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A/N~ Now I am all caught up with everything, thank goodness! Thanks to all for the reviews, you have no idea of how much I appreciate them.

Winter of 1773

“I d-d-do not approve of this idea at all!” Willow tugged at the sleeves of her gown nervously as she exited the coach with William. “We will obviously be found out and I will get in trouble not only with my cousin but with my aunt and uncle!”

“I think you should stop worrying. We will be fine.” He grumbled, straightening his crimson silk mask before he handed her emerald one. “It has been 3 years since I have seen anyone from the upper class part of society. And let me remind you, back then I was short, scrawny little thing…”

“I still do not have a good feeling about this…”

William rolled his eyes, taking her by the arm and led her up the front steps behind another couple. “Just remember what I told you. My name is not William…do not call me that name unless you want to get into trouble.”

“So, what do I call you then?” She asked, placing her mask over her eyes. A heavy feeling had settled at the bottom of her stomach, which she couldn’t shake no matter how many times she tried to reassure herself. Elizabeth would be very mad if she were to find out. She clearly did not want to have any contact with William Rayne and Willow had not honored her wishes and instead brought William to her welcome home party.

This was not a good idea.

“I have no idea, Will. Just make up something.”

“Fine,” Willow shrugged as she handed the doorman her invitation. The doorman smiled at her kindly and ushered her inside.

The place had been lavishly decorated. The place was made up for royalty from the looks of it. It was packed with as many people as it could possibly hold. Willow rolled her eyes at the amount. Half of these people probably did not care about Elizabeth or her homecoming.

However, anything that involved the Summers family was worth attending or being a part of. Over the past three years, Rupert had caused his family to rise in the social ladder with ease. It was mostly due to the separation of his practice with Ethan Rayne. The Rayne family had been looked down upon after William had run away from home and since then Ethan had turned to booze and whores.

“Went all out, didn’t they?” William commented as they pushed themselves into the main room.

“I agree.” She whispered, scanning the room for her cousin. She silently wished that none of her family spotted her.

Unfortunately, her wish did not come true.

“Willow! Dear!”

The shrill, excited cry from her Aunt Joyce made Willow feel like she wanted to crawl underneath a rock and die a slow, painful death. Instead, Willow put on a brave face and turned around to face her aunt.

“Auntie Joyce!” She smiled, hugging the older woman tightly. “It’s been too long.”

“It has been! A year, if my calculations are correct!” Joyce cupped her niece’s cheek and smiled kindly. “How beautiful you have become. You and my Elizabeth both have turned into such beautiful girls. I am sure that you will be attracting suitors shortly.” The older woman suddenly noticed the young man standing at Willow’s side and gave her niece a ‘knowing’ look. “It looks like you already have though. Now, who is this handsome fellow, my dear niece?”

Willow’s strong demeanor almost cracked at Joyce’s assumption. Her heartbeat began to race and she felt at any moment that it was going to burst. Her cheeks flushed.

“Th-this is…my…” her hand reached out behind her and grabbed William’s. “This is…Randy…McAllister. Works with my father in New York and thought we would make a perfect pair.”

“How wonderful for you! I am so happy that you and Elizabeth both have found someone. You should see her with young Mr. Finn! She is quite smitten with him. They both match each other perfectly. I am sure it is the same for you two!” Joyce stroked her niece’s cheek once more before excusing herself to fetch Elizabeth for Willow.

Once Joyce was out of earshot, William looked over at Willow with a raised eyebrow. “Randy?”

“I panicked!”



Elizabeth giggled as Riley whispered something into her ear. This party could not get any better. She had a wonderful man by her side. She was surrounded by good people and getting all the attention she could ever want.

“Elizabeth. Your cousin Willow is here, come say hello.”

It was then that all Elizabeth’s happiness was doused simply with those few words. It wasn’t that Elizabeth did not love Willow. It scared her that if Riley saw her simple, plain cousin, he might not want her.

“Do I have to mother? Riley and I are quite busy.”

