There I was Again tonight, Forcing laughter,
Faking smiles.
Same old tired lonely place.
Walls of insincerity, shifting eyes and vacancy,
Vanished when I saw your face.
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Lady Samantha faked a smile as her Host and Hostesses' daughter, Rachel, gossiped about one of the dancing couples or another. She even forced a laugh when the young lady told an annoying joke about one of her many beaus.
How she hated balls! But her father, Lord Forster, told her she must go in her mother's place; her mother having passed away several years ago. She mostly went because her grandmother forced her to go saying that it was high time she started looking for a husband.
As if she wanted one of those! She would rather be an old maid, spend her time riding her pony -Ace- and taking care of her other animals, than having to marry someone who would control her; she knew it was a slim chance she might find someone who was as interested in the same things that she was.
Her eyes traveled around the room from sheer boredom when suddenly she noticed someone she hadn't seen before; a young man, around her age. He was tall and dark- taller than almost everyone else. His sword glittered with gold in the light.
He was wearing knee-high brown boots and black breaches. His hair was also black, but he didn't tie it place with a ribbon, as seemed to be the fashion for men these days, but with what looked like a small piece of some sort of rope. Samantha blushed and turned away when she noticed him staring back at her.
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All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you.
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Samantha glanced back at him to see if he was still looking at her, and he was. He had his head tilted to one side, and the question of 'Have we met?' in his dark brown eyes.
Most men asked a similar question of her when they introduced themselves. She thought it was because they had been friends of her parents' before her mother had died. Her grandmother always said she looked like Lady Louise when the beautiful lady had been younger.
But Samantha was quite certain she had never met this particular man before. As she turned back to her supposed 'friends' she noticed him walking this way. When she turned again slightly, she was surprised to notice that he was standing next to her.
Rachel suddenly exclaimed, "Jacob! I didn't know you had been invited! These are my friends: Carlotta Idantilma -she's from Italy you know- Daisy Somersby, Katharina von Waldheim, Elizabeth Brooke, and Lady Samantha Forster; she and her father, Lord Forster, are from Bristol, they have recently moved here. And this gentleman, ladies, is Jacob Ely; his father is a merchant with the Americans."
He nodded politely as she introduced each friend in turn, and Rachel, having done her duty of introducing the new girl to a nice eligible boy, went back to her gossip. Jacob turned from them. Samantha walked a slight ways away from Rachel and her group, and then faced him once more.
"Are you enjoying the ball?" he began by way of conversation.
"To be honest, no, not really, I would much rather be riding." He nodded in agreement.
"Not to sound too forward, but where are you from, your accent isn't well, British?" Samantha asked.
"America," came his one-worded reply; she noticed he didn't seem to want to talk much about himself.
"Is Miss Slocum really your friend, because you seem much too kind to be friends with her," he stated, an amused glint in his eyes.
"No, she was asked to well, sort of chaperon me at this party; get me acquainted with someone."
"You seem to have done that," he replied, smiling slightly; she smiled in return.
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Your eyes whispered "have we met?"
Across the room your silhouette
starts to make it's way to me.
The playful conversation starts,
counter all your quick remarks
Like passing notes in secrecy.
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As the ball ended, he took her hand, bowed, and said, "It was enchanting to meet you, Lady Samantha- I hope we meet again."
She blushed and looked down, hoping he didn't see her cheeks darken.
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And it was enchanting to meet you.
All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you.
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As she and her father rode home in their coach, Samantha looked out the window at the sparkling night sky, hoping she would remember this night for the rest of her life. Every time she thought about him she blushed. They had spent the entire ball together. She wondered if he also knew she had been enchanted to meet him, too.
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This night is sparkling, don't you let it go,
I'm wonder-struck, blushing all the way home.
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew. . .
I was enchanted to meet you.
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The following week there was another ball. Samantha grumbled and groaned as her grandmother fixed her hair for the evening ball. She asked why she had to go to another ball, and her grandmother replied that the balls were welcoming balls, to introduce them into the society.
What she didn't say was that she hoped her granddaughter would find a good match at one of these balls as well. That evening, Samantha was now only slightly surprised to see Jacob Ely there. After she stood talking with another bunch of girls for a while, he came over and they talked as before.
He told her about his family; he had six brothers and they were all in charge of one of his father's ships; how he had recently been given a ship of his own. The night seemed to pass too fast for her, as once again they were parting ways.
In her room that night she stayed up wondering if he had someone he loved back home in America. She wished he was at her house right now so she could ask him herself. She blushed as she thought that; suddenly there was knocking at her bedroom door. She went over and opened it, knowing it wouldn't be him, even though a small part of her wanted it to be. Her grandmother was on the other side.
Frowning, she asked, "What are you doing up so late; you know we have another ball tomorrow! Now go to bed."
She closed the door softly behind her grandmother and wrapped her arms around herself as she sat on her window seat, knowing exactly what she'd have said if it had been him. . .
