Aldridge came to Charlotte to solicit a dance. She had not seen him for months; not since he left London for Haverford Castle, but the old uncomfortable feelings rose stronger than ever. And when he bowed over her hand in greeting, a powerful tingle ran from the fingers he touched so lightly to her core.
She managed to hide her reaction, to ask after his family. The duchess had been late arriving in town, since she waited for Matilda to be well enough to travel after the birth of her child. Aldridge had been to Haverford Castle again, and had only just returned to London.
Her own family news mostly circled around Sarah and Nate, who were just taking to the floor as the musicians tuned up for a new set. Aldridge led Charlotte out, and they took their places for a country dance too vigorous for speech, but not so energetic that Sarah and Nate didn’t spend it lost in one another’s eyes.
“They seem very content,” Aldridge commented, as he and Charlotte took their turn to stand out of the line in the set.
“They are,” Charlotte assured him. “I have never seen Sarah so joyous. When she found Elias, she said she had all she needed in life, but there was always an edge of sadness—and now it is gone. She and Nate complete one another, I think.”
And now Sarah was with child again. Charlotte didn’t mean to sigh. She hoped Aldridge wouldn’t think her jealous of Sarah’s happiness. His comment showed he understood, as he turned his head to watch his half-sister Lady Hamner skip down through the pattern of the dance, her eyes fixed on her husband. “I see Matilda and Charles, so absorbed in one another and their new baby the rest of us might as well not exist. And I am happy for them, of course. It makes me wistful, though, Cherry.”
Wistful described her feelings perfectly. Longing not for the husband her sister had found, but for one of her own. She was so pleased with his understanding that she accepted his request for another dance, this one a waltz, and then regretted it when he put his hand on her back, just above the waist, and the uncomfortable sensations that only he inspired possessed her again.
She hunted around for a topic of conversation to cover her confusion. “I see Jessica is dancing with the Earl of Colyford. Didn’t I see her in his curricle in the Park yesterday?”
Aldridge pulled a face. “My mother says he is courting her, and he is certainly assiduous in his attentions. He even brought his daughters over to visit us while we were in Gloucestershire—his own place is just the other side of Cheltenham.”
“That certainly sounds as if he is serious, Aldridge,” Charlotte commented.
“If so, he is taking his time about making his intentions known. He has not spoken to me, or to the duchess.” He sighed. “Nor to Jess, either. I asked her.”
Charlotte turned her head to watch the other couple as she and Aldridge passed them. “He doesn’t seem to be paying his addresses to anyone else. I wonder what he is waiting for.”
Aldridge grimaced again. “Who knows? I suppose it will fall to me to ask his intentions, Cherry.” Another deep sigh. “And once Jess is settled, Frances will be making her debut, and it is all to do again.” Aldridge is lonely, too. In some ways, he is lonelier than I.
