Midnight in Everwood(96)

‘I am afraid my mind is set on the matter. I am taking my leave,’ Marietta said.

Frederick hurried into view. He instantly took measure of the situation. ‘Let her go; you know well how tenacious she is.’ He winked at Marietta and Ida whirled around.

‘Frederick!’

‘I am afraid, Mother, that there is no resolution available. We have a fundamental difference of opinion and I doubt this can be reconciled.’

Theodore began to speak. Marietta quelled him with a single pointed look. ‘And Father, I have publicly announced my intentions and if I do not follow through then people shall take notice. I have also taken the care to write several letters to allies who will hold you accountable if you resist my departure.’

‘I shall not stand in your way but if you so choose to leave then know this: you may not return. Neither shall you see one penny of your inheritance.’

Ida had to sit down. She looked pale at this turn of events.

Marietta’s smile was slow. ‘I shall hold you to that.’ She stepped down and around him. Past Frederick, who pressed her hand as she went by, out to the foyer, where a footman scrambled to open the door for her, his eyes wide.

She walked out into the night, cutting a lone figure in the deserted streets of Nottingham. Windows were aglow with festive vignettes of families celebrating together. Marietta kept walking through the slumbering city and towards her new lodgings. Towards the future she had sacrificed everything for and which beckoned her with a glittering promise.

A tiny flake of snow fell onto her face. She paused and glanced up. Endless snowflakes were tumbling towards her; the very first snowfall of the year. A white Christmas.

Marietta laughed and spun in a circle, tilting her face up, snow collecting in her eyelashes and hair. The stars were invisible under a white sky yet she knew they were smiling down on her. She vowed to them, to Legat, that she would never stop dreaming.

She decided thereupon that in the tradition of Everwood, she would select a starname for herself.

Rêverie.





Acknowledgements


This book has long been a book of my heart but it wouldn’t exist at all without my magical agent, Thérèse Coen, who utterly refused to give up on it. I’m forever grateful for everything you’ve done for me.

I owe an entire frozen sugar palace of thanks to my wonderful editor Katie Seaman, who has championed Midnight from the start and expertly worked her magic on it until it glittered. I can think of no-one else I’d rather have danced this pas de deux with; Team Unicorn!

Thank you to the amazing team at HQ Stories for welcoming me and making the most enchanting home for Midnight, complete with oodles of support and the shiniest proofs! Special thanks to Katrina Smedley (soul-collector) and Lucy Richardson for setting everyone a-flurry and being generally brilliant. Huge thanks to Charlotte Phillips for the cover of dreams. Thank you to Fliss Porter, Harriet Williams, Darren Shoffren and Angela Thomson for all their sales magic.

To Stephanie Garber, Sarah Morgan, Alex Bell, Sophie Anderson, Nydia Hetherington, Heidi Swain, Veronica Henry and Beth Cartwright, who were the first to read and blurb Midnight, thank you for your kindness and support.

For Lauren Cassidy (@fictiontea), Gavin Hetherington (How to Train your Gavin) and Dan Bassett (@dantheman1504), I owe a whole Land of Sweets for your early championing of this book.

Thank you to Jenny and The Dance Studios for inspiring me with years of ballet classes.

To Amy McCaw for constantly cheering me on and being a generally lovely jewel of a friend.

For Vic James, LD Lapinski, and the Swaggers for all being truly excellent writing friends, deserving of a hundred special Mia hot chocolates!

To my wonderful friends: Christine Spoors, Alex McGahan, Sarah Hackmann/Mother of Ferns, thank you for always being there for me. For my Shakespearean Sisters, I couldn’t do without you. And to Jonathan Norman, thanks for being the best ice-skating partner-in-crime.

Many thanks to everyone in my family that’s cheered me on and celebrated my successes with me, especially my mum, who has always believed in the fairies at the bottom of the garden.

For Michael Brothwood, my husband, no matter how many kings and queens come and go, how many stars join the skies, my heart shall be yours forevermore.

Finally, to everyone that’s picked up a copy of this book; my deepest thanks. I do hope you enjoyed the enchantments of Everwood.