Title: Surrender your Heart

Author: Jenn

Rating: I am giving this an NC-17 rating it starts out nice but will get steamy

Disclaimer: I don't own the Characters of Roswell; if I did the show could possibly still be on the air. I am just borrowing them for the time being. I took a few ideas from "The Flame and the Flower" by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss. I am making changes and adding my own bits of flare, but my plot comes from Woodiwiss's book "The Flame and the Flower."

Summary: This is a M/L fic. The others might make an appearance; however, this will mostly be Max and Liz. Max is the captain of an American ship; Liz is a poor English commoner whose fate becomes bound to the American sea captain. Unfortunately Tess will be involved in this story. I apologize in advance for making Jeff and Nancy so nasty, but it worked well for the story.

A/N: Sean DeLuca is in this story, his name is still Sean DeLuca, but he will not be related to Maria in any way.

Prologue:

The bright sun was just peaking over the horizon, signifying the start of another day of toil and hardship for young Elizabeth Parker. For the past two years she has been forced to toil in her Uncle Jeffery's home.

Elizabeth's father, who had a love of adventure and excitement, was killed on an expedition in India, leaving Elizabeth guardian less. Her Uncle Jeffery and Aunt Nancy had come to her London home, claiming guardianship over the young girl. Elizabeth had no choice in the matter as the courts had awarded custody to her aunt and uncle. All of her possessions had been sold off, her Aunt Nancy pocketing the money.

It was not as if Elizabeth's Uncle Jeffery was destitute, however, he was always jealous of his younger brother's wealth. Elizabeth was forced to live like a servant in her uncle's house from the moment she stepped foot through the door. For the first few months Elizabeth would cry herself to sleep, asking God why he would take her father leaving her to live with these cruel relatives. However, Elizabeth was a fighter, and soon she stopped feeling sorry for herself and made the best of her situation.

Chapter 1:

"Elizabeth! Get your lazy arse up!" Aunt Nancy screamed.

Elizabeth sighed, swinging her legs off the side of her bed, getting up to face another day. Every day was a struggle for Elizabeth, and part of her longed for the courage to snap back at her aunt, telling her to do something herself. However, Elizabeth did not wish to live out on the streets, which is what she had been threatened with if she refused to do her aunt's bidding. There were few options for girls living on the streets, and Elizabeth did not what to contemplate that kind of lifestyle.

"ELIZABETH!"

"Good morning Aunt Nancy," Elizabeth said, walking into her aunt's room.

"What took you so long?"

"I am afraid that I did not realize the sun had begun to rise. My body was weary after yesterday's full day of scrubbing down the house. I am sorry."

Nancy regarded the girl with a critical eye. She had no love for the little slip of a girl, and most would say that she was jealous of her niece's good looks. Nancy was never very pretty, she was not ugly by far, but one would not look at Nancy Parker and feel an overwhelming need to have her, either as their bride or otherwise. Whereas whenever Elizabeth walked down the road, even in the poorly made clothes that she was forced to wear, men's heads turned to gape at her. It infuriated Nancy to no end.

"See that it doesn't happen again or I will have to take the switch to you."

Elizabeth cringed. She had felt the bite of that switch on more then one occasion over the past two years. "Yes Aunt Nancy."

"Our guests will be arriving around the luncheon hour. Remember our deal. If you behave yourself and serve us well, I will allow you to come to London with us tomorrow, and you will be permitted to wander about the faire."

"I will remember Aunt Nancy."

Elizabeth helped her aunt dress and coiffures her hair before going to the kitchen to help the cook. The other servants looked upon Elizabeth with a mixture of sadness, pride, and sympathy. They all knew her situation and felt sorry for the poor child being forced to work in a house where she should be waited upon.

"Good morning Lucy."

Lucy the cook was a kind, portly woman. She had been working for Jeffery and Nancy Parker for many years. Her once long brown hair was beginning to gray at the sides, giving her an air of possessing much knowledge. Elizabeth loved spending time in the kitchen with Lucy, she always told the most wonderful stories.

"Mornin' Miss Elizabeth." Lucy, the cook, smiled.

Elizabeth pulled her long brown hair back tying it with a ribbon and set about making some bread. Important guests were coming to visit today and Jeffery and Nancy had an elaborate meal planned for later that afternoon. Elizabeth had been given her list of chores for the day. She was to help in the kitchen, giving Lucy a hand with preparing all the food until an hour before noon. Then she was to bathe and wear the outfit that Aunt Nancy had bought for her. At noon she was to let the guests in and serve everyone until the guests left. After that she was allowed to sup and sleep. The following day Jeffery and Nancy were going to London to visit some friends, they were staying at an Inn and as long as Elizabeth behaved herself she was allowed to go, and would be able to go to the faire. That was the only thing keeping Elizabeth going, the faire. She had not been to one since she was a child when she went with her father.