“Elizabeth Anne Summers! This is not how I raised you! Go and say hello to Willow and her young fellow.” Joyce took her daughter by the arm and winded her through the various couples in the room.

“Young fellow? Willow brought someone with her?” Elizabeth wondered briefly if it could be Xander with her, which immediately led her towards unwanted thoughts of William Rayne.

“Yes, it seems Willow has found herself a suitor. He is quite handsome, even in his mask. Willow is a very lucky young woman.” The older woman gushed with excitement.

“I will have to see this for myself.” She grumbled as they approached the female redhead and her companion, whose backs were to Elizabeth. “Willow!”

Willow’s heart jumped when she saw her cousin come towards her with her aunt. Willow couldn’t help feel the room get smaller and smaller with every step that the women took and squeezed William’s hand as hard as she could. Her heart had to be jumping out through her chest.

“Lizzie! My Goodness, it has been too long!”

The two cousins embraced and giggled with joy. Willow soon began to feel the hard pit in her stomach to fade away as her cousin hugged her. Her fear of the night turning into a complete disaster was lost to her as she Elizabeth’s arms wrapped tightly around her.

William couldn’t take his eyes off of her. It seemed that the time away from America had only made Elizabeth more beautiful than ever, even with the violet mask covering most of her face. Knowing that he was in the presence of such physical perfection made his heart swell and break at the same time. Then immediately felt hate and jealously boil up inside him towards the man that took her away from him.

“It has…” She whispered as she noticed a pair of azure eyes staring intensely at her. His stare caused a chill to run down her spine and her stomach and chest to lighten. “Wh-who is this?”

Willow gulped as she finally noticed the nature of William’s stare. She quickly snapped him out of him by grabbing quickly onto his hand and squeezing it gently. “This is Randy McAllister. He works with my father. We have been in courtship for several months now and someday hope to be married.” I cannot believe I am lying to my own family! She turned to William with a bright smile on her face, gesturing towards her cousin. “Randy this is my cousin Elizabeth. She has just returned home from boarding school in London!”

Elizabeth extended her hand towards the masked man and felt another shiver race up her spine when his lips graze her skin. An immediate hole burned through her hand and continued to burn even when his lips had left her and it made Elizabeth long for more contact.

“Hello.” He rumbled softly, his gaze locked on hers. However, a swift kick from Willow knocked him out of the haze he had been in and into his role of Randy McAllister. “Welcome home. Willow has told me so much about you and how excited she is about your return.”

Oh my Lord! His voice…beautiful. She gushed in her head, while on the outside she was trying hard to contain her excitement. “Why, thank you very much Mr. McAllister.”

“Your welcome.”

Elizabeth’s body flamed with jealousy when she saw William place a tender kiss on Willow’s forehead, smiling at her with such affection that it made Elizabeth want to heave.

“If you both will excuse me, I have something to attend to.” She gritted through her teeth before marching outside.

“She is in a sour mood.” Willow pouted, crossing her arms. “Do not know how she could be though. If I had a party like this I would be jumping for joy!”

“I think someone is jealous of Willow!” He sang softly into her ear with a wicked grin on his face, linking their arms together.

“I think you are delusional.” She snorted, slapping him lightly on the arm as they weaved themselves through the crowd. “Why would she be jealous of me anyhow?”

“It could be because she is stuck with uptight, homely Riley Finn and you of course of have me, a quite handsome fellow. You saw the way she was looking at me!”

Willow rolled her eyes as she unhooked their arms. “I think you should come back to earth. You are over exaggerating the whole entire event. She does not even know who you are and by now has even forgotten your name.”

“Red…” William purred with that wicked smile of his, wrapped his arms tightly around Willow’s waist. “When did you become so feisty towards me? Something you want to tell me? Have any…unspoken feelings toward me?”

Willow huffed as she elbowed him in the stomach but couldn’t help but let a ghost of smile grace her lips. “You are too much.”

“I am aware…” His eyes turned away from the redhead and eagerly searched out for Elizabeth. “Look…I am going to go mingle and such.”

