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CHAPTER FOUR
August 2, 1706

{ Part Four }
The Grand Ball

When he had left Korona weeks ago, Jozef had not even imagined this last piece of business that remained. His conscience tortured him. He knew that the nobility of the Commonwealth saw him and his family as usurpers, little better than tradesmen with a royal title. And the Radziwills were not common nobles. The King himself was not more esteemed than the Radziwills. Seen as a political alliance, the advantage was all his own.

But he did not see it as a political alliance. It was not beyond the realm of possibility that Chancellor Radziwill, when he learned of Jozef's intent toward his youngest daughter, might in anger withdraw all that he had offered to Korona during their days of painstaking negotiations. Yet as the abacus of Jozef's mind clicked in consideration, calculating the costs and benefits of such a proposal, there was no doubt: the risk was worth taking. This calmed him. The Przebendowskis were not, by nature, romantics. If he had found a woman that was worth more than long-sought trading routes to Livonia, then the greater mistake would be not to act, no matter what the consequences.

There was confidence to be gained, too, from the fact that Chancellor Radziwill had insisted upon a ball at which Jozef could not fail to dance with Agnieszka. What was more, he had thrown the two of them together in strawberry-picking and croquet and in countless card games. He could not be surprised at what had happened. As he dressed for the ball, Jozef even allowed himself to hope that his intentions would not be entirely surprising or offensive to Agnieszka. That morning, as he had been walking with her down a row of linden trees in the Radziwill garden, he had asked for the first two dances.

"My dear Lord Korona, you cannot possibly think I have any desire to dance with anyone else tonight. Aside from being the only new person at the ball, you are also the only one leaving tomorrow, and the only one I have no guarantee of ever seeing again. I only hope that you do not forget me when all the pretty girls of Nesvizh throng you tonight, as they surely will. I have had you all to myself this week. I must not always expect such good fortune."

"You can expect that tonight will not be the last you ever see me, if you do not wish it to be so."

"I do not. Do you imagine that I take long walks and horse rides every morning with all of my father's guests?"

"No act of charity on your part would surprise me."

"And you think this charity?"

Jozef paused.

"I am, as you have said, not the most typical of gentlemen. I have long since learned to expect very little from my colleagues, because they think so very little of me, and I must confess, I did not expect to my time here to be so different. So you will forgive me if I sometimes find it disorienting to be treated as you and your father have treated me here, Miss Radziwill. All new experiences require some acclimation, even goodness."

"Then you must spend more time with us, that it might not seem so extraordinary."

"Perhaps I shall, then."

That, however, would depend on what happened tonight, and in that instant, Jozef thought she understood.

The Chancellor asked that Jozef receive the guests with himself and Agnieszka that night. "I assure you, you shall not miss a single dance," he had laughed. Standing in the reception line between them at the start of the ball felt like an audition. Nobles who would have taken pains to ignore him in the Sejm now bowed before him, and he was surprised to find that Agnieszka had been right – Jozef had not have imagined that Nesvizh and its surrounding estates held so many young ladies. He thought he felt her move fractionally closer to him whenever they approached, though she carried on whatever conversation she was having without any sign of interruption.

At last, the Chancellor clapped his hands. "Ah, it is time!" he said and held up his hands in a gesture of welcome. "Let us begin, then, shall we." He motioned to the dance floor. Jozef held out his arm, Agnieszka took it, and they walked out into the ballroom to join the other pairings.

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