“Do I get to do them too?” Ally asked, not caring what the word pursuit meant — just making sure she was doing anything that her brother was doing.
“Of course you do, Ally. And, Brayden, you’ll enjoy the new activities,” Liam said. And then his lips twitched.
“The look on your face doesn’t exactly give me confidence, Uncle Liam.” Brayden turned toward Whitney with a look of panic.
She wanted to rescue him, but she had to be practical. She couldn’t interfere in the small stuff, because then she would only seem petty. Besides, she happened to agree that dance was a good thing to learn. Brayden would appreciate it later in life, when the girls all wanted to dance with him. Granted, he wouldn’t want that for a few years, maybe four or five, but it would happen all too soon.
“Brayden, you’ll go to your piano lesson before dance, so you get some time to brood about it,” Frederick said with obvious amusement. “Ally, you’re up for dance right after lunch.”
“We still get to do the sword fighting, right?” Brayden asked.
“Yes, you will still study fencing,” Liam replied.
“I’m finished eating now,” Ally said, excited to start the new lessons. The young girl was always up for trying new things.
She was so much like her mother, Whitney thought, and the longing in her heart to see her Maxine again made it hurt terribly.
“But we’re only here about another week or two, Liam,” Whitney reminded him. “Should you really start new lessons of that sort when they’ll not get to follow through on them?”
The room went quiet as all heads turned her way.
“Things change, Whitney. Maybe you’ll decide to extend your vacation,” he told her.
“We can’t do that. We told the school they’d be back after their Christmas break. They already missed two weeks of classes for this trip.”
“And they are getting their lessons while here. Plus,” he added, “there are excellent schools here.” He sent her a look she couldn’t quite interpret, but most certainly frightened her. Her main fear was coming to life — the fear that the children would be taken away from her.
Instead of facing that problem head on right now, she decided to agree with Frederick and Liam.
“I don’t see a problem with having the children do more lessons. They might discover a new hobby that they can pursue when we get back home.” But she did shoot a warning look Liam’s way when she said this.
“Good. Now that it’s that settled, we have a very busy day ahead of us. Let’s get started.” Liam rose from the table and walked out of the room.
“Let me show you to the ballroom,” Darcy said, and Whitney gave her maid a grateful smile. She would enjoy watching her beautiful little girl swirl around on the dance floor.
She hadn’t seen the ballroom before, and when they went in, she couldn’t help but feel the delight that flowed through her. The room was large enough to hold at least a thousand people in it — okay, maybe that was a gross exaggeration — and the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling were so sparkly that she wondered if diamonds were mixed in with the crystals. It was a room she would love to dance around, but instead she sat in a chair off to one corner. She was trying her best to be a quiet observer, but as Ally went on in the lesson, her aunt had to struggle not to clap with pride at how quickly her talented niece picked up on what the dancing master was teaching her.
Whitney wanted to learn the dance herself, so she finally rose and began imitating the steps she saw. Though she lacked a partner, she felt that she wasn’t doing too badly.
“May I cut in?” Liam asked.
She blushed instantly. She’d been caught, darn it all.
“I don’t want to take you away from whatever you were doing before,” Whitney told him. Touching him again would most certainly prove harmful to her health.
“There’s nothing I would rather do right now than dance with you.”
And she found herself accepting the hand he was holding out. “I guess I could use some help.”
“I consider dancing an important art. It teaches many valuable lessons for journeys you will take throughout your life.”
She knew there was a double meaning there, but she didn’t know how to address it, so she tried to make a joke instead. “I’m going to warn you that I’ve never danced in such a formal fashion before, and I can’t be responsible for your toes.”
“I appreciate the warning, Whitney, but I have the feeling you’ll do just fine. Now put this hand on my shoulder and use your other one to take my hand like this.”