Not Quite a Spinster by Rebecca Connolly

Author:Rebecca Connolly [Connolly, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Phase Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-04-24T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Six

What does one gain from dancing the waltz? An appreciation for one’s personal space. The true sense of a gentleman’s dancing abilities and sense of timing. An echo of whatever his last meal was or his preferred fragrance is. And, more often than not, an awkwardly perspiring hand within a glove that is not to be removed. Would it be too much for such a dance to go back into its scandalizing corners?.

-The Spinster Chronicles, 29 May 1818

What was happening to her? Everything was too hot; the room, her face, her heart, every breath that filled her lungs… Even her fingers felt hot, though they also felt like ice somehow, and she had to keep wiggling them to make certain she still had sensation in them.

She could not believe any of this. Edward Henshaw? Her brother’s best friend? Her protector, her friend, her comfort? He was the one turning her into a ticklish, overheated wreck? It was the most embarrassing thing she could think of, and she had no idea how she was going to manage to waltz with him when she was destined to be red as a strawberry.

But his fingers had touched hers, too. The bizarre impulse she had felt to reach for him, to touch him, had not been as flighty an impulse as she’d thought. He’d had it as well, and she would never have suspected… never guessed…

He had called her matchless. Such a peculiar word, and one not attributed much to young ladies, but would now become the most treasured word of them all.

Matchless.

She could have said the same about him. There was no one like Edward Henshaw in all the world. If there had been, not one of them would have been eligible for more than five seconds. Which begged the question.

Why was he?

Rumors had abounded among their friends—and no doubt some of the extended circles—about him with various members of the Spinsters at one time or another, given his closeness with them and the moments he had been of particular service. Why, even Kitty had thought that he would marry Lady Edith, given he called on her to see after her welfare. But it seemed that he truly had been more about the responsibility and friendship he had claimed and nothing more, as she was now married to Lord Radcliffe.

At this moment, she was inestimably pleased that all of that had transpired so that it could lead to… what? What was any of this leading to? Or was it leading anywhere? Was Kitty simply so desperate for the idea of marriage and family, now that Miranda had forced her to look at it, that she would cling to the most convenient choice?

It did not explain why he would reach for her, but she would certainly need to watch herself to ensure she did not overstep purely out of curiosity for the sensations she was experiencing.

Two dances had passed since they had left the dining room, and she was not any calmer in body now than she had been the moment she had left Hensh’s side.

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