“No! No! No! No!” She panicked, her green eyes wide as they could possibly get. “I’m sorry but that is not possible. I’m not going to let you go off on your own! Who knows what trouble you could get yourself into without me by your side!”

“Willow!” He whined, his bottom lip jutting out into a small pout, resembling a spoiled child. “Please. I promise I will be a good, little boy. I promise if you let me go, I’ll…cater to your every will.”

Willow furrowed her brows as she contemplated the thought. Then a wicked grin traced her lips when she came to her decision. “I expect you to keep that promise, you do know this?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Good.” She smiled. “Now do not get into any trouble. I will meet you back here in an hour.”

“Yes, mam!” He saluted, watching her as she floated over towards some older woman who obviously recognized her.

Suddenly, a flash of blonde hair caught William’s eye. He watched with interest as Miss Elizabeth stormed outside of the ballroom and out towards the balcony. He then knew that this would be the time to reveal to her. Surely, she would not be mad considering the way she was looking at him before.

“Willow might get angry.” He whispered, slowly contemplating his options.

“If my sister discovers that you are here, she is going to have a fit!” A small voice spoke out behind him. Slowly turning around, William was faced with a more grown up Dawn who was practically beaming at him. “However, you are lucky that I do not care what she thinks at the moment!”

She squealed with delight before launching herself into his arms, clinging onto him desperately. With her squeal, a few of partygoers nearby stared at the couple with astonished faces, then whispered in hushed tones to their neighbor about such inappropriate behavior. William blushed and quickly dragged the young girl away from their audience and into a close by hallway.

“How did you know it was me?” He murmured, jerking his head from left to right in order to make sure that they were alone.

“Well, I first though it was you when I saw Willow come in, but I was not sure. Then I became more certain it was you because I concluded that since you fancy my sister so much and you must have been aware of her homecoming that you find someway to come. Also, when you were talking to mother, I saw your eyes and that’s when I knew for sure that it was you. I have never seen anyone with your eyes.” She babbled, bouncing on the balls of her feet before wrapping her arms tightly around him once again. “I am so glad you are here. I am so happy to see you!”

His smile was soft as he reached out and stroked the top of her head. “I am glad to be here and to see you as well.”

“Elizabeth has been driving me mad.” She muttered into his waistcoat, thoughtfully taking his scent in. “I almost threw one of my books at her. And you know how much I cherish my books, I have written to you many times about it.”

“I am sure she is not that horrible, Dawn.” He craned his neck in order to find the perfect view of the balcony, so that he could get a glimpse of her. “Though I am sure throwing a book at Elizabeth is not the answer to dealing with her.”

“You say that because you are in love with her.” She pouted, rubbing her face further into his stomach. She wondered why no else in her family could listen to her the way that William did. Mother’s world was Elizabeth and making sure her union with Riley went superbly. For father, his work was his life and somehow Dawn did not fit into it. And Elizabeth was just too into herself to notice anyone else around her.

“This is true, I do love her. Although, I do fear though that my feelings will not be returned. However,” he peaked down at her and softly tilted her chin so that she could look directly into his eyes, “my love for Elizabeth cannot compare to the intensity at which I love you. You are a part of me Dawn. You are my family.”

Tears sprinkled her doe eyes. A feeling of intense love swept over her and it was so overpowering that Dawn felt like she might explode from it. With a small yelp, she shot herself back into his arms and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

“I love you…” She whispered to herself, nuzzling her cheek softly into his stomach once again. “I cannot ask for anyone better…”

“Me either…” He murmured softly, rubbing the top of her head affectionately.

A snickering broke William’s attention away from Dawn towards the front end of the hallway. William could recognize the owner of that snicker from anywhere, that pompous ponce, Parker Abrams and there he was with a group of friends. They all seemed to be staring out towards the balcony where Elizabeth was standing silently, looking out at the stars. Seconds later, Parker handed his goblet to one of his lackeys and headed out towards the balcony.

To be continued…





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