The string of exhalations was quite possibly the least graceful, least useful, and least mannerly thing that Bertie had voiced all evening, and considering several of his previous conversations, that was quite the feat.
He couldn't possibly say anything here, not even in the most general, opaque terms--Miss Allen might casually toss out remarks about her father enjoying male company, and Bertie as well, but Bertie would not be the one to condemn Gabriel to a decade or more of hard labor for what neither of them believed a crime. Moreover, he could not think of even whispering the confidence to Miss Allen, as it was a scandal and inappropriate for a lady besides. Bertie had blushed enough just stammering it out to Gabriel--he could not begin to fathom uttering such to Miss Allen.
"I couldn't," he managed at last, an opinion which came out pleading, as though he were begging her to release him from the pit into which he'd unwittingly dug himself. "It's not seemly...that is, I mean no disrespect, none at all...rather the opposite. I should only not wish to...to..."
But then, his offer was for Miss Allen, who existed here, and not for Miss Vicky, who did not. Bertie thought of offering to call on her to explain, but that would send another message entirely, and even with her father knowing the reason, gossip would reach farther than their household.
And if he could not say it, she could not very well believe him man enough to do it.
Bertie swallowed, exhaled, and closed his eyes briefly to pray heaven for strength. Oh, if only Jamie should see him now. He wouldn't be able to stop laughing at Bertie's plight.
"Your esteemed father told me of your....of the challenges, facing a woman in these times," Bertie temporized, picking up speed and confidence as he went. "Particularly an unmarried woman. You have my sympathies, Miss Allen--moreover, should you ever require - nay, request - it, you shall also have my aid. I've told your father that...as much as I care for him--and I do," he assured her with feeling, lest she think him a rake and a devil, "with your need the greater, and opportunities the less, should you ever ask it, I would break off my...close acquaintance...with him, and offer what little, poor energy I have to your service. Madam."
Ignoring the dancers all around them, including the couple who abruptly veered left to avoid crashing into them, Bertie stopped in the middle of the floor and bowed respectfully.