Lucy huffed turning to Maggie, one of the other servants. "Miss Elizabeth shoun't be workin' wit us po'r folk."

Maggie, about ten years Lucy's junior nodded her head in agreement. Pushing a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and adjusting her apron over her plump figure she set about cleaning the dishes and silver.

Maggie looked over at Elizabeth whose face was smudged with flour. "I know Lucy, but we can't do nothing 'bout it."

If Elizabeth heard their conversation she did not give any indication that she could. She went about baking the bread, marinating the meats, and shucking corn. Lucy was frying dumplings and peeling carrots, while Maggie polished the silver and made sure that all the dishes were sparkling.

"Elizabeth! You must get dressed. I cannot have you in the middle of getting ready when our guests arrive."

"Yes Aunt Nancy."

Elizabeth bade her friend's farewell and rushed up to her room. Hot water was already in the tub, with two buckets sitting nearby to warm the bath up if it started to get too cold. Elizabeth smiled in anticipation, letting out a gasp of surprise upon seeing a bar of rose scented soap on the stool next to the tub. It was a rare occasion indeed that she was able to use some of her Aunt Nancy's special scented soap. These guests must be important indeed.

Once Elizabeth was finished with her bath, she hurriedly dressed in the brown dress that her aunt had procured for her. Pulling her hair back she tied it with a brown ribbon and donned the white cap. Elizabeth grabbed the white apron and rushed down the stairs. She was just finishing tying the apron around her waist when there was a knock at the door. Nancy looked at her niece and nodded her head in approval.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and opened the door. She stepped back to allow her aunt and uncle's guests to come in. A thin man in a black suit walked in followed by a rather large woman with red-brown hair. Her purple dress pulled tightly across her ample belly, giving her the appearance of a rather large eggplant. Elizabeth had to bite her tongue to suppress a giggle.

The man passed his hat, gloves and jacket to Elizabeth, who took them without question. She noticed the man had kind blue eyes, his once black hair now a salt and pepper color. He wore no facial hair, and Elizabeth noticed that his jaw did not seem very strong; in fact he had a feminine air about him. His companion handed Elizabeth her purple cloak and turned with a huff.

Elizabeth bit back a sigh and hung the cloak up in the hall closet; she placed the man's gloves inside the hat and placed them both on a shelf. Her Aunt Nancy was already leading her guests into the drawing room when Elizabeth turned around. Taking a deep breath she followed them all into the drawing room.

"Good afternoon," she said. "Might I get you some refreshment?"

"I will take a brandy, if you don't mind," the man said.

Elizabeth nodded and turned to the woman. "A small glass of wine."

Elizabeth hurried to the bar and prepared the drinks, bringing them back to the guests. Once she was satisfied that everything was ok, she walked into the kitchen to pick up the tray of finger foods that her aunt had requested. At the time Elizabeth did not know why her aunt would have requested these, as they were preparing a wonderful lunch for her guests, but upon seeing the girth of the woman on the settee Elizabeth now understood her aunt's request.

The woman eyed the tray greedily as Elizabeth returned to the drawing room. The tray was barely set upon the table before the gigantic woman swooped down upon the small sandwiches displayed before her. Elizabeth watched disgusted at the way the woman devoured the food, wondering about this woman's manors.

"Katherine, dear how have things been with you? I heard that you spent some time in the country this summer, is anything wrong?"

"I have been quite well Nancy. I think all the hustle and bustle of London has finally started getting to me. I needed a break and the country house has not been used for quite some time. I urged Henry to send some servants out to prepare it for us. I must say I have never been more relaxed. The country escape did me good and I am now ready to face the London Ton once again."

Nancy laughed. "Jeffery and I will travel to London tomorrow. The Fairchild's have invited us out for a visit."

"Tabatha is a lovely woman. I have not seen her in over a year. How is she doing?"

"Quite well. She just had her second son. Jeffery and I are very excited to see the little boy. It is unfortunate that we were never blessed with children, we both love them so."

Elizabeth almost scoffed. She could not imagine her Aunt Nancy being nice to any child. That idea was just too preposterous! With the way Nancy and Jeffery treated Elizabeth it would reason that they would have been terrible parents and Elizabeth was glad that they had not been blessed with children of their own.

"Come here child!" Katherine ordered, pointing for Elizabeth to stand in front of her.

