Catherine unfortunately did not manage to hurry very far. In her grief-stricken state, blinded by tears which threatened to spill over and make themselves public, she hardly noticed where she was going, and found herself colliding with someone as she attempted to weave her way through the crowded ballroom.
"I am terribly sorry," she gasped, jolted back to reality at the shame of making such an unladylike display. On glancing up, her heart sank to see that she had bumped into just about the last person she wished to converse with at this present moment: it was none other than Professor Lawes. Much to Catherine's surprise, however, he did not seem at all vexed at her indecent display; in fact, he appeared to greet her with something of a smile. This, from the sullen professor, was a warm welcome indeed, and instantly Catherine's suspicions were aroused.
"Miss Taylor," Professor Lawes greeted her, in a rather confident tone of voice quite unlike his usual dull monotone. "I – I hope you are having a pleasant evening."
A pleasant evening? Catherine could not remember ever having passed a more unpleasant evening! She simply made no reply, hoping to excuse herself momentarily – but the professor had not finished speaking.
"Would – would you care to join me for the next dance?" he stuttered.
If Catherine's spirits had been agitated moments previously, it was nothing compared to the distress she felt now! Professor Lawes, ask her to dance? Whatever could be the meaning of such a thing? They had exchanged but one conversation during their previous meeting – if it could even be counted as a conversation! Why should he seek her out now, when during the evening at Wyndham Hall he failed at exchanging even common civilities with her, openly praising Miss Russell at Catherine's expense? It was all terribly distressing, and poor Catherine felt the beginnings of a throbbing headache as she struggled to make sense of it all.
The musicians played a few chords in preparation for the next dance, and the sound seemed to return Catherine to her senses. She knew the only proper thing to do was to accept him, even if she wished for nothing more than to leave the ballroom, so she duly took the professor's hand, resulting in another smile from him. With increasing bemusement she found herself being led to the dancefloor to join a set, spotting Miss Russell still partnering her blonde gentleman in another set across the room. As Catherine took her place she also spotted William still stood where she had left him, forlornly surveying the room. His gaze suddenly fell upon herself and Professor Lawes, and Catherin's cheeks coloured, realising how rude she must look dancing with another man moments after abruptly leaving William's company.
An opening chord from the strings signalled the start of the dance, and Catherine became preoccupied with remembering the steps correctly, soon forgetting about the embarrassment with William. There was nothing to be gained from worrying about it now; she would make amends with him later in the evening, once her feelings had subsided a little. For the moment Catherine endeavoured to enjoy the dance wholeheartedly, as she doubted many further opportunities to dance would present themselves that evening – and to her pleasant surprise, she found her partner much more agreeable than she had expected. Professor Lawes seemed in high spirits indeed, beaming throughout the dance, making him quite unrecognisable from his usual miserable self.
"You dance very well, Miss Taylor," he complimented her warmly just after they had taken their turn to dance down the set.
"I thank you, sir," Catherine replied, unsure of how to perceive the professor's words. From the way he had slighted her in favour of Miss Russell it was clear that his good opinion was hard to come by – Catherine therefore felt a sudden thrill of pleasure in knowing she had secured it with her dancing. But then again, why should she care for the good opinion of a man whose behaviour towards her thus far in their acquaintance had been anything but proper? Although, he was an esteemed professor at the University of Cambridge, so surely his good opinion must be worth something.
It was all too confusing for Catherine to begin to make sense of, and she suddenly wished that she had Bessie at her side to confide in as she normally would do at times like these. However, in her current situation Catherine simply decided to enjoy the dancing without troubling herself further – there would be plenty of time to mull things over in the morning.
As the band struck their final chord, Catherine was very surprised to find Professor Lawes inquiring whether she would do him the honour of partnering him for this next dance too. Although rather taken-aback by this forward behaviour from the man who had barely spoken two sentences to her prior to this evening, Catherine did not find herself fatigued and was always eager to dance, so she consented without giving the matter too much thought. They were just about to join a new set when their path became blocked by the unwelcome appearance of Miss Russell.
"Good evening, Miss Taylor – I do hope you are enjoying what I am told is your first ball," Miss Russell greeted Catherine, her tone dripping with condescension even though Catherine was two years her senior. "How well you look this evening – I am sorry we have not yet had chance to speak, but I have been engaged these five dances."
Catherine did not know if she admired or envied the young lady more for her effortless confidence. Either way, she was certainly extremely different to the modest young darling depicted by Lady Cavendish, and her next actions only confirmed this.
"And Professor Lawes," Miss Russell had a demure curtesy for him. "Oh dear, it does indeed look very much as if you have just engaged Miss Taylor to dance. But I do believe you are forgetting something, sir."
