"OH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS terrible, what am I to do?" Lady Rebecca Seymour wailed as her hold tightened on the skirts of her cream engagement dress and she spun around from the tall looking glass to face her cousins, Lady Diana Beaumont and Lady Alicia Kirkpatrick, that bright Friday afternoon in the west wing of the Mansfield estate. The ladies maids at the hems of her dress backed away as the heavy dress whooshed against their faces.

"It isn't even noticeable, I promise," Diana consoled her, her eyes observing the dress carefully. The bodice of the dress was perfectly fitting, cascading down the empire waist line as though it were snow rippling down a slope. Rebecca Seymour tended to make too much of too little, and Diana could not help but agree on that most heartily at the moment. But then again, it was her engagement ball, surely one cannot be blamed to dream of a perfectly flawless event to remember forever. Diana wondered whether she herself would be this fussy when her special day came, a thought that immediately ventured painfully far as she halted the train and put on a bright smile to turn towards Alicia. It seemed to her that the best way to overcome her problems and the painful thoughts they gave rise to, was to just ignore them and hope they go away. 

Lady Margaret Seymour had, much to Diana and Alicia's slight dismay, appointed the ladies as Rebecca's entourage for her dress fitting, an event every lady in their family had claimed to be regretfully busy for.

"I agree," Alicia nodded, "The dress is really admirable, and you look perfect in it. Nobody would be able to tell if anything is amiss."

"Oh, but what if they do? I couldn't possibly bear it if one those wretched Fisher sisters came to me only to tell me that my dress has an extra button in the back! I would be mortified," Rebecca exclaimed, her supposed doom lining her voice, "I can already see their ugly smirks in my mind and I hate it. How I wished mama would've for gone inviting them, I could do with less snakes at my engagement ball out of all places, at least." 

Diana stifled a giggle, before she wondered if the term snakes included her too, and that thought immediately burned out the laugh clean. 

"That horrid french woman, I trusted her with this dress! Oh, mama is dreadfully right for her contempt against the french. They are so utterly unreliable," The bride concluded, huffing as her arms dropped to her sides in defeat. 

"Surely it isn't Madame Carp's fault, Rebecca," Alicia expressed, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes, "She designed the dress for you, it was her seamstress' job to put it all together. I dare say, the entire french definitely aren't to blame. Besides, Madame Carp's emporium is known for such beautiful dresses, and a single extra button cannot change how your dress looks in its entirety."

"That is easy for you to say," Rebecca counter spoke, her tone still full of frustration, "I bet this wouldn't have happened if it were yours or Diana's dress." 

"That's not fair," Alicia trailed off, her arms dropping to her sides. Even though Rebecca meant it in a counter sort of way, Alicia could not help but agree. Only because she knew that if this were her dress, she would've trusted the Madame with it entirely. She wouldn't have pestered the designer with every little detail and she certainly would not have had wrote to her every day reminding the woman of the urgent deadline. Perhaps, not doing those sort of things guaranteed favorable results, but Alicia thought better than to take a seat and explain Rebecca of all of it in detail. 

"Perhaps I could fix it? I can take the button out neatly," Diana suggested quietly and Alicia turned to look at her in surprise. It was an abhorrent suggestion, to tamper with someone's engagement dress, despite how talented Diana could be with the needle, and especially if that someone was Lady Rebecca Seymour. Diana shrugged nonchalantly towards Alicia in response, conveying how totally unaltered she'd be were Rebecca to refuse her offer for help. 

"Fine," the bride declared after a brief observation of herself in the looking glass, "Go for it." 

Diana immediately felt a rush of regret, the thought of being held accountable were something to go wrong had just decided to hit her as though rain might hit the ground. Alicia looked surprised as well, as she exchanged a prompt glance with Diana, wishing her the encouragement that she required, before gesturing a maid to fetch the proper sewing kit. 

The sun shone through the glass panes of the big windows in the dressing hall of the estate. Since Mansfield estate catered to balls and celebrations, the premises had a giant dressing hall upstairs in the west wing. It was strictly declared female quarters, and now processed pairs of mismatched, yet intricately embroidered sofas and arm chairs, with more than twenty dress forms lining the corners of the wide room, and giant looking glasses on the walls at a distance of every feet or so. The wallpaper adorning the room was green, with the intricate and detailed pattern of flowers and birds of a wild nature decorating it. Diana had often been in the west wing, it was where she had gotten fitted for her dress for her birthday celebration last year. Lady Margaret Seymour had claimed most decidedly that all her nieces and sisters were to occupy the use of the dressing hall for any celebratory event in the future. 

