I jumped about a mile high. Captain Carter had appeared next to me out of nowhere. It was an astonishing feat for a man wearing a waistcoat with glinting golden tigers on it that were visible from a mile away.
‘Now I see what you meant when you said there might be complications if your sister were faced with marriage to Flip,’ he said, smirking. The dance had just ended, but Edmund and Ella hadn’t moved away from each other. They were still standing there, each locked in the other’s gaze. ‘Do you think if we go over there, you could introduce me to the complications? He looks like a nice young man.’
‘Certainly not,’ I hissed, grabbing him by the arm, as he was already starting forward. ‘It’s supposed to be secret! Nobody must know about them.’
He looked back at me, a quizzical expression on his face. ‘They are conducting a secret liaison in the middle of a ballroom full of people?’
‘Well, um… yes.’
‘Not the brightest pair of candles in the shop, are they?’
‘Oh, shut up! That’s my sister you’re talking about!’
He bowed his head. ‘Yes, Miss Linton. As you wish, Miss Linton.’
‘And… thank you.’ I looked down, but not quickly enough to miss how he raised one of his eyebrows.
‘Thank me? For what?’
‘For helping Ella.’
‘You mean for helping you.’
I moaned. ‘Yes, if you must put it like that.’
‘I must,’ he said, nodding gravely. ‘To help a lady get rid of a prospective husband - now that is no particularly honourable deed. But to help a lady save her sister’s honour and happiness? Now that’s something entirely different. Something I might confidently brag of when I next drink with my comrades.’
My eyes shot up to his. ‘Don’t you dare! If you breathe a word of any of this…’
‘…You will hamstring me and subject me to the most terrible tortures you can devise,’ he finished my sentence cheerfully. ‘Don’t worry. I know when to keep my mouth shut. It’s only when it’s already open that the wrong things come popping out of it.’
I eyed him, the doubt obvious on my face.
‘Promise?’
He put a hand on his heart. ‘I swear on the honour of my regiment,’ he said. ‘Except for me, its members actually have some.’
I couldn’t help it. I laughed.
‘That’s better.’ He smiled back at me. ‘This is an hour for joy and celebration, Miss Linton.’
And he was right - it was. Ella was saved, or to be more precise, she had never been in danger. Later, I might rampage a little about the fact that all my worry and scheming had been for nothing. But for now, simple joy filled every part of me, and I was happy and secure in the knowledge that Ella would stay happy, her honour intact and her future once more in her own hands.
Captain Carter stepped closer and opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something - but just at that moment, a man in the uniform of a colonel waved him over. ‘Carter! Come over here, I’ve got to tell you something. I just got a memorandum about the Sinai situation.’
The Captain gave me an apologetic smile. ‘I fear I have to depart, Miss Linton. Work calls me even in my leisure hours.’
‘That’s all right,’ I assured him. ‘You’ve already given me enough of your time. Thanks again for your help.’
‘It was my pleasure.’ He winked at me. ‘If ever you should feel the inclination to go searching for a romantic interest again, I hope you’ll come to me.’
Before his words had fully registered, he was already gone.
~~*~~*
‘There you are, Lilly!’ My aunt and Maria appeared next to me, waking me from my stupor. ‘Where have you been?’
‘I… um…’
Doing my best to prevent the marriage that is your heart’s desire.
‘I… I’ve been dancing,’ I fibbed. ‘Yes, that’s what I’ve been doing. Dancing all the time.’
‘Really?’ Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘I didn’t see you on the dance floor. With whom were you dancing?’
‘Um…’ Quickly, I looked around for a suitable candidate. My eyes fell on a tigered waistcoat. ‘That gentleman, over there.’
‘Where? Who do you…?’ My aunt trailed off as she beheld the muscular figure with his long mahogany locks.
‘You have been dancing with him?’ Maria said. ‘You are joking, aren’t you?’
‘No,’ I said, desperately hoping they would believe me.
They didn’t.
‘Well, if that’s so,’ Maria said, ‘you won’t have anything against introducing us to your friend, surely.’
‘What a brilliant idea, my dear,’ my aunt exclaimed. ‘Lilly, go on, introduce us.’
By now, Captain Carter seemed to have finished his talk with his military friend. I had no other choice, though I would rather not have approached him, particularly after what he said to me last.
I approached, my aunt and sister behind me like a pack of hounds behind the poor little fox.
‘Captain?’
He turned, and seemed surprised to find it was me.
‘Yes, Miss Linton?’
‘Captain Carter, may I introduce you to my aunt, Mrs Brank, and my sister, Miss Maria Linton,’ I said, pointing them out in turn as they curtsied. ‘Aunt, Maria, may I present Captain William Carter of the British Army.’
‘Very pleased to meet you, I’m sure,’ said my aunt with another curtsy.
‘So am I.’ Did Maria’s voice actually sound breathy?
‘No, it is I who am delighted to make your acquaintance,’ the Captain said, bowing with the same snappy precision he had shown before. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I was just telling them how we had danced together for three dances in a row,’ I said, hoping he would understand.
He blinked, once.
‘Indeed, and what marvellous dances they were,’ he said. Thank God, he was quick on the uptake. ‘I can hardly find the words to express my admiration of your charming niece’s skill on the dance floor.’
I threw him a thankful smile. My aunt smiled, too. Maria didn’t.
‘That’s wonderful to hear,’ my aunt trilled. Again, she let her eyes roam over the Captain. ‘That is an interesting waistcoat you’re wearing, Captain. Don’t most officers prefer to wear uniforms?’
‘Most do,’ he said, nodding gravely. ‘But I had this specially made. I commissioned a French dressmaker to embroider it with one tiger for every one I killed while on safari.’
‘Is that so?’ My aunt’s eyes widened in awe, and so did Maria's. ‘You actually killed so many of these fearful beasts? Captain, you must be a man of tremendous courage!’
I ducked behind the nearest potted plant. If anybody noticed the snort of laughter that issued from behind it soon afterwards, they didn’t connect it with me.
It wasn’t long before I emerged again, my face perfectly straight. Captain Carter was regaling the wide-eyed Maria with tales of his tiger hunts. My aunt was still present, too, but she wasn’t really listening. I recognized the look in her eyes immediately - a look somewhere between that of a shark and of an accountant of the Bank of England. She was sizing him up as a potential suitor, a task that consumed all her attention for the moment.
‘…and then,’ he was saying, ‘the tiger sprang at me, and I grabbed for my rifle.’
‘And did you shoot it?’ Maria demanded, breathless.
‘No. The rifle was jammed.’
‘No!’
‘Yes. Just in time, I managed to turn it around and let it come down with the blunt end on the tiger’s head. I hit it with such force that the beast was knocked clean unconscious.’
Maria clapped her hand in front of her mouth.
Behind her back, I imitated her gesture, and Captain Carter’s lip twitched.
He was by no means the first gentleman I had heard telling fake tales of bravery and adventure. But he was the first one who had let me in on the game. And somehow, because of that, I didn’t mind. I exchanged a smile with him.
‘Ah,’ he said, smiling back and nodding. ‘There you are, Miss Linton.’
‘Were you so desperate for my company?’ I asked, arching an eyebrow.
‘Indeed I was. Did I not tell you before how much I enjoyed our dancing? I fear those three dances you have shared with me so far have only left me starving and craving for more. In fact, I can hardly remember them anymore. May I beg you to favour me with another?’
He extended his arm to me, his eyes sparkling with evil mirth.