by Lauren Smith
“A young woman I met at the dress shop in town. I can’t remember if I told you about her, but she has consented to dance with me so I should hurry back.” He looked over his shoulder to make sure Emma hadn’t gone anywhere. She was still where they had met and he smiled.
“Then by all means, do so! I don’t want to cause you to miss your chance with her.” Elizabeth made a shooing motion at him and Thomas nodded and hurried back to Emma’s side, making it there just as the dancers on the floor clapped for the end of the song.
“It looks like you’ve made it back just in time,” she said.
“It seems that my luck is holding out this evening.” He motioned to the floor. “Shall we?”
“Yes, I suppose we shall.” Emma sighed but Thomas could tell that she wasn’t as exasperated as she was the first time they’d met.
They walked together onto the dance floor and Thomas bowed and offered a gloved hand. Emma took it with a smile that was a relief to him. She wasn’t quite as snappish as she’d been at first, and he wondered if that had something to do with his mother apart from his simply bringing her to the ball. It seemed she wasn’t as icy as she wanted to appear.
When the music picked up, it was a lively quadrille and Thomas couldn’t help being slightly disappointed. He wanted a dance where he would have Emma all to himself, and perhaps have a little time to talk to her. If she truly didn’t want to continue to dance with him once this was done, he would have missed his chance to get to know her.
As they danced, he did learn one thing about her, and it was that she was a wonderful dancer. Even with her injured ankle, she danced delicately and never missed a step, though her fingers did tighten on his hand every now and again. Something about it made him want to scoop her up and carry her to the tables so she could rest. He knew exactly what she would think about that, though.
Once the music stopped, Thomas and Emma clapped politely and bowed to one another. There was a short break while the band selected their next tune, and Thomas walked with his partner to the edge of the dance floor.
“There you are, Miss. As promised, one dance.” Though he knew her first name, he didn’t want her to know that he did. It would have been too familiar to use it and he would have to explain where he heard it. “Thank you for doing me the honor.”
“Thank you for being a gentleman.” Emma looked out at the dance floor, then at Thomas. “Now, will you do me the honor of another dance?”
“You’re asking me?” Thomas was surprised, but grinned just the same. “I’m not sure how this should work. If I tell you no, must I stand out the rest of the evening?”
“If you’re going to tease me---”
“I shall do no such thing.” Thomas offered an arm and Emma took it with a petulant look on her face. “Now, now, people are going to think I’m forcing you to dance with me. I should at least like them to think I’m a pleasant man.”
“Are you?” They went out onto the dance floor again and Thomas nodded.
“I like to think I am. I treat women fairly, as you can see.” He offered his hand and she took it, then faced him and bowed. “If you’d said you never wanted to dance with me again, I would have gone and found another partner. Unwillingly, of course, but I would have done so just the same.”
“That is fair of you. Lucky for me I enjoyed dancing with you.” They began to dance, Thomas’ hand on Emma’s waist, and her cheeks were pink. He noticed a slight skip to her step and frowned as he slowed his own step.
“Are you all right? We can stop anytime you want.” He smiled. “Much as I’m enjoying dancing with you, I don’t want you to further injure yourself doing it.”
“No, I’m fine,” Emma said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to make my sisters worry. Especially my older sister. She’s a mother now but it hasn’t stopped her mothering us when she’s in town.” Thomas noticed that she straightened her step but it didn’t stop him worrying about her. This time when their dance was over, Thomas pointed to the side of the dance floor.
“Would you mind if I took a short break? I bought these boots before I left for London and don’t believe they were broken in enough before I wore them tonight.” Emma looked suspicious but she followed him to an open seat. “If you don’t mind waiting out a song with me, I’d be more than happy to dance with you again.”
“I would love to dance with you again,” Emma said with a smile. “You’re certainly more of a gentleman than most of the men I’ve had the misfortune to dance with in the past.” She folded her arms over her chest and scowled. “Last Season there was a man so rude and unpleasant that I turned him down and gave up my evening rather than be saddled with him for one dance.”