"Rebecca, are you alright?" Diana finally inquired, removing her hands away from the dress and looking in the mirror at her elder cousin with an unsure expression. Removing an extra button was apparently a difficult job if the bride kept constantly fidgeting and huffing every other second or so. Alicia looked up from the pieces of fabrics a maid was showing to her a few paces away. 

"It's just-," Rebecca Seymour started, resting both her arms at her waist as though she had just finished a hefty day's work, "I'm nervous." 

Diana's brows furrowed in confusion. Nervous? she certainly hadn't imagined Rebecca out of all people to be nervous on a wedding she so dearly wanted. 

Observing her younger cousin's reaction, the bride continued, "I'm just, it's just- After today, there's no going back. It's my engagement ball tonight, and a week after that, I'll be married. I know I won't regret marrying Mr Ashbrook, but what if he comes to? I know I'm not the interesting sort, I can't say how long it would be before I tire him, but I'm sure it won't be that long."  

"That's a ridiculous thing to say," Diana pointed out, her eyes narrowing as she returned to doing her job with the pesky button still attached to the back of the dress, "Mr Ashbrook wants to marry you because he knows there are far many good qualities in you than you even realize." 

"Yes," Alicia agreed, putting the pieces of fabric she held in her hands aside, "I'm sure he's out there fretting how long it would be before you tire of him."  

Rebecca snorted as she tried to control her giggle, causing both Diana and Alicia to laugh. The younger cousins knew there wasn't much they could ever bond with Rebecca over, but they were glad for this one moment they could all laugh in unison. Maybe this is where their care and concern for their elder cousin comes from, it isn't about how many things they could bond over or agree with, it was just about the little things they could laugh over together at; and that was enough.  

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Lady Diana Beaumont glanced out of the window of the carriage that they all sat in, adorned in their finest gowns and attires. It was still light out, the sun was just setting and the sky was a deeper blue by the second, the blues turning into hues of orange the further down the sky she looked. She ran her hands softly over her lap, straightening out the nonexistent crinkles in her beautiful magenta gown for the evening. The net material atop the muslin skirts of the gown sparkled in the dimness of the carriage, and it made her smile. It was typical of her, for beautiful dresses and jewelry to make her happy as it did, but she couldn't help it. Touching her necklace and then her raven hair with her cream silk gloved fingers one more time, she made sure the dozen pearls in her up do were still in place, feeling their firmness under the thin silk on her fingers. 

"What is it?" Alicia asked her in concern, her deep blue gown complimenting her cousin's. Her brown hair was elegantly done in a beautiful do as well, her jewelry sparkling against her skin tone, yet she looked more confident than Diana felt. 

"Nothing," Diana let out a sigh and then smiled and offered her a shrug, "I'm just anxious, it will go away." Although, her assured dismissal did far from convince herself. Meeting Alicia's eyes in the dimness, she could tell her cousin was far from convinced as well, but Diana immediately tore her gaze away and focused on the moving scenery outside the window. Just ignore it, it will go away, she told herself sternly, even though she wasn't exactly sure what 'it' was. 

"Can I excuse myself upstairs when we arrive, Diana?" Henrietta Beaumont's voice interrupted her thoughts as she turned to look towards her sister in the carriage. Lady Beaumont had made the decision to send the young ones in the family off in one carriage, while everyone else followed in the three carriages right behind this first one. Thus, Alicia and Diana had found themselves with Henrietta, Miles, and Mary Ann, on their way to the engagement ball. 

"Not too soon, you have to be part of the celebrations, Henrietta," Diana instructed. 

"But I presume they will be awfully boring," The younger Beaumont sister counter spoke, her tone laced with desperation as she clutched the skirts of her blue gown, "Miles, you ask her. Diana listens to you more than she cares for what I have to say." 

"That's not true," Diana scoffed, before playfully adding, "I disregard you both in equal measure." 

Mary Ann giggled outright as Alicia stifled one, and Henrietta huffed in defeat, with Miles fought back a laugh so as to not offend her. 

