In Bed With Lord Byron

too, choking slightly on his drink.
    ‘Well, I’m sure she meant well – it’s probably quite hard to tell from the material and designs how something will end up looking.’
    Men can be so naïve when it comes to the subtleties of female cattiness.
    ‘Oh, sure,’ I said, rolling my eyes. Anthony grinned, a sheepish, apologetic grin that said he could see that Kerry and I were never going to be the best of friends but there
wasn’t much he could do about it.
    ‘Oh, Lucy, it’s good to have you back,’ he said passionately. I looked over at him and we smiled at each other. I held his gaze for just a few seconds too long; he dropped his
eyes first.
    I swallowed, fiddling hastily with the label on my bottle.
    ‘So,’ said Anthony. ‘You said at dinner you’re bringing someone to the wedding. Who’s the lucky guy?’
    ‘Oh, nobody really,’ I sighed.
    ‘Shame. We could have had a double wedding.’
    ‘And he could have proposed to me in a chocolate shop,’ I replied, my voice barbing with hurt. ‘He could have bought me my favourite chocolate, and then told me he loved
me.’
    ‘Oh, Lucy!’ Anthony put his hands over his face in embarrassment, groaning. ‘When they brought that story up at dinner, I nearly died. The truth is—’
    ‘You don’t have to explain,’ I said quickly.
    ‘No, Lucy, I’m going to explain,’ he said sternly, rubbing my shoulder. ‘The truth is, I told Kerry the whole story of how I’d taken
you
to that chocolate
shop. You see, we were having a discussion about the most romantic days of our lives, and when I told her about that day, she got, well, jealous, and insisted I take her there. And she seemed so
happy . . .’ his eyes grew wistful, ‘it just seemed like the perfect moment to propose.’
    ‘I see,’ I said, feeling both assuaged and jealous.
    ‘I hope you do understand,’ he said. ‘I hope it doesn’t spoil our memory in any way, because it shouldn’t do, Luce.’
    He gently stroked my cheek, and the caress of his fingers was so unexpectedly tender that a baby bird fluttered in my throat and I ducked my head, play-pushing him away and turning it into a
mock tussle.
    We lay in silence for a few pensive minutes.
    ‘D’you want to know something?’ he said.
    I made a faint noise.
    ‘D’you remember the night we broke up?’
    ‘Mmmm.’
    ‘Well, d’you remember that we went to The House and they’d lost the reservation? God, I’d planned the whole night so meticulously and it just seemed doomed from the start
. . .’
    ‘Planned – what d’you mean by that?’
    ‘Well,’ he cleared his throat, ‘I actually had a present for you, but because you broke up with me, I never got to give it to you.’
    ‘Oh?’ I perked up, wondering if he was about to produce some belated chocolate surprise. At least I would have something to comfort me when he’d gone.
    ‘It was a ring.’ He looked awkward, grinning hard.
    ‘A ring?’
    ‘I was going to propose.’
    I lay in silence for some time.
    ‘Lucy?’ he asked, his grin beginning to fade.
    I was unable to speak.
    ‘Lucy? Are you OK? Are you mad at me?’
    ‘No . . . why would I be mad at you?’ I managed. ‘But . . . but you told me you were going to break up with me.’
    ‘Yeah, well,’ he grinned sheepishly, ‘I had to say that, didn’t I? I mean, you made me feel like a total twat. There I was, about to propose, and there you were, about to
dump me.’
    ‘Oh, Anthony, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry . . .’
    ‘No, really, it’s fine,’ he laughed. ‘I will never, ever forget the pain I suffered that night – you crucified me, Lucy, if the truth be told. I mean, fuck, I feel
embarrassed telling you all this, but I thought that it would be OK now that it doesn’t matter any more. We’ve both moved on, and I’ve got Kerry now . . . but in a way, I kind of
owe you one. I don’t think I would have proposed to Kerry and I don’t think I’d be sitting here now about to get married if it hadn’t been for you.’
    ‘Why’s that?’ I asked shrilly.
    ‘You know the story, Lucy, I don’t need to tell you. Before you I was Mr Big Commitment-Phobic. And then I got together with you, and to be honest, I never expected it to last, but
it did, and I learnt that I could handle a big relationship – indeed, that I wanted one.
    ‘I mean,’ he said, warming to the subject, ‘everything is about timing. I’ve realised that now. In my early twenties, girls were always trying