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Anna paid great attention to everyone’s faces as she entered the dining hall that night. Nobody seemed to be looking particularly interested in her direction. She caught the eye of Nicholas Lewinus and he winked completely shamelessly at her. She quickly turned her head but was also in that moment sure that he had not told anyone – yet. Apparently, he would be true to his word and give her four days to think about it.
As she sat down between Jonathan and Lord Albertin, Lady Louisa’s father, she tried to control her breath. Tonight, Wulfric was sitting at the table of honor but at the other end of it. That way she did not need to speak to him. She sighed with relief.
“Are you alright, My Lady?” Lord Albertin asked her.
“Of course, My Lord,” Anna said and smiled pleasantly at him. “It was simply a sigh of satisfaction as a hostess that everything is going alright.”
She spoke politely with Lord Albertin and Jonathan for the duration of the meal. Lord Albertin was just as chatty as Anna knew his daughter to be. But not as bland, thank God. He told a lot of funny anecdotes – often about himself – and was not scared of putting himself in a less flattering light.
Anna had such a good time that she completely forgot about Nicholas Lewinus and what he had said earlier. But when the meal was over and the tables had been moved to make room for dancing, Anna could feel that she started to get nervous. She had promised Nicholas Lewinus the first dance after she had danced with Jonathan. She could not deny him that and make a scene even though she wanted to.
Jonathan led her to the dance floor, followed by Lord Goodwin who led Maria and a number of other people. The music commenced and they started dancing. Anna shook with the notion that soon she would have to hold hands with Nicholas Lewinus as they danced in the chain.
“Are you okay?” Jonathan said. Anna assumed that he had felt her shiver.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just tired after everything that’s happened today.”
Jonathan smiled but did not have time to say anything as they had to part to follow the chain. The music changed and Anna and the man that she had reached in the chain spun around. She recognized the warmth of his large hands before she even had time to look up. It was Wulfric. She felt a tingling sensation go through her entire body before she was able to control herself. Then she realized he might be able to help her.
“Kick my shin,” Anna said breathlessly.
”What?” Wulfric looked dumbfounded.
”That way I don’t have to dance with Nicholas Lewinus,” Anna said.
The next moment she was lying on the floor, her shin hurting.
“Lady Harold, I’m so sorry,” Wulfric said as he leaned over her trying to help her up. Anna held on to her shin and moaned in pain. She did not have to pretend.
“I can get up myself,” she said angrily.
She could not help but be mad at him, even though she had requested him to kick her. She could feel how people were still dancing around them. She tried to get up herself but slipped on her dress. Wulfric managed to catch her before she fell on the floor, and he helped her to one of the benches that had been put to the side.
The dance stopped and Anna could see Nicholas Lewinus making his way towards them.
“Rosenkranz,” Nicholas Lewinus said as he came over to them. “I thought you were dancing with Lady Katarina?”
“I just needed to help Lady Harold sit down. I accidentally kicked her over the shin and... I should find Lady Katarina,” Wulfric babbled before he turned around and left.
Nicholas Lewinus sat down next to her.
“I’m so sorry, that I can’t dance with you, My lord,” Anna said. “But my leg hurts terribly.”
“It can’t be that bad?”
“It really is,” Anna said, and it was. If Wulfric had tried to kick her gently, she definitely did not want to know how much it would have hurt if he put all his force into it.
“Then perhaps I should escort you to your chambers,” Nicholas Lewinus said with a smirk.
“You’ll do no such thing,” Anna said angrily. “I’m perfectly fine here, I just have to rest for a bit.”
“Well, I’ll go find someone else then... but in four days, Anna, you’ll be mine. I’m sure that you will see sense. No one will want you if they learn about your affair with Rosenkranz.”
Anna skewed at Nicholas Lewinus leaving and willed her mind away from the troubles he represented. She wanted to look calm, serene. Feel happy. She watched the couples dancing, waiting for her leg to stop hurting. She had assumed that her leg would be fine after a couple of dances, but it was not even though Joana had brought her a cold compress.
Maria and Jonathan checked on her, but when she assured them that they should dance, they both continued. Anna watched enviously. This was one of the things she had been looking forward to since... With a lump in a throat, she realized that she probably hadn’t danced since Valdemar had died. They certainly had not danced in the convent, and she had not felt like it before.
She turned her head to the side and hoped that no one on the dancefloor had seen her sad face. When she turned, she was startled by someone sitting only a couple of feet away on the bench.
“I’m sorry, Lady Harold,” Lady Katarina said in a low voice.
“Don’t worry about it,” Anna said, while still trying to school her features into a neutral one.
The small and petite lady moved half an inch closer.
“Lady Harold,” she said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
Anna leaned in as well.
“You have to come nearer, I can’t hear what you’re saying,” she said in a louder than normal voice to make sure that Lady Katarina heard her.
Lady Katarina moved closer, but did not raise her voice when she again said:
“Lady Harold.”
Anna simply nodded that she could go on. She watched how the young girl swallowed and looked at her hands.
“I understand that you know Lord Rosenkranz rather well,” Lady Katarina finally got out.
Anna felt her insides go cold. Surely, Nicholas Lewinus could not have told Katarina Löwensbeck about her affair with Wulfric? Anna did not know her well, she was at least five years younger than her, probably more, and had not been at court when Anna was living there. There was no telling, how Lady Katarina would react if she knew about them.
“We are well-acquainted,” she finally managed to say.
“It’s just,” Lady Katarina looked up from her hands at the people dancing. Wulfric was dancing with Maria. It was clear that they were having fun. “Do you think I have a chance... with him?”
Anna opened her mouth to say something but closed it again when she realized that she had no idea how to respond. She had refused to marry Wulfric and it was clear that he was determined to find someone else then. Anna did not know whether his aim was to fall in love with someone else or simply to find someone suitable.
“I don’t see why not,” she said. There was no reason to discourage Lady Katarina.
Lady Katarina sent her a shy smile.
“Even when he’s also considering Lady Louisa?” Lady Katarina asked.
Anna thought about it for a moment. Lady Louisa was dancing with Nicholas Lewinus. He looked more at her bosom than her face and her beaming smile indicated that she did not mind in the least. Anna could not imagine that Wulfric would like her for a wife.
“I’m aware that Lady Louisa possesses certain charms that some men seem to appreciate overly much...” she said cautiously. “But I’m not sure that her charms are what Lord Rosenkranz would find necessary in his bride. Even though of course, this is not something that we have discussed.”
Lady Katarina’s smile grew wider now.
“Thank you, Lady Harold. I really like him, and I would really like to be married soon. I’ll be eighteen in only a couple of months,” the blonde girl said and then hurried away.
Anna looked after her with a feeling that she had suddenly become very old.