"No one is excusing themselves until after the festivities," Alicia announced, her words pointed at her brother more so than anyone else, "This is Rebecca's special day and we are here to celebrate it, am I clear?" 

"I wasn't thinking of excusing myself, Alicia, I intend on being happy today for Rebecca, even if I am not old enough to dance or to gossip," Mary Ann declared with pride in herself, evidently separating herself from Henrietta and Miles's seemingly independent society.  

"That's wonderful, Mary Ann," Alicia approved and the little girls smile went wider with pride, "Just what I expected of you." 

The carriage soon came to a halt outside the saliently bright rectangular form of The Mansfield estate, with it's main door flung open to reveal a multitude of guests pouring inside, with bright lights leaking out in the atmosphere like rays against the darkening surroundings. The sun had fully set by now, and the last blue of the sky was slowly fading into a darker one. A footmen immediately approached the carriage, opened the door, and offered his hand as Diana stepped down first, followed by Alicia and the rest of the carriage party. She turned sideways, as her mother and father, Lord and Lady Kirkpatrick, Lord and Lady Allan, and Mr and Mrs Fleming joined her. 

"Uncle Arthur, Aunt Frederica! I'm glad you both could come," Diana exclaimed, delighted at seeing them again. They looked fresh, and happy, dressed in their finest as Frederica Fleming embraced Diana in a hug. Alicia gasped as well, surprised. 

"We arrived in the morning and Arthur suggested we wait till the ball to surprise you girls. Besides, we couldn't miss this for the world," Mrs Fleming mused, with a teasing wink at Diana and another at Alicia, which made both of them smile a confused smile, "We brought Michael along as well, since he's old enough to attend a gathering such a this like the little gentleman he is." Michael stood a little taller at Arthur Fleming's feet, as his cousins gushed over how handsome he looked. 

"And you left poor Theodore with Aunt Charlotte's governess, that's hardly fair for my poor darling," Alicia fake pouted, and Mrs Fleming laughed. 

"What? My little girls needed company, and I thought to snatch the best for them," Lady Charlotte Allan teased as she joined in, "Now come, let's go inside, Margaret will fret if we don't make haste."

"You look so beautiful," Lady Charlotte Allan gushed as she clasped her hands to her heart at the sight of her eldest niece in the cream engagement dress. The family were all gathered in the privacy of upstairs, gushing over Lady Rebecca Seymour, before they had to all escort the bride downstairs so that she may join her husband, Mr Ashbrook and his family, and thus the ball would begin. 

"Time flies, I can't believe you're going to be married," Lady Allan continued, her voice cracking as her eyes welled up. 

"No, Aunt Charlotte," Rebecca whined quietly, "Didn't I just instruct everyone in the morning? no crying. I won't be able to keep myself together if you're all tearing up around me." 

Lady Charlotte Allan managed a smile before she leaned in for a hug and Rebecca returned it wholeheartedly. 

"You do look like a princess," Mary Ann breathed, her eyes still fixed on her elder cousin with her mouth slightly parted in shock. Rebecca laughed fondly, before taking her little cousin's had and squeezing it. 

"Now, the trail of your dress is lengthy, so be careful of it, lest you trip while you're dancing," Lady Margaret Seymour instructed and Rebecca gasped in shock. 

"Well, that's one more point to add to my list of worries for today," The bride sighed, shaking her head, and Diana could not help but laugh. 

"Oscar, Adam," Lady Seymour called to the other end of the room, where both her sons had drifted off in order to avoid the female perspective of the event, "Come here this instant and say some words of encouragement for your sister before she goes downstairs." Both the brother huffed as their shoulders slumped, before making their way towards where everyone else stood. 

"Well," Oscar started, as everyone looked curiously at him, anticipating his heartfelt speech, "Good luck, I suppose." The curiosity in everyone's eyes faded instantly as all their shoulders slumped slightly, and Oscar could not control the offended scoff that left his mouth at the disregard towards his speech. 

"I think you ought to say that to Ashbrook," Adam let out, and both the brothers laughed, with Oscar punching Adam's shoulder, congratulating him for the joke of the day. 

"Ha ha," Rebecca rolled her eyes, before shaking her head playfully. 