“You’re a woman of principle, then. I like that.” Thomas sat down and rubbed his foot showily. “I’m flattered then, that you’re willing to wait for me to continue to dance with you.”
“Don’t take flattery so far that you think I won’t give up my evening if you’re rude to me.” Emma narrowed her eyes again and Thomas laughed.
“I wouldn’t dare. I’m enjoying my evening so far and I’d wager you are as well.”
“Hmph.” Emma turned her back on him but didn’t move so much as an inch from the table. Thomas grinned behind her back and continued to rub his foot until the music was over, then offered Emma his hand and they returned to the dance floor together.
The night passed quickly with Thomas getting Emma to take short breaks under the pretense of his own feet hurting until they were dancing a lively song and her ankle finally gave out on her. She looked as if she was going to hit the dance floor, but Thomas scooped her up and carried her over to where her sisters were standing. The younger one, Katherine, gasped and ran to him.
“Sister! What happened?”
“It would seem her ankle couldn’t handle the strain,” Thomas said before she could reply. He set her down very carefully and a man in a mercifully sensible outfit stepped forward to put an arm around her. “Thank you, sir.”
“No, sir, thank you for bringing her back over.” He looked at the other two girls. “I think it’s best we end our evening here, ladies. Your parents would have my head if anything else happened to you this week,” he said to Emma.
“Before I go, might I ask your name? I seem to have neglected to do that.” Thomas smiled at Emma, who blushed brightly.
“Emma,” she said, and Thomas noticed she had left out her surname. He didn’t want to push in front of her family, so he simply bowed to her.
“Then good-night to you, Miss Emma. I hope to see you at the next ball, the health of your ankle allowing, of course.” He left with a smile and went back to his mother, who was still wide awake and smiling brightly. “I’m sorry to have left you bored, Mother.”
“Not at all. I was having quite a good time watching you dance with your young lady friend.” She tried to hide a yawn behind her hand. Thomas helped his mother out of her chair. “Oh, come now. I don’t need help to stand up. And I don’t wish to interrupt your evening.”
“If Emma isn’t able to dance any longer, I have no desire to continue dancing.” Thomas offered his mother an arm again and they walked together toward the door of the hall. They made their way through the crowd, paused at the coatroom, then went out to the carriage lot to get into their transport. Normally he would call for it to spare his mother the walk, but she had been scolding him for treating her as if she was fragile lately, so he was balancing his actions between taking care of her and letting her be independent. She reminded him of Emma in this way.
“Emma, is it?” Elizabeth looked at her son with a hint of a smirk. “Did you happen to mention to her that your name is Lord Thomas Belmont?”
“Oh damn!” Thomas helped his mother into the carriage. “I completely forgot to tell her my own name. I was so glad she had her family to look after her that I was just happy to get her name from her.” He looked back at the hall. “She can be a bit prickly.”
“You should go back in and see
if you can find her before she leaves,” his mother advised, but Thomas shook his head.
“They were leaving as I came back to you. Besides, she seemed interested in dancing with me again. All I need to do is get to the ball and find her before someone else does.” He climbed into the carriage and sat down across from his mother.
“We should be careful on the way home,” Elizabeth said. “Tell the driver to watch out for highwaymen when he’s on the roads.”
“Mother, highwaymen don’t rob people in the middle of London. Trust me, no highwayman is going to bother us tonight. We’ll be safe all the way home, I promise.” He yawned and leaned against the seat and Elizabeth looked out the window worriedly as he took off his gloves and stuffed them in the pocket of his coat. “Ah, I do hope I see Miss Emma again at the next ball.”
“Oh?” This finally made Elizabeth forget about the dangers of highwaymen and she smiled at her son. “Does this mean you do want to come to another ball after what you said about puffed-up popinjays and peacocks?”
