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moonlightpirate · 4 months

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Return to The Madding Crowd

Chapter 6: The Wedding Ball- This is the story of why you took so long to write

Part two of the Christmas gift! This was inspired by rewatching the movie and honestly a little bit too much bridgerton so this was part of the hold up because I was struggling with this chapter and how I wanted to write it. Hope you guys enjoy!

Taglist: (same as the last chapter let me know if you want added or removed) @nothingbutcloud @thegoldfishbowl @its-just-me-chey

Masterlist

Ao3

You sighed as the carriage pulled in front of your parents house. Without hesitation your parents got out of the carriage. As a final act of rebellion you stayed in the carriage hoping that maybe they wouldn't notice and you could bribe the driver to take you back. After a moment your mother noticed your absence and she roughly pulled you out of the carriage and gave you a push towards the house.

“Go inside and greet your brother while your father and I bring your stuff inside.” She demanded.

“Yes Mother.” You grumble as you make your way up the elegant steps.

The doormen open the door for you and you practically glare at them. You know it's not their fault your parents have money and can afford these kinds of luxuries. But you still aren't thrilled by their presence. Sighing you walk in and find your brother in the sitting room lounging on the sofa, eyes on you.

“Ah sister! There you are! How great to see you!” Your brother, James, grins as he stands up to embrace you.

“Never thought I’d see the day that you would get married.” You tease.

“Honestly, same here. But she is so beautiful and wonderful and just wait until you meet her at tomorrow's ball!”.

“Ball? What ball?”.

“The one to celebrate your return home and a pre wedding celebration.” Your mother chimed in.

“I’m not going. I don’t have a dress for one.” You state.

“Don’t worry darling, I already got you a dress. It’s in your room so you will be there.” Your mother smiled.

You look at your brother in fear before sighing in defeat and heading towards your room tired from the journey. Of course the dress was laying out on the bed for you to admire. Your mother did know you well seeing as it was in your favorite color and looked like it was in your favorite style. You weren’t sure if you should be happy or irritated that it was so perfect. After several moments of looking at it you finally picked it up and hung it up in the closet and got ready for bed. The next day your parents were running around trying to make everything perfect for the ball. One of the maids spent all day with you helping you bathe, doing your hair, and making sure your makeup looked just right. You despised all this fuss and began to wonder if your parents were actually up to something.

“It’s getting late! Guests will be here any moment please tell me she is ready!” Your mother exclaimed, bursting into your room just as you finished stepping into your shoes, “Oh my! You look absolutely beautiful dear. Let’s get you downstairs so you can meet your brother’s soon to be wife before our guests start arriving!”.

You make your way down the grand staircase towards where your brother and father are standing with another young woman in an elegant violet ball gown.

“Sister, this is my fiance Stephanie.” James introduced you.

“Finally it's a pleasure to meet you! James has told me all about you.” Stephanie curtsied.

You awkwardly curtsied in return, “All good things I hope. I'm afraid I haven't heard much about you. But I look forward to learning more about you before the wedding.”.

Before more could be said guests began to arrive much to your parents' relief. You had hoped that since it was to celebrate your brother's engagement that everyone would be focused on him but for some reason everyone was focused on you. It took all the guests arriving for you to be able to find time to sneak away.

“Maybe if you came home more often this wouldn't happen.” James teased, very much aware of how uncomfortable you were.

“Well if the family would be more sufferable I'd come home more often.” You retort.

“James! My pal, how are you? Sorry for the delay.” A tall gentleman approached from behind hugging James, “Oh I am sorry. May I ask who is this beautiful woman you have with you?” He inquired as he turned to face you.

“It's fine Henry. This is my sister Y/N. She's in town for the wedding. Come my parents will want to meet you and Stephanie will want to say hi.”.

Henry looked back at you wistfully as James dragged him away. The party was now in full swing with the guests dancing and laughing whereas you were hiding off to the side hoping no one would notice you. You really did long for the life you had with Bathsheba and Gabriel and hoped that you could return to it soon. So lost in thought you were startled when you felt a tap on your shoulder.

“Pardon me miss. I was wondering if I might ask you to dance with me?” A familiar deep voice inquired.

Turning around you found yourself looking at Henry, “A dance? Are you sure my brother won’t mind?”.

“He is entranced with his bride to be. I however have been entranced with you since I laid eyes on you. Please dance with me so that I may get to know you better at least.”.

You blushed at his words and were so stunned that you only managed to nod at him. His face lit up as he took your hand and escorted you out to the dance floor. You could see your parents' faces light up as the pair of you moved around the dance floor. Without realizing you managed to spend the rest of the ball with Henry, either dancing or talking while you sipped on some refreshments. Every day after the ball he showed up at your house with flowers for you. He also made sure to spend sufficient time with you when he arrived and before he left. Stephanie insisted that he was courting you but you simply refused to believe that such a handsome man as him would want someone like you. That was until a week before the wedding when you went out for a stroll in the garden with Henry.