"Come now, it's time to escort the bride downstairs," Lady Kirkpatrick declared, and everyone nodded, as they all got up from the sofas and gathered around the bride, ready to walk with her downstairs and to commence with the engagement ball. 

 · • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

"They look so in love, I wonder if they even notice the dozens of guests around them," Diana sighed dreamily, as she watched Rebecca and Mr Ashbrook twirl around the ballroom, with his arms around her waist and hers around his neck, as the lights fluttered dim and they solo danced. Lady Diana Beaumont stood in the balcony of the ballroom, with her cousin, Lady Alicia Kirkpatrick, as they both gazed at the scene a few feet away from them. It was completely dark outside, with only the ethereal play of the lights of the ballroom and the milk light of the full moon, providing all that they needed to see. The balcony they stood in, had a few flights of stairs that led right into the green grassland behind the estate; which was full of wildflowers maintained to look as though they weren't really wild at all. 

Someone cleared their throat in the direction of the stairs, instantly catching both the ladies' attention. It was a footman, carrying a silver letter tray that reflected the light of the moon brightly. 

"Lady Diana Beaumont, Lady Alicia Kirkpatrick," The foot man bowed as he acknowledged, "You have cards." He came forward, and lifted the tray towards the ladies, and they both looked at it, their hearts skipping several beat altogether. 

On the tray, lay two single roses, one a cream white, while the other a deep red. Along those roses, lay two cards, each with the ladies' names on it in cursive. 

Diana reached forward as she collected the things off of the tray, with a determined smile on her face as she tried to stop her hands from trembling nervously. Then she dismissed the footman, who nodded and pivoted, walking down the stair and away. 

As she was handed the card bearing her name, Alicia immediately opened it, her heart bursting with anticipation. 

I see you in everything,

I look for you everywhere,

you walk in and my heart feels different,

The rules of loving you have taught me,

I feel you in my stars. 

The card dropped from her hand as she finished reading it. Her grip felt uncontrollable as the light thing swept past the fingers, and she immediately bent down to pick it up again. This time, her grip tightened around the delicate thing in frustration, as it crumpled against the wrath of her palm. 

Rules of loving you have taught me,
I could go on and on and never stop,
because my heart isn't mine anymore
as you've forever got it in your grasp.  

Diana sucked in a sharp breath as she looked up from her card, holding onto the balcony railing for support as the cold night air filled her lungs. She glanced at Alicia, who was looking right past her, an unreadable expression on her face. Diana followed her cousin's eyes, and they made her turn around to come face to face to Lord Edward Buxton and Lord Isaac Algernon. The gentlemen stood there, in their dark suits with the warm moonlight washing over them enough to make them look unreal. 

"What are you doing here?" Diana managed to let out, her question directed towards Lord Buxton, her voice coming out raspy and breathy, and all together unsteady. 

"Mr Fleming was kind enough to extend the invitation, although we had wanted to come for a different purpose," Lord Buxton spoke, his voice levelled, as he exchanged knowing glances with his friend. 

"Yes, may I whisk you away, Lady Kirkpatrick?" Lord Algernon asked, his voice confident, as he extended his arm out for Alicia to take. She cast Diana a glance, before taking his arm, and they both walked down the balcony steps and onto the night grassland beyond. 

"I never knew you were so poetic," Diana voiced, her eyes meeting Lord Buxton's once they were alone on the balcony. The piano music changed in the ballroom, and some lights were relighted, changing the ambiance as the bride and groom solo ended. 

He let out a chuckle. Out of all the things this lady right in front of him could demand of him, she began with the most unexpected remark of all. 

"I'm not, really," He nervously let out, his right hand reaching his neck as he rubbed it, "Isaac's the more poetic one." 

"I-its not that he wrote all them," Edward immediately corrected himself, "He just helps out where I-I get stuck."

Diana tried her hardest to press her lips together and turn her head away in order to disguise the smile that was erupting on her face.

"Did you like them?" He asked, his voice full of hope as she turned to look at him again. 

"Very much," she honestly replied, their eyes meeting for a beautiful while. 

"There's so much I more I wanted to write in them," He uttered, his deep voice complimenting the rhythm of the piano that was drifting all around them, "But Isaac said I had to leave out things so that I can tell you in person, he also mentioned that all that I wanted to say wouldn't rhyme." 

