Lilac Spring. Ruth Axtell Morren

but she ignored it and blithely sallied forth into the crowd, greeting her friends and presenting Annalise to everyone she spoke to.

      Her eyes scanned the hallway for Silas, but she didn’t see him. Disappointed, she entered the parlor with Annalise. Warren, taller than most of the people present, walked over to them immediately.

      “There you are.” He turned his gaze from Cherish to his sister, and she could see the question in his eyes.

      “Yes, here we are. I promised Annalise to stay with her until she is better acquainted with my friends.” She didn’t explain to him how reluctant his sister had been to come into the parlor at all. “Would you be so kind as to get us each a glass of punch?”

      “Certainly.”

      After that, Cherish was swamped with friends stopping to chat with her. The music started up in the opposite parlor and she wished she could loosen Annalise’s hold on her and seek out Silas. She had seen him come in. He had given them a brief greeting and left again, and she hadn’t seen him since. He was probably out on the veranda chatting with the menfolk.

      Finally, feeling she was being released from an ordeal, Cherish left Annalise sitting with Aunt Phoebe and one of her friends and headed for the doorway. There Warren accosted her.

      “Where’s Annalise?” he asked her.

      Biting back a retort, she answered sweetly, “See, there? I left her with Aunt Phoebe and Mrs. Drummond.”

      “I wanted to thank you for being so patient with her. She’s—” he hesitated, looking down at the cup in his hand “—very shy.”

      Cherish felt her impatience evaporate, and her heart warmed to the man who showed such concern for his sister.

      “Yes, I noticed. I think she’ll be all right. Perhaps we can ask one of the young men to dance with her.”

      He smiled in enthusiasm. “Yes, that would be grand. Now, how about you? Can I interest you in a dance?”

      Cherish swallowed her frustration. Perhaps she should dance with him and get it over with. That way she could reserve a waltz for Silas later. She’d gone over the waltzes with her piano-playing friend Alice, who would play when Jacob and his fiddler friends took a break.

      She nodded her acceptance, and the two of them entered the other parlor, where furniture and carpets had been cleared from the center of the room. Cherish allowed Warren to swing her around in the spirited dance amidst the other dancers. One dance led to another. About halfway through the second, she spotted Silas in the doorway. She lifted an arm in greeting and he nodded to her with a smile.

      As the music ended, she and Warren moved off the dance floor. “You dance very well,” he told her as he led her toward the doorway. “Let me get you some refreshment before the musicians start up again. I’ll bring Annalise back with me.”

      “Yes, do.” Maybe he could dance with his sister.

      She turned to Silas with a smile. “Where have you been keeping yourself all evening?”

      “Around,” he answered with a lazy grin. His thick hair was swept back from his forehead. Darker sideburns contrasted with the burnished gold of the rest of his hair. His gray eyes were alight with humor. “You are looking quite the fashion plate.”

      “I trust that is a compliment.”

      He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “Most certainly. Another Paris creation?” he asked with a nod at her gown.

      “Yes, monsieur. I’ve been looking for you,” she said after a moment.

      “What for? To foist some young lady on me to dance with?”

      She laughed, thinking that was precisely what she intended. “Why aren’t you dancing, anyway?”

      “I told you, I’m not much of a dancer.”

      “You never will be if you don’t practice.”

      At that moment Warren returned with Annalise.

      “Silas, you remember Warren Townsend and his sister, Annalise.”

      “Yes, of course. Pleased to see you both again,” he said, giving Warren his hand and smiling kindly at Annalise.

      “It’s good to see you, too,” Warren replied.

      They exchanged pleasantries as Cherish sipped the cold fruit punch. She heard the first notes of the piano and looked for a place to set down her cup.

      Her arm, stretched toward a low table, stopped, paralyzed, when she heard Warren’s low, friendly tone behind her. “Would you mind escorting Annalise onto the dance floor? I’d like to dance with Cherish and don’t want to leave my sister unescorted. Although she’ll deny it, she’s a wonderful dancer.”

      “Uh, of course,” Silas said after a second’s hesitation. “Miss Townsend? Would you care to dance this waltz with me?”

      Cherish turned, seeing the look of fright on Annalise’s face. For a moment she felt relief, certain Annalise would turn Silas down.

      But her brother pushed her gently toward Silas, urging, “Please say yes. Otherwise everyone will think Silas was turned down by the prettiest girl in the room.”

      Annalise’s eyes widened in concern. Silas stood by, saying nothing. The girl hesitated between the two men.

      Finally Silas held out his arm, smiling encouragement. “They’ll understand once they see me waltz.”

      Annalise returned his smile and put her hand on his arm.

      Everything faded out for Cherish—the sounds of the waltz, the babble of voices around her—as she watched Silas, arm in arm with Annalise, walk toward the dance floor. The distance between him and Cherish increased with each step, making it a reality she could do nothing to alter.

      As if coming back to the present, she heard Warren’s voice. “So, may I have the honor of this dance?”

      She licked her lips, tempted to give him the set-down of his life. How dare he? He and his stupid little sister with her shy, childish ways! Cherish swallowed the words that roiled through her mind, knowing how unfair they were, but unable to stop from feeling hurt and humiliated even as she nodded her assent.

      She followed the dance steps like an automaton while her heart ached with the feeling of betrayal. The warm smile she thought reserved for her, the encouraging words she’d always received from Silas, the gentle teasing were not for her alone. They were for any young lady that came along.

      Obviously, he’d felt sympathy for Annalise. Was that all Silas felt for Cherish, as well?

      He’d always been her big brother, pal, confidant…hero. But now she wanted something more from Silas.

      As the strains of the waltz played on, Cherish refused to believe her years of waiting for Silas had been in vain. There was no other man for her. Didn’t Silas see that?