Storm and Silence(245)

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.’