you from me. I know the feel of you, Lizzy, and nothing can ever change that.’
He offered her his hand, but she said, ‘I don’t know the dance. I don’t even know its name. Though I don’t suppose it can be difficult,’ she added with an arch smile.
‘No?’ he asked.
‘No. After all, every savage can dance!’
He laughed.
‘I was in a bad humour that night. How could I have been so rude to Sir William? The poor man was just trying to make me feel welcome.’
‘As he was trying to give consequence to a young woman who had been slighted by other men!’
‘Will I ever be forgiven for such a remark? Probably not, nor do I deserve to be.’
‘Oh, I think, now that you have given me a palace, I might consider it,’ she teased him.
‘Only might?’ he asked.
‘Very well, if you teach me the dance, you may consider yourself absolved. Is it a uniquely Venetian dance?’ she asked, as he gave her his hand and led her onto a quiet corner of the floor.
‘No, the galliard is danced everywhere—or was, a long time ago.’
The dance was a strange one, full of lifts and leaps and twirls, but by watching the other dancers and by listening to Darcy, she was able to catch the steps.
‘And now I lift you,’ he said.
He put his hands on her waist and lifted her from the floor, then turned around whilst lifting her. She leant back against him, feeling the heat of his hands through her gown before he put her down again.
‘You smell wonderful’ he said, inhaling deeply.
‘I should do, I am wearing the finest Venetian perfume!’ she said.
‘No,’ he said intensely, ‘not the perfume. You.’
They had moved into a world of their own, having eyes for no one but each other, wrapped up in the scent and the sight and the feel of each other, and they did not leave it until the music stopped.
Elizabeth felt a sense of loss, and she struggled to regain that world of heightened senses. She resented the other guests for taking her husband away from her, as they exclaimed over his dancing and introduced him to more of the guests. And then she too was claimed, and her hand was sought by one of the gentleman, who begged her to dance with him. He was gay and good humoured and to her delight she recognised him as Giuseppe.
‘Ah! But how did you know?’ he asked.
‘I recognised your voice.’
‘Then I must disguise it if I am not to spoil the surprise for others. Have you recognised Sophia yet?’
‘No,’ said Elizabeth, looking round the ballroom. ‘Is she here?’
‘Yes. You must guess which one she is.’
Elizabeth made two false guesses before finally guessing correctly, for Sophia was wearing a full face mask. In the end, Elizabeth recognised her because she recognised Sophia’s gown as one of those she had seen in the dressing room, when she and Sophia had been choosing their clothes.
‘Are you enjoying yourselves?’ asked Sophia as she crossed the room to join them when the dance ended.
‘Very much,’ said Elizabeth.
‘It is different from your balls at home?’
‘Yes, it is entirely different.’
‘You do not wear masks, I think?’
‘No, we don’t, but it isn’t just the masks,’ said Elizabeth. ‘The clothes, the dances, the music, everything is different.’
‘Ah, yes, you have very stately dances in England,’ said Alfonse, joining them. ‘I know, I have been there. You turn up your noses and you look at no one, then you walk down the ballroom in silence and you turn round at the end.’
Elizabeth laughed at his description of the English dances.
‘In some private balls it may be so, but at an assembly it is very different, with a lot of lively country dances,’ she said. ‘There is a great deal of chatter and laughter, I assure you.’
‘An assembly? I do not believe I have ever been to an assembly.’
‘Then you must go,’ said Elizabeth.
‘Darcy, have you ever been to one of these assemblies?’ asked Giuseppe, as Darcy joined them.
‘I have.’
‘But he disliked it excessively,’ said Elizabeth teasingly.
Darcy raised his eyebrows and the others exclaimed, begging to know more.
‘Not excessively,’ said Darcy.
‘Confess it,’ Elizabeth said, laughing. ‘You thought it was insupportable!’
‘But how is this, if it is full of lively country dances?’ asked Sophia. ‘To me, it sounds fascinating.’
‘I had only just arrived in the neighbourhood and didn’t know anyone there,’ said Darcy.
‘And, of course, no one can ever be introduced in a ballroom!’ said Elizabeth.