Page 82 of Give Him a Chance

The door opened and Cawthorne stepped in. “You rang, Lady Lindow?”

“Lemonade, please,” said Lady Lindow eagerly. “And—”

“No. No, not lemonade.” Lucy spoke half without realizing, the idea only just occurring to her. “Champagne, please.”

Of course. Why not now? Why wait for the moment if she couldcreateit? Why not share with her family, at least, the joy she and Bernard had found?

Dear Lord, not all of it—that would cause a scandal and she would never be able to look her father in the eye.

But enough. Enough for them to know a wedding was soon on its way.

“‘Champagne’?” Their butler raised an eyebrow.

“Little early for that, isn’t it?” Percy asked cheerfully. “But well, I’m never going to turn down a drink from Papa’s cellars; they’re always marvelous.”

“Lucy, it’s only two o’clock,” protested her mother, but not very strongly.

Lucy chuckled. Her mother had always had a taste for champagne. “Thank you, Cawthorne.”

The butler bowed, evidently confused as to why the typical afternoon fare for the family had changed, but stepping out of the room immediately to procure said beverage.

“You know, I’ll allow it this time,” the Earl of Lindow said mildly, stretching his arms out above his head with a wistful sigh. “But I usually like to save the bubbles for special occasions, and I am not sure returning from Stanphrey Lacey quite merits it.”

His wife took his hand. “Well, not quite, but there is a bit of family news.”

“Not now, Dodo,” the earl said quietly. “Not now.”

That should have been enough to pique Lucy’s interest—after all, that could only mean there was family news of the most exciting kind.

But she could not think about that, not now. Not now that she had decided to make the announcement that would radically change her life, and in the best way possible.

Bernard was looking at her curiously, his head tilted to the side. “Why the champagne?”

Lucy’s knee bounced. “You’ll see.”

It only took Cawthorne a few minutes to retrieve two bottles of champagne, kept cool in the depths of the house’s cellars, and Lucy cheered with the rest of the family as the corks popped and her pulse pounded.

Am I truly going to do this?

Her gaze slipped to Bernard, who was regaling her mother with a hilarious tale about champagne. Her stomach twisted, but it was a wonderful sensation. The sort of sensation she wanted to feel for the rest of her life.

Yes. This was right. She didn’t even need to discuss this with Bernard; she knew he would understand her need to bring her family into the secret of their commitment to each other. After all, it didn’t feel right to keep it from them, the five of them living together in such harmony.

So this was it. Her moment.

Cawthorne handed around the glasses and Lucy rose to her feet, her knees somehow trembling.

Well. Here goes nothing. “I… I have an announcement.”

“Lucy,” Bernard said quietly.

She ignored him as her father said, “Goodness, do you?”

“Have you secured the release of your one hundredth prisoner?” her mother asked brightly. “I said from the start, you needed to keep a tally.”

“Lucy,” Bernard repeated, and there was a warning in his tone this time.

Lucy continued to ignore him, but she could not ignore the rising excitement within her, nor the fading smile on her brother’s face as he looked between her and Bernard.