“Perhaps I was a bit hasty.”
Chapter 5
“Goodness gracious,” Beatrice said as she looked over the doctor’s shoulder. He was examining Emma’s bruised and painful ankle after her father insisted on calling once Henry carried her into the house. “How did this happen at the ball?”
“I was dancing a quadrille and must have gotten too spirited, because I landed wrong and turned it.” She didn’t want her mother or father asking too many questions so she added something she knew would make them happy. “I was just lucky that the kind young man I was dancing with caught me before I fell on the floor in front of everyone and brought me to Franny and Henry.”
“Did he?” Beatrice looked much more interested and the doctor moved Emma’s foot to the right. “What was his name?”
“The good news is that it doesn’t seem to be broken,” the doctor said before she had to come up with a reason why she hadn’t asked the young man’s name. “I’ll need to wrap it up to keep pressure on it and she’ll need to keep it raised up for at least three or four days before you let her walk on it again.” He picked up his black bag and Emma frowned.
“I’m a grown woman, and I’ll thank you to speak to me about my own health instead of my mother.”
“Will she be able to go to the Everly Ball in two weeks?” Beatrice spoke over her daughter and the doctor looked at her instead of Emma, as if she hadn’t even spoken.
“I should think so, provided she gives it proper care. Cold water compresses will also help with the swelling and pain. That should be easy since it’s winter. If you leave water out overnight you might even get to use some ice, which would be ideal.” The doctor took a roll of bandages from his bag, then began to wrap Emma’s ankle firmly. It seemed a little uncomfortable, and she frowned.
“I think it’s a bit too tight, doctor,” she said. He laughed and shook his head.
“Emma, do let the doctor work,” her mother said. “I’m sure he knows better than you.”
“It needs to be tight to keep pressure on it,” the doctor said without looking up, and Emma knew that once again he was talking to her parents instead of her. They nodded as if he was making all the sense in the world and Emma sighed heavily. “There. Keep that on there and don’t get it wet. If you do, you’ll get sores under it and they’ll fester.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Beatrice said. “We apologize for calling for you in the middle of the night.”
“It’s quite all right, I don’t want this lovely young woman to be in pain and miss her ball.” He closed his bag and got up from the bed. “Take care, young lady, and listen to your parents.”
“Hmph.”
“I apologize for her rudeness,” James said, shaking his head. “Let me show you to the door.” Once he was gone, Beatrice moved closer to the bed and Emma knew she was in for yet another lecture. Instead, her mother smiled.
“I’m so glad you’ve finally seemed to find a young man whose attention you enjoy.” Her smile widened. “Such a thoughtful man as well. Now what was his name? I’d like to send him our thanks for assisting you this evening.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know his name,” Emma said, truly regretful. “We were just beginning to talk when my ankle turned. I did enjoy his company, though.”
“Then it’s even more important that you go to the Everly Ball. You’ll have to get there early to make sure no one else asks you to dance. And this time, make sure you ask his name.” Her mother sat on the side of her bed. “Find out where he’s from as well, and who his family is. We must know everything we can about him.”
“Yes, Mother.” For the first time in recent memory, Emma and her mother were in agreement on something. She did want to know more about the young man she had been dancing with, and possibly entertain him at her house for an afternoon.
“Good. I’ll leave you to go to bed. Make sure you take care of that ankle so you’ll be able to go to the ball and meet the young man again.” She kissed her daughter on the forehead and got up to leave. “Good-night, Emma.”
“Good-night, Mother.” Emma waited until the door closed, then sat forward. “Hmph,” she said again as she unwound the bandage from her ankle. She flexed her toes and sighed as the circulation returned to them. Once she felt better, she carefully wrapped the bandage around her injury again, careful to keep it tight enough to support her ankle but not enough to cut off her circulation. She knew the old man had only done it because he was tired, but she wasn’t going to lose a foot or let things get worse just because her parents trusted a man with a white beard over their own daughter.
