The Irish Rose

Chapter 10

A Few days later, Victoria was feeling much better, but she was still glued to my side. Not that I had a problem with it, rather the opposite in fact. Within the last few days, I had found myself falling in love with this woman more and more with each passing day. As I walked into my bedchamber, I took in the sleeping beauty who lay on my bed. Her vibrant red hair was splayed out behind her. I marveled at her fair skin, and the way the light from the window radiated off of it. Just then, her eyes flew open, and a smile graced her face. "William, thank you for taking such great care of me! I truly do appreciate, more than you can imagine." she said.

Lilly/Victoria Pov

"William, thank you for taking such great care of me! I truly do appreciate, more than you can imagine." I said. "It has been an absolute pleasure Victoria, I was happy that I was able to do it. I mean after all, it was the least I could do. But I do sincerely hope, that this is not the last time I will be seeing you." William said to me as I began to hoist my self up into a sitting position on the bed. "I do not believe that this will be the last time you will see me, nor do I hope it is the last time. I too share the same hope of meeting again William. I shall be staying here at Ashford until the New Year." I said and added a wink, hoping he caught on to my meaning. "Well, shall I escort you to your room?" William asked, with a  hint of disappointment In his voice. "Yes, I believe that that would be a good idea." I said. With that, William held me out of the bed, and we began our walk towards my room. As we walked, I payed close attention to the room numbers, realizing that my room was a lot closer than I expected. "Well this is me." I said in a rather disappointing voice. William gave me a small smile, as I unlocked my door and slipped inside.

The next couple of weeks, leading up to the Christmas ball went by in a flurry of dates some with William, and some with Aedan. It was a week before the ball, and I had gotten to know both men quite well. It was funny really, I had come to Ireland fully convinced that I loved Aedan, but in comes William, and my feelings become a big giant mess. On top of that, both men asked me to the Christmas ball. I still hadn't decided who I was going to go with, so I just said to both men that I would see them there. That was a couple of days ago, and now, I was being fitted for my dress. It was a long blue dress, made of tulle and satin. It was very elegant, and added to my fiery red hair.

A few days went by, hadn't really heard from William or Aedan, but I wasn't going to let that ruin my night. Tonight was the night of the Christmas Ball, and I was determined to have the best night of my life, and nothing could ruin it.

I stood in front of my mirror, with a curling iron in my hand. I took in my appearance, and nodded to myself. Next I did my makeup, adding masquera, a smoky eye with a cat eye. I gave my self a good once over, before I slipped into my dress, and my Cinderella style heels. I threw my air cast off to the side of my room, and slipped my right heel on. I stood up, and walked over to the floor length mirror, and took in my reflection as a whole. When I was sure that I was completely satisfied with my outfit, I strode out of my room, and into the hall, heading for the stairs that I would use to descend onto the dance floor.

When I arrived at the staircase, I took a good look down at the people already dancing before me. I steeled myself, and took a deep breath, and laid a gentle hand on the railing of the stairs, and slowly made my descent onto to the dance floor, where I was greeted by William. "Well don't you look ravishing tonight." he said as he kindly took my hand, and led me onto the dance floor. Just as we walked on, a Christmas waltz came on.  William led me through the Christmas waltz, when suddenly my leg, was beginning to wobble. I resolved myself, decided to continue on. "Are you quite alright Victoria?" William asked me. "I think I need a breath of fresh air, if you will excuse me, I will head out." I said with a slight bow. I hurried as fast as could, before I was able to make it to a nearby bench. As I sat on the bench, the music from inside the castle came floating on the air. Before long, a gentleman came to sit with me. I paid the man no attention, until he spoke. "Lilly, I came to ask you.." "Ask me what Aedan?" "Victoria, oh your alright. I got so worried when you left." William said. "I'm fine William, I promise. I just needed a bit of fresh air. I will be right in, wait for me?" I said to William. "Of course I will." William said as he walked back into the throng of people inside. "Now what were you going to ask me." I was going to ask you, would you Lilly, make me the happiest man alive..." I didn't allow him to finish, I quickly gathered my skirts and ran back in to find William, my breathe coming out in rasps. I frantically looked around for William, before I spotted his head in the crowd. I ran towards him, practically collapsing into his arms. "Victoria, are you quite alright?" William asked concerned. "Can we just go?" I said to William. "Of course. Are you ok to walk? I noticed your trouble earlier." "umm a little help would be great." I said with a small giggle. And just like that, William picked me up, and swept me off my feet, and carried me up to his room. When we arrived in his room, he set me down on the bed. I took a depth breath, and recollected myself. "Victoria are you ok?" William asked. "I believe I will be." I said. "You know Victoria, I have never said this about a woman before, but I believe that I have fallen head over heels in love with you." he said to me. Dear Lord, no. I thought to myself. I need time to figure out my feelings! Please Lord, please please tell me he is not going where I think he is going. "Victoria, would you do me the greatest honor and make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" he said as he pulled out a ring, and got down on one knee showing the ring to me. And just like that, the world went black.