emeralds and diamonds ♔ bridgerton

Part 14

guys we've hit 168 reads!!! isn't that crazy? that means 168 of you guys have been reading chapters of this book. my other stories have only gotten like 6 reads so this is insane 🤍

victoria's demeanor changed that night.

we'll truly it was the day that her personality changed. even anne could see it. but benedict saw it most.

they all sat around the large dinner table. benedict sitting next to his betrothed; who looked like a gift he needed to open. her parents sat to the left of her. they seemed like good people, but stern. like they would whoop you if you even mentioned missing an important, planned event.

maybe that is why vicky was so perfectly groomed. but now, she was acting overly perfect. when they arrived, she merely followed right behind her father. she refused to make eye contact with anymore but her mother, even then she did not will to it.

they hadn't seen each other in so long, had she changed? yes, he had seen her from his window; strolling down the street. his mother and eldest sister met with her to discuss the wedding planning, which he had a very small say in. it was his own wedding and the only thing he gets to plan is his suit then who attends for him. he didn't want to plan the color of the flowers, or the way his engaged's hair was going to look. he just wanted something, so this wedding could feel like his own.

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benedict leaned towards me, a signal to leak back so whispers could be exchanged. "are you alright? you seem not yourself."

did my parents truly make me this way? or was it the nerves? every thought intensified by the minute.

i could feel my mom eyes peering into my head. to see if i truly was virtuous and kept my word. or maybe she was seeing if i truly loved benedict and that's why i was marrying him. maybe she was looking to see if i secretly loved someone else and just married benedict out of pity.

but i didnt. that was the weird part of it all. he made me feel things.

not in a weird way.

but in a comforting way.

like i was truly in the right place for once. like i never wanted to leave from where he was. and i'm not sure if that's love but it's good enough for me.

after a few moment pause of his hand covering our mouths, and us just sitting fin silence i whispered back. "i didn't get much rest last night."

an obvious excuse. my skin would've been paler, i wouldn't be smiling as much, i wouldn't have been as interested in the conversation. but it was a good enough answer for him. so then he leaned away to go back to looking down at his empty plate.

"lady howard, your parents are truly the picture perfect painting. the apple clearly does not fall far from the tree." violet smiled and most of the room seemed to nod in agreement.

my father grabbed my hand that was laying against the table.

it was so absurd that everyone thought we were perfect. just because i was taught how to be doesn't mean i was.

the conversation seemed to flow on, but my thoughts were the only thing i could hear. until, my mother said something that made me ears tingle. "victoria lord sansar sends his regards, considering it's been around 4 years since richard's disappearance." of course, in this very moment she had to bring him up.

both violet and daphne seemed quite puzzled. i would too though. marrying off your second born to a lady who appeared to be virtuous but was quite the opposite.

hyacinth spoke up, "who's richard?" oh how i wish not to answer that question.

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"you were engaged prior to this?!" benedict yelled as we got behind closed doors. i understood why he was mad, but i just didn't want him to be.

"yes, but let me explain it to you." i tried to speak in as calm as i possibly could, but it's quite hard when your being screamed at.

"and you only think to tell me this now?" he cried out. i was sure at this point everyone could hear us still in the hall.

"it didn't seem important or needed. we were engaged then he left! i was 14 years of age benedict; 14!" my voice began to rise.

he seemed to get closer to me, with his long strides and noisy heels. "i don't like thinking that you, at one point, weren't going to be with me. no matter what the future upheld." his voice lowered, becoming nothing more than just a mutter.

i was speechless. i just stood there, staring up at his tall figure, my eyes going back and forth between his own pair. i knew we weren't going to split, no matter what we were going to stand up on that altar; me in white, him in his suit. we were going to agree to those vows and neither of us would ever let go. because we both had agreed to this that day he asked the question.

my thoughts were interrupted again. the doors were closed, one thing i noticed he did once we were both inside. he made sure the doors were stuck shut, not even a crack poking through.

first i felt his hands reach for my jaw but most of them landing on my throat. his digits didn't even flinch. like he had done this before. but surely he had. his brother was london's biggest 'rake' before he was married. surely it had to have ran in the family.

next we're his lips. they seemed to lock into place when they landed against mine. but it didn't feel like how i imagined my first kiss to go. i imagined to feel nothing but flesh against my own. i felt something in my stomach flutter. like when benedict and i were out riding that day. or when he ran into me while at aubrey hall. i swore that the black in my eyes began to show a performance of fireworks.

benedict kissed me.

he liked me.

and i liked him.