#queuely beloved

She ought to be happy about her station. She was engaged to a duke. She would one day be the Duchess of Wyndham, a title many ladies her age would die for. But being married to the duke meant she would be married to a man she didn’t know—and a man that didn’t care to know her, it seemed. But it was a lonely existence. Watching the other young ladies flirt and chat with eligible bachelors, crafting lives for themselves while Amelia sat by idly, waiting for her fiancé to work up the courage to finally marry her. At time she wondered what it might be like to be out on the dance floor, being courted by a man that held actual interest in her, but such fantasies only led to gloom so she tried to ignore them.

As the night drew out, Amelia grew restless and she resigned herself to retire early. It wasn’t as though she were required to be here; only unmarried ladies found purpose at events like these. But as she moved towards the double doors that led to the foyer, Amelia let out a sigh of relief. Portraying a happy debutante was exhausting, especially when she was supposed to be pretending that she was perfectly content with her life. Before she could allow her thoughts to spiral any further downward, she heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway, presumably another straggler that needed an escape from the party inside.

"I came as soon as I could." Trying to catch her breath, Anne hurried to their side, brows furrowed in concern. As soon as she'd caught wind that they needed help, she had gone into action. She, of course, had to make sure her students were taken care of before she could abandon them, but once the girls were done with their work, Anne raced over as fast as her legs could carry her. "Is everything alright?"

“I’d like to make a proposal.” Belle said, planting her hands on her hips. It had been bold enough of her to approach the other in the first place, but even more brash and daring to suggest such a preposterous idea. “I propose that we get married, that way both of us can be done with it and move on with our lives. My parents will get off my back about marriage and you can avoid the ravenous bunch of ladies vouching for your hand. We can figure out the... heir situation at a later date. What do you say?”

“Hello, sorry to bother you, but please pretend you know me,” Olivia begged, her voice lowered to a hush. If the Baron of Wexley caught sight of her, she’d be forced to dance with him. While she didn’t mind the dancing aspect—in fact, it was sometimes the only thing she looked forward to at soirées like these—she had little interest in listening to the Baron drone on about his latest invention, and how it was sure to revolutionize society as they knew it. Instead, she hoped that looking busy with another person would be enough to persuade Wexley to look elsewhere for feminine entertainment. “Just for a moment, alright? Please?”

It was her day off and, although Anne wanted nothing more but to crawl into bed and rest the hours away, she had errands that needed to be run before she could commit herself to an evening of leisure. She had managed to finish most of her shopping in the early morning hours, before the streets got too clustered with people, but she still had a few more shops to stop in before she was free to return home. But before she could set her sights on the book shop, her stomach began to rumble. Anne sighed, resting her hand over her stomach, trying to coo the rumbling away like a noisy child, but it was no use. If she were to finish her errands thoroughly, she’d need the fuel to keep going—especially since she’d be walking back to the Pleinsworth estate when she was through. Turning into the nearest tavern, Anne hoped to grab something quick and head back out into the morning air, but as soon as she began to open the door, she collided with another and nearly toppled to the ground.

“I would certainly hope I know where I am. It was a rather tiresome journey to get here.” Straightening her posture, she took in the sight of him with a gentle flush to her cheeks. “Do you know where you are?”