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The lingering question kept me up;
Two a.m. who do you love?
I wonder till I'm wide awake.
Now I'm pacing back and forth,
wishing you were at my door;
I'd open up and say "Hey. . ."
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They went to two or more balls and parties every month; she saw less and less of Jacob, until he never came to them anymore. It was now September, and the ball she had most recently gone to had been quite unusual. . .
She had been wandering around, away from the ballroom and the gossips, when she walked past a door and heard men's voices on the other side; she stopped to listen, noticing that her fathers' voice was among them.
"These pirate raids are getting out of hand!"
"We need to tell the colonies to stop harboring these traitors to the crown; they're profiting from our losses I tell you!"
"Yes."
"I agree."
"None of our merchandise is safe on the high seas with these mutinous sailors drifting in and out of the fog!"
"Forster, my sources tell me that the boy your daughter used to talk with is a pirate; you should be careful, he could charm her with some wonderful tales of the sea and then whisk her away! I'd be more careful who she spends her time with."
Samantha didn't recognize the voice, but what the man said had her worried. Jacob couldn't possibly be a pirate, could he?
Several days later, she received the first of many letters.
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It was enchanting to meet you
All I know is I was enchanted to meet you
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She would reply almost as soon as she got them, but in the back of her mind she would remember what that man had said, and the offhand manner in which Jacob had told her about his father giving him one of his ships to commandeer- as if it hadn't been a most important thing to him. They had been writing back and forth for almost a year, when he wrote in his last letter that he was coming back to England on some important business, and wondered if he might see her while he was there? She replied yes, but worried her letter wouldn't reach him in time.
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This night is sparkling, don't you let it go.
I'm wonder-struck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
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Four months passed, and she wondered if he had ever received her letter. That evening she was entering the stable yard to put Ace up for the night, after having gone riding with her friend, Jennifer Kentworthy. She was startled and when she saw someone appear out of the shadows of the stable yard. As she was about to call for help, she noticed it was Jacob. She smiled at him in surprise and quickly jumped down from her horse and rushed over to the tall young man.
"Where have you been? Why have you been gone so long? And why aren't you waiting up at the house?" she queried.
"Yes, I'm fine, and yes, I did have a good journey down here to see you," he answered, smiling at her softly. She blushed and looked down. Her grandmother always said she had lovely features but it was a shame she was always spoiling them by blushing.
She felt as if she were always blushing when he said something. She was slightly surprised when he put his finger under her chin and turned her face back to his.
"You know you are very beautiful when you blush, but you ruin it by looking down, as if you've done something wrong," he said softly. She was not at all surprised when he kissed her though. He put his arms around her waist and drew her towards him. It was wonderful until. . .
"Samantha Anne! What are you doing out here at this time of night, alone with this young man, hiding in the dark; do you want to ruin yourself?" They broke apart, startled, while her father practically shouted.
"And you, come closer to the light so I can see who you are!" Lord Forster ordered, motioning to Jacob to come closer.
Samantha could tell her father was taken aback at first, but composed himself slightly and said, "How dare you even step foot on my estate! I should have you arrested for being a traitor and a pirate! What do you have to say for yourself? Do you wish to deny what I've said?" her father finished, staring expectantly at Jacob.
He looked down at Samantha momentarily, sighed, and said, "I came to your estate this way to talk to your daughter, because you and I both know that you wouldn't have let me talk to her if I had asked you."
And no, I cannot deny what you've said because in a way I am a traitor, by going against the king's taxes, and I am most certainly a pirate; although, I wanted to tell Samantha this in a different setting, I suppose now is as good as ever. You wouldn't dare arrest me, whose ships are the only ones that get safely to their ports? Whose ships are watched so that they aren't attacked by marauding pirates, like me?" He waited, the silence deafening.
"Yours and you can't deny it."
I don't know why I do this for you; perhaps it's because I love your daughter; maybe it's just because I like the fact that I've got you forced into a place where you can't arrest or charge me or maybe it's because I'm losing interest in your trade goods."
Even as he spoke, both men knew that wasn't the reason.
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This night is flawless, don't you let it go,
I'm wonder-struck, dancing around all alone.
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew. . .
I was enchanted to meet you.
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"Fine, I won't report you, but there's nothing to stop me from banning you from seeing my daughter! Be off with you now!"
Jacob looked down at Samantha, "Are you sorry for what I did- What I am?" he asked. She knew he was referring to kissing her, and also to being a pirate.
"No, I'm not; I just don't want you to go!" she replied, tears in her eyes.
"I'll come back," he promised, he kissed her briefly, and moved away from her to his black mare standing tethered by the stable doors; all under her father's frowning gaze. As he galloped down the drive, she let her tears fall. She prayed that she would someday see him again as her father took her by the arm and led her back to the manor.
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This is me praying that
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She cried herself to sleep, wondering what her grandmother would say to her about this tomorrow. Would she ever see him again? As the days passed she thought of him incessantly.
