Chapter 26
Sunday
The grand ball was just beginning when Jeremy and I walked into the ballroom. The ball wasn’t held in the tents near the crescent. It was held in the most perfect of all places, the Upper Assembly Rooms at Bath, a place where Jane Austen herself had been. It was a grand venue that never failed to take my breath away with its columns and wainscoting and gorgeous alcove for the orchestra. Tonight, with the entire assemblage dressed in Regency period clothing, it actually felt as if we’d all managed to turn back the clock to arrive in 1813.
My ball gown was a silver concoction with a high waist and tiny embroidered flowers and swirls. I had a matching silver reticule and slippers. I’d managed to put up my hair in a chignon and actually thought I looked halfway decent.
Jeremy looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of the novel itself. His all-black evening attire, black boots, tight black breeches, and a black coat, blended with his silver waistcoat and white shirtfront and cravat, combined to set off his tan and his jade-green eyes. He was Regency McFox tonight. He looked better than I’d ever seen him. Oh, and he smelled good too. Like Irish Spring soap or something I wanted to sniff more. He towered over me as usual, and I had never been prouder than walking at his side into the ballroom.
I’d managed to avoid Harrison all day. Jeremy and I had actually spent the entire day exploring the town. We’d had tea at the Pump Room and gone on a tour of the Roman Baths for which the town had been named. I’d managed to forget about the stupid seven I’d caused us to receive in the talent competition, for a few hours at least. The only hope we had of winning tonight was if Harrison and Lacey messed up. It was a long shot, but it was possible. At the same time, Jeremy and I would need an overall ten for sure. Luckily, we’d done a lot of dancing in his woodshop.
“Ready?” Jeremy asked, squeezing my hand right before we entered the room.
“Ready.” I nodded. “You?”
“As ready as I’m going to be.”
“You look exactly like Darcy, only better,” I said, smiling at him.
“Thank you. You look exactly like Lizzy, only better,” he replied.
It didn’t take me long to spot Harrison and Lacey. Lacey was wearing a white gown that seemed somewhat demure from the back, but was a full assault of décolletage from the front. “As if Lizzy Bennet would have ever been on display like that,” I huffed under my breath.
“What was that?” Jeremy leaned down to hear me better.
“Nothing.”
We danced the minuet, the cotillion, and the quadrille and managed to score perfect tens on each. Jeremy was right. We weren’t entirely out of it yet. Lacey had managed to trip during the quadrille, and had a point taken away. We were only two points behind. I’d brought my day planner with me to tally the scores of each round and keep track.
After the quadrille, Jeremy came up to my side. “I need some fresh air. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
A few minutes turned into ten. The groups were lining up to perform the waltz. We were scheduled to go last, no doubt a bone they’d thrown us because of the way I’d screwed up yesterday during the acting, but I was still nervous. I grabbed my day planner from our table (because I never left it anywhere alone) and hurried out of the ballroom, into the corridor, and out of the building into the street. The grand columns of the building behind me, I glanced back and forth down the stone-tiled street for Jeremy. He was nowhere to be seen. Some of the other contestants were milling about with a few of the spectators, but no Jeremy.
I wandered around the side of the building, hoping I might find him. I made my way down the alley along the side and had nearly turned the corner to the back of the building, when I heard a noise behind me and whirled around to find Harrison there. He seemed out of breath, as if he’d jogged to catch up with me.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, Meg,” he said, holding up his hand in a conciliatory manner. Yes, he was definitely out of breath.
“I’m looking for Jeremy,” I said, wanting to leave him there and continue my search for my partner.
Harrison stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “Look, Meg, I know how awful it looked with Lacey the other night, but I swear to you it wasn’t mutual. Lacey leaned in to kiss me precisely when you came around the corner. I never had an inkling before that she was interested in me.”
I pressed my lips together tightly. I guess we were doing this right here, dressed to the nines, in the alley next to the Upper Assembly Rooms.
“The timing seems convenient,” I replied, clutching my planner to my chest. “And you did have an inkling because I’d told you. Or tried to at least.”
“I admit I’ve been naïve,” Harrison continued. “But I truly never thought a woman like Lacey would be interested in a man like me.”
It was so close to what my own thoughts had always been. I bit my lip. I wanted to believe him, but the truth was that I still couldn’t forgive him for tossing me over for Lacey to begin with. I’d thought about it a lot last night and most of the day today. Jeremy’s words from last night rang in my memory. “If you were mine, I’d never choose a Megan Fox wannabe over you. I wouldn’t care what my boss said.” That was the issue, really. It might not have been on my checklist, but I wanted a man who wouldn’t toss me over for job or country. If that was too much to ask, then so be it.
“We both really want tenure,” I had offered lamely to Jeremy once when I’d been defending Harrison for his indefensible behavior.
“Some things are just more important than your career,” Jeremy had said, the night we’d eaten pizza in a half an hour, because like a crazy person I’d wanted to get home to grade stupid papers.
That was Jeremy, wasn’t it? A man who’d thrown off the corporate handcuffs to work in his shop with his smiling dog all day. He wasn’t being trite. He’d meant what he said. He’d changed his whole life for that belief. He truly wouldn’t choose someone else over me just to please his boss.
“Meg,” Harrison said. “I struggled for a time with feeling betrayed by you. Your decision to enter the competition with a new partner was difficult for me to accept at first.”
My mouth fell open. “I betrayed you?” I echoed. “It was difficult for you to accept?”
“Yes, but I’ve forgiven you. I realize it was a mistake. I made one, too, not realizing Lacey’s intentions. You’ve got to forgive me too, now.”
I shook my head in disbelief.
“We can both blow off this competition,” Harrison continued. “Let Migel win. I don’t care anymore.” He covered the distance between us and dropped to one knee, pulling my free hand into both of his. “I know we hadn’t planned this until the holidays, but I bought you a ring today. Will you marry me?”
My breath caught in my throat. Was this really happening? Was Harrison really proposing to me in the middle of an alley in Bath after all that had happened?
I didn’t even get a look at the ring. A noise behind Harrison caught my attention. I looked up to see Jeremy standing there in the moonlight in his full ball attire. He looked so handsome that he took my breath away. How much had he seen? Harrison was still on one knee. It was obvious what was happening.