“Bollocks, you’re still wound in a tight coil. What is wrong with you today?”
“I don’t know. I want to have fun, but Gerald is tossing daggers at me. How is it my fault that I got the pea? And don’t you dare say anything to him once this dance is over. You’ve got that protective look in your eyes again. I do not want you fighting my battles.”
“I am not doing any such thing.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are. Stop it. He is my problem. Well, not my problem. He is my beau.”
Ronan sighed. “Forget about him for the moment. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
“But I am dancing in your arms, and he obviously does not like it.”
“The music hasn’t started yet. I’m just holding you.”
“Which is even worse.” They stood alone in the center of the room, the crowd still applauding them and tossing Ronan advice, which included shouts of kiss her again as if their first kiss hadn’t been enough.
He arched an eyebrow. “Are you betrothed to the lunk?”
“No, not yet. I think we shall be soon.”
“Then he has no claim on you. Enjoy the moment. Every man in the room wishes he were the one holding you in his arms. You are young and beautiful, Dahlia. It is impossible for you to look anything but enchanting no matter what you do.”
This is why she treasured Ronan’s friendship. He always made her feel good about herself, never awkward or inferior.
“However, one word of caution,” he said with a glint in his eyes that warned he was about to tease her. “Whatever you do, don’t smile.”
Which had quite the opposite effect on her, as he knew it would. Her tension eased, and she cast him a heartfelt grin. He was right. It was just a dance. They were among friends and family. She did not owe Gerald an apology.
The music started up, and Ronan began to slowly twirl her around the room. The ladies clapped. The men cheered. Everyone was having a nice time.
They waltzed past Gerald, and she stiffened again.
Ronan frowned. “That man ties you up in knots. You must stop worrying about what he’ll think.”
“I’m trying. Perhaps if I were more polished. But how can I be when I am only in my first season? Lately, Gerald seems to be finding fault with everything I do, even down to the style of my hair and the fashion of my gowns.”
His frown deepened. “How long has this been going on?”
“I don’t know. Ever since I arrived in London. I always thought I had an elegant style, but apparently, he feels I am not up to London standards. Am I terribly out of step? Holly and Joshua’s house decoration turned out quite splendidly, and I had a large part in that.”
“You did a fine job. I’m quite impressed.”
“Ronan, is he right about the way I look? You mentioned a moment ago that I was pretty. Did you mean it? Or were you just saying this to calm my nerves?”
“I believe I called you beautiful, which is what you are. If Wainscott does not appreciate you, then run from him. Do not marry him. You cannot pretend to be someone you’re not and keep up the falsehood for the next forty years.”
“Maybe I am making too much of it. Gerald knows who I am. He’s known me for most of my life. We grew up together in York. He isn’t as bad as you make him out to be.” She glanced at her beau and noticed that he was still frowning at her. “Perhaps he wouldn’t be quite so irritated if I were dancing with someone other than you.”
The musicians had opened with one of Dahlia’s favorites waltzes. She was relieved to be dancing with Ronan because if she wanted to be silly and take a few extra twirls to play up to the festive onlookers, he would go along with it.
Gerald never would.
In truth, it irked her that her beau often looked down his nose at such antics.
To her surprise, Ronan was a very good dancer and quickly got her back into the steady glides and spins of the waltz on the occasion or two that she missed a step. She did not know why she’d expected less. Perhaps because he was a captain in the Royal Navy, and she thought he’d be awkward on his sea legs. But he hadn’t been out to sea in almost a year now, serving as the Admiralty liaison to Parliament.
“Why would he care who you danced with?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Surely, you must know how handsome you are. What man would not be jealous if he saw you dancing with his sweetheart?”
Indeed, he was perfection. Ebony-dark hair, dark emerald eyes, and a big muscled body. Who would not find him devastatingly attractive? He was no empty head, either. All these Braydens were highly intelligent and possessed a quick wit.
She might have fallen for Ronan if he weren’t so daunting. Not that he had ever made her feel like a fumbling, inept debutante. But he had been out in the world, fought battles, was known and respected by the most powerful men in England because of his important role in Parliament.
Who was she?
No one yet.
Her greatest achievement in all of her almost twenty years was helping Holly decorate this house.
Other couples now joined them on the dance floor. Joshua and Holly, of course. This was their home, and they were the host and hostess. Dahlia’s heart gave a little tug. They looked so happy together. Joshua was looking at Holly as though she were the only woman in existence. This is what she wanted for herself.
She craned her head to find Gerald now that there were so many people waltzing around her and blocking her view. She wasn’t nearly as tall as Ronan, only on the small side of average height.
Then she saw him dance past her with a young woman in his arms. “Who is she?” she asked Ronan, who had followed her gaze and knew exactly where she was looking.
“Lady Alexandra Minton. She is a neighbor. Her parents own the house next door to this one. Her father is the Earl of Balliwick.”
“I see.” She took another peek at them, for there was something in the way Gerald held this young lady that sent an uneasy tingle up her spine.
Ronan drew her a little closer and gave her hand a squeeze. “She’s a ninny.”
Dahlia did not feel any better. “She’s very pretty.”
“She has an irritating laugh and is one of the dimmest girls I’ve ever met. I doubt Wainscott will bear to be in her company for more than five minutes. He’ll come running back to you as soon as this waltz ends. I would, for certain.”
She wished she could be as confident. In truth, what did she have to offer any man? What did Gerald see in her that made him want to court her? Lately, as she had just admitted to Ronan, he did not seem to like her very much.
If not for the ardent letters he’d been writing her over the course of the year, she would not think he liked her at all. In those dozen or so letters, he’d confided how much he missed her and how eager he was to escort her around London when she arrived.
Her stomach began to roil.
She had come to London believing Gerald would be offering for her at the start of the season or surely by the end of it. Now, she did not know what to think. She watched him as he twirled past her again with Lady Alexandra in his arms. Her father was a wealthy earl. How could she compete with that?
She couldn’t.
“No, Ronan. He isn’t coming back to me.” She blinked away tears, not even certain why it hurt her so much. Perhaps she had forced herself into believing they could be as happy as Holly and Joshua were. She had only to look around the room to see how many of her Farthingale relatives had made love matches.