Curious about what he had told her father that night, she would ask every now and then how his ships were doing; he would frown and reply that they were fine, and that she needed to be thinking about something befitting a young lady and not about business matters. Soon, though, her father found out about her letters, and forbid even that small communication.
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This was the very first page, not where the story-line ends.
My thoughts will echo your name until I see you again.
These are the words I held back as I was leaving too soon:
I was enchanted to meet you.
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Another year passed and her friend Jennifer married Ryan Slocum. Samantha turned eighteen, and people started to talk about how quiet and withdrawn from society Lady Samantha had gotten ever since she had met 'The American' two years ago.
Samantha didn't care that it was gossiped she would be an old maid. Because she wouldn't marry any of the young men that called on her, even though she could have her pick of the lot.
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Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you
Please don't be in love with someone else
Please don't have somebody waiting on you. . .
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Her father sent her to go spend the summer with her younger cousins on her mother's side who lived by the shore, thinking that if they took her back out to society and to parties she would soon forget the young pirate who had so obviously stolen her heart. How was Lord Forster to know that his sister-in-law and her husband had dealings with pirates and that they were against the King's taxes?
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This night is sparkling, don't you let it go
I'm wonder-struck, blushing all the way home.
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew. . .
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Sam stood on the balcony looking out at the moon rising over the ocean, her fifteen and sixteen-year-old cousins dancing and playing around in the parlor with the rest of their large family behind her. She didn't pay any attention to the butler announcing someone to see her aunt and uncle: Countess Susan and Count Andrew. Lowered voices spoke behind her, and then footstep's approached her; thinking it was her uncle she turned and was startled to see that it was Jacob; he smiled at her. She ran over to him, crying from happiness.
"How. . . What?" she asked, looking up at him.
He brushed her tears away, and just gazed down at her for several minutes before replying, "Your aunt and uncle. . . we do business together; apparently your father wrote them and told them about why he was sending you here, and they in turn wrote to me. I came as quickly as I could when I heard. . . Would you be willing to marry me? I know being the wife of a pirate wouldn't be wonderful, but you'd love America, and my parents would adore you," he finished simply.
"Yes, I'd love to be your wife," she replied, smiling through her tears.
They didn't notice as the Count and Countess ushered their children from the room.
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This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonder-struck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew. . .
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By the end of summertime, the entire countryside knew Samantha Forster had married an American. But Jennifer knew her friend had married for love and happiness, not to spite her father. So she told everyone spreading lies and gossip that there were worse things a lady could do.
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This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonder-struck, blushing all the way home
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
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Jacob had insisted they go to see her father, saying it was wise to tell him in person they were going to America than telling him in a letter. Samantha was worried, what would he say? How would Gram act? As they entered the foyer of her father's manor she became even more anxious, clutching Jacob's arm nervously.
"It will be fine, you'll see," he whispered in her ear as the butler announced them to the drawing room filled with people.
She looked over at her father, wondering what he was thinking, as his face seemed almost expressionless.
Suddenly he spoke, "Samantha, perhaps I've been wrong to keep you two apart, even though it didn't stop you to from marrying," he said quietly. "I hear your going to America," he added in an offhand manner.
"Yes, sir, I wanted to tell you before my ship sailed, as that would be better than receiving a letter in two or three months," Jacob answered. Her father nodded in agreement. They talked until Jacob told her it was time for them to meet his ship.
When they were in the carriage Samantha told him, "I'm glad Father has gotten over his anger and dislike of you, I would've been so distressed if he hadn't accepted our marriage."
Jacob put his arm around her and she leaned into him as he said, "Yes, it has ended very well."
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This night is flawless, don't you let it go
I'm wonder-struck, dancing around all alone
I'll spend forever wondering if you knew
I was enchanted to meet you
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The voyage to America was not as long as Jacob had thought it was going to be; a fair wind, calm seas, and they were in a Virginian port just inside of two months. He had been right, his family did welcome her, and when Jacob was away, plundering something on the high seas, his mother -Maxine- would invite her to come and live with them, instead of being in her 'large empty house' even though it was full of servants.
And she would.
But when Samantha knew he was due in port, she would go back to her house and stand on the walk atop the roof and look out to sea, waiting until his ship was in sight before she went down to get the household ready for his return.
The most unusual thing, his mother said when they had been married for a year, was that now his raids were far and few in between, as if they were a pastime. Samantha had blushed, wondering how many of his 'raids' were actually him coming to see her.
That evening as she stood on the walk and watched his ship enter the harbor by moonlight, she smiled, knowing that he was in love with her, and she was the one waiting on him to come home.
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Please don't be in love with someone else,
Please don't have someone waiting on you. . .
A/N:
What are the opinions? The lyrics are from Taylor Swift's song "Enchanted", the characters belong to Terri Farley, but the idea is all mine. Please do tell me what you think,
WH