Page 64 of Dropping the Ball

Lord Lawrence shrugged. “Is it not better to live life in the sunshine and to assume the best of people than to dwell in gloom and distress all the time?”

Minerva looked as though the man had offered her one of the poison dart frogs as a snack.

Bernadette had to hide the sudden smile that came to her as she watched her friend and Alden’s cousin with a cough. The two of them made a fascinating match of opposites.

“Perhaps we should return to the ball to see the rest of the evening through,” she said, directing her suggestion to everyone, but mainly to Alden. “Quite a few people are watching us through the window as it is.”

Indeed, the glass walls of the terrarium that looked out to the garden were lined with people, all of whom were watching what was taking place inside with particular interest.

“Yes,” Alden said with a slightly sheepish look. “We have been the center of attention long enough. It is time to return this ball to its original purpose.”

“Which is?” Bernadette asked, smiling as Alden stepped closer to her.

“Finding me a bride,” he said, taking her hands.

Bernadette’s heart leapt in her chest. She did not know precisely what Alden had in mind, but she let him lead her to the terrarium door and out to the garden once more.

The ball had come to a complete stop as everyone had clustered around the windows of the terrarium to see what was the matter. As Alden and Bernadette, along with their remaining friends, stepped across the lawn to the area of the marquees and dance floor, the guests parted to let them through. They also leaned in a bit with expectation.

“Well?” Lady Laura asked, her daughter standing just behind her, looking equally curious. “Whatever has transpired?”

“Was Lady Gladys taken ill?” Lady Ursula asked as she stood in a cluster of younger ladies and gentlemen. “It looked as though she collapsed.”

“Lady Gladys was unfortunate enough to handle one of the poison dart frogs in the terrarium,” Alden said, addressing hisguests once he made it to the center of the dance floor. “She has damaged her hand, but is in the care of friends now.”

“I knew it,” one of the younger ladies, who had kept her distance from Alden throughout the weekend, said. “This place is cursed.”

Alden sent Bernadette a wry look. “Is that not what landed us in this predicament in the first place?” he asked. “Believing in curses?”

Bernadette’s mouth wobbled into a smile, and she nearly laughed. “Oh, I do not know,” she said. “One could argue that the entire thing has been a blessing in disguise.”

“That it has,” Alden said, taking her hand. He then faced the anxious, curious guests and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, Lady Bernadette and I have an announcement to make.”

The crowd of guests seemed to hold it’s breath for a moment before Lady Wendine squealed, then burst out with, “The two of you are engaged!”

Bernadette’s mouth dropped open, and she turned to stare at Alden for a moment, fighting the urge to laugh once more.

Alden gaped back at her, then laughed openly. He turned to Lady Wendine and the rest of the guests and asked, “How did you know?”

All together, the guests let out their breaths and turned to each other, making knowing faces, chuckling, and murmuring.

“It has been obvious from the start that the two of you are very much enamored of one another,” Lady Bronwyn said.

“Yes,” Lady Avril said, glancing to the young gentleman standing beside her, then looking at Bernadette. “And who else among us is better suited to be Lord Alden’s bride than the only woman amongst us who does not run in fear at the very idea of his creatures?”

More of the assembled guests agreed with that.

“But the very purpose of the ball was so that Lord Alden could choose a bride from among Britannia’s finest young, marriage-minded ladies,” Bernadette said, feeling as if her reputation was on the line in one way or another. “I had no wish to deceive any of you by inviting you all here, then stealing the prize for myself.”

“But you did not,” Lady Laura said, shrugging slightly. “You invited us all to this lovely, if eccentric, estate for a weekend that has been far more interesting and enjoyable than I would have imagined. You have invited more than enough eligible young men to keep the young ladies entertained.”

“And it has been lovely watching you and Lord Alden fall in love,” Lady Alyce added with a wistful sign. “It has made me see that I should not settle for the conventional when an unconventional love awaits me.”

“Alyce?” Lady Diana, Alyce’s mother, asked worriedly from a different part of the dance floor.

Lady Alyce stood taller and turned to find her mother. “I love him, Mama,” she declared. “I know he is not suitable, but I love Rupert, and we shall be together.”

“You will not,” Lady Diana said in shock, starting to push her way through the crowd.

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