Free Lilac Spring by Ruth Axtell Morren

friends took a break.
    She nodded her acceptance, and the two of them entered the other parlor, where furniture and carpets had been cleared from the center of the room. Cherish allowed Warren to swing her around in the spirited dance amidst the other dancers. One dance led to another. About halfway through the second, she spotted Silas in the doorway. She lifted an arm in greeting and he nodded to her with a smile.
    As the music ended, she and Warren moved off the dance floor. “You dance very well,” he told her as he led her toward the doorway. “Let me get you some refreshment before the musicians start up again. I’ll bring Annalise back with me.”
    “Yes, do.” Maybe he could dance with his sister.
    She turned to Silas with a smile. “Where have you been keeping yourself all evening?”
    “Around,” he answered with a lazy grin. His thick hair was swept back from his forehead. Darker sideburns contrasted with the burnished gold of the rest of his hair. His gray eyes were alight with humor. “You are looking quite the fashion plate.”
    “I trust that is a compliment.”
    He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Most certainly. Another Paris creation?” he asked with a nod at her gown.
    “Yes, monsieur. I’ve been looking for you,” she said after a moment.
    “What for? To foist some young lady on me to dance with?”
    She laughed, thinking that was precisely what she intended. “Why aren’t you dancing, anyway?”
    “I told you, I’m not much of a dancer.”
    “You never will be if you don’t practice.”
    At that moment Warren returned with Annalise.
    “Silas, you remember Warren Townsend and his sister, Annalise.”
    “Yes, of course. Pleased to see you both again,” he said, giving Warren his hand and smiling kindly at Annalise.
    “It’s good to see you, too,” Warren replied.
    They exchanged pleasantries as Cherish sipped the cold fruit punch. She heard the first notes of the piano and looked for a place to set down her cup.
    Her arm, stretched toward a low table, stopped, paralyzed, when she heard Warren’s low, friendly tone behind her. “Would you mind escorting Annalise onto the dance floor? I’d like to dance with Cherish and don’t want to leave my sister unescorted. Although she’ll deny it, she’s a wonderful dancer.”
    “Uh, of course,” Silas said after a second’s hesitation. “Miss Townsend? Would you care to dance this waltz with me?”
    Cherish turned, seeing the look of fright on Annalise’s face. For a moment she felt relief, certain Annalise would turn Silas down.
    But her brother pushed her gently toward Silas, urging, “Please say yes. Otherwise everyone will think Silas was turned down by the prettiest girl in the room.”
    Annalise’s eyes widened in concern. Silas stood by, saying nothing. The girl hesitated between the two men.
    Finally Silas held out his arm, smiling encouragement. “They’ll understand once they see me waltz.”
    Annalise returned his smile and put her hand on his arm.
    Everything faded out for Cherish—the sounds of the waltz, the babble of voices around her—as she watched Silas, arm in arm with Annalise, walk toward the dance floor. The distance between him and Cherish increased with each step, making it a reality she could do nothing to alter.
    As if coming back to the present, she heard Warren’s voice. “So, may I have the honor of this dance?”
    She licked her lips, tempted to give him the set-down of his life. How dare he? He and his stupid little sister with her shy, childish ways! Cherish swallowed the words that roiled through hermind, knowing how unfair they were, but unable to stop from feeling hurt and humiliated even as she nodded her assent.
    She followed the dance steps like an automaton while her heart ached with the feeling of betrayal. The warm smile she thought reserved for her, the encouraging words she’d always received from Silas, the gentle teasing were not for her alone. They were for any young lady