Lisette

Chapter 32 ~ So Many Things Seemed More Important

The next dance was a Cotillon - old fashioned, complicated, and something that I hadn't learned with Grantaire, having instead prioritised some of the more fashionable dances. Even so, with all the couples in perpetual motion, it was pretty to watch. I could see Jehan dancing with a pretty, dainty girl with dark hair. As I sat down next to Enjolras, he raised an eyebrow at me.

"Something amiss?" I asked, teasingly.

"Courfeyrac - "

"Yes, that was entirely to wind you up. And it looks like it worked! Have you finished with Robespierre now?"

"He doesn't - "

"Judas, no. Of course not. You didn't seriously think...?"

"No. I think it was more wishing that I could be in his place."

"I take it we are talking about Courfeyrac here, and not Robespierre? Because frankly, my dear, it wouldn't have been at all difficult for you to be in Courfeyrac's place. And if we are talking about Robespierre, I'd rather you didn't end up in his position. You look an awful lot better with your head attached to the rest of you."

He smiled. He looked younger when he smiled.

"Yes, about Courfeyrac. I have no plans to end up guillotined, trust me."

"Well, if you want to dance with me, you only have to ask."

"In which case, may I have the pleasure of the next dance?"

"Possibly," I grinned. "You never know - I might get a better offer!"

"Lis!"

"Alright. I should very much like the pleasure of the next dance with you. Provided it's something that I am actually capable of dancing."

"You seemed perfectly capable of the last one."

"Yes, well. Between practising it with R, and the fact that it was haunting my nightmares all last night, I should hope I was capable. There's no way in hell I'm dancing a Cotillon. One of the English country dances should be possible, though."

"Well then, let's hope for one of those next. Or one of the simple folk dances like a bouree or a branle."

In the end, it turned out to be La Belle Annette. It was a longways dance: each set consisting of two lines, one of men, one of women, each facing their partner. The top couples began, and as they worked their way down the set, a new couple joined in. By the time they reached us, I felt as though I had the measure of the dance. Watching the lady and Enjolras set and change places, I couldn't help wondering what she was like. By her clothes and her hair, she was at least of the middling sort, and as I changed places with the gentleman she was dancing with, I couldn't help thinking that she looked much more the sort of woman that Enjolras's family would expect him to marry. She was pretty, and while her dress wasn't ostentatious, it was of silk, with tasteful trimmings.

As I joined hands with Enjolras to move through the back and forth motions of one and a half 'pousettes,' changing places with the other pair, all thoughts of the other lady were swept from my mind. Feeling his hands against mine, his eyes on me - more than that - his focus on me - produced a oddly euphoric feeling. With the last part of the dance, weaving in and out between the four of us, changing places, loosing our partners only to find them again, I found a strange, small jolt of joy in progressing to our new place in the dance with Enjolras still my partner. He took my hand in his briefly, smiling at me, before we separated again to begin the dance anew with the next couple in the set. The next couple was Jehan and the same girl he danced the Cotillon with earlier, but I scarcely noticed them.