“I ain’t usually this nervous.”
“Well, it’s not every day you announce your engagement.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Did you deal with Jonty?” William asked.
“First thing this morning. He won’t say a word. You remember what to do?”
“Absolutely.” William winked. “You look very cute, by the way.”
Heat rushed to my face, and I glanced away.
“Thank you, so do you.” There weren’t many outfits that could upstage the flamingo-pink boiler suit I’d worn for the occasion, but William in his full riding outfit—the boots, the jodhpurs, the polo shirt he must have had to grease himself up to get into—was right up there.
“Breathe,” he said.
So I did.
Then I made my entrance.
“Morning, everyone.”
There were the usual whoops and cheers—the loudest of all from Jonty. My heart was racing as I ran through a few important bits of housekeeping. “Now, before I move on to the subject of plans for tomorrow night’s ball—” Big cheers from the cast, the balls being the highlight of each week. “I think there’s something we need to clear up.”
“Is it the pox?” Jonty called out. There were a few laughs.
“This is serious. Rules have been broken.”
The cheers died down, replaced by the clatter of cutlery being gently placed on crockery and tablecloths. Eighteen pairs of eyes stared at me intently.
“It’s come to my attention some of you—an alarming number of you, actually—broke the rules last night and made contact with someone from the outside world.”
Faces were being pulled, sideways glances shared.
“Shocking,” Jonty said, shaking his head. “Who would do such a thing?”
“It seems some of you heard a rumour, saw an opportunity, and decided to act on it.”
“Disgraceful.”
“That’s enough with the help, thank you, Jonty.”
“Right you are.”
I straightened up, gripping my clipboard with both hands.
“I wasn’t going to reveal this to you all because, well, it’s a private matter… and the news hasn’t been made public yet, but…”
On cue, William strode into the room and stood beside me. I turned to look at him, trying to appear completely besotted. It wasn’t hard when he looked like that. In return, he stared into my eyes like I was the only person in the room, like I was thecentre of his world. I’d have gone weak at the knees if it wasn’t also how he looked at his horse.
“For those of you whohaven’tmet him yet,” I announced to the room, “this is William. Buckford Hall is his gaff.”
William slipped his hand into mine, our fingers intertwining. “And we’re engaged to be married,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips and kissing it.
There was a sharp intake of breath around the room. Jonty leapt to his feet, clapping and shouting “Bravo!” and “Three cheers for the new Lady Buckford!”
Slowly, the stunned faces around the room joined in the celebrations. William and I gazed at each other like we were deliriously happy. As I looked into his sparkling eyes, I got swept up in the part and threw myself around him. He pulled me into a tight hug. He felt so strong, I sank into him.
