Dancing at Midnight Read Free

name is
    Lord John Blackwood. Do you know him?"

    Alex shot forward. "Did you say John Black-wood?"

    "It was John, Lord Blackwood, I think. Why, do you know him? John
    Blackwood is probably a fairly common name."

    "Brown hair?"

    Belle nodded.

    "Brown eyes?"

    She nodded again.

    "About my height, medium build?"

    "I guess so. He wasn't quite as broad in the shoulders as you are, but I
    think he was nearly as tall."

    /"Did he limp?"/

    "Yes!" Belle exclaimed.

    "John Blackwood. I'll be damned," Alex shook his head in disbelief. "And
    a peer now. He must have been granted a title for military service."

    "He fought in the war with you?" Emma asked.

    When Alex finally responded, his green eyes were far away. "Yes," he
    said softly. "He commanded his own company, but we saw each other
    frequently. I always wondered what happened to him. Don't know why I
    didn't try to look him up. I suppose
    I was afraid I'd find out he was dead."

    That certainly caught Belle's attention. "What do you mean?"

    "It was strange," Alex said slowly. "He was an excellent soldier. There
    was no one you could depend on more. He was
    absolutely selfless. Constantly putting himself in danger to save others."

    "Why is that strange?" Emma asked. "He sounds like quite an honorable man."

    Alex turned his head to the two ladies, his expression suddenly clear.
    "The strange thing was that for a man who seemed to
    have such disregard for his own well-being, he behaved quite remarkably
    when he was wounded."

    "What happened?" Belle asked anxiously.

    "The surgeon said that he'd have to cut off his leg. And I must say, he
    was rather callous about it. John was still conscious at
    the time, and the leech didn't even bother to tell him directly. He just
    turned to his assistant and said, 'Bring me the saw.'"

    Belle shuddered, the image of John Blackwood so ill-treated surprisingly
    painful.

    "He went crazy," Alex continued. "I've never seen anything like it. He
    grabbed the surgeon by his shirt and pulled him down
    until they were nose to nose. And considering the amount of blood he'd
    lost, his grip was remarkably strong. I was going to intervene, but when
    I heard the tone of his voice, I held back."

    "What did he say?" Belle asked, on the edge of her seat.

    "I'll never forget it. He said, 'If you take my leg, as God is my
    witness, I will hunt you down and saw off yours." The doctor
    let him be. Said he'd leave him to die if that's what he wanted."

    "But he didn't die," Belle said.

    "No, he didn't. But I'm sure that was the end of his fighting days.
    Which was probably all for the best. He was a superb soldier, but I
    always got the idea that he abhorred violence."

    "How odd," Emma murmured.

    "Yes, well, he was an interesting man. I quite liked him. Had an
    excellent sense of humor when he chose to exhibit it. But he
    was more often than not silent. And he had quite the strictest sense of
    honor I have ever experienced."

    "Really, Alex," Emma teased. "No one could be more honorable than you."

    "Ah, my lovely, loyal wife." Alex leaned forward and dropped a kiss on
    Emma's forehead.

    Belle slumped back in her seat. She wanted to hear more about John
    Blackwood, but there didn't seem any polite way to ask
    Alex to say more about him. It rather irritated her to admit it, but she
    couldn't deny that she was incredibly interested in the unusual man.

    Belle had always been very practical, very pragmatic, and the one thing
    she had always refused to do was deceive herself.
    John Blackwood had intrigued her this afternoon, but now that she knew a
    bit of his history, she was fascinated. Every little
    thing about him, from the quirk of his brow to the way the wind ruffled
    his slightly wavy hair suddenly took on new meaning.
    And his insistence upon walking made much more sense. After fighting so
    fiercely to save his leg, it was only natural that
    he'd want to use it. He struck her as a man of principles. A man you
    could trust, depend upon. A man