Chương 33: Dance With Me

Music floated through the air, along with the smell of cakes and candles. Delaney couldn't believe things had come together so perfectly.

She let herself be escorted to the dancefloor by one man after another, laughing as she spun around. It was almost like another world. Here there was no worry. There was only freedom and happiness.

Dancing until she was breathless, Delaney returned with rosy cheeks to the table where Win was still playing cards. She was just going to take a quick break before returning for more wine and dancing.

Delaney didn't recognize Win's opponents at first until she sat down. Looking across from her she squeaked and jumped to her feet again.

"Cora!," she exclaimed, "You're here! I didn't know if you were going to be able to come!"

Her friend beamed with her own matching excitement and they rushed to embrace one another.

"Of course I'm here," Cora giggled, " I couldn't skip one of your grand birthday events could I?"

"I think you would have been disappointed if you had," Delaney teased and the friends laughed together. Delaney was about to insist Cora come back out and dance with her when someone cleared their throat beside her, making her jump.

She turned and met the cold eyes of Miles Adair looking down at her. Delaney moved to step back, running into Win sitting behind her.

"Watch it now girl," Win spoke gruffly, "We're trying to play a hand here."

Delaney apologized quietly and moved instead to the side, still angling away from Miles. She swallowed hard as his irritated gaze followed her. Cora looked worriedly from one to the other.

"Delaney," Miles spoke in a clipped tone, "I must say, I'm growing tired of finding you throwing and attending parties instead of giving a portion of this attention to the man you're going to marry."

Delaney looked down at her hands, feeling the elation from her party starting to slip away with his words. Without thinking about it, she twisted the ring in its place on her finger.

"Miles," Cora frowned, "It's her birthday. She's allowed to do something special to celebrate. Besides, you know she invited him."

"The invitation was just a way to save face," Miles rolled his eyes, "Of course she would've guessed he wouldn't want to come to such a huge event. No one has seen him since his accident. He wouldn't want to come and be gawked at all night."

Delaney felt the ever-familiar guilt creep in. He had seen through her. If Miles had seen through her insincere invitation then surely Vincent had as well. Knowing that made her guilt grow all the more.

"Miles," Cora snapped, "Stop it. Vincent could have come and Delaney would have spent her evening with him if he had."

"Well, I suppose now we'll never know," Miles gave a hollow laugh. He looked from Delaney to his future wife and back again. "Come, Delaney," he said then and held out his arm to her, " Since Vince isn't here to dance with you on your birthday I will take his place."

Delaney hesitated. Everyone knew she was promised to Vincent and everyone knew now he'd been in a horrible accident. The state he was in was whispered about through the halls of every manor house down to the cellars of every farmhouse.

The fact that Delaney hadn't been seen with him since just made things all the more intriguing.

Going out to dance with Miles now would draw attention to the fact he was the wrong Adair brother. Not to mention it would serve as a reminder to everyone that she was promised to the other and not as free as she pretended to be.

Delaney had wanted this night to be about her and about celebrating. She had hoped to avoid talking about Vincent at all and perhaps keep the gossip quieted down for a bit. Dancing with Miles in front of everyone would ruin that.

Looking at his evil grin, she knew that was exactly what Miles had been wanting to happen when he asked her. She knew as well that there would be no way for her to turn him down now and not openly insult him and his family.

Just like when they were children and he had taunted her, Delaney refused to back down from the challenge. Instead, she held her head high and took his arm, letting a smile grace her lips so nothing would appear awry.

"Let's hope you've studied since my last birthday where there was dancing," a fake, little laugh came from her, "You bruised poor Cora's feet something terrible I remember."

Cora snapped her hand over her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her giggling. Pure anger flashed over Miles's face as his eyes cut Delaney to ribbons.

"I assure you," he spoke coldly, "That it is not my dancing that everyone is whispering about for the evening after this."

Delaney faltered for only a moment at his admittance that her suspicions about his motivation were correct. She was quick to replace the smile on her face though.

On a night that all eyes were on her, she wanted to be sure no one could think anything was amiss. She was simply being asked to dance by her possible future brother in law. Nothing exciting.

On the dancefloor, Delaney was relieved to find that Miles's dancing really had improved. He held one hand on her waist and kept her other hand in his. He lead her through the steps of a quicker paced piece, the two of them spinning around a sparsely populated dancefloor.

Just like when she had danced with Vincent before the war, all eyes were on them now. Normally, Delaney would revel in the attention but now she found herself wishing more people would come dance with them and distract from her.

When the quick dance came to an end, the musicians went straight into a slow piece. Delaney moved to leave Miles but he held her hand tight. She turned back to him, her smile gone as her eyes darkened in annoyance. Enough was enough.

"One more," he said, stepping to her again, "That one was for my brother but now I'll have this dance just for me."

Delaney glared at him but knew she could not break away without causing a scene and drawing attention back to them. She took up her place again as his partner and again let him take her around the dancefloor.

"Why do you insist on doing these things that will hurt my brother?" Miles questioned after a time. Delaney found the cold anger was gone and now he simply studied her.

She thought about not answering but decided against it, "I don't do anything with the intention of hurting him."

"But you do hurt him."

The stab of guilt mixed with sadness in her heart. She knew she didn't do anything with the intention to hurt Vincent but she also knew she hadn't really cared if the things she was doing did hurt him.

In fact, if she was truly honest with herself, she would admit that she'd known some of the things she'd chosen to do lately would hurt him, but she'd gone ahead and done them anyways.

The thought made her stomach twist and guilt eat at her again.

"You make me angry sometimes," Miles sighed, surprising her, "But Cora promises me you're a good person and I have to believe her. I didn't come here to ruin your night. Go enjoy your party."

The dance had come to an end and Miles stepped back before bowing to her. His face still wasn't happy but at least it was no longer angry.

"I am sorry," Delaney said quickly, "That things have gone this way."

Miles considered her for a moment before nodding, "So am I."

Delaney slipped from the dancefloor and took a glass of wine from a server. She sipped it and watched her guests laughing and having a good time outside. She could hear a similar sound coming from inside the club and knew they must be enjoying themselves as well.

Feeling flushed after her interaction with Miles, Delaney took her wine and stepped out from under the canvas and into the darkness. She walked around, watching the party from the outside, smiling to herself as she saw how happy everyone seemed to be.

She walked along the side of the building, the only light coming from the windows of the club and the torches lit around the stables. Delaney decided she would go to check on her men there and make sure they weren't having any problems.

A cool breeze brushed over her as she walked and took another sip of her wine.

Just as she stepped past the building and out into the moonlight, movement in the corner of her eye made her pause. She turned to look and gasped sharply, her eyes wide in fear. The wineglass fell from her hand, shattering on the gravel drive below.