3rd October 1814, All the Gaiety of a Ball

Bella curtsied with a smile.

"The same to you, Major."

Transfering her attention to Willoughby, she greeted him likewise, with an impish twinkle in her eyes.

Willoughby gave a return nod, "Major Vickery." Then offered his arm to Bella, a smile barely contained and barely kept to turn into a grin but at the same time feeling almost a little shy too.

"Good evening, Lady Isabella." He said softly, straightening more than he needed, which in a way appeared just a little odd and silly. "I hope you have had a wonderful evening so far." Though of course, not too wonderful, or else he would fear he might not be able to compete with it!

"You do look most enchanting." Willoughby felt a bit of a fool and hoped it did not show on his cheeks.

Isabella dimpled and took his arm. Waiting for him to lead them onto the dancefloor, she replied:

"Thank you, Mylord! You look very dashing yourself! I shall be quite the envy of all my friends."

It flattered him immensely and it made him feel quite embarrassed as well, and this showed on is cheeks which had coloured even when he willed them to be proper and pale. His whiskers could do little in their size - as they were thin still - to hide it and he found himself nearly stumbling when he thought hard on how to stop it.

He smiled sheepishly then answered. "Will you forgive me, If I cannot give the appropriate answer to this, though I mean to say that I am most flattered by your words." He cleared his throat briefly as he began to take her in the direction of the dance floor.

"I sense that I am envied by most men in this hall as I have now the privilege to escort such a gem, a beauty to the dance floor." He said in earnest. "Which is of course only one of the many ..." He halted in silence to find the right word, strengths, attributes, there were several that just did not fit and then finally he thought he found it: "Virtues..that you possess."

Bella laughed delightedly and opened her fan a few slats more.

"Oh, Mylord, you make me quite flustered with your pretty words. Shall I return them by saying that you are a most excellent dancer who it is my greatest pleasure to stand up with, or should I sink into a maidenly swoon now, so that you can support me even more dashingly?"

It was of course purely spoken in jest - Bella never fainted, and she would never make such a spectacle of herself to feign it.

"You may only say it so, if you think it so." Willoughby answered smiling , quite glad that his cheeks were cooling down again and not causing his skin to match his collar. "While I would gladly support you, should you need it, there is no need for you to swoon on my account." He offered then guided her onto the dance floor where they could take their place to dance when the music started.

And here it was, for a brief moment that he was at loss of words, and yet still unwilling to appear to just be grinning stupidly in one or another direction. "I do hope...you will find my dancing adequate... though I admit, riding is really more my forte." It did not down on him soon enough that it could have been meant in a quite different manner but to correct it now, to add , 'I meant a horse', would only make it worse. She was a lady though and thus not exposed to the style of conversation men on campaign sometimes had. He was surely safe if he just continued to give no attention to it.

"I think you had more opportunities to practice riding than dancing in Spain?", Bella inquired. She had been brought up sheltered enough not to expect double entendres, so only understood the literal meaning.

"When had you last been in London?"

"It has been... a while." Had it been really so long since he had last been able to say that he had really visited London? Spain appeared quite distant now yet it had taken years from him, from them all. "Oh dear, It now feels like a life time." He said and shook his head.

"I did indeed ride more than I danced, though I have done some there and some at home.." He grinned sheepishly. "When I first came home I was quite stunned how different it was from the time on campaign. See.. you realise how many small commodities you always took for granted, you lacked while on campaign. And at home.. oh dear, I had slept longer than I thought possible only by finding my bed again!" He explained animatedly. "Though the first day I kept waking and then reminding myself that I was not needed to ride somewhere with my troop nor would the ship lurch about on me, threatening to sink us all. But once I was at ease... oh, I am quite ashamed to admit I have wasted a good long time there.." He gazed at her. The instruments were prepped again, a signal that they would soon begin.

"Oh, my brother did the same. Mama nearly send the butler up to inquire whether he was ill - it is the first time that she was down before him. But then, the passage on the ship was quite exhausting."

Torrington had still been slightly green in the face when he finally had arrived in London.
When the music started, Bella curtsied and gave Willoughby a few measures to see whether he felt like talking during the dance or preferred to concentrate on the figures.

Willoughby returned the bow gracefully, took a slight step to where his original starting point had to be. They were at the other edge of the line. As the music began They were to exchange places first and then turn behind the second couple.

"Indeed.. the ship's passage had made many a military man convinced he had been rather wise not to choose navy as their career. We were however quite impressed at how easily that folk could swing from the masts, how unimportant to them the sway of the sea and the shift of the ship seemed to be. What about you?..Have you had the experience of traveling by it?" He spoke when he could which was when they were closer or waiting for their next turn. When it was their turn to lock hands, he moved towards her rather gracefully and was careful of where her feet were. he did not look at them however, but  gazed at the lady instead.

Their next step would be to part ways, turn about and behind the other couple and then lock hands again if only for a short few moments.

"When my father had some business in Ireland, Mama and I accompanied him - we had the most beautiful crossing. Papa made us go to Aberystwyth a week sooner than we had could wait for really good weather to cross. We only spend three days there, in the end, but I visited Hafod Uchtryd!"

