Free Already His (The Caversham Chronicles - Book Two) by Sandy Raven Page A

falling into exhaustion. She would sit out every waltz until she and Michael could dance one together, which would have to wait until after his mourning. After they’d left the dance floor, he fled the room, she thought to join her brother in the card room. Then Lia told her that Michael had remembered something urgent that needed tending, so he made his excuses and begged forgiveness before his early departure.
    After Michael had gone, the rest of the night was unremarkable. Elise did nothing to embarrass her family, and held herself with the grace and dignity that befit her station as the oldest sister to a sitting duke. Fortunately, she was spared having to dance again with The Honorable David Sinclair, who clung to the fringes of her collected bevy of gentleman. Though, as the evening wore on, she realized Sinclair wasn’t quite the ogre she’d at first assumed him to be, and in actuality was quite intelligent. Nor did he appear to be threatened by a woman who enjoyed discussing politics and philosophy.
    But she still didn’t want to dance with him again. Something in his touch filled her with a coldness, resonating through her in an unpleasant manner. It made her go out of her way to avoid touching him the rest of the night.
    So after hours more of dancing, smiling, chatting, and hiding her yawns behind her hand or her fan, Elise and Beverly went up the stairs, to their respective chambers, too tired to review the evening’s event, promising to do so as soon as they woke in the morning. She wished Michael hadn’t left so soon, and wondered if she’d done something to cause him to leave right after their dance.
    Elise’s final memory before falling asleep was the look of appreciation and desire in Michael’s hazel eyes, first as she descended the staircase, then later as he partnered her in their dance. She smiled to herself in the darkened room. Total happiness was within reach.
     
    T he next day’s gossip sheets would declare the debut of Lady Elise Halden a resounding success, and the young lady herself labeled an incomparable and a diamond of the first water, the likes of which had not been seen in the London social scene in years. Her trend-setting gown, which at first was thought to be too daring for a gently-reared young miss was hailed as more proper and practical than some worn by other ladies of the same class and age. Proper for her modest decolletage, and practical for her ankle-baring hemline which prevented the lady herself and her many dance partners from tripping on excess material.

 
    C HAPTER T HREE
     
     
    S nuggled under the eider down quilt on her bed, Elise tried, really tried to make herself fall asleep. She’d been awake all night, anticipating her next meeting with him . But now bright summer sunshine streamed through her open drapes, and the sounds of birds singing cheerfully in the garden below drifted in the open window drowning out the sounds of the street. Smiling to herself, she knew it must be an omen of a bright future.
    Footsteps in the hall hurried toward her room. Recognizing them, she immediately bolted upright, and ran across the room to open the door before Beverly even knocked. She flung her arms around her friend, who arrived in her night robe and slippers, obviously fresh from bed herself. They squealed and jumped up and down, then danced around the room in girlish vivacity. Minutes later they fell back onto Elise’s bed, breathless.
    “Did you see the way he looked at you? He was positively smitten!”
    “Do you think so? I’m afraid to hope, that after all these years....”
    “I watched him as you entered the room and his eyes never left you.” Beverly leaned up on an elbow and held her gaze. “At times he’d look around to make sure no one was watching him, but then his gaze would always return to you. When you walked by him, coming to the dais after the dance with your brother, you smiled, he smiled, and when you passed by his eyes caressed your