For 30th Juan's birthday, in lieu of a birthday card, I gave him an inscribed copy of The Little Prince. A few months later, he reciprocated the gesture. From there began our tradition of gifting each other inscribed books instead of cards.

On 10 September 2023, we became engaged. This was completely unexpected, as I had just spent the weekend away at the Jane Austen festival in Bath with a friend. On that fateful Sunday night, while enjoying a Sainsbury's meal deal (chicken caesar salad sandwich, if anyone cares), I had picked up on the way home, I made my way through Juan's incredibly thoughtful proposal before enthusiastically agreeing.

To propose, Juan had inscribed and annotated a copy of Great Women Writers, designing a sort of scavenger hunt through the book. On each entry of an artist named Mary in the book, Juan integrated a memory from our time together. Finally, on Marie-Denise Viller's Etude de femme d'après nature, the big question was displayed. He had cut out sections from the pages before and after to accommodate the ring, which he had tied around the ankle of the woman in the portrait who was tying her laces. He cleverly placed the ring here to signify "tying the knot."

Thank you to my husband; only you could have dreamed up such a perfect proposal for me.