Page after page.
As if maybe, finally, I’ve found the chapter where I’m meant to start.
Chapter 13
One Thought
Tyler
As we walk down the staircase, I can’t take my eyes off her.
The sway of her dress.
The satin mask I gave her catching the light.
The ribbon I tied.
The dress I closed.
There’s something primal about it, seeing her in something I chose for her, like the universe conspired to put her here in front of me, marked in some small way as mine.
It feels almost like the castle itself was built for this moment. As though Henry knew, centuries ago, that one day she’d descend these stairs and leave me breathless, like some prophecy finally fulfilled.
Because all I can think, all I can feel, is that this woman might just ruin me.
And that she’s beautiful.
Chapter 14
Too Gouda to Be True
Hayley
The Ballroom is somehow even more extra than I imagined.
Candlelight flickers from wrought-iron chandeliers, throwing long, dramatic shadows that make the whole place feel one thunderclap away from a séance. The walls are lined with tapestries depicting smug-looking stags and swords far too big to be historically necessary.
And in the middle of it all stands a monument to dairy so excessive it should have its own postcode: a cheese display that could qualify as a UNESCO site. Bries. Blues. Cheddars stacked like ancient ruins. The Eiffel Tower of lactose.
Tyler, of course, looks like he was born here. Velvet jacket, noble jawline, that aloof air of a man who probably owns half the wine in Burgundy.
We’ve just cleared the danger zone of the fromage fountain when a voice rings out, unmistakably triumphant:
“Ah-ha! Lovers reunited!”
Peacock.
He sweeps into view like a runway model possessed by a 16th-century drama queen, all feathers, perfume, and dangerous levels of jazz hands.
“I have searched the halls for you two star-crossed sweethearts!” he declares, producing two envelopes with the ceremony of a man presenting the Magna Carta. “Tonight’s performance awaits!”
“Performance?” I blink.
He clutches his chest like I’ve just run him through with a breadstick. “Each couple has been assigned a scene from our most noble manuscript:The Passionate Hearts of Anne and Henry.”
He pauses for dramatic effect, sweeps a hand towards the heavens, and announces,
“You, my dears, are Act III, Scene Two, the infamous‘Reunion of Lovers Beneath the Stars!’”
