her confidence, and his superior dancing skill strengthened her fledgling efforts. She completed the figure without further error.
Whatever the gentleman had said, he apparently knew how to set a woman at ease. Perhaps it was his sister’s influence. “Does Miss Crawford keep house for her brother now that he is of age?” Elizabeth asked.
“She lives with another relation,” Lady Winthrop replied. “A half sister.”
The colonel and Anne took right hands across with Miss Winthrop and Mr. Crawford. When her hand entered Mr. Crawford’s grasp, Anne raised her eyes to meet his gaze. His eyes danced as merrily as he.
At the song’s conclusion, he smiled at her once more before bowing to Miss Winthrop. Anne looked away quickly and honored her own partner with a curtsy. Colonel Fitzwilliam crossed the set and spoke to her, apparently encouraging her to remain with him on the floor for a second dance. She glanced toward the doorway through which her mother had disappeared, and shook her head.
Poor Miss de Bourgh. The risk of being caught enjoying herself was too great. The colonel escorted her back to Elizabeth.
“You dance beautifully, Miss de Bourgh,” Lady Winthrop said. “I hope I have another opportunity to observe you this evening.”
“I thank you for the compliment, but I fear I must disappoint your hopes. I rarely dance, and doubt even my cousin can persuade me to do so a second time tonight.” She looked back at the dance floor, where Miss Winthrop and Mr. Crawford were among a dozen couples beginning a reel. Anne’s expression suggested it was her own desire, rather than Lady Winthrop’s, being thwarted by her abstinence.
“Perhaps some refreshment would revive your interest,” Elizabeth suggested. “Colonel Fitzwilliam, I have it on good authority that Riveton serves exceptional lemonade. Is that so?”
“The finest. Would all of you ladies care to determine its quality for yourselves?”
Lady Winthrop declined, citing the need for a word with her daughter when the current dance concluded, but Elizabeth and Miss de Bourgh accompanied the colonel to the next room, where a table offered lemonade and rout cakes. The beverage was soon pronounced by all three to be without equal. Lady Catherine would have approved.
But her ladyship remained at cards, anticipating Anne’s imminent participation. Elizabeth wondered how much longer she would play before sending Darcy to fetch her daughter.
The cessation of music in the ballroom heralded a break for the instrumentalists. Parched dancers took advantage of the lull and crowded the refreshment room. Anne having finished her lemonade, Colonel Fitzwilliam offered to refill her glass. When he returned, Mr. Crawford accompanied him.
“Mrs. Darcy, Miss de Bourgh, this gentleman has begged an introduction to my fair cousins. May I present Mr. Henry Crawford?”
“Indeed you may,” Elizabeth said. “I am delighted to meet you, Mr. Crawford, particularly after witnessing your performance in the ballroom.”
“I do like a good ball. Have you danced yet this evening?”
“I have not.”
“By inclination or happenstance?”
“My husband is in the card room, and most of the other gentlemen present have engaged unattached ladies for their partners, as they should. A married woman such as myself has no business dancing when there are single ladies wishing to do so.”
“You are noble to your sex, but even the most altruistic person cannot be expected to deny herself the pleasure of dancing for the entire length of a ball. You must stand up with me for the next set. Surely Mr. Darcy will not object to your enjoying a dance while he amuses himself at cards.”
Elizabeth suspected “amusement” hardly described what Darcy experienced just now, but she kept that thought to herself. “He would not frown upon my dancing, though he would likely prefer that my partner be someone with whom he is acquainted, and the young ladies present might take exception to my monopolizing one of the most eligible bachelors in the room.”
“Again, this concern for your unwed counterparts! What is it about marriage that makes people so eager for others to enter that state as soon as they cross the threshold themselves? Very well. I withdraw my invitation, but only if Colonel Fitzwilliam will take it up, for your husband can have no opposition to your dancing with his cousin. What say you, Colonel?”
“I would be honored to dance with Mrs. Darcy.”
“There,” Mr. Crawford declared. “I, meanwhile, will satisfy your anxiety for the plight of single ladies in attendance by beseeching Miss de Bourgh to stand up with me. Will you, Miss de Bourgh?”
Anne flushed. “I–I had not intended to dance again this evening.”
“I beg you. Or at least, I beg your mercy. Will you not spare me the humiliation of being refused by two ladies in the space of two minutes?”
Anne glanced toward the doorway. “I do not think it a good idea.”
Elizabeth resented Lady Catherine anew. Even from another room, she managed to stifle all gaiety in her daughter. Anne deserved a few more minutes of happiness at the ball before Lady Catherine turned her coach into a pumpkin.
Elizabeth touched Anne’s arm. “Your mother is occupied,” she said quietly. “Seize opportunity while you can.”
Anne searched Elizabeth’s face, her own eyes reflecting confusion. “I am not certain I understand your meaning.”
“An amiable gentleman has made you an offer. If it will make you happy, accept him.”
“I—” She looked at Mr. Crawford a long moment. “I must beg you to excuse me, sir. When you approached, I had just been considering retiring to my chamber, which I now believe I will do.”
“I hope naught is amiss. Have I offended you? If so—”
“You have given no offense. I feel a trifle unwell. A headache. I think perhaps from the exertion of dancing earlier.”
“Would you like me to accompany you?” Elizabeth asked. “Or to summon Mrs. Jenkinson?”
“No, I simply need to rest, and that is better done in solitude.”
“Is there nothing we can do for your comfort?” Colonel Fitzwilliam said.
“Please inform my mother and Mrs. Jenkinson that I have retired and wish not to be disturbed. But postpone the announcement if you can — my mother might insist on sending Mrs. Jenkinson to me, and I would rather be alone.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth could well understand Anne’s desire for respite without — and from — Mrs. Jenkinson and her hovering. She herself would have found the constant presence of a companion intrusive and intolerable.
Anne turned back to Mr. Crawford. “Perhaps we will have an opportunity to dance together in the future, sir.”
He bowed. “I look forward to it.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam offered her his arm. “At least allow me to escort you out of this crowd and see you safely to your room.”
As Anne scurried off, the clock struck midnight.
“Cinderella has left the ball,” Mr. Crawford said. His gaze followed Anne and the colonel until the crowd swallowed them from view, then turned to Elizabeth. “At least she had a chance to dance with one prince.”
“I believe she would have accepted your invitation, were it not for her headache. Perhaps, as she said, another opportunity will arise. How long do you remain in the neighborhood?”
“My uncle and I depart in the morning — he for London, I for Norfolk. Indeed, I intend to leave so early that we shall exchange farewells tonight.”
“Do you return to Everingham?”
Her question appeared to amuse him. “I do, but as neither I nor Colonel Fitzwilliam mentioned Everingham, I must now puzzle out how you came to know of it. I presume myself the subject of a conversation that occurred before we met, but with whom? Hold! Allow me to guess. Are you acquainted with Admiral Davidson?”
“Only slightly. It was not he who revealed the name of your home.”
“My uncle, then?”
