Jemima’s gaze was caught now on the young man’s face, as if she could possibly place him from all society in this dim light, or with her cut hand, or with the disorienting swirl of general worry in her head from everything else terrible that was currently happening in the ballroom beyond them in a way that felt like too much.
“Oh!” Jemima squeaked, caught entirely off-guard as, all of a sudden, he was very close. He was saying something, but all she felt first was his foot’s urgent pulling at her skirts, and the press of a hand on her elbow; and maybe she had imagined finding herself alone with a man in some darkened room once or twice before – guiltily, in the back of her mind – but it had never really begun like this.
And then she felt the candle roll beneath her dress, stopping by the side of her shoe. He’d mentioned a candle, hadn’t he? This time, glancing down in horror and sidestepping slightly, she realised its effects: there was a smell of burning fabric, and it must have already been eating away at the edge of her dress. And it had spread to the carpet, where another, proper flame blazed up suddenly from the floor. “Oh –” Jemima clutched at his arm in return, all her indignance transformed to alarm – and half in warning, lest the fire catch his trouser-leg while he tried to help her! “– careful!”
“Oh!” Jemima squeaked, caught entirely off-guard as, all of a sudden, he was very close. He was saying something, but all she felt first was his foot’s urgent pulling at her skirts, and the press of a hand on her elbow; and maybe she had imagined finding herself alone with a man in some darkened room once or twice before – guiltily, in the back of her mind – but it had never really begun like this.
And then she felt the candle roll beneath her dress, stopping by the side of her shoe. He’d mentioned a candle, hadn’t he? This time, glancing down in horror and sidestepping slightly, she realised its effects: there was a smell of burning fabric, and it must have already been eating away at the edge of her dress. And it had spread to the carpet, where another, proper flame blazed up suddenly from the floor. “Oh –” Jemima clutched at his arm in return, all her indignance transformed to alarm – and half in warning, lest the fire catch his trouser-leg while he tried to help her! “– careful!”
