The couple looked at one another once again, and as they spoke their vows, the chapel felt alive with love and emotion and truth. As if this were the true meaning of life – not politics nor business nor war but love.
It was later, after the perfect wedding and the sumptuous wedding breakfast, that Alexander finally got a chance to speakwith her. Everyone had moved into Hurtle’s ballroom, renowned for how beautifully designed it was, and now it had been decorated with flowers and ribbons for the wedding.
Alexander wasted no time. Upon entering the ballroom, he spotted her immediately, laughing with the newlyweds and an older couple he assumed to be Miss Charlotte’s guardians. He marched up to them.
“May I offer my congratulations, Lord and Lady Leming. It was a truly beautiful service.”
He didn’t look at Miss Charlotte initially, but he could feel her curious eyes upon him, and he could sense that she was infuriated that he was seemingly ignoring her. It amused him.
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Lord Leming replied. “And may I express our gratitude to you for joining us on the auspicious day.”
“The pleasure is all mine. And my I say, Lady Leming, you look the most beautiful woman in the world today.”
Lady Leming simpered. “I have my dear friend Charlotte to thank for that,” she said, raising her eyebrows in Miss Charlotte’s direction. Alexander pretended to jump in surprise.
“Goodness, my lady! Please accept my apologies. I didn’t see you there.”
He smirked at her, unable to stop himself, as she narrowed her eyes at him. Teasing her just felt so good.
“Indeed,” she replied. “I am small enough to be easily missed, I’m sure. May I introduce you to my aunt and uncle? Lord Elliot and Lady Lydia Fairchild. Aunt Lydia, this is the duke I was telling you about.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been talking about me? All good, I hope. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
“As a well-raised young woman, I only ever speak politely about people, Your Grace. Surely you should know that by now.”
“Of course. Actually, now that I am here, I was wondering whether you would be kind enough to give me your first dance of the evening? Assuming it hasn’t already been claimed, of course.”
Miss Charlotte visibly stiffened. Her tension amused him further still, for though her furious expression told him he did not want to dance with him, her eyes and her body language told him a very different story altogether.
“How wonderful,” Lady Leming declared, clapping her hands together. “The dancing shall begin shortly.”
Miss Charlotte glanced at her friend in consternation, and then at her aunt who seemed only to scowl, and then finally turned back to Alexander with a weak, forced smile. “I would love to dance with, Your Grace.”
They began the dance in silence. Miss Charlotte was tense and rigid in his arms, and she looked somewhere above his shoulder rather than making eye contact with him. Alexander couldn’t help the amused twitch of his lips as they took their first turn around the ballroom. She was utterly determined not to enjoy herself.
But as the music continued and their muscles warmed to the movement, he felt her beginning to soften in his arms. By the time they’d turned the ballroom twice, she looked at him directly.
“I must admit, I was surprised by your offer to dance.”
“And I must admit that I am surprised by how well you dance. You are as graceful as a ballerina.”
Miss Charlotte hid her laugh behind her broad smile. “And why, pray tell, would you be so surprised? Do I really look so inelegant that you would think I cannot dance?”
“Not at all,” he replied. “But you are not the most conventional of ladies. For all I knew, you had attended fencing lessons rather than dancing lessons.”
She laughed again, and the fact that it was he who made her do so lifted something in his chest. A heaviness that became lighter and lighter the more time he spent with her. “You are right, of course,” she said. She leaned in and whispered, “But I did take fencing lessonsas well asdancing lessons.”
“A girl! At a fencing class! Preposterous.”
Miss Charlotte shrugged. “I was determined, and Father didn’t mind. And the masks are excellent at hiding feminine features. I find it difficult to follow the rules all the time. Don’t you?”
Alexander thought for a moment. “Yes, I suppose I do.”
“And life is to be enjoyed, after all. How can one expect to enjoy life when one is always following the rules?”
There was something truly freeing about being in the company of a lady who spoke her mind in such an intelligent and considered way. He had rarely met anyone who felt a match for him in terms of conversation, and yet whenever he was with Miss Charlotte, he found himself intrigued. He always wanted more.
“Not all the rules are bad, though.”
