Just The Two Of Us
Tales from the Kingdom of Tyndall #10
Josephine and Lady Ambear stood in the dance hall next to each other, powerless as Remy struggled to avoid the humiliation Lord Wedgewood had set up. After Remy had tripped over his words and the humiliation was complete, the music began. Before either lady had a chance to say something to the other, a gentleman, a dashing one at that, approached and introduced himself as Lord Swift. He then asked if Lady Ambear would give him the honor of a dance. With an apologetic smile to Josephine, Lady Ambear agreed and joined Lord Swift on the dance floor.
Josephine watched for just a moment as they began their dance. They seemed to flow with each other and the music naturally and Josphine couldn’t help but let a smile grace her face. The smile quickly faded as she returned her attention to Remy. He stood alone now, on top of the stairs. He looked defeated and utterly deflated. The hopefulness he had entered the ball with seemed to be gone now.
Josephine’s heart went out to him and she immediately began to move across the room and toward the steps that would bring her to his side.
She stole another glance at Lord Swift and Lady Ambear. They seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Lord Swift said something, and Lady Ambear responded with a smile and a laugh. The Ambear family had been friends of Josephine’s family for many years. Josephine knew that Lady Ambear’s marriage to Lord Ambear had been an arranged marriage. Lady Ambear was almost half his age. Although she felt bad for the late Lord Ambear, she couldn’t help but feel joy for Lady Ambear, who now had the opportunity to be matched with someone much closer to her age, such as the charming and handsome Lord Swift.
Josephine reached the stairs and looked up and locked eyes with Remy.
I stood alone. All but ready to leave the party right then and there. Lost. But, I couldn’t leave Josephine alone. Just saying the name Josephine to myself lessened the dark emotions swirling about my head.
Then I saw her. At the bottom of the stairs. She looked up and we locked eyes. And in those eyes, I saw understanding, kindness, and possibly love. Perhaps that last one was more of a hope than a feeling, but she knew what Lord Wedgwood had just done to me and she was coming to be by my side when I needed her.
I watched her ascend the stairs, and she grew closer to me with each step. The closer she got, the less anger and despair I felt. A smile finally fought through and made its way to my face as she was now just a few steps away. But then, all I felt was panic. All of a sudden Josephine was shoved hard against the handrail.
The world seemed to slow down as Josephine started to topple over the handrail. My body felt slow as I reacted and I lunged toward her. I heard Josephine scream and I reached out my hand, knowing that I would be too late. My mind screamed at me.
This can’t be happening.
My own body struck the handrail as I reached for Josephine, whose body completed the summersault over the handrail. She reached a hand up not even knowing I was there. Somehow our hands found each other. Her weight pulled against my arm, and only the handrail kept me from falling over as well. Finally, my senses started to sort through the noises around me. I heard screams and gasps from the crowd below and saw anxious looks on their faces as they looked on.
The sight of the floor, too far down from us, forced me to look away. And there, over my shoulder, staring at me with wide eyes, was the man I had seen before. The man who had taken too much interest in Josephine. “Someone stop that man!” I yelled. And my words seem to put people into motion. The man sped off running, and those nearest to me leaped to my aide.
On the dance floor, Lady Ambear whispered a “thank God.” The only one who heard was her dancing partner, Lord Swift. She looked at him, and he nodded. And he took off running up the stairs and after the fleeing man. Lord Wedgewood, yelled out, “Lord Swift where are you going?” He didn’t stop to answer but called to two others who followed him out of the dance hall.
Together with those who had come to help me, we pulled Josephine back to safety. As soon as we had her over the rail, the room erupted in applause. Josephine hugged me fiercely, whispering “thank you, thank you,” over and over again.
A few moments later men were patting me on the back and yelling “good show,” while ladies were seeing to Josephine asking if she was all right.
After a while, the music started up again as Lord Wedgewood tried to bring some normality back to the Welcoming Ball. Lady Ambear was by my side then. She kissed me on the cheek and said, “You are a hero,” before hugging Josephine for a long while.
The word “hero” rang in my mind. Nothing of that sort had ever materialized as a thought at all. I had simply reacted to try to save Josephine. The fall would have most likely killed her. I couldn’t have let that happen. Could me saving her possibly have made up for my embarrassment earlier?
Josephine interrupted my thoughts when she grabbed me by the arm. “Come dance with me,” she said.
“What about that guy. He tried to kill you! We need to find out why!”
“Don’t worry,” replied Lady Ambear. “I am pretty sure Lord Swift will see to that.”
Josephine and I walked down the stairs and onto the dance floor. As we did so, the crowd that was still milling about and talking about the events that had just transpired, parted for us. The band, seeing what was happening, finished the song they were playing. Then just as Josephine and I arrived at the middle of the dance floor, a slow, quiet song began.
Josephine rested her head against my chest and we swayed to the music. More of the instruments started to join in and added to the song’s feeling, but I didn’t hear it. Some of the ladies had tears in their eyes, a love story playing out right in front of them, but I didn’t see it. The lords had smiles on their faces and talked to each other in phrases like, “I knew I liked that Lord Remington,” but I had no awareness of it. And had I been scanning the crowd, I would have seen Lord Wedgewood, standing at the top of the stairs, with a look of disgust on his face.
But none of that mattered. At this moment, I was only aware of Josephine. Her body was pressed tight to mine, and I could feel her heartbeat. A heartbeat that had been in danger of being stopped by an unknown man who had tried to push Josephine to her death. But I had saved her. And here we stood. Just the two of us. My heart swelled, and I thought it would burst. I wanted to say something, something so that she would understand how I felt. In the end, neither of us said anything. We swayed to the music, lost in its melodies and each other’s arms.