Dancing At Midnight

'I went and got myself married,' Alex said with a sheepish smile.

'Did you now?' John raised his glass of whiskey in a silent toast.

'Her name is Emma. She's Belle's cousin.'

John wondered if Alex's wife looked anything like her cousin. If so, he could easily see how she would have caught the duke's attention. 'I don't suppose she has also read the entire works of Shakespeare?'

Alex let out a short laugh. 'Actually she started to, but I've been keeping her busy lately.'

John raised his eyebrows over the double meaning of that comment.

Alex caught his expression immediately. 'I've got her managing my estates. She has quite a head for figures, actually. She can add and subtract much faster than I can.'

'Brains run in the family, I see.'

Alex wondered how John had learned so much about Belle in such a short time but didn't say anything. 'Yes, well, that may be the only thing the two of them have in common, besides their uncanny ability to get exactly what they want without your even realizing it.'

'Oh?'

'Emma's quite headstrong,' Alex said with a sigh. But it was a comfortable, happy sigh.

'And her cousin isn't?' John asked. 'She struck me as quite formidable.'

'No, no, Belle has quite a strong will, don't get me wrong. But it's not quite the same as Emma. My wife is so stubborn she'll often plunge herself into situations without quite thinking about it first. Belle isn't like that. She's very practical. Very pragmatic. She's got this insatiable curiosity. It's damned difficult to keep a secret around her, but I must say, I quite like her. After seeing some of the hellish situations of my friends, I consider myself quite fortunate in my in-laws.'

Alex realized that he was speaking far more openly than he normally would with a friend whom he hadn't seen in years, but he supposed that there was something about war that forges an indestructible bond between men, and it was probably for that reason that he was talking with John as if the last four years had never passed.

Or it also could have been that John was a very good listener. He always had been, Alex remembered. 'But enough about my new family,' he said suddenly. 'You'll meet them soon enough. How are you? You managed to avoid my questions rather neatly.'

John chuckled. 'Same as ever, I suppose, except now I've got a title.'

'And a home.'

'And a home. I bought this place by investing and reinvesting the price of my commission.'

Alex let out a low whistle. 'You must have quite the golden touch in financial matters. We should talk about it someday. I could probably learn a thing or two from you.'

'The secret to financial success is not difficult, actually.'

'Really? Pray tell, what is it?'

'Common sense.'

Alex let out a laugh. 'Something I fear I've been lacking these last few months, but I'm afraid that's what love does to a man. Listen, why don't you come over to dine soon? I told my wife about you, and she's very eager to meet you. And of course you already know Belle.'

'I'd like that,' John said. And in a rare show of emotion, he added, 'I think it will be very nice to have some friends in the district. Thank you for stopping by.'

Alex looked at his old friend intently, and in a flash he saw just how lonely John really was. But a second later, John shuttered his gaze, and his expression adopted its usual inscrutability. 'Very well, then,' Alex said courteously. 'How about in two days' time? We don't keep town hours out here, so we'll probably dine around seven.'

John nodded his head.

'Excellent. We'll see you then.' Alex stood up and shook John's hand. 'I'm glad our paths crossed again.'

'As am I.' John escorted Alex out of the house to the stables where his horse was waiting. With a friendly nod, Alex mounted and rode away.

John walked slowly back into the house, smiling to himself as he looked up at his new home. When he reached the hall, however, Buxton intercepted him.

'This arrived for you, my lord, while you were conversing with his grace.' He handed John an envelope on a silver tray.

John raised his eyebrows as he unfolded the note.

I am in England.

How strange. John turned the envelope over in his hand. His name was not written on it anywhere. 'Buxton?' he called out.

The butler, who had been on his way to the kitchen, turned around and returned to John's side.

'When this arrived, what did the messenger say?'

'Just that he had a note for the master of the house.'

'He didn't mention my name specifically?'

'No, my lord, I don't think so. It was a child who delivered it, actually. I don't think he was more than eight or nine.'

John gave the paper one last speculative glance and then shrugged. 'It's probably for the previous owners.' He crumpled it in his hand and tossed it aside. 'I certainly have no idea what it's about.'

Later that night as John was eating dinner, he thought about Belle. As he nursed a glass of whiskey over the pages of The Winter's Tale, he thought about her. He crawled into bed, and he thought about her.

She was beautiful. That much was irrefutable, but he didn't think that was the reason she pervaded his thoughts. There had been a gleam in those bright blue eyes. A gleam of intelligence, and… compassion. She'd tried to befriend him before he'd gone and completely foiled her attempt. He shook his head, as if to banish her from his thoughts. He knew better than to think about women before bed. Closing his eyes, he sent up a prayer for dreamless sleep.

He was in Spain. It was a hot day, but his company was in good spirits; no fighting for the last week.

They had settled into a small town, nearly a month ago. The locals were, for the most part, glad to have them. The soldiers brought money, mostly to the tavern, but everyone felt a little more prosperous when the English were in town.

As usual, John was drunk. Anything to wipe out the screams that rang in his ears and the blood that he always felt on his hands, no matter how often he washed them. Another few drinks, he judged, and he'd be well on his way to oblivion.

'Blackwood.'

He looked up and nodded at the man settling across the table from him. 'Spencer.'

George Spencer picked up the bottle. 'Do you mind?'

John shrugged.

Spencer splashed some of the liquid into the glass he'd brought over with him. 'Do you have any idea when we're getting out of this hellhole?'

'I prefer this hellhole, as you call it, to the deeper one on the battlefield.'

Spencer glanced at a serving girl across the room and licked his lips before turning back to John and saying, 'Never would have took you for a coward, Blackwood.'

John shot back another glass of whiskey. 'Not a coward, Spencer. Just a man.'

'Aren't we all.' Spencer's attention was still focused on the girl, who couldn't have been more than thirteen. 'What do you think of that one, eh?'

]ohn just shrugged again, not feeling especially communicative.

The girl, whose name he had learned during this past month was Ana, came over and set a plate of food in front of him. He thanked her in Spanish. She nodded and smiled, but before she could leave, Spencer had pulled her onto his lap.

'Aren't you a nice piece?' he drawled, his hand creeping up and covering her barely mature breast.

'No,' she said in broken English. 'I-'

'Leave her alone,' John said sharply.