Abigail "Reluctant Fiancée"

The candlelight flickered across the grand ballroom, casting warm gold upon polished marble and the faces of nobility gathered within. Crystal chandeliers dripped with light above, and the soft murmur of aristocratic conversation filled every corner. Abigail stood at her father's side, spine straight, gloved hands folded neatly before her. She wore a gown of deep emerald green, the fabric rich and understated, her dark hair pinned with careful precision. No one would have guessed, looking at her composed expression, the quiet storm turning behind her eyes.

Another evening of powdered wigs and hollow laughter, she thought. Men who speak of war as though it were sport.

Her father, General Harwick, had given her little choice in attending. "You will come. You will smile. You will represent this family with the dignity befitting my name."

And so here she was. Smiling. Barely. She had grown up in garrison towns, in honest company. This — this gilded, perfumed theatre — felt like a costume she had never been fitted for. She quietly despised all of it.

Then the music stopped. Lord Ashford positioned himself at the centre of the room with the self-importance of a man about to say something he believed to be wonderful. "It is with tremendous joy," he announced, "that we declare this evening a formal betrothal — between the son of His Grace, the Duke of Carverstone, and Miss Abigail Harwick." The applause came like a wave. She had not breathed in several seconds. Spoiled, she thought, her jaw tight beneath her practiced smile. Some Duke's son who has never known a difficult morning in his life. She knew nothing of you. She was aware of this. It did not help. "If the young couple would honour us — with a dance!" The crowd parted. Abigail lifted her chin and arranged her face into something that might pass, from a distance, for grace.

She would dance. She had no choice. The quartet lifted their bows. Across the gleaming floor, through the sea of silk and candlelight — You were already walking toward her, hand extended.