Chapter 84: Dancing under the Moonlight in White

By the time Evelyn left the carriage with Juliana and the others to the square, the town square was alive with light and laughter. Lanterns glowed warmly, strung like jewels between wooden posts and across shopfronts. Every face glimmered under the silver wash of the moon, and the crowd was a sea of white simple linen shirts, light skirts, kerchiefs tied neatly making it look as though the whole village had been blanketed in snow.

The elder, dignified even in his plain tunic, greeted them warmly as they descended into the square.

"Your Grace," he said with a bow to Evelyn. "Your arrival does our harvest honor."

Evelyn returned his smile. "Your town looks beautiful tonight."

The soft hum of voices and the occasional trill of a lute wrapped around them as they moved into the crowd. Families gathered in small knots to drink, talk, and embrace beneath the bright sky, hands clasped and hands raised together in cheer.

Beside her, Juliana's eyes glowed with delight as she took in the scene.

"You see, Evelyn," she began, leaning close, "everyone wears white to honor the harvest, it symbolizes purity and good fortune for the new season."

Evelyn glanced at the linen draped over everyone present, smiling at its unity. "That is a lovely tradition."

Juliana nodded eagerly. "And wait until you see the grape-mashing... it's the most important part of the festival. See there?"

She pointed across the square to a wooden basin nearly as broad as a small room. Piled high with dark grapes glistening like jewels, the basin was flanked by four carved wooden posts. A makeshift wooden platform surrounded it like a stage. Above it hung ropes draped from the nearby trees, neatly tied into loops and spaced close together.

"That...," Juliana explained with an impish glint in her eye, "is where we'll dance and crush the grapes with our feet. We hold onto the ropes overhead as we move so we don't slip."

Evelyn stared at the basin and then back at Juliana.

"You mean we must do it too?"

"Oh, absolutely," Juliana grinned. "Every woman present. Even you."

Before Evelyn could protest, Juliana had grabbed her hand.

"Come," she urged brightly. "We need to change into our white attire. They've prepared a room for all of us."

Still feeling surprised but caught up in her sister-in-law's energy, Evelyn followed Juliana through a nearby archway. The crowd thinned into a quiet hallway where several other noble ladies had gathered. A maid held a door open into a side chamber illuminated by warm lamps.

Inside, silken white shifts and light skirts were laid carefully across tables and chests. Lady Ames, already slipping into a linen overdress, glanced up with a smile.

"Your Grace," she greeted Evelyn warmly, hands busy with the ties at her waist, "you've come just in time... we shall be joining in the dance tonight."

Evelyn paused a moment, taking in the gentle murmur of the other women as they chose their outfits and joked together. The dresses were simpler than those they had worn to dinner earlier; light and breezy, hemmed just short enough for bare ankles and feet.

Juliana pressed a folded dress into Evelyn's hands with a wicked little grin.

"You'll look lovely," she assured her. "And after tonight, I promise you'll feel as though you've truly become one of us."

Evelyn felt the softness of the white linen and gave a small laugh, equal parts nervous and excited.

"Very well," she agreed at last, thinking of the bright basin outside and the music already drifting in through the windows. "Let us not keep them waiting."

And with Juliana at her side, she slipped behind a screen to change, the sound of laughter and gentle melody outside filling her with a new anticipation for the night ahead.

By the time Evelyn and the other noblewomen emerged into the torchlit square, they had transformed into figures of simple, graceful beauty. The dresses they wore were cut from fine, white linen, lightweight and sleeveless, with skirts that brushed just past their knees so that they would not trail in the crushed grapes. The fabric was cinched at the waist with slender braided belts, leaving their shoulders bare under the moonlight. Every lady had pinned her hair loosely, some tresses left to tumble over their shoulders, adorned only with tiny sprays of dried lavender.

As they stepped into the square, the crowd noticed at once. Faces turned with delighted murmurs and applause. Even Juliana's lively chatter paused for a heartbeat as she gazed around her.

"You look radiant," she whispered to Evelyn with a smile as they approached the basin.

Evelyn felt a little flush rise to her cheeks but let her eyes trail across the crowd. There, by the edge of the torchlight, she found Nathaniel.

He was standing perfectly still, gaze fixed on her alone. The gentle flicker of firelight softened his sharp features, and something in his dark eyes glowed warmer than the lamps around them. For a moment, all the noise and bustle fell away.

Father Linley, the town priest, a broad-shouldered man with kind eyes and hands worn with years of work raised his arms.

"Bless this harvest," he began in his deep, sonorous voice. The crowd quieted, leaning into his prayer as he asked for the land's bounty to last them through winter and for the town's hearts to stay united in faith and joy. When he concluded with an earnest "Amen," a loud cheer erupted across the square.

That was the signal.

The drummers began to play, a lively rhythm that quickened the breath and the gentle melody of a lute carried over the crowd. The noblewomen moved toward the basin with excited laughter.

Servants knelt to rinse their feet in fragrant water before they took their places. Evelyn felt the cool kiss of water across her soles as she was gently dried, then Juliana took her hand and guided her up onto the wooden platform surrounding the grapes.

The basin was large enough to fit a dozen dancers at once. Thick ropes, knotted and draped from sturdy posts overhead, hung low and ready. Juliana grabbed one with a gleeful cry, and Evelyn followed suit, fingers wrapping around the rough cord, feet sinking into a cushion of plump grapes.

A ripple of delighted gasps and giggles followed as the women began to dance pressing and twisting the grapes under their feet, skirts swirling and laughter like a silvery chime. Juice splashed up against their calves as they stamped in time with the music.

Evelyn felt a lightness unfurl in her chest, a joy so unfamiliar yet utterly welcome. Her hands gripped the rope for balance as she followed the others' rhythm stepping and spinning, laughing aloud as Juliana teased her into moving faster. The whole square had joined the celebration; clapping hands kept the rhythm, and good-humored shouts rang into the night.

And across the crowd, Nathaniel stood as if spellbound.

He had seen Evelyn poised and proper, quiet and composed but this was a different side of her altogether. Hair tumbling loose around her shoulders, eyes bright with mirth, face glowing with exertion and happiness. The graceful sweep of her arms as she held the ropes, the way her lips parted in a delighted gasp as someone bumped her playfully, every part of her captivated him.

He realized with a breathless ache that the town itself could have disappeared then, and he wouldn't have noticed.

When Evelyn laughed up into the moonlight and glanced his way eyes shining and a flush on her cheeks, Nathaniel felt utterly dazed. For once, all his carefully guarded thoughts scattered like petals in the wind, and all he could do was stand there, gaze fixed on his wife, as if she were the most enchanting thing in all the world.