Diana giggled, before she controlled herself and sighed happily. "I would love to hear it nonetheless," she mused, quietly. After all, her words were only intended for him, and no one else. 

"I will tell you, everything that is here," he paused as he placed his right hand over his heart, "And everything that is here," his hand moved to his head as he signaled to his mind, all the while keeping his gaze intently fixed on her. "I will tell you everything you make me feel, think, do. I will tell you all about it for the rest of our lives, but first I want you to be a part of mine." 

Her lips parted as a breath escaped her lips, words failing her confidence in them entirely. His hands moved towards hers that rested on the banister. Their fingers touched, and she could feel the bends and lines of his skin through the thin material of her gloves. 

"I had hoped-," Diana stopped herself.

"You had hoped?" he repeated, his tone begging her to finish. 

"I had hoped you'd say something sooner, because I had started falling for you since before I fell into Aunt Agnes' lake," she finished, shutting her eyes tightly at the confession, before letting a laugh slip at the unintentional pun of her circumstance. 

Edward paused, inhaling a breath, "I had already fallen for you in Southampton, and those feelings were only strengthened by everything that followed next. I had garnered your contempt with every stupid thing I let slip out of my mouth, and so I kept pushing those feelings back. But now I can't anymore." 

"You did anger me," Diana admitted, letting out a giggle, "A lot, if I'm honest."

He laughed as he nodded. "That makes me feel much better," he joked. Surprisingly it did, everything about that night was lighting him up as though he would explode. Standing next to her, under the full moon, with her looking so beautifully whimsical as though she had stepped down from heaven itself, Edward felt as though none of it was real. He dreaded the thought of waking up and finding this all to be nothing but a dream. 

Their eyes met in intensity again, and Diana wondered how she ever thought of him as anything less than the most handsome gentleman she had ever seen. His dark hair bathed in the moon as his dark eyes glistened in it's rays. His hand moved over hers as he clasped them gently. 

"Your hands are cold," He observed, and before Diana could do or say anything, he brought her hands away from the banister and lifted it to his lips. The kiss was softer than anything she had ever felt before and her heart immediately turned to liquid. Then Edward dropped her hands and shrugged off his dark coat, draping it over her shoulders. His smell surrounded her, infused her scenes and blinded her like never before.  

"What you went through, because of me- I will never let anything like that happen to you again," Edward began, his eyes peering earnestly into hers, "These past months have been agony. Everything that has happened, every single thing, it made me realize just how much I can risk everything for you."

"Will you marry me, Diana? Because I have realized that you are the only one I will ever want. I am completely in love with you, and I am willing to do anything to deserve you. I haven't ever been in love before, and considering all these nights I have spent up with you consuming my every thought, I will be lost without you," He finished, his declaration leaving him breathless. 

Diana stepped forward, lifting her hands to place them on his chest, her fingers curling around one of his lapels, "Yes," she answered, and at that moment, someone on the piano forte changed the tune, dramatically resuming to perform Beethoven's Fur Elise, as both Diana and Edward chuckled, before their laughs were silenced by their kiss. 

It felt like a gush of warmth had erupted in her stomach. There was nothing but them, in that moment. The soft press of their lips, the feeling of her forehead resting against his when they pulled apart to breathe, it all felt unreal, it felt like the stars had descended to the ground all at once. It felt like Beethoven himself was playing his composition beside them, winking with tease as Diana caught his eye. It felt as though the psychic she had met at the fair at Southampton was standing far away amidst the darkness of the night, an odd smile on her face watching a predicted happy ever after.  

Lady Alicia Kirkpatrick gasped as she spotted her cousin and Lord Buxton in the position from where she approached the balcony with Isaac. He laughed at her reaction, and she was suddenly thankful for the night so that it may hide the blush creeping up to her cheeks. It appeared as though Edward and Diana had taken their time. A thrill rushed past her as she recalled Lord Algernon's proposal just those moments ago. How he had recited all the words from those three cards he had sent her by heart, how he had described the way she smiled and everything that smile did to him, and how he had promised to write poetry to her every single day of their lives together were she to say yes. And just those moments ago, she vividly recalled how she had said yes as now when Isaac Algernon's arm quietly swept across her waist, pulling her close to him as they looked at the full moon and listened to the soft rhythm of Beethoven's Fur Elise, she could feel all her stars align.