No matter what he’d said, she was going to take care of her ankle as best she could. Emma was disappointed that she hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to the young man she was with. They’d had such a good time dancing and talking of London and fashion that she’d felt she’d known him all her life. It had completely escaped her mind to ask something as mundane as who he was.
Her mother was so set on getting to know him and Emma knew it was because she wanted her to marry him, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to jump into that sort of commitment without much more discussion between them. She didn’t know how he felt about marriage, whether he would indulge her studying and her dreams of becoming a doctor or insist that she forget about it and have children to be his heir. Emma did know that she would rather be a spinster than give up who she was. If she was to marry, it would be a man who loved her because she was intelligent, not in spite of it.
Yawning, she got up just long enough to put out the lamp, then got back into bed and pulled up the covers. She hoped to dream of the young man, and that he would be at the Everly Ball so she could – at the very least – dance with him again.
When she woke again, Emma could hear sounds of life from downstairs. She sat up and stretched, then got up and brushed her hair, fashioning it into a braid before putting on a dressing gown and hopping out of her room. The stairs looked daunting, and she was deciding whether to call someone when Katherine came hurrying toward her.
“Oh my goodness! You shouldn’t be trying to do that,” she said, putting an arm around her sister’s waist. “You’re going to fall down the stairs, then Mother and Father will scold both of us.”
“I can’t lay in my room all day, I’ve got to get dressed and go downstairs to get something to eat,” Emma replied. Katherine shook her head and steered her back toward her bedroom.
“I shall help you put on your morning gown and bring you whatever you need. Mother told me that if you’re to be well enough to go to the Everly Ball, you must stay off your feet. Besides, I wish to talk to you a bit more about the handsome man who brought you to us. You had a great deal of fun dancing with him, it seemed.” Katherine helped Emma back into her bedroom and into bed, then put a small pillow beneath her foot.
“I did have a nice time. He seems to be a very kind gentleman.”
“You shall have to tell me everything after I bring you breakfas
t.” Katherine hurried out of the room, her quick step belying how much she wanted to hear about her sister’s night.
Once she was gone, Emma sighed. Her sister was to be just as disappointed as her mother, but she couldn’t do much about it. Truth be told, she was disappointed in herself. For all her desire to remain independent and care for herself, there was no way to know what sort of man her dance partner was without getting to know him better. There was no rule that said she had to marry him just because she spoke to him further, and for all she knew he might be just the sort of fellow she was looking for.
“Here’s your breakfast!” Katherine had come back so quickly that Emma wondered if she had run, and there was an ornate tray in her hands. Emma thought it a bit showy but her parents liked everything to be intricate and of the highest quality they could afford.
“Thank you.” Emma looked down at the tray and smiled. There were two pieces of bread spread with her favorite strawberry preserves, a cup of hot chocolate, and a small vase with some winter flowers tucked in it. “Oh my, how sweet! You’re such a darling.”
“I want you to have all your strength so you might get well sooner.” She giggled, then pointed to the bread. “Look under there.”
“What? What’s under it?” Emma lifted the bread, then laughed when she saw a gingerbread biscuit beneath them. “Thank you, sister. You know they’re my favorite.” In response, Katherine leaned down and hugged her.
“I’m so glad you’ll be all right. When that lovely gentleman brought you to us last night I was afraid you’d broken your ankle after all you’d done to it.” She sighed softly . “Will three or four days be enough to heal it? I don’t think that’s going to be all it needs. You’ve been walking around on it all this time.”
“I don’t know either,” Emma said, sitting against her pillows and picking up her biscuit. She dipped it in the hot chocolate, knowing her mother would have a fit if she saw her doing it. “I’m going to rest it as long as I can, though, because I intend to go to the Everly Ball no matter what. I’m sure the young man I was dancing with will be there and I don’t want to miss seeing him again.”