“Or they’ll be laughing at us,” Dietrich pointed out. “Do you care?”
“Not something I’m particularly interested in,” she admitted, “but I don’t want to leave Ella in a lurch, either. So you’ll come with me?”
“If I must,” Dietrich said with a sigh. “Now I need you to get out of here. I have a lot of horses to take care of before I go beg my men to handle all my work so I can take you to a ball. You’re not even my mother,” he muttered.
Beatrice’s eyes twinkled, and she leaned over the fence to blow a kiss at him. “You are the best,” she said.
“Apparently,” Dietrich said.
“I knew you wouldn’t leave me in a bind,” Beatrice said quietly. “Thank you.” The sincere tone made up for all the pretend issues earlier.
“You’re welcome,” Dietrich said, giving her a smile. Even when she annoyed him, she was still his honorary sister, and he would do just about anything for her—including, apparently, going to a ball where the woman he cared for would be dancing with everyone except him.
He sighed and went back to organizing the feeding of the horses.
Across the hall, Turnip eyed him curiously, and Dietrich frowned at the horse.
“What are you looking at?” he asked. “I’m just accompanying Beatrice to the ball. There’s no ulterior motive.”
He had no particular interest in seeing Ella in her element when he could not be part of her world—or hoping she would secretly change her mind and run away with him.
That was completely unrealistic, and he would never expect her to do that.
But if he was being completely honest with himself, he was still hoping it would happen.
Chapter twenty-four
Ella
Ella stood before the double doors, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
“Breathe,” she reminded herself. “Just breathe.”
It was almost over.
Soon, she would have her big announcement, and then she would enter the room as Lady Eliana, Duke Vaughn’s oldest daughter.
She could hardly believe that this was real and that it was happening to her.
She wanted to pinch herself, but her blue dress had long sleeves, and the fabric seemed so delicate that if she pinched it, it might tear, and she didn’t want that. The dress was far too beautiful to accidentally ruin.
She waited for the announcement, forcing herself to take deep breaths as the noise in the ballroom continued to build. This was the biggest night of her life—and she was doing it alone.
Her father and mother had already gone into the ballroom, and they would be announcing her. Her sisters had been deemed too young for this ball and were upstairs in their rooms, very jealous of the fact that Ella got to go.
Ella didn’t think it was something to be jealous of. She was terrified, and she was standing here alone.
But then the doors opened, and her father was announcing her name. She floated through the doorway and paused at the top of the stairs with her heart in her throat.
This was it—the moment when everything would change.
Somewhere in the crowd was the man she was supposed to marry, and that thought was almost as terrifying as the idea of facing all these people alone.
If only she had someone with her.
If only that someone was Dietrich.
His solid dependability had been her rock since she’d found out who she was, and she didn’t want to lose that. If anything, this moment—standing here alone—had convinced her more than anything else that she wanted to break her betrothal.
