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music, and her perfume wafted toward him again, enticing. “We have both grown up since we saw each other last. It’s funny, Lady Hardison and I were just talking about that earlier, in the garden. About how part of growing up is learning who we’re meant to be.”
    â€œAnd who are you meant to be, do you think, Eliza?” Matthew could hardly feel his feet crossing the floor. This afternoon’s confession to Dexter had gone better than he’d ever hoped, and Eliza’s offer of a truce had stripped away another source of tension he hadn’t recognized until its absence. Now the dance seemed charmed, the night itself seemed charmed. Everything in the world felt promising.
    â€œThat’s just the thing,” she said, flicking a glance at him then quickly looking away once more. He tightened his hold at her waist just a fraction, then reminded himself she was Dexter’s cousin, and loosened his fingers again. “I don’t quite know who I’m meant to be. Charlotte says it’s time I found out.”
    â€œLady Hardison is wise beyond her years, I’ve always thought. You should follow her advice.” He thought that Charlotte would make an excellent role model for Eliza: beautiful, unassuming, ladylike and comfortable in the role of administering a large, if unconventional, estate. She’d always been lovely and gracious, even as a young widow, but since marrying Dexter she’d gained a whole new, vibrant energy. The glow of impending motherhood made her even more appealing. She was everything a woman should be.
    â€œOh, I intend to,” Eliza assured him with a smile. “That’s part of why I sought you out.”
    â€œIt is? Did she suggest any particular course of action?” His brain misfired at the sudden influx of ideas about possible courses of action Eliza might take with him. None of them were appropriate for him to contemplate taking with Baron Hardison’s maiden cousin. In fact, none of them were appropriate to think about in relationship to
any
maiden. He used the physics of the next turn to swing Eliza a little wider than necessary, putting another few inches of propriety between their swaying bodies.
    Eliza shook her head. “It wasn’t really that sort of talk. Well, she did, but that wasn’t the important part. The main thing is she made me see that I’ve cast myself in a certain role for most of my life, but that role is still a product of the expectations placed on me. Charlotte said I should find a way to escape those preconceptions about myself. Allow my life to take its natural course.”
    â€œLady Hardison is a perfect example of that right now, I dare say. I gather she did some sort of government work prior to marrying Dexter, but having seen her then and now, I don’t think anybody could argue with how well this more natural role agrees with her. She’s clearly much happier.”
    Eliza looked taken aback for a moment, making Matthew wonder if he’d inadvertently said something offensive. Then she coughed, sounding almost as though she were choking, but waved him off with a satin-gloved hand when he asked if she’d like to sit down. In a moment, with a slightly strained expression, she spoke again.
    â€œYou know, you’re absolutely right. It was so foolish of me to struggle against my nature all this time. All that talk of monographs and so forth. It’s time I stepped forward and accepted the cards destiny so clearly wants to deal me. If I do, will you congratulate me, Matthew?”
    â€œCon-congratulate you?” He could tell she was being oblique and had an uneasy feeling he ought to be aware of her meaning. How had he lost track of the conversation so quickly and thoroughly? “I suppose so. It’s not every day a young woman reaches out to grasp her destiny, is it? Congratulations for . . . your new endeavor.”
    â€œOh, I didn’t mean