Read Online In Pursuit of Miriam by Helen A. Grant - Free Book Online Page B

comfortable. In fact, had Robert and Lucy not returned after the dance, he would probably have remained with Miriam longer. She did not seem to feel sorry for herself and appeared to enjoy listening to the music and watching the dancing, but he had found himself thinking how much he would have disliked not being able to join in.
    Thinking back, he realized that this may have been what prompted him to ask her to dance the waltz with him. He had expected her to refuse, and in hindsight, the way he had asked her to dance was not the most gallant. She did, however, eventually accept, although he could see in her face that she was uncertain as to whether she should; even after accepting she tried to use her boots as an excuse to withdraw her acceptance.
    Even now he could not fathom the reason he had been so persistent with her. There were many young ladies in the room who would have gladly danced with him; perhaps subconsciously he had wanted to see her having a good time instead of only watching others.
    He could feel that she was nervous when he had first put his arm around her waist and she barely touched his shoulder with her own hand. He was not unfamiliar with the dance and guided her firmly through the first few steps. She eventually began to relax and she had smiled up at him with a look of pure pleasure. She may not have danced in public before, but he could tell she knew the steps. He’d found that if he adjusted his stride, the unevenness of her gait was less noticeable.
    Having felt the exact moment when her left leg had given way, he had instinctively gathered her closer to him to stop her falling. She had been pressed tightly against him and every muscle in his body from his chest to his thighs could feel the heat from her body against his. His body reacted as any male body would and he had felt himself hardening against her. He had glanced down at her and fortunately it seemed she was unaware of his predicament and so he smiled at her as she looked up at him.
    He should have taken her back to her seat when she had first asked, but he had been enjoying the dance, as had she, until her leg let her down. And so he had persuaded her to continue. Looking back, she had not taken much persuading.
    He remembered the moment when he had looked down and she was resting her head just below his shoulder; her eyes were closed and she appeared to have completely given herself up to the dancing. He took most of her weight, which as she was slender, was no hardship for him and they had carried on.
    When the music ended he had known that if he stepped away from her she would most likely lose her balance, so he kept a firm hold of her arm as he escorted her back to her seat. One look at the other people in the room made him realize, somewhat belatedly, that their dancing had been most inappropriate—but it had been too late at that point to do anything about it.
    Chuckling to himself, he remembered Mrs. Bright’s conversation with Robert after all the guests had left. She had told her son in no uncertain terms that if she ever saw him dancing in such an intimate way with a young lady, she would disown him. Vincent was aware that this was a way of actually rebuking him, since she knew it was not her place to do so.
    It was only now that he gave thought to how Miss Knightly’s reputation might suffer from having waltzed with him so intimately. He knew, because her Aunt Beatrice had talked of little else, that it was hoped Sir Thomas would declare his intentions towards her in the very near future. Perhaps their dance would affect this.
    He resumed pacing the room as he tried to make sense of all that had happened. Miss Knightly surely could not want to marry Sir Thomas; he was old enough to be her father and rather dissipated in appearance. The thought of him touching Miss Knightly and holding her as he himself had done filled him with disgust. Surely if Sir Thomas withdrew his attentions this would be a good thing for