The Noble Life

Five

Catherine unfortunately did not manage to hurry very far. In her grief-stricken state, blinded by tears which threatened to spill over and make themselves public, she hardly noticed where she was going, and found herself colliding with someone as she attempted to weave her way through the crowded ballroom.

"I am terribly sorry," she gasped, jolted back to reality at the shame of making such an unladylike display. On glancing up, her heart sank to see that she had bumped into just about the last person she wished to converse with at this present moment: it was none other than Professor Lawes. Much to Catherine's surprise, however, he did not seem at all vexed at her indecent display; in fact, he appeared to greet her with something of a smile. This, from the sullen professor, was a warm welcome indeed, and instantly Catherine's suspicions were aroused.

"Miss Taylor," Professor Lawes greeted her, in a rather confident tone of voice quite unlike his usual dull monotone. "I – I hope you are having a pleasant evening."

A pleasant evening? Catherine could not remember ever having passed a more unpleasant evening! She simply made no reply, hoping to excuse herself momentarily – but the professor had not finished speaking.

"Would – would you care to join me for the next dance?" he stuttered.

If Catherine's spirits had been agitated moments previously, it was nothing compared to the distress she felt now! Professor Lawes, ask her to dance? Whatever could be the meaning of such a thing? They had exchanged but one conversation during their previous meeting – if it could even be counted as a conversation! Why should he seek her out now, when during the evening at Wyndham Hall he failed at exchanging even common civilities with her, openly praising Miss Russell at Catherine's expense? It was all terribly distressing, and poor Catherine felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache as she struggled to make sense of it all.

The musicians played a few chords in preparation for the next dance, and the sound seemed to return Catherine to her senses. She knew the only proper thing to do was to accept him, even if she wished for nothing more than to leave the ballroom, so she duly took the professor's hand, resulting in another smile from him. With increasing bemusement she found herself being led to the dancefloor to join a set, spotting Miss Russell still partnering her blonde gentleman in another set across the room. As Catherine took her place she also spotted William still stood where she had left him, forlornly surveying the room. His gaze suddenly fell upon herself and Professor Lawes, and Catherin's cheeks coloured, realising how rude she must look dancing with another man moments after abruptly leaving William's company.

An opening chord from the strings signalled the start of the dance, and Catherine became preoccupied with remembering the steps correctly, soon forgetting about the embarrassment with William. There was nothing to be gained from worrying about it now; she would make amends with him later in the evening, once her feelings had subsided a little. For the moment Catherine endeavoured to enjoy the dance wholeheartedly, as she doubted many further opportunities to dance would present themselves that evening – and to her pleasant surprise, she found her partner much more agreeable than she had expected. Professor Lawes seemed in high spirits indeed, beaming throughout the dance, making him quite unrecognisable from his usual miserable self.

"You dance very well, Miss Taylor," he complimented her warmly just after they had taken their turn to dance down the set.

"I thank you, sir," Catherine replied, unsure of how to perceive the professor's words. From the way he had slighted her in favour of Miss Russell it was clear that his good opinion was hard to come by – Catherine therefore felt a sudden thrill of pleasure in knowing she had secured it with her dancing. But then again, why should she care for the good opinion of a man whose behaviour towards her thus far in their acquaintance had been anything but proper? Although, he was an esteemed professor at the University of Cambridge, so surely his good opinion must be worth something.