A few days later, Kate was walking around Lady Danbury's garden. It was early and she was enjoying the solitude and tranquillity before the rest of the ton awoke.

Ever since the engagement announcement, life had been hectic to say the least. An official announcement had been made by the viscount, and with the support and Whistledown (who declared a love match the ultimate goal for any young woman of the ton), the backlash had been minimal. In fact, most people seemed to believe the best course of action was to try and make it back on the Bridgertons' good side. Kate had received numerous congratulations and invitations. It was almost as if the wedding between Anthony and Edwina had never even happened, which Edwina seemed most glad about. She too had thrown herself into the role of maid of honour, and was determined that Kate get her dream wedding.

Anthony was the only person she hadn't seen much of. He came to call everyday, around late afternoon. Sometimes they would sit and drink tea and he would ask her about her day, and inform her what he had been dealing with. If it was sunny they would go out to promenade with their mamas, or he would take her on a boat ride, to show how a "real gentleman" rowed (Kate had rolled her eyes at this and laughed mercilessly when Anthony, too, had difficulties with tying the boat up at the end).

Occasionally, all she would see of him was a glimpse as she was at Bridgerton house, visiting his mama or his sisters. She did not, of course, take his lack of presence as an insult. She knew he had a lot of duties to attend to as viscount, and they had been rather neglected of late. He was determined, he informed her, to make sure everything was settled so that Benedict would be capable of handling things when they went on their honeymoon. He had far more interesting things to be focused on after the wedding (he had said this while his lips were scandalously close to Kate's neck, and when he moved back with that signature smirk on his face, Kate blushed as red as the roses he had deigned to bring her that day. He left the room immediately afterwards, with a wink at her before he left. She struggled to keep up with her conversation with Lady Bridgerton about that evening's ball after that.

Kate smiled remembering her fiancée's rakish grin. Although she was not keen on the thought of how many women he had been with, she could not deny that his experience seemed to have made him an expert on exactly what to do to her to render her speechless. She simply could not wait to marry him, so they could fully explore one another without any fear of scandal.

—-

That evening, the Sharmas found themselves in Lady Danbury's grand hall. It was the night of Kate and Anthony's engagement ball, which Lady Danbury had insisted on hosting. After speaking with Lady Bridgerton and her two eldest daughters, Kate found herself being escorted to the floor by Benedict. The two of them had bonded over their love of art, and Benedict found he enjoyed the company of a woman who was neither related to him, nor trying to secure his hand in marriage. Besides, Kate had a witty personality, and Benedict couldn't help but think Anthony was damned lucky to secure a woman with both brains and beauty.

"You look lovely tonight, Miss Sharma," Benedict said politely, as the two waltzed round the ballroom in perfect time to the music.

Kate smiled, "thank you. I wore lilac as I know it is your brother's favourite colour on me. Unfortunately, he does not seem to be here to witness it."

"He'll be here," Benedict reassured her. "I saw him just a few hours ago. He said he had something he needed to sort before this evening, I can only assume he got held up."

Kate smiled politely, and the two continued making conversation. But Kate was distracted. She understood Anthony had responsibilities, of course. And it's not as if she had ever felt abandoned in any way: although their meetings were sparse, whenever he did see her she felt as if she were the only girl in the world. But here, at their own engagement ball, she found herself irritated at him. How embarrassing to be at one's own betrothal party, without a betrothed.

After the dance was finished, she excused herself to fetch some lemonade. The ballroom was stiflingly hot, and she found her mood deteriorating with each minute Anthony did not appear. Trying her best to remain inconspicuous, she walked around the edge of the ballroom.

"Kate!" exclaimed Colin, pushing people aside to get to her.

Kate turned in confusion. "Colin? Is something wrong?"

"Not at all," Colin replied. "I merely have a message for you, from my dear eldest brother."

"Oh?" Kate asked. Perhaps it was to say he would not make it at all and she ought to enjoy her party alone. Kate felt the loneliness and anger bubbling up inside her at this possibility.

"He is in the private sitting room upstairs. He wishes for you to meet him there."

"Now? In the middle of the party?" Kate wasn't sure that the absence of both members of the couple would go unnoticed.

"He promised it wouldn't take long," Colin chortled and Kate rolled her eyes, Colin seeming shocked that she even understood the joke.

"Yes," he continued, losing his stride a little. "He does not want to come down and be ambushed before he has spoken with you. I have been instructed to see that you follow his orders, and those were his exact words, I don't know why he made me promise to repeat them word-for-word."

"Thank you, Colin." Kate handed him her glass and moved to leave.

It was not easy to escape the ballroom, but Colin seemed to miraculously intercept anyone who came up to engage Kate in conversation. After a few minutes, she managed to slide out and made her way upstairs.

The candlelight was flickering in the sitting room where Anthony was waiting for her. She entered the room cautiously. It was lit only with a dim glow, and Anthony was standing pensively over the fire. He looked up when he heard her enter, and Kate could swear that his eyes got slightly brighter when he saw her.

However, this did nothing to improve her mood. During the short walk from the ballroom she had managed to convince herself that the reason Anthony needed to speak to her so urgently before their engagement ball was that he must have, once again, changed his mind. He did indeed look nervous, Kate thought.

"Well?" she asked, rather abruptly.

Anthony, who had been making his way forward to greet her, stopped in alarm at her harsh tone of voice.

"Is everything alright, Kate?" he asked warily.

