Engaging Love: A Historical Regency Romance Novel by Abby Ayles & Fanny Finch

Author:Abby Ayles & Fanny Finch [Ayles, Abby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Natalie could not help but feel a bit lighter being in a ballroom.

It felt in a way like coming home. The sights! The dresses! The gossip! The gentlemen! The music! The dancing! The food!

It was marvelous to once again feel like a proper part of something. She had almost forgotten how much she loved the London season, how much she missed it, until now. Oh, the idea of leaving it and going back to the country seemed like a crime against her own nature.

For the first few minutes she had been nothing short of ecstatic. She had run into many acquaintances from all over and had been happily catching up on all the news.

Then…it had started.

She had known of course that Lord Ridgecleff had put out a notice of their engagement in the papers. It was the proper thing to do and they had waited enough time so that it would not intrude upon Elizabeth or Regina’s nuptial announcements.

But knowing sort of in the back of her mind and really truly having it in front of her face were two entirely different things.

Because now people were asking her about her engagement.

“And to the son of an earl!” said one Miss Crawley. “The heir, no less. Miss Natalie, I quite envy you.”

There were catty remarks about how Regina had managed to do her one better and score a duke, but most people simply wanted to know what Lord Ridgecleff was like.

“Is he quite as dashing as they say?” asked one lady.

“I’ve heard the most alluring stories about his time on the Continent,” said another.

At first, Natalie worried that she would have to lie. That she would have to make up stories about Lord Ridgecleff in order to sound like the eager, blushing bride.

Yet, as she spoke, she found that she wasn’t making up a single thing.

She talked about how he was rough around the edges at first.

“We used to have such disagreements,” she admitted with a smile and a chuckle. “He’s quite stubborn, you know, as am I. We had this one row—but of course we worked it all out in the end.”

She spoke of how she had grown used to his manner and how they had found a way to balance one another out.

“He would tell me such stories about the Continent! It made me feel quite like a little girl again, you know, so unlearned, never having left England. But he’s not at all stuck up about it.”

She would talk about how dedicated he was to his brother and sister, and how determined he was to do right by his estate and his family name.

In fact, she didn’t have to make a single thing up. Oh, she had to omit certain things, such as how fast their engagement was. She certainly couldn’t tell them that she had all but hated Lord Ridgecleff at first.

Nor could she tell them about her own deplorable behavior. Or the full truth of their lack of connection at first.

But she could tell them about how she had come to hold him in such high regard.

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