"Oh," Ben responded, honestly surprised when she brought up her dance card. He shouldn't have been, really — they were at a dance, after all, and that was sort of the point. If they'd been having this conversation a year ago, he would have asked her already. It was a little rude, he thought, to detain a lady in conversation for any length of time and not ask her to dance, particularly if she ended up obliged to sit a dance out without a partner because she'd been too busy making small talk. That said, this was one of his first proper social events since his marriage, and he was still navigating how he ought to act.

Married people were still allowed to dance with whomever they liked, though, so why not? He didn't think he'd run the risk of leading her on, because she must have known about his recent elopement already. Everyone in Britain knew, he was fairly certain. If she was the sort of girl who was only looking to spend her time with eligible suitors she wouldn't have brought it up, but it seemed she just wanted the same thing he did: to have a little fun and good company.

"Yeah, let's dance," he said with a grin. "Which is your next free song?"