Chapter 68: friday morning II

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: friday morning II

For a brief moment...

Neither of them spoke.

The sounds of the neighboring clubs continued around them.

Stable hands led horses across the paddocks.

Students greeted one another as they prepared for practice.

And yet...

Standing before Anthony...

Vivienne heard almost none of it.

He was here.

Close enough that she could see the familiar shade of his blonde hair beneath the morning sun.

Close enough to notice the quiet steadiness in his blue eyes.

All the words she had rehearsed over the past two days...

Suddenly vanished.

Anthony, meanwhile, noticed none of her internal struggle.

He simply greeted her with the same calm courtesy he always possessed.

"I hope you haven’t been waiting long."

Vivienne blinked.

"N-not at all."

The answer escaped almost immediately.

A tiny lie.

She had arrived nearly half an hour earlier than necessary.

Anthony accepted it without question.

"I’m glad."

A comfortable silence followed.

Not awkward.

Merely...

Unhurried.

Anthony was the first to speak again.

"Have you decided on the color?"

Vivienne’s eyes brightened.

Right.

The gown.

The very reason she had wanted to see him.

"...Yes."

She nodded.

"I have."

Anthony waited patiently.

Vivienne took a quiet breath.

"I was thinking..."

"...deep emerald."

She searched his face almost instinctively.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Anthony considered it for a brief moment.

"I think emerald would coordinate well."

Vivienne’s heart quietly skipped.

"...Really?"

She looked at him expectantly.

Anthony gave a small nod.

"The Ashford family’s formal attire are traditionally navy and gold."

"Emerald complements them well."

"I think it would be an excellent choice."

Vivienne couldn’t help smiling.

"I also considered ivory."

"And navy."

"And even burgundy."

She laughed softly at herself.

"But somehow..."

"I always came back to emerald."

Anthony listened without interrupting.

"I think you’ve made a good choice."

Such an ordinary sentence.

Spoken without flourish.

Without hidden meaning.

Simply an honest opinion.

And somehow...

It still made her happier than she cared to admit.

"I’m glad."

The words slipped out almost as a whisper.

Anthony gave another small nod.

"If your dressmaker wishes to coordinate the with my tailor..."

"I can have my tailor contact them directly."

Vivienne blinked.

"...You can?"

"Certainly."

"It will make coordinating everything much easier."

Again...

Nothing more than practicality.

Nothing more than proper consideration.

Yet every small gesture seemed to find its way directly into her heart.

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome."

Another quiet pause settled between them.

Neither of them seemed particularly eager to break it.

Around them, the morning carried on at its usual pace.

A groom led two horses toward the training grounds.

Several students crossed the pathway carrying saddles over their shoulders.

Somewhere beyond the fence, laughter drifted across the fields.

Life continued exactly as it always did.

And yet...

To Vivienne...

It felt strangely as though the world had slowed.

She found herself quietly memorizing the moment.

The warmth of the morning sun.

The gentle breeze.

The calm expression Anthony always seemed to wear.

She wondered, almost absentmindedly...

Whether years from now she would still remember this ordinary conversation.

For reasons she couldn’t quite explain...

She thought she would.

Anthony, however, found himself quietly acknowledging something else.

Conversations with Lady Beaumont no longer felt quite as difficult to begin.

They were engaged.

Conversations like this were only natural.

It was simply something he needed to grow accustomed to.

No more.

No less. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Vivienne gathered a little courage.

"...Anthony?"

"Yes?"

A tiny smile appeared.

"I’m glad..."

"...that I called you."

Anthony regarded her quietly for a moment.

"So am I."

The reply came without hesitation.

Simple.

Straightforward.

Entirely sincere.

To Anthony...

He meant exactly what he said.

Had she not called, they probably would have continued postponing this conversation.

Now the arrangements for the Founders’ Ball had begun smoothly.

That was all.

To Vivienne...

Those three words meant something altogether different.

So am I.

She repeated them silently inside her heart.

Once.

Then again.

They felt strangely precious.

Anthony glanced briefly toward the polo grounds.

Practice would begin soon.

"I should go."

Vivienne nodded.

"Of course."

Anthony took a step back.

Then remembered one final detail.

"Once you’ve confirmed everything with your dressmaker..."

"...just let me know."

Vivienne’s smile returned almost immediately.

"I will."

Anthony inclined his head politely.

"Then excuse me."

"Yes, and... enjoy your practice."

"You as well." Then, he turned and walked back toward the polo grounds.

Vivienne remained where she was.

She watched Anthony’s retreating figure until the morning crowd gradually swallowed him from view.

Only then did she realize she had been smiling the entire time.

She lifted one hand to her cheek.

Warm.

She laughed softly beneath her breath.

"...Pull yourself together."

The words carried very little conviction.

How could they?

Only a few days ago...

She had spent an entire night wondering whether Anthony had chosen to ignore her message.

She had hidden herself inside Millward Hall, too embarrassed to risk meeting him.

She had convinced herself that perhaps she had already failed before she had even begun.

And now...

He had remembered.

Not only the Founders’ Ball.

Not only the gown.

He had remembered the conversation they had started together.

He had walked over to her first.

To Anthony, it had probably been nothing more than the proper continuation of an unfinished discussion.

To Vivienne...

It felt like another small step forward.

Perhaps...

Just perhaps...

She wasn’t walking this path alone anymore.

She remained there for another quiet moment.

The smile on her face refused to disappear.

--

Across the pathway...

Evelyn Sinclair watched Anthony disappear into the gathering members of the Polo Club.

Within moments, he had resumed speaking with the others as though the brief detour had never happened.

His expression remained composed.

His voice calm.

Measured.

To anyone watching...

It had simply looked like a gentleman greeting his fiancée before practice.

Nothing more.

Evelyn lowered her gaze to the riding gloves resting quietly in her hands.

Her fingers traced the edge of one glove almost absentmindedly.

Then smoothed an invisible crease that had never truly been there.

A small habit.

One she had developed years ago whenever her thoughts became too full.

Lady Beaumont was his fiancée.

That fact had never been hidden.

Never been questioned.

Anthony had merely acted exactly as everyone would have expected him to.

There was nothing unfair about it.

Nothing she could resent.

Nothing she could object to.

She understood all of that.

She truly did.

Still...

Understanding something...

And feeling nothing...

Were never quite the same.

For one brief, private moment...

She allowed herself that quiet ache.

No one saw it.

No one needed to.

Practice would begin in only a few minutes.

Life would continue.

As it always had.

Evelyn drew one slow, steady breath.

Then lifted her head.

By the time she walked toward the polo grounds...

Her familiar gentle composure had already returned.

No one who greeted Miss Evelyn Sinclair that morning would have guessed that, for the briefest heartbeat...

She had wished Anthony had remained beside her just a little longer.