“Thank you for getting me out. Stephanie seems lovely but she is starting to over stress about the wedding. Same with my mother. It was getting insufferable in that house.” You groan.

“You are most welcome. Are you looking forward to the wedding though?” Henry inquired.

You pondered the question for a moment, “Yes it will be nice to see James and Stephanie happy.”.

“I don't feel that is the only reason you are ready for the wedding.”.

“Whatever do you mean?”.

“I can't place it but I feel you are hiding something.”.

“If I am hiding something then there is more to this walk than just talking.” You huff.

He stopped walking and blushed a little, “Well you aren't wrong.”.

You look at him in shock as realization hits you of what he is about to ask.

“Oh….?” You question looking at him questioningly.

“Well I don’t want to step on James’s wedding. But we seem to have so much in common. I would gladly move to the country and help you run a farm if that is what you would like to do while I am away with work. Anything to see you smile and be happy. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen that I can have such wonderful conversations with. Please consider marrying me?”.

It felt as if a tidal wave was coming crashing down on you as you realized you had been living in a fantasy world. You were terrified of what to say to him as memories of what Weston, the soldier that had proposed to you last, had done to you when you turned him down.

“I….I am not sure what to say. I shall need time.” You smile at him before turning and running as far away from Henry as your legs could take you.

You hid yourself in the small shed not far from the house and collapsed to the floor as tears started to stream down your face. After several minutes you heard a soft knock on the door.

“Hey Y/n it's Stephanie. Are you okay? Can I come in?” Stephanie asked, clearly worried.

You muttered a sure in response before trying to sit up and make yourself look a bit more proper.

“Oh goodness what happened?” Stephanie gasped as she saw your tear stained face.

“Nothing, I'm just…..confused.” You sigh.

“Well what about?”.

“You have so much to do with the wedding I don’t want to take up your time.”.

“Please. I have enough time to help my future sister in law with something that is clearly hurting her.”.

You look into Stephanies pleading eyes and take a deep breath, “ I am a fool. I was never the type of woman to be swept off my feet by compliments and flowers and beautiful eyes and nothing else. But here I am swooning over Henry practically and that is all he has done is give me beautiful compliments and flowers in my favorite colors. Now he is wanting to marry me and not only do I not want that but…….” Your voice trails off.

“There’s another man isn’t there? One that you really want to be with? The reason that your parents dragged you home is because they don’t want you to be with him right?”.

“How do you know about all of that?”.

“They tried to do the same thing to James. Truth be told they didn’t want him to marry me. I had a feeling that was why you abruptly appeared.” Stephanie revealed.

“But he changed their minds obviously! How? Oh goodness I’m such a fool. I need to write to my cousin and to William and tell them I am so sorry and that I will try to come home to them after this wedding. I must go back to them. I cant stay here.”.

“That is how he changed their mind. By showing his determination to be with me and running away. I will talk with him and have him help you get back to your cousin which is where I’m guessing your love lives.”.

“Yes. But I’m not sure what to say to Henry. Last time I turned down a man he was rather brutal to me.”.

“Henry isn’t like that, trust me. Plus James would never allow it. Be honest with him and just tell him there is another man.” Stephanie assured you before standing up and leaving.

You sighed and stood up out as well dusting off any dirt and made your way inside and up to your room. Hastily you wrote to Bathsheba and William saying sorry and that you hoped to be home before Christmas. You snuck the letters downstairs and gave them to your maid to ensure they got delivered. It took a few days before you saw Henry again. You explained everything with William and how you could not marry Henry because you were fairly certain that William was going to propose to you. He seemed disappointed but told you that if William didn’t and you changed your mind that you knew where to find him in the future. You made a deal with your brother for a few days after the wedding that he was to pick you up and take you back to the farm. Of course you enlisted your maid to do the packing for you that day so that you wouldn’t be suspected by your parents. But your mother must have suspected something because that night just as you and James were sneaking out towards the carriage your father was standing there waiting.

“Where do you two think you are going?”.

“Nowhere in particular father. Was just going for a late night stroll with my dear sister.” James retorted.

“Don’t lie to me. You are taking her back to that man aren’t you?” He demanded.

“So what if I am?”.

“You were bad enough wanting to marry that woman with no wealth and no title. Now you want your sister to go and marry some old man who killed a man?! I won’t have it.”.

“I don’t care what he has done so long as he cares for y/n and loves her and she loves him. That is all that matters in a marriage to me. Now step aside or you will never see any of your grandchildren ever.” James threatened.

“Children please! We only want what is best for you!” Your mother sobbed from the front door.

“Then you will let me go to be happy!” You shout.

Your father glared between the both of you as James ushered you into the coach where Stephanie was sitting already. You sighed a sigh of relief as the coach began to move and the journey back home, back to William began.

#william boldwood x reader #william boldwood #reader insert #surprise #two for one deal #far from the madding crowd #sorry if this one seems rushed #i did enjoy this chapter #hope you do as well #😘😘😘😘#michael sheen

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