"I'm—fine!"
She was clearly not fine.
Victoria turned back to Sasha, who was trying very hard not to laugh. "Sorry. Where was I?"
"Something about perfection."
"Right. Perfection. So what I'm trying to say is…"
"Now!" Sophie's voice rang out from somewhere near the stables.
Fromage trotted into view, and Victoria had to admit, Sophie had outdone herself. The calf wore a wreath of winter greenery around her neck, and the small ring box dangled from hercollar on a red ribbon. She looked, against all odds, genuinely adorable.
"Oh my God," Sasha breathed. "Is that… is Fromage wearing a ring box?"
"Yes. Sophie thought it would be cute."
"It's very cute."
Fromage, apparently pleased with the attention, did her bowing trick, the head-dip that Sophie had been so proud of. Several people applauded.
This was actually working. Despite everything, this was actually working.
Victoria was just opening her mouth to continue when something white began falling from above.
Snow.
Ambrose's mysterious snow plan was apparently paper snowflakes, hundreds of them, drifting down from where he stood on the gazebo roof. They caught the firelight as they fell, spinning and dancing in the evening air.
It was, for exactly three seconds, absolutely magical.
Neither Victoria nor Sasha could take their eyes off the beauty of the white flakes in the flickering firelight.
"Ogien!" Pani Kaminska shrieked, leaping up from her bench. "OGIEN! OGIEN!"
"What's she saying?" Archie yelled.
"I don't…" Victoria started.
One of the burning snowflakes landed on the gazebo's roof.
The gazebo, which was apparently made of extremely flammable wood, began to smoke.
Then it began to actually burn.
"Fire!" Ambrose shouted from above. "The gazebo’s on fire!" He began to scramble down the trellises.
Fromage, startled by the shouting, let out a panicked moo and bolted. The ring box bounced wildly on its ribbon as she charged directly toward the rose display, scattering flowers and nearly taking out Lady Alexandra in the process.
"Fromage, no!" Sophie went running after her.
Cathy was still sneezing. The gazebo was actively burning. Pani Kaminska was screaming in Polish. Sir Archibald had appeared from somewhere with a fire extinguisher.
And Lukas came sprinting across the garden with a bucket of water, took one look at the flaming gazebo, and hurled the entire contents upward.
The fire sputtered and died.
The gazebo dripped.
