Page 55 of Courting Miss Lancaster
She wondered about Harry. Would he come to Falstone Castle for Christmas as he had the year before? Persephone had been unsure. Did Harry really love her as Persephone thought he did? And did he love her enough?
Athena held back a sigh, reminding herself that time would tell and she would simply have to wait and see, hoping that her heart could endure the uncertainty. The anger she had felt at learning of Harry’s role in the ceaseless flow of imbeciles she’d met since arriving in London had dissipated rather suddenly. After Persephone had voiced her theory about Harry’s feelingsfor Athena, that frustration had seemed to vanish. Something in her had never truly believed that Harry had acted out of malice; to think that he might have acted out of love was a thought that gave her more hope than she could have imagined. If only he would return so she might know for sure.
She allowed her gaze to sweep the room. How easily she could have been seeing the ball she’d imagined so many times. The room was every bit as lovely, the dresses as colorful, the music as enchanting as her dreams had painted them. Buthewas missing.
The dancers spun and crossed in the intricate patterns of a dance as Athena watched. Through a break in the line of dancers, she thought she saw a face. A very familiar face. Athena’s heart thumped painfully in her chest, but the dancers shifted and closed the gap again, and she could not be sure.
Athena moved slightly in her chair, searching. Surely she would have known if Harry had returned to London. She must have been mistaken. And yet the gentleman she’d seen looked so very much like him.
She attempted to appear nonchalant as she frantically studied each face across the room every time the dancers afforded her a glimpse.
There again! She was nearly certain it was him after all. Athena pressed a hand to her throat where her heart was pounding a frantic rhythm. Harry had come back! Would he come and speak to her? Did he wish to even see her? Had she realized her own heart too late?
The orchestra played out the last bars of the current dance, and the participants applauded appropriately. Only a moment and the next set would begin. With whom would Harry dance? Would he dance at all? Would she be able to steal a glimpse of him once more?
Athena wasn’t even sure where he’d gone, she’d lost sight ofhim.
“Miss Lancaster.”
Athena looked quickly in Mr. Howard’s direction as his voice interrupted her search.
“Mr. Howard,” she replied politely, if a little rushed.
Mr. Howard began talking, probably about trees. Athena’s eyes had returned to the crowd. In an instant she saw him. He was still across the room but drawing closer. Their eyes met, and Athena could feel her heart pounding harder in her chest. She couldn’t pull her eyes from him, and he didn’t look away.
As she watched Harry draw nearer, their eyes locked. He didn’t smile, but he didn’t look upset, either. What was he thinking? Was he happy to see her?
Please let him be happy about it,she silently pleaded.
“Miss Lancaster?” Mr. Howard’s voice broke into her thoughts.
She spared him only the briefest of glances, just long enough to register that he was watching her in obvious expectation, though she wasn’t sure of what. Her eyes had already returned to Harry, now only a few steps away.
Harry’s eyes hadn’t left her. Athena was very nearly certain her heart had sped to twice its normal pulse. Every inch of her seemed to have begun trembling.
A smile spread across Harry’s face, and Athena felt the telling blush that spread across her cheeks and down her neck. Harry’s smile! She smiled in return but felt unaccountably nervous, almost as if she’d suddenly become very shy in his presence.
“Miss Lancaster?” Mr. Howard’s attempts to gain her attention had grown more urgent.
But Harry was at her side, and Athena could not look away.Please love me,she silently begged. What would she do if she had lost him already?
“Mr. Howard,” Harry said to Athena’s eager, if ignored,conversational partner.
“Mr. Windover.”
“Forgive me for being rude, but I do believe this dance has been promised to me,” Harry said.
Athena wasn’t sure if Mr. Howard replied, the pounding of her heart having deafened her. Harry held his hand out to her and smiled. Athena placed her hand in his, an amazing sensation of tingling and awareness spreading up her arm in waves and pulses.
The phenomenon continued throughout the dance. Every time the steps required their hands to touch, she tingled at the contact. Neither of them spoke a word. Their eyes met at every opportunity, and his smile, different from the laughing smiles he so often produced, always greeted her when the movements of the dance brought them back together. That smile made her blush all over again.
It was her dream come to life: a meeting of eyes across a ballroom, a pounding heart, an undeniable awareness. All that time it was Harry! How had she missed it?
Her heart and mind in a jumble of emotions, Athena was returned to her seat as the dance ended. Persephone and Adam were in the midst of a conversation and did not acknowledge Harry and Athena’s return.
Harry bowed quite formally, smiled, and walked away.
Athena watched him go, confused. He had not actually spoken to her, not so much as a word. She longed to call him back but was afraid that her plea would be met with rejection. Had he danced with her out of obligation? No. She could not believe that. Then why, she asked herself, had he left?