Bella seemed to have this holiday in very fond memories of this holiday, for she nearly sparkled with good humour.

Willoughby waited till the exchange of threes was finished and as they locked hands again, grinned. "Oh? How was Haf...od? What did you see? What was your favourite thing?" He asked seeing that she had quite liked the holiday and wishing to know more perhaps also of what she liked and enjoyed doing, seeing or having. He would try hard not to make it obvious of course, nor to admit it to himself, or others.

So far he had not missed a step nor the rhythm and was mightily glad for the refreshing of his skills before coming to the ball. It seemed that it had been far from dull and if nothing more, he had done his duty as a gentleman and brought a smile to a few ladies too and hopefully with his company, even a better standing with the other suitors.

"Oh, the landscape there! We walked around for hours! And there is a bridge nearby which the Devil himself is said to have build!"

Bella was parted from him and smiled at the other girl now forming a circle with her, then inclined her head towards her partner. When she was once again standing opposite Willoughby, watching the next couple begin, she asked:

"Do you like walking, too, Mylord, or do you prefer to explore everything on horseback? Or driving, perhaps?"

"I do enjoy walking." He smiled lightly. Perhaps it was not his favourite past time, as horses took one to different places faster than one's legs could ever do. He liked the company of these animals too and their little tricks and ideas of misconduct.

"But perhaps a combination of both is the finest choice, or even all three for the comfort. A little bit of riding first and then the stroll at your destination, a walk on the cliffs, perhaps alongside a lake or a river, through the ruins of some ancient place."

He smiled softly. "Do you prefer the museums, the nature or perhaps old ruins? Or something entirely different?"

Bella pursed her mouth.

"A combination, I think. A interesting museum housed in a gothic ruin, situated in a splendid landscape, perhaps? With a hunched, one-eyed caretaker and some splendid horses we could escape on after we have discovered the mystery!"

"A brilliant plan. Have you a place in mind? I'll bring the fastest horses my stables can provide so that our escape is assured!" He inclined his head and looked as though he was already planning the whole trip, and every single detail of it only to realise that it could not be made, not at very least on their own.

In fact.. . I do recall exploring a ruin or two in my time, even on my estates. There is a particular one that I quite enjoyed. My grandfather wanted to demolish it at one point and build on it...but he was swayed by my pleading to keep it. I am quite fond of it still."

Bella looked quite shocked that somebody who had a real picturesque ruin would contemplate demolishing it. She could quite understand that Willoughby wanted to keep it.

"Is it on your own estate? What kind of ruin is it?"

"Yes, it is. I am not fully certain, but I think it might have been a monastery or something of the sort. The arches look gothic...the feels is quite so too.." The answer was interrupted as they had to pass the two other dancers and continued, as they joined hands momentarily. "It had no roof for the most part, though there were places which looked almost complete and others that had much less remaining."

Again his answer was interrupted, this time by the new pair of dancers. First dancing as two males with a lady and then as two ladies with a male, he would have continued only when back with Isabella or rather if she wished to know more about it.

"Oh, that sounds nice."

Tendrils of her hair flying merrily behind her, Bella danced around another dancer again.

"Where is your estate?"

"My favourite is in the lake District.." He answered."It has the nicest combination of forest, of ruin and also of water. My father and before him, my grandfather had done some work on the land there to improve one of the buildings. Not of the ruins, mind, just the house that had already been built close to it. It's comfortable and homely. You ...and your brother .. family, are always welcome to visit."

Bella blushed. It had not escaped her notice that Willoughby had named her first and only tacked the others on; while the attention certainly was flattering, it felt like more than simple banter, and that made her slightly uncomfortable.

Trying to hit the right note between proper appreciation of the offer, gentle rebuff and noncomittal, she replied:

"Thank you, Mylord. I will be sure to pass the invitation on to my family."

Willoughby seemed to read the answer as it was supposed to be read, not in a literal sort, but with those subtle connotations that were carried within the words. His smile faltered a little, the trios which offered a time for their separation , for the first time appearing most welcome.

Once they were back again he looked apologetic, friendly but just a little more reserved. "I hope I have not caused offense to you, Lady Isabella." He said almost formally. Perhaps it would have suited her better than his earlier words, spoken in the heat of the moment. "It was not my intention..and..should I have caused anything unpleasant.. I do apologise." He murmured then parted from her again, as they moved past their next couple.

Bella, not wanting to let this cause more of a rift than it already had, smiled back.

"Accepted. Don't worry - I won't tell my brother."

She squeezed his hand briefly.

Willoughby nodded slowly in reply. It was not her brother that he was unhappy to upset in this case. While Torrington might have been upset, his feelings did not gain priority over those of another.

"...." He opened his mouth ready to say something more, but nothing came. To change the topic might appear impolite, to continue it, equally of poor taste. He looked to her to make the choice and if she so chose, bring a lighter mood back.

When he had not said anything after another pass, Bella coaxed in her most charming voice:

"Oh, come now, Mylord. Please say something. A comment about the number of people perhaps? Or how warm the air is now?"