turn. In the process, his thigh brushed hers and he felt her recoil.
"You are an excellent partner," he said after a few moments' throbbing silence. "You follow my lead instinctively. I feel as though we had been waltzing together all our lives. But then, I was certain it would be so. I have remarked more than once how graceful you are, even when you are furiously storming away. It is amazing how well acquainted I have become with your back."
"In that case, there should be no need to conduct a physical examination, my lord. You will please to keep your hand in one place."
"I beg your pardon," he said. "My hands are unsteady. I seem to be nervous."
"I should say impudent, rather."
"Perhaps you're right." As though to prove it, he drew her into another perilous turn. He would have liked to keep whirling her until she grew too giddy to stand, and collapsed against him, but that was too crass. He had rather weaken her defences little by little.
A barely perceptible film of moisture was forming on her smooth white brow.
"You are breathless," he said. "Ladies will fasten their stays so tightly."
"I do not — " She bit her lip.
"No, I know you do not. I am acutely observant."
A faint colour singed her slender neck.
"You do not require such artificial moulding," he persisted. "Your waist is as slim and supple as a young girl's."
The colour heightened. "You please to mock me, my lord. I should not be surprised. Your manner from the first has been nothing but mockery."
"You are hopelessly confused," he said pityingly. "From the first I have admired everything about you, yet you insist upon being deaf, dumb, and blind to all my touching confessions." He glanced down at her in sudden concern. "You aren't deaf, are you? You were blind for a time, I realise, though assuredly not dumb — "
"I do not understand," she said, "how you can chatter incessantly while you waltz. Your lungs must be prodigious strong."
"When I am flirting, I have the strength of ten men. You will not flirt back, but that cannot stop me. The habit is too deeply ingrained. I find a stunning woman in my arms, and I must flirt with her."
"You have obviously confused me with some Incomparable. It is your lamentable eyesight, I daresay."
"I hope not. You have no idea the inconvenience I was put to in order to get you in my arms so that I should be compelled to flirt with you."
He saw the shadow of uneasiness flit across otherwise immobile features.
"You must not be alarmed for my health, Mrs. Davenant," he said comfortingly. "I promise to make up for the exertion by lying abed very late tomorrow."
Had Lilith suspected just how much the marquess learned about her during their one waltz, she would have been considerably more shaken than she was — and that was already too much.
She had wanted every iota of her rigid training to main-tain a semblance of composure. A semblance only. Good grief — she had practically announced she did not wear stays! Not, she reflected bitterly as she sought a quiet corner of the ballroom, that there had been any need to inform him.
Before she could even begin to regain her equanimity, Lady Enders pounced upon her, canary ruffles jerking in agitation.
"Everyone is talking," Rachel said.
"It is a social event. People are obliged to converse."
"They are talking about you and Brandon. If I had been you, I should have been put completely out of countenance, with everyone staring so. To dance with the man — and of all dances, a waltz. I really do not understand, Lilith."
What she meant was that she did not approve, though Rachel had not the audacity to tell her future sister-in-law that .
"I am not a green girl, Rachel. I do not require the sanction of Almack's patronesses to waltz. In any event, it was one of them obliged me to. I suppose you would prefer I had offended Dorothea?"
"In your place, I should have pleaded a turned ankle."
"In that case, I should not have been able to dance with Thomas later."
"I am
"You are an excellent partner," he said after a few moments' throbbing silence. "You follow my lead instinctively. I feel as though we had been waltzing together all our lives. But then, I was certain it would be so. I have remarked more than once how graceful you are, even when you are furiously storming away. It is amazing how well acquainted I have become with your back."
"In that case, there should be no need to conduct a physical examination, my lord. You will please to keep your hand in one place."
"I beg your pardon," he said. "My hands are unsteady. I seem to be nervous."
"I should say impudent, rather."
"Perhaps you're right." As though to prove it, he drew her into another perilous turn. He would have liked to keep whirling her until she grew too giddy to stand, and collapsed against him, but that was too crass. He had rather weaken her defences little by little.
A barely perceptible film of moisture was forming on her smooth white brow.
"You are breathless," he said. "Ladies will fasten their stays so tightly."
"I do not — " She bit her lip.
"No, I know you do not. I am acutely observant."
A faint colour singed her slender neck.
"You do not require such artificial moulding," he persisted. "Your waist is as slim and supple as a young girl's."
The colour heightened. "You please to mock me, my lord. I should not be surprised. Your manner from the first has been nothing but mockery."
"You are hopelessly confused," he said pityingly. "From the first I have admired everything about you, yet you insist upon being deaf, dumb, and blind to all my touching confessions." He glanced down at her in sudden concern. "You aren't deaf, are you? You were blind for a time, I realise, though assuredly not dumb — "
"I do not understand," she said, "how you can chatter incessantly while you waltz. Your lungs must be prodigious strong."
"When I am flirting, I have the strength of ten men. You will not flirt back, but that cannot stop me. The habit is too deeply ingrained. I find a stunning woman in my arms, and I must flirt with her."
"You have obviously confused me with some Incomparable. It is your lamentable eyesight, I daresay."
"I hope not. You have no idea the inconvenience I was put to in order to get you in my arms so that I should be compelled to flirt with you."
He saw the shadow of uneasiness flit across otherwise immobile features.
"You must not be alarmed for my health, Mrs. Davenant," he said comfortingly. "I promise to make up for the exertion by lying abed very late tomorrow."
Had Lilith suspected just how much the marquess learned about her during their one waltz, she would have been considerably more shaken than she was — and that was already too much.
She had wanted every iota of her rigid training to main-tain a semblance of composure. A semblance only. Good grief — she had practically announced she did not wear stays! Not, she reflected bitterly as she sought a quiet corner of the ballroom, that there had been any need to inform him.
Before she could even begin to regain her equanimity, Lady Enders pounced upon her, canary ruffles jerking in agitation.
"Everyone is talking," Rachel said.
"It is a social event. People are obliged to converse."
"They are talking about you and Brandon. If I had been you, I should have been put completely out of countenance, with everyone staring so. To dance with the man — and of all dances, a waltz. I really do not understand, Lilith."
What she meant was that she did not approve, though Rachel had not the audacity to tell her future sister-in-law that .
"I am not a green girl, Rachel. I do not require the sanction of Almack's patronesses to waltz. In any event, it was one of them obliged me to. I suppose you would prefer I had offended Dorothea?"
"In your place, I should have pleaded a turned ankle."
"In that case, I should not have been able to dance with Thomas later."
"I am
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