Catherine glanced uncertainly at Professor Lawes, hoping he might understand more of Miss Russell's curious riddles than she did, and saw a look of comprehension flash across his features, followed by an expression of utter mortification.
"Professor?" asked Catherine, feeling rather concerned.
The professor himself seemed incapable of speech, such was his discomfort; Miss Russell, however, was only too eager to assist in offering Catherine an explanation.
"Here we find ourselves in rather a difficult situation," sighed Miss Russell, although she did not seem at all distressed. In fact, she looked as though she were enjoying herself immensely – and although Catherine still did not understand what was going on, she felt a distinct feeling of foreboding.
"For, you see," Miss Russell continued, "Professor Lawes has asked you to dance the next dance, when in fact at the very beginning of the night he wrote his name on my dance card for the quadrille. Is that not right, Professor?"
Catherine found herself having to hold back a gasp of shock, as she began to wonder in earnest what sort of people she found herself mixing with. The society assembled in the ballroom this evening - the nobility, Catherine reminded herself – were supposed be the height of class and proper manners, yet the behaviour Catherine was witnessing made her question this entirely. For Professor Lawes to engage two women to dance at the same time; to cause such mortification and discomfort for the young ladies involved; it was unthinkable! Only the very worst kind of man would hastily scrawl his name on a lady's dance card without any intention of fulfilling the engagement, leaving her with no option but to watch and despair as he partnered another without giving his prior engagement a second thought!
And yet, Miss Russell did not seem embarrassed or uncomfortable in any way. She had not sat in the corner in despair and watched as her partner danced with another. Instead, she had made her way over to the Professor and reminded him of their engagement! For a woman to behave in such a bold way was complete impropriety beyond anything Catherine had ever witnessed, and she found herself quite speechless at the commanding way in which Miss Russell addressed the Professor.
Did all young ladies of the gentry behave in this way? Catherine began to wonder. It would perhaps explain why they always seemed to get what they wanted, if they often put themselves forward in such a way that made it impossible to refuse them.
Now, there was nothing to be done but wait for Professor Lawes to deliver his verdict on the situation; Miss Russell had reminded him of their engagement, but only he could choose who he wished to dance with. And as the professor coughed nervously, stuttering as he tried to regain his composure, Catherine found her conscience telling her that she dearly hoped he would dance with Miss Russell. Vexed though she was with Miss Russell's behaviour, the only proper thing Professor Lawes could do in this situation was to honour his engagement with Miss Russell. This had to be the outcome; Catherine did not know how she would bear the humiliation of having stolen another lady's dance partner should Professor Lawes choose her.
Sure enough, the professor suddenly found his voice, and, with a muttered apology to Catherine, declared that his honour and decency told him that he must dance with Miss Russell. He said all this without once meeting Catherine's eyes, for which she was very grateful, as she felt the mortification just as strongly as he did. With much relief at the subject now being done, Catherine attempted to make light of the situation, not wanting to show the professor the true extent of her disapproval. However, she was unable to hold in a heavy sigh as the couple made their way onto the dancefloor, feeling a slight twinge of what might have been jealousy, but she instantly brushed it aside.
With her eagerness for dancing now severely diminished, Catherine felt she had experienced enough of a ball for one evening. The events of the past hour or so had left her emotionally exhausted, and Catherine felt an overwhelming need to venture outside for some fresh air and peace. However, she had barely moved two paces when she found her path blocked once again, this time by William.
"Catherine, what is troubling you?" he asked urgently, seemingly having forgotten her previous rudeness already. "I saw you dancing with Professor Lawes, and then Miss Russell joined you – did he say something to upset you? I do not like his manners; if he has spoken out of turn, I will have a stern word with him at the end of this dance!"
After everything that had gone on, Catherine found she simply did not have the energy to recount the humiliating incident.
"No, the professor did not speak out of turn," sighed Catherine exasperatedly. "I simply excused myself as I am rather fatigued, and do not wish to dance again tonight."
Catherine felt very uneasy at being untruthful, but thankfully William seemed satisfied with her explanation.
"What about Miss Russell?" he pressed. "Did the professor say anything to upset her?"
Anger flared inside Catherine as she suddenly realised why William had really been inquiring about Professor Lawes' behaviour. It was not Catherine he was concerned about, but his dear Miss Russell! On top of everything else that had already happened, this was simply too much. Catherine had been teetering on the brink all evening, and now her temper finally got the better of her.
"I do not know!" she snapped. "If you are so concerned, William, why do you not ask Miss Russell yourself?"
And for the second time that evening Catherine stormed off, leaving William alone and bewildered in the corner of the ballroom.