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Why should I want to touch her? I’m mistaking my annoyance for something else.

“Yes?” Gabriel answered, realizing he had been asked something.

“My dance card is filling up, and I am excited to dance, but what about you?” Eleanor asked. “I wish to have fun, but that shouldn’t be at your expense.”

“I am here for you, Lady Eleanor.”

“Yes, but what about dancing?” she asked. “Don’t you want to dance with someone?”

“I don’t have time to dance,” Gabriel told her.

Eleanor rolled her eyes.

Gabriel leaned in close and took Eleanor by the wrist. “Please don’t roll your eyes at me in public. I would rather people don’t gossip about you being here against your will.”

“I…” was all that Eleanor managed after the soft breath in her ear.

“Now, I hear the change in music, and that signals that the dances are about to begin,” Gabriel told her, letting go of her wrist. “Lord Tunberry was first, if I’m not mistaken, and I’m sure he will arrive in good time to accompany you to the dance floor.”

Eleanor’s eyes widened, and she seemed to shrink into herself.

“Look at me,” Gabriel demanded.

Eleanor did as she was told.

“These lords came looking for you because they want to be with you,” Gabriel told her. “You have nothing to prove to any of them. So, go and enjoy the dance, and I shall be here watching.”

“And judging?” Eleanor asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Overseeing,” Gabriel corrected.

The duke saw the young lord winding his way through the crowd, coming to take her to the dance floor. He watched the lord, who wouldn’t meet his eyes as he led Eleanor to the dance floor with his hand on her waist, and all he could think was that he wanted to be the one with his hand on her waist.

CHAPTER 9

Eleanor felt her body shaking as she took to the dance floor. When she took the young lord’s hand, she found it to be sweaty. He took her hand in a loose grip, and then grabbed her by the waist so tightly that it almost hurt. Eleanor was no expert on dancing, but it felt like the concept of dancing had been explained to Lord Tunberry only fifteen minutes ago.

When the music started, the lord almost tripped over his own foot, and he lost his grip on Eleanor’s waist for a moment before regaining it. Then, he moved her jerkily across the dance floor.

Eleanor was too nervous and excited to think much about the dance, and she tried her best to reply politely as the lord spoke at length about his family farm. She didn’t have much of an interest in farming, but she feigned that interest as she danced with the lord.

At one point, she looked out over the dance floor and happened to catch the duke watching her. That only made Tunberry’s conversation more mundane. Gabriel was the most annoying man she had ever spoken to, of course, but at least he was interesting. And he was far better looking than Tunberry. However, the duke was far better looking than most of the gentlemen there that evening.

It felt like the dance ended as quickly as it had started, and Tunberry escorted her back to the duke.

“Thank you for the dance, Lady Eleanor,” Tunberry said.

“The pleasure was all mine,” she responded.

“It didn’t look like a pleasure,” Gabriel noted once the lord had left.

“It was a pleasure,” Eleanor lied. “We had a wonderful dance together, and perhaps he will fall in love with me and ask for my hand.” The dance had been barely mediocre and nothing more, but she wanted to argue with Gabriel after his insinuation.

“Yet, you said that you didn’t want to wed for love,” the duke pointed out.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t marry a man who wants to be with me,” Eleanor protested.

Before the duke could state his case further, her next partner arrived to escort her to the dance floor. Again, she caught Gabriel watching them as they danced. He was there to watch over her, but he seemed to be watching them with a different look in his eyes. There was nothing he could do to protect her, not that she needed protection, but it looked as if he was ready to march out onto the dance floor and pull her partner away from her.