Then she was alone, thoughts still swirling with Christopher and his words.
She was still thinking of it a few days later when her health had improved noticeably.
She sat on the sofa of her parlor, watching Christopher and Teddy play tug of war while she worked on some embroidery, Shaggy laying at her feet.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what he had said about them sharing a room.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a footman walked in with an armful of mail
Flipping through the letters, she noticed a name that surprised her and she frowned, tearing it open.
Inside was a letter from the Dudley family.
To the Duke and Duchess of Cavendish
As you may be aware, it has been some time since we have hosted any balls or parties at our estate. It took quite some time to repair the damage from the fire, but we are proud to announce the renovations are finally complete.
In celebration, we thought there was no better wat to show our friends and family the results than to hold a grand ball in a few months.
We would be honored if both of you would attend.
Of course, we understand if one or both of you are unable to attend. Still, we hope to hear from you soon, and offer our congratulations on your marriage.
Veronica sighed, setting the letter off to the side.
It had been so long since she had last been to a ball. But she couldn’t ask Christopher to return to that house.
She set the invitation to the side and turned her attention to the letters from her family instead.
Christopher saw her set the paper away with a sigh. How could he not? Veronica was no where near as discrete as she thought she was.
But that didn’t mean he could get away with being too obvious. He waited until she was completely focused on her letter—probably Rose’s, from the length—before he picked up the letter.
As he reads over the invitation, he freezes.
“I don’t expect to attend,” she said softly, startling him out of his thoughts.
He turned to her, unsure what to say for a moment before settling on. “Why is that?”
She hesitated. “Well, I know you are hardly the biggest fan of balls in general, and especially given the location….” she trailed off for a moment. “I understand the kind of memories that place must hold. I wasn’t even going to bring it up if you hadn’t seen it.”
His frown deepened. He needed to chose his next words carefully. “Then perhaps it is a good thing I saw it.”
“Why is that?”
“Because, I think we should go.”
“What?”“Is it that much of a surprise?”
“Well, yes, it is.”
He smiled. “After all, if we are going to move forward from the past, I can’t think of a better way to do it than this.”
She lit up. “Do you mean that?”
“I do, if you want to go of course. I suppose I might not be the only one who has memories there.”
“No, I would love to. I just- I didn’t think you’d ever want to go to a ball with me, let alone to one there.”
