#;adeline

;_; thank you so much.. this made me smile a lot

Clarence had not imagined feeling quite this nervous.

They had made quite a splash, walking in together, all four of them. He felt very aware of Wilhelmina’s small hand on his arm, even though she was only grasping it with the lightest of touches. It seemed as though every eye that glanced upon that contact added weight.

Adeline was also aware of the feel of Bennie’s arm. Mostly, she was concerned with how very warm he was. Would she really have to share a bed with this man? She’d surely die of heat stroke in such close proximity.

Clarence waited until everyone was seated before glancing over to Bennie, for a moment hoping that he would begin. But nerves compelled him to stand and get it over with, and soon his mouth was moving without his fully being aware of it. “Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished friends, I have a pro -- an announcement, I mean, something ... I’d like to tell all of you.”

Adeline did her best to hide her laugh as a coughing fit. Clarence was fooled, but he might have been the only one.

“It is my great pleasure to tell you that ... after getting blessings from both her family and my own ... that I have asked the lovely Miss Cleary to be mine ... And she has accepted.” A wide smile spread across his face. “We are to be married.”

Well, it was official. Adeline was to be married.

Of course, the engagement had been finalized weeks ago, and Ben had given her a ring earlier in the week. But for Adeline, going out in front of all her friends and family with the diamond sparkling on her finger was more binding than any ceremony could ever be. Once she did this, there was no going back, unless she intended to throw away her reputation. She gave a heavy sigh, still in her nightdress as she combed out her hair. It wasn’t as though she opposed the idea of marriage -- every woman had to be married at some point -- but she wished that she could be married to someone less ... tiresome. The few meetings she had with Ben, she had almost wanted to tear her hair out.

She turned at the sound of someone at her bedroom door, expecting her mother or perhaps a maid to help her with her corset -- but it was someone altogether more pleasant. “Dear Mina,” she said, going to embrace her beloved. Even in a situation as unpleasant as this, the idea of a few stolen moments alone with the woman was enough to put a smile on her lips. She caught the other’s left hand in both of hers, studying the ring she found there. “It is rather like us, isn’t it? To be married away at the same time. It is as if fate itself is trying to push for our union.” Such a union would be unlawful, of course, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming of such a thing.