Page 16 of The Way We Were

And how would he have felt if someone had tried to keep them apart?

To her credit, Madeleine did not rush forward to meet Abernathy. After weeks at sea with her, Reggie knew she was a smart young woman who would appreciate the timing of achieving her goal.

“So that is Mr. Abernathy,” Lucy said, gesturing toward the entryway.

Madeleine blushed. “How did you guess?”

“The expression on your face.” Lucy’s voice had grown softer, and she looked past Reggie at Madeleine with gentle understanding.

Madeleine bit her lip, her blush deepening.

And Reggie knew he’d lost the battle.

He wasn’t all that disappointed. He thought of his late commander and imagined him considering Madeleine’s future. But if he’d seen his daughter’s face and known her true joy at her reunion with the vicar, perhaps he, too, would have understood that she’d only suffer with a choice not her own.

Reggie cleared his throat, drawing both women’s attention. “Shall we go introduce Lucy to Mr. Abernathy?”

Madeleine stared up at him as if she’d been presented with a birthday and Christmas gift all wrapped in one. Tears sheened her eyes, but she held them back. “Thank you, Reggie, I would enjoy that.”

She moved before them, leading the way, uncaring of the admiring stares of other young men.

Lucy wrapped her arm around Reggie’s. “I had no idea your romantic streak was quite so deep.”

“Just looking at them reminded me of how longingly I stared at you from across a ballroom.”

She bit her lip, eyes lowered, a lovely blush on her cheeks.

He wanted to say more, but decided that he was in her good graces for the evening and would bask in her approval.

Then she looked up at him earnestly. “So you will not force her to be with a man she doesn’t want?”

He stared into her eyes, his smile fading. Was this what she herself was feeling? That he was forcing her into a kind of marriage she didn’t want? A coldness swept through him, but he managed to say, “I will have to hope that her happiness with a good man would have been enough for her father. Still, it will be uncomfortable for her to break the engagement with Sir Gideon.”

“I think she’ll manage.”

Lucy patted his arm as they took their final steps toward the couple who gazed at each other with such open happiness. Madeleine and Abernathy reached forward to hold hands before seeming to remember where they were.

Reggie said, “Good to see you again, Abernathy.”

Abernathy bowed with a flare of military precision. “Good evening, Captain.”

“You know Miss Fournier,” Reggie said dryly. “May I present my wife, Mrs. Lawton?”

Lucy reached out her hand and Abernathy bowed over it. “I have heard so much about you, Mr. Abernathy.”

Reggie hadn’t thought Madeleine’s blush could grow any redder. He was wrong.

“All good things I hope.” Abernathy seemed almost nervous as he glanced at Madeleine.

The quartet suddenly struck up a waltz.

Abernathy faced Reggie and asked, “Sir, may I ask Miss Fournier to dance?”

Though the ballroom around them was loud with chattering voices, among the four of them was a sudden strained silence full of hope and dread.

“You may, Mr. Abernathy,” Reggie said solemnly.

Madeleine’s smile became blinding with happiness. Hand in hand, the two of them set off for the center of the ballroom, where the other young couples had begun to dance.