Elizabeth looked at her Aunt Nancy, who nodded her head, and moved to stand in front of the large woman. She looked down into Katherine's round face, wondering why she was being brought to stand here. Katherine looked to be assessing Elizabeth's worth, eyeing her up and down.

"Take off her cap, girl."

Elizabeth untied the cap and pulled it off her head. Katherine clucked her tongue. "This be your niece?"

"Yes, this is Elizabeth, my husband's brother's child."

"She is quite pretty. I vaguely remember her mother, rest her soul. That woman was a beauty."

Nancy snorted. "She had the devil in her that woman, snaring poor Stewart the way she did. This one's just like her; the devil gave her these looks. To look on her would drive any man crazy. I am going to have my hands full with this one."

Elizabeth blushed under the two women's scrutiny. "Yes, she is going to turn many men's heads. I pity the poor man who manages to capture her. He will forever be fighting off other men trying to vie for her attention."

Nancy snorted in agreement, not that she was going to allow Elizabeth to marry. She would see to it that the girl remained a spinster, or else married a man of HER choosing. A smile spread across Nancy's face picturing the kind of man she would choose for her niece to marry.

"I am sorry that I am late everyone," Jeffery said, entering the drawing room. "I am afraid that business ran a little bit longer then I had anticipated."

"Do not worry about it Jeff old chap," Henry exclaimed clapping Jeffery on the back. The two men walked to the bar to get a drink, or a refill in Henry's case. The two men effectively ignored the women's conversation talking about the goings on around the village and London.

"I cannot understand why the king allows those Yankees to trade with us! It is unsightly, they are barbaric!" Henry exclaimed.

"Thankfully I have never seen one," Jeffery said. "I have heard numerous rumors about these Yankee seamen though. Roudy bunch or so I have been told. I don't know how Richard can live in London with them roaming the streets all the time."

"He's a better man then I, I assure you." Henry said. "Katherine and I stopped in London before we journeyed to the country estate, she needed some new clothes. I saw quite a few of those sailors roaming the roads by the docks. They were dirty, and the crudeness of their language! By jove what is our country coming to."

Elizabeth quietly walked out of the room, now that she was no longer the topic of discussion between her Aunt Nancy and Katherine, to check on the meal.

"Hello Lucy, is lunch almost ready? I don't think Madame Katherine will be able to last much longer without more food."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth. "Oh sorry! You haven't seen her! Lucy she's HUGE, I swear she is the biggest woman I have ever seen in my life!"

Lucy chuckled. "Lunch will be ready in about ten minutes, child."

"Thank you."

Elizabeth walked back to the drawing room, whishing that this day would be over. It was hard to bite her tongue, especially when people were talking about her, but she knew that if she wanted to go to London and visit the Faire she would need to behave. Besides, she really was not looking forward to feeling the bite of the switch, which is exactly what Aunt Nancy would do if she so much and put one toe out of line.

"Excuse me," Elizabeth said, getting the adult's attention. "Lucy just informed me that lunch will be ready in about ten minutes."

"Thank you Elizabeth. That will be all for now. Go to the kitchen to await our meal. I will lead our guests into the dining room. Oh, before you do that, please bring some wine into the dining room."

"Yes Aunt Nancy."

Elizabeth did as she was bid, setting a rose colored wine on the table before returning to the kitchen. Breathing a sigh of relief she sunk wearily into a chair at the servant's table. Maggie, checking to see where Nancy was, handed Elizabeth a sliver of the roast with a smile. Elizabeth ate the morsel down quickly, not wanting to get caught with "the guest's" food, but also because she was starving.

"Ok, child the first course is ready to go." Lucy said, giving Elizabeth a sad smile.

"Do not look at me like that Lucy. I don't mind having to do work, it keeps me busy. I could do without my aunt's snide glibs, but the work is fine with me. Besides, as long as I behave myself I can go to the London Faire tomorrow, and that's my main goal right now.

The rest of the afternoon flew by for Elizabeth, which she was thankful for. At about eight o'clock in the evening Katherine and Henry left the Parker residence. Nancy looked at Elizabeth and nodded.

"You did well today, and because of that I will honor my end of our bargain. You will accompany your uncle and me into London tomorrow. Wear your blue dress and pack the green to come home in. It would not do to have you look like a complete pauper. Now, go get supper and run along to bed. We are leaving at six of the clock in the morning."

"Thank you Aunt Nancy," Elizabeth beamed. She rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly ate her supper. Lucy and Maggie watched the young girl eat with smiles on their faces. It was a rare occasion that this young child got rewarded for anything and both women were happy to see Elizabeth, whom Lucy considered like a daughter, and Maggie thought of as a sister, excited.

TBC...