Diana Blair was of the opinion that a ship at sea was a perfectly terrible place to have a party, and that an elopement was a perfectly ridiculous way to marry, but she was here anyway, celebrating an elopement on a ship at sea. It was a necessary sacrifice to be a member of the ton, to take full advantage of the opportunity that Josephine had given her. Although it was hard to take advantage of anything for the first half hour as she familiarized herself with the sway and swell of the deck. She spent the time watching a handful of over eager couples stumble their way through dance sets, with varying levels of success. The sight inspired Diana and, once she trusted her legs to keep her steady, she set off in search of Callum Sinclair.

They had first become acquainted in the final years of the war, when they were both helping to rehabilitate injured war horses for her majesty’s army. It had been the best way either of them could contribute. Now, Callum was making his debut despite being too old for such a thing, much like Diana, but, unlike her, he seemed ill equipped to do so. She’d offered her assistance in a number of areas, but most relevant at this moment was dancing. 

Callum was exactly where Diana expected him to be, at the edge of things, as if he were trying to hide. She curtsied when she reached him, ever the demure debutant. “My lord, I believe you promised me a dance.” Of course he’d done no such thing, but it was the best way to convey that it was time for him to practice what she’d been teaching him without saying it outright.