I remember reading in a book about 19th century life (I can't recall which one right now), it said that ALL gentlemen danced and that although some country dances may seem silly and unmasculine to our sensibilities today they were an important social aspect of life (for upper class people). The book also said that due to social morals, dancing was the only socially acceptable method of touching a ummarried member of the opposite sex and being able to talk in relative privacy. Today, as we all know, handing holding and other showings of physical affection in public between non-dancing unmarried people is acceptable, but in those days it just wasn't done.