"There is no place I'd rather be than by your side, at a grand ball, or just in the garden with..." Arthur was going to say with their children, but he caught himself, always aware of prying ears. Right now they were happy and they had the freedom to be themselves as others looked on from a distance, most in harsh judgment, others simply curious. None of that mattered, their love was enough.
"He may arrive, he may not. I suspect he'll find something to cause a scene about. But we cannot live our lives in fear of him or what he might do. We have to live with our convictions and God will see us through." God, the God the two of them believed in, as opposed to the horrors of what he father believed.
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"You seem most surprised." Alice commented as the two, now finding something of a rhythm began to glide a little more easily across the room. "If I were not interested, I would not have asked or commented I suppose." There something sheepish about the way she responded to him. It was no longer nerves, not exactly, perhaps a fear of saying the wrong thing or being too bold. Perhaps she needed to be a little less like Alexandra and a little more like Arabella, who from time to time she caught watching her and the Duke.
"The world is too big for us to worry only about what's in our gardens or on the high street." Alice smiled brightly, as she look up upon the face of the Duke. For the first time she really, truly and properly just looked at him. Her dark eyes drinking in every detail of his face. He was more handsome than she had thought, and was more handsome than she would have believed even if she had been told.
"I haven't seen much. Only what the men deign to share of their travels. Which is never any interesting really. It's like they look around them but don't see anything. All they want are their cigars and brandy and the comforts of their estates." Alice had, almost imperceptibly drawn herself physically closer to the Duke as they danced, closing the gap was her intention. She wanted to draw him in, and keep him, at least for a little while.
"I suppose that must make me as odd as you are. But I'm not sure that's anything to be upset about." Alice spoke remarkably freely, it was here with this man that felt comfortable more than she had in a long while.
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