“Juliet!” Weston raised his voice. “Listen to me.”
Juliet turned to him, her eyes looking earnestly into his.
“I need you to take deep breaths. I think you're just suffering from sheer panic. Take deep breaths.”
At first, it did not work. The more she breathed, the harder it became. Weston, noticing this, pulled her closer to him.
“Deep breaths, Juliet.” He whispered, placing her head gently against his shoulder. “Deep breaths.”
The panic started to slowly dissipate. Weston turned to look at Anne, a desperate question in his eyes. Anne seemed to understand and bowed slightly before excusing herself.
“They are not supposed to be here.” Juliet said, her voice slow as she breathed into Weston's chest.
“I know. This is one of my mother's games.” He replied, wrapping his hands around her even tighter.
“Why would she invite them? This party had nothing to do with them whatsoever.”
“Why does mother do anything, really?”
Weston felt her starting to slowly shake. He bit back his tongue in anger. She was sobbing.
“I cannot face them, Weston. I cannot talk to them. Not Father, not Adam, and most definitely not Camilla.” Juliet said, amidst quiet sniffles.
“You have to. Or Mother wins. You have to show her this didn't get you as much as she thought it would.”
Juliet raised her head and looked her husband in the eyes. “How am I going to do that?”
“By going back to the door and becoming the best version of yourself.” Weston continued. “The one I've grown to like over the past few weeks. You're a kind and intelligent woman, Juliet. You've learned to interact with your family for almost a quarter of your life. Today wouldn't be any different. Today, you will have me by your side.”
Juliet wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. “Really?”
“Yes.” Weston replied. “You are going to talk to them and they are going to see how well you're doing and choke back whatever nasty remarks they thought they were going to deliver to you.”
Juliet nodded.
“And then, we're going to dance.” Weston continued.
“What?”
“Yes.” Weston replied. “We're going to dance. And they're going to watch.”
Juliet shook her head in utter disbelief. “But we've never danced together before.”
“There's a first time for everything.” Weston replied. He reached for Juliet's hands and held them gently, his next words offering her the ultimate reassurance.
“And we're going to make it count.”
***
“Oh, there you are.” Anne gasped when her sights landed on Juliet. She swam past the crowd and headed straight to her. Before Juliet could vocalize a reply, Anne had threaded her arm with hers. The hall was filled with people in their heavy gowns and thick boots, all talking, clinking drinks, and laughing rather loudly.
“There is a certain gentleman who has been eyeing me in the drawing room since I got back.”
“Why? Are the maids not enough to fulfill his errands?” Juliet asked, momentarily taken out of her own world.
“You do not understand.” Anne replied, leading Juliet towards the drawing room. “I think he is looking to dance with me.”
Juliet shrugged. “Well, do you want to dance with him?”
