you would be willing to try to do so.”
Realizing that he was quite serious, Joy studied him for a few seconds then let a smile spread right across her face.
“Very well, Lord Yarmouth. If you wish me to attempt to steal your talisman ring from you, then I shall do so. Though I hope it will not affect my reputation in any way, should anyone see me try to do so!”
Lord Yarmouth chuckled, his eyes bright.
“I can assure you that everyone will be so busy dancing, they will barely take notice of us! I admit that now, I am rather excited about the country dance.”
“Let us hope I am successful,” Joy replied, her heart quickening a little at the grin on Lord Yarmouth’s handsomeface. “The only trouble is, then you shall have to attempt to work out who it was that might have taken the ring from you.”
A little light faded from Lord Yarmouth’s face, and he took in a breath before shrugging his shoulders.
“Let us see what happens, Miss Bosworth, shall we? I can consider what I am to do next, should you be able to take the ring from my finger.”
Joy nodded, her mind whirring as she thought about what she was going to do and how best to go about stealing the ring from Lord Yarmouth’s hand. This dance was certainly going to be one of the most interesting dances she had ever taken part in!
The music continuedand a light sheen of sweat broke out across Joy’s forehead. They had been dancing for a few minutes already and still, she had not once been able to grasp hold of Lord Yarmouth’s ring. Whenever their hands came together, she had barely had time to even think about what it was she had to do before he stepped away again.
A little frustrated, Joy focused all of her attention on the ring and, remembering that the dance would bring them closer again, determined that she would do her best to take the ring from his hand. Stepping closer, their hands joined, held down low by Lord Yarmouth’s side and, as she began to step away, Joy tightened her fingers and, with a broad grin, felt the ring slide from the gentleman’s finger.
She was unable to catch it, however, and, letting out a small exclamation of dismay, looked all around for it while, at the same time, attempting to keep to the dance.
“Have no concern, I have it.”
Joy let out a breath of relief as Lord Yarmouth came close to her again, the dance slowly coming to an end. Taking her hand, he bowed low over it and then, smiling, stepped back. Dropping into a curtsey, Joy smiled at him as she lifted her gaze to his, a gentle flush rising in her cheeks.
“I am relieved that you have the ring safe. I do not know what I would have done had it fallen to the floor again!”
Lord Yarmouth nodded and then offered her his arm.
“Mayhap that is what happened. Someone tried to pull the ring from my finger and though they succeeded, they did not manage to catch it.” Joy took his arm and walked alongside him, a slow frown growing as she considered what he had just said. “Was it very difficult to manage?”
“It was,” Joy admitted, speaking slowly as she let a few thoughts run around her mind. “However, once I focused all of my attention upon it, I did succeed… in part.”
Lord Yarmouth nodded.
“Then it seems that someone might have attempted to steal the ring from my hand during our dance. That seems very strange, however, for–”