"I don't know," she replied. "First I am left alone at my own engagement ball. You are over an hour late and I am fending off questions about where my fiancee is when I have no idea myself. How stupid do you think that makes me feel? And then you send Colin to order me to meet you here and what for? I see the anxiety on your face. Why must we meet now, this very evening? Has something changed your mind? Because I swear, Anthony, if you try and back out of this now after all the chaos we have caused, I will-"

Her rant was interrupted by Anthony's lips on hers. His hands went to the sides of her face, holding her in place. Her anger melted away as she felt his tongue dance on her lips, cautiously asking for entrance. After a few seconds of being locked in this position, he pulled back and smiled at her.

"Are the wedding nerves getting to you, my love?" he whispered, moving his mouth to her neck.

"You…you're not trying to call if off?" she asked shakily, distracted by his ministrations.

At that he laughed out loud. "After everything that's happened? After I told you I love you? After I told you I would lay down my life for you?" When she didn't respond, he pulled her to take a seat, and knelt down in front of her.

"Marrying you has been the only decision I've been 100% certain on in my entire life. Please don't insult my commitment by making such ludicrous suggestions," he kissed her knuckles gently as she tried to steady her breathing.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I suppose I am a little stressed about everything. And then I was annoyed when you were late for the ball, and paranoid that you would have stopped loving me,,,"

"Never," Anthony promised, leaning in to kiss her once more. "But I will admit that it is poor manners of me to leave you alone at our engagement ball. I confess I was dealing with something which I thought would be easy, and turned out to take more time than I thought."

"What was it?" Kate asked.

Anthony looked nervous once more. "Have you not noticed that you haven't been given an engagement ring yet?"

"Oh," Kate said. "Yes, I suppose I had wondered whether I would be given one, but then you asked me and I had already said yes so I wasn't sure if it was necessary." She did not elaborate to explain that she was nervous he would give her Edwina's hand-me-down. It was a beautiful piece of jewellery, but she found the idea of wearing it after her sister had done to be slightly insulting.

"Well you are my intended," Anthony continued. "And therefore, I think it is only fitting that I give you an engagement ring. I want nothing more than to see you wearing it out in public, so everyone knows you are mine."

Kate smiled softly. "You know I am yours, ring or not."

"I know that, but I want it to be made crystal clear to everyone," he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small ring box. The box alone looked expensive- it was dark blue satin and Kate could tell just by looking that it wasn't Violet's ring.

"You aren't giving me your mother's engagement ring?"

Anthony looked nervous at her question. "Of course you may have it if you want it. I just thought, after everything with your sister, that you deserved something better. We are not my parents, and even though they were truly a love match, we have our own story, our own love, our own journey. And so I thought we should have our own ring."

He was biting his lip nervously, looking at Kate's face for any signs of emotion from her. Unfortunately, his fiancée had a great skill of being able to remain placid and seemingly emotionless.

"So I decided," he rambled on, "to create something unique. Something like you." He opened the box and that's when the tears began to well in Kate's eyes.

The ring inside was subtle, yet exquisite. It consisted of two silver bands, wrapped elegantly around each other, intertwined with such elegance and grace that it was hard to discern them from each other. The jewel was a sapphire, shining brilliantly in its nest of small diamonds.

"Oh, Anthony," Kate gasped. "It's perfect. How much did it cost?"

Anthony chuckled. "Ever the pragmatist. Do not worry about the cost, I would spend any amount of money to see you happy. May I?"

Kate nodded and Anthony slipped the ring out of the box and onto her finger. Seeing it placed there, a perfect fit, made Anthony's heart swell with pride and, he thought with a jolt, love. It truly did suit her down to a tee.

"How did you decide on this one?" Kate asked, gazing down at her hand in awe. She couldn't really picture him wandering around the jewellery shops in Mayfair.

"Well I didn't exactly choose it, I just told the jeweller what I had in mind and made sure he delivered on my vision."

Kate looked up in surprise. "It's custom made?"

"Yes," said Anthony, nervous once more. "I asked Mary and she said sapphires were your birthstone. And I wanted some diamonds to prove to you that you will always be the diamond of the season in my eyes. And the silver bands represent us- separate and yet always together."

Kate thought she might burst with love. She could not stop herself: she launched herself onto Anthony, grabbing his collar and bringing her lips to his, trying to convey her love and awe through the kiss. Anthony pulled away slightly.

"So will it suffice?"

Kate smiled, tears still in her eyes. "Yes, it will suffice." She looked down, then whispered "Thank you, Anthony."

Somehow Anthony realised that her gratitude was for more than just the jewellery. He did not respond with words, instead bringing his mouth and his hands back to her body, relishing in how she reacted to him.

"My god, woman," he gasped against her bosom, left delightfully bare by the gown she had picked that evening. "I know I swore that the next time I was with you would be in nothing short of a bed scattered with rose petals." Kate giggled. "But you do like to make my life difficult."

Fortunately, or unfortunately in Anthony's opinion, a knock sounded on the door, followed by Colin entering without warning. Anthony swore at him, making sure Kate was decent before removing himself from on top of her and fixing his clothing.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but the guests are wondering where the happy couple is. You would not want them to think anything untoward is going on," he winked, flashing Kate a knowing smile (she avoided eye contact), before leaving once more.

Kate stood, kissing Anthony gently on the lips. "Thank you for the ring, my lord. And now," she announced, turning and heading towards the door, holding her hand out in invitation "will you come and help me show it off?"

Anthony did not hesitate to follow her out of the room.