Free Old Sins Long Shadows by B.D. Hawkey Page A

seriously!  You planned this!’ she accused, ‘I saw you standing there, working something out. You planned to humiliate me like this because I wouldn’t dance with you earlier.’
    ‘ You flatter yourself, Miss Carhart,’ he emphasised her title.
    He stood back in the male line but their argument continued and the two participants forgot about the dance and that he still carried her in his arms. The other dancers tried their best to dance around them.
    ‘You are trying to show me up in front of everyone!’ she ground out under her breath.
    ‘ I think you are doing a good enough job of that on your own,’ he retorted back, holding her even more firmly.
    She gave his shoulder a shake, ‘Why couldn’t you just offer your arm?  Why did you have to pick me up?’
    ‘Would you have taken my arm if I’d offered it?’ She hesitated to answer, ‘Thought not,’ he added.
    Someone bumped into Daniel and he threw them an irritated glance and moved further down the line to stand apart from the dancers with Janey still in his arms . People in the crowd started nudging one another and a few dancers slowed and eventually stopped. The dance was starting to disintegrate but the couple did not notice and the music continued.
    ‘ You’ve obviously not danced this dance before. A couple can walk down the aisle any way. Look,’ he nodded to a man carrying a woman on his back, both raucous with drink and laughter. Janey strained her neck to see.
    ‘ Perhaps, if you relaxed a little, you might actually enjoy it rather than being Miss Prim and Proper.’
    Janey gasped at the insult . ‘I was relaxed and enjoying myself until you man handled me!’ she argued back. ‘You are no gentleman!’
    ‘ Gentlemen by name don’t always behave like gentleman.’ He was becoming more than a little annoyed now. He knew who she was alluding to and didn’t like it.
    ‘ I don’t know what you mean.’
    ‘ I’ve seen you simpering after James Brockenshaw. I bet if he picked you up you wouldn’t be getting so mazed.’
    ‘ The reason I’m mad at you is because I don’t know you. How dare you pick me up as if we are on more intimate terms.’  For the first time he looked down at her and she was taken aback by the look in his eyes. She wished she hadn’t spoken the word intimate as it immediately conjured up images of them together. She realised he was thinking the same. The music stopped and they were brought back to the reality of the village hall and the realisation they were encircled by a watching crowd. Like a cornered animal she fought back in the only way she knew….with words.
    ‘ Put me down this minute you heathen!’ she shouted at him. The crowd around them gasped and hurt flashed across his face, quickly followed by a mask of anger. With one sharp movement he dumped her onto the floor. Her arm swung out, grabbing his shirt to steady herself she pulled a button off and ripped his shirt. As she stumbled to regain her balance he walked past her and off the dance floor. Janey stood in the centre alone, she looked about her at the faces, some shocked, some smiling, resting finally on Mary whose face showed the anger and jealousy she felt. Janey walked off the floor, her legs shaking with rage. To her relief the music started again. Charlotte and Lizzy came over and gave her a hug. Janey tried to look for Mary but she had disappeared into the crowd.
    ‘ What was it like to be carried by him?’ asked Charlotte but Janey was still mad.
    ‘ I don’t want to think about it.’
    ‘ He looked so strong. He picked you up like you weighed nothing at all.’
    ‘ I really don’t want to think about it,’ insisted Janey, brushing her skirt down with her shaking hands.
    Charlotte had to be content to change the subject, ‘Lizzy and I are leaving soon. Are you walking back with Mary?’
    Janey looked around for Mary , ‘Yes, I will walk home with Mary,’ she said. She needed to make it up to Mary. She could see she was