After glancing at the assembled guests, Charlaine slipped her arm through his and urged him out onto the terrace and then farther down into the gardens. Nathanial frowned as they disappeared around a tall-growing hedge and the voices from the house slowly grew dimmer. A small pond sat nearby, its waters undisturbed and peaceful as dragonflies hovered above its shiny surface.
“Where are we going?” he asked, wondering what she was up to. After all, with Charlaine, one never knew. “We can barely hear the music from here. I thought you wanted to dance.”
Charlaine sighed. “I simply…wanted to get away for a moment.” She turned to look at him, and her brown eyes shone like amber in the soft light of the afternoon. “Do you sometimes feel like that?”
Holding her gaze, Nathanial nodded. “More often than you think.”
“Do you feel like that right now?” Something vulnerable rested in her eyes as she spoke, and his heart warmed at the possibility that she genuinely cared for him.
Reaching for her hand, he shook his head. “I never do when I’m with you.” One corner of his mouth quirked upward. “Not even when you step on my toes.”
Her face brightened, and laughter, free and unrestrained, spilled from her lips. “I do believe that is the highest compliment any woman has ever received. You honor me, good sir.”
Nathanial smiled at her. Indeed, smiling came a lot easier to him these days. His brother had been right. Charlaine was good for him. “Shall we?”
Nodding, she stepped forward, her other hand coming to rest on his upper arm. “If you’re willing to risk it, who am I to object?”
Nathanial was about to move when he suddenly paused.
“Is something wrong?” Charlaine asked, her eyes looking up into his.
For a moment, Nathanial hesitated, too unaccustomed was the notion that had unexpectedly entered his mind. He inhaled a deep breath and then said, “Take off your shoes.”
Charlaine’s eyes grew round and her jaw dropped open.
“Don’t stare at me like that,” Nathanial rebuked her. “Simply take off your shoes. We both know you want to, and it’ll spare my toes the torture they had to endure these past few weeks.”
Shaking her head, Charlaine laughed. “You surprise me.” She stepped back, one hand still on his arm, and bent down to pull off her shoes. “I love it.”
The dainty slippers fell to the ground, and Nathanial pulled her back into his arms, strangely proud of himself. Why that was, was beyond him for he had done nothing but grant her a simple request. Still, for him, it had been a challenge, and the look in her eyes told him that she knew it as well.
And then they danced.
Faint notes of a hauntingly beautiful melody drifted down into the gardens, mingling with the soft sounds of summer. The light breeze as it brushed through the trees. The gentle trills and chirps of the birds around them. The tender sigh of a world at peace.
Here.
Now.
In this moment.
Belatedly, Nathanial realized that her feet had yet to land on his and he looked down at her, frowning. “Are you a witch of some kind? For it seems as though you’re floating on air.”
Charlaine chuckled. “Oh, if I were a witch, I’d turn us both into frogs so we could sit in the peaceful pond all day and never have to go up to the house.”
Spinning her around, Nathanial shook his head. “But then we couldn’t dance? Would you not miss it?”
Her nose scrunched up a little as she contemplated his objection. “That is true. No frogs then.”
Nathanial chuckled.
“You should take off your shoes as well,” Charlaine suggested, a bit of a wicked gleam in her eyes as she watched him, no doubt waiting for yet another shocked expression to contort his face.
But this time, it wouldn’t come. “Perhaps one day,” Nathanial whispered, wondering at the possibilities the world suddenly seemed to offer.
Charlaine granted him a most affectionate smile. “I’ll hold you to that.”
“I know.” And he honestly hoped she would.
As the day progressed, Charlaine and Nathanial reluctantly returned inside. Charlaine’s legs still twitched with the joy of dancing with bare feet, the soft grass tickling her soles, cool and fresh. It had been wonderful, and she loved Nathanial for granting her such a joy.
“We will leave London in two days,” his brother told Pierce as they stood in a small circle on the western side of the terrace.
His fiery-haired wife nodded, an eager smile upon her face as she sidled closer to her husband. “There is still too much of the world I haven’t seen.”
Beside her, Nathanial sighed, and Charlaine knew that it was hard for him to bid his brother farewell again.
“I shall miss you,” Caroline exclaimed as she stepped forward and pulled her cousin’s hands into her own. “You must promise to write to me as often as you can.”
Lady Pembroke smiled at her. “I shall do what I can.” She glanced at her husband, who could not suppress a grin. “Will you go to Markham Hall for the summer?”
Caroline nodded and then returned to Pierce’s side. “We, too, will leave Town in two days.” She laughed. “Our journey, however, will not nearly be as far as yours.”
“Will you be back by the end of the year?” Pierce asked Nathanial’s brother. “For Christmas.”
Exchanging a look with his wife, Lord Pembroke said, “I suppose it would be nice to come home for the holidays.”
Nathanial’s jaw twitched, and Charlaine wished she could hug him. It seemed happiness was everywhere, hope and joy, and yet, Nathanial had no place in it. She knew he dreaded his return to Boston−as did she−but perhaps there was a part of him that was hoping for an alternative to present itself.
A part he himself was not even aware of.
Now, with everyone making plans that did not include him, he was forced to face the truth. At least, the truth as he saw it. Charlaine, however, knew better.
“Will you go to Markham Hall as well?” Nathanial asked her quietly as the others chatted happily about the summer and all their plans.
Charlaine smiled at him. “I will.” Her eyes held his as she spoke, and her heart rejoiced at the deep regret that came to his face upon hearing her answer. He had truly come to care for her, had he not? Indeed, despite his initial insistence to the contrary, it seemed that Mr. Nathanial Caswell had finally found a friend.
“I wish you a good time,” he told her with a set jaw. A smile appeared on his face, but it looked a bit grotesque and far from genuine.
Smiling up at him, Charlaine reached for his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze. “Don’t look so glum, Nathanial. I promise before you know it I’ll be stepping on your toes again.”
A soft chuckle rumbled in his throat and, this time, the smile that came to his lips was as true and genuine as she had ever seen. If only she could share her plan with him! However, it would be prudent to speak to Pierce first.
Then she would write Nathanial a letter.