Simple Servant

Chapter 12 - A Step Closer

Chapter 12 - A Step Closer

~~~ Noah

Never in his life had Noah thought he'd speak to the Twins the way that he had. It was reckless and could have ended a lot worse that it had. He was lucky that they hadn't recognized him.

Still, despite the risk he couldn't find a reason to regret his actions.

His mind replayed the moment that he had returned from the Grand Dinning Room. He had scanned the ballroom, his eyes instinctively looked for her only to notice two Lords had her all but pinned against the wall.

He hadn't taken the time to think. An unknown urge to protect over took his sanity. He used his own hands to forcibly stop his masters. As a servant he had no rational explanation for his actions, but as a man he couldn't have  stopped himself.

Lady Jade placed a hand delicately on his shoulder and for the first time Noah noticed that they made their way to the dance floor where a slow and rather intimate song was playing. His eyes glanced at the hand that rested on his shoulder and he followed it back to its owner.

He noticed her smile the moment he looked at her. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. She held out her right hand, like an open invitation, and waited for his next move.

Noah allowed his body to override his sensibility, as his left hand met hers and his right wrapped possessively about her waist.

She let out and audible sigh and he looked down at her in concern. Perhaps he was being too rough after her recent ordeal.

The look in her eyes told him something quiet different.

The song was nearly halfway over and still neither one of them had said a word. Noah couldn't speak for Annabell, but he had become lost in the moment.

His thoughts were locked on her, he looked at nothing but her, his mind filled to the brim with her scent, while his hands ached to touch more of her.

Why?

He had never had such over whelming thoughts before.

"You're a pretty good dancer." Her words were quiet, and he couldn't be sure if he heard her correctly.

"I never noticed before." It was true. He had done some strange things while his mother was Johnathon and Ronald's governess. If it hadn't been for her Noah would have spent his life only knowing the female parts of the dances. Until the week before she passed, Nanna Jenkins insisted on a nightly dance with her son.

"Surely your other partners mentioned your dancing ability." Her voice had a strange sound to it. A small amount of spite, but she couldn't have been jealous. There was no reason for her to be.

"They might have mentioned it." He said nonchalantly.

She eyed him cautiously; "I never pictured you as the modest type."

"What did you picture me as?" It was a bold question. But his boldness was rewarded when a most becoming blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Perhaps pictured would be the wrong word." She stammered nervously. "I believe you to be someone who knows exactly who he is."

Her blush deepened and she quickly looked away, not noticing the grimace that had found its way to his face. He once knew who he was, where he stood, where he belonged, but the line between their classes now felt blurred.

Why?

How?

How could a lifetime of servitude, of following the rules of social conduct and of knowing his place, be so easily dismissed by one Lady?