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Perhaps that wouldn’t be so bad. Eleanor was two dances in, and she had found both of her partners uninspiring.

Perhaps there is something wrong with me, and only the dullest men will approach me.

She had one more dance before returning to the duke again, and this time she found him this time with his hands full: lemonade in one and champagne in the other.

“I suppose I only get lemonade and you get the champagne?” she pouted.

“They are both for you,” the duke said, handing them to her. “One to replenish the body and one to replenish the soul. You could do with it out there.”

“I have the worst partners,” Eleanor protested. “I don’t know how long ago they learned to dance, but I fear they came straight from a lesson to the ball.”

"I thought you were enjoying the dances?" Gabriel asked with a smirk.

"I…" Eleanor folded her arms tightly across her chest.

“A dance is a partnership, a fight, and a song of the heart,” the duke said.

Eleanor was taken aback by such words.

“You must hold yourself accountable in any partnership,” he continued. “You have learned a little, but you’re right; you should have danced with me before the ball. We shall take the next dance together.”

"I thought you didn't dance," Eleanor said with a smirk.

"I said that I didn’t have time to dance," Gabriel corrected. "I will make the time to instruct you on how dancing should be done."

Eleanor raised her eyebrows. "Can you take time out of your busy schedule of overseeing me?"

"If you are refusing my help, then come out and say that."

“I already have a partner for the next dance,” Eleanor reminded him.

“And I am the Duke of Ravenshire,” he said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Eleanor smiled, curious as to what he had up his sleeve.

She drank the lemonade first, quenching her thirst, and then she got to work on the champagne, feeling merry by the time the music changed once more.

She spotted Lord Finnan approaching, and she turned to the duke. He glared at the lord with the same fire in his eyes as she had seen on the very first night they met. Lord Finnan came closer, slowed a little, and then stopped. Eleanor didn’t see Gabriel do anything, nor did she hear anything from him, but the lord shook his head, looked at the floor as if he had lost something, and walked away.

“Shall we?” the duke asked.

Eleanor turned to him, a little hesitant to take the hand he held out. It took a couple of seconds, but she finally acquiesced. He held her in a firm grip, but not too tightly, and she noticed immediately that his palms were not sweaty.

When they got to the dance floor, he took her by the waist, applying a little pressure. It was enough to guide her, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. Once she had her hand on his shoulder, he pulled her in quickly until their bodies were almost touching.

“Oh,” Eleanor gasped. She did everything she could not to look him in the eye. She inhaled his cologne again and felt his warmth almost drawing him in more.

“This is how you dance,” he growled. “You’ve been too rigid and timid, and your previous partners have allowed that. You can’t dance with a partner when you are so far away from them. I will show you the proper way.”

The music started up, and the duke took control of her body, guiding her across the dance floor. With the previous lords, perhaps due to being so young and inexperienced, their hands had held suggestions for where Eleanor should move, whereas Gabriel’s hands held demands.

Eleanor saw Lottie standing on the edge of the dance floor with a large grin on her face. That caused Eleanor to look at the duke. When she did, she realized just how close they were, and her knees went weak.

She didn’t know whether he noticed, and that was why he held her tightly, or if he was holding her so tightly that her buckling knees didn’t make a difference.

The only thing she knew for sure was that it felt like she had been dancing with boys previously and now she was finally dancing with a man.

“So, was I right about the lords?” the duke asked.