Hello, Hello. Well, this is the break up chapter, hope you enjoy it and please review :) This story'll end on the 24th February, so we're almost there! ;)

2nd February: Coney Street, York

The Smith mansion was deadly silent when he entered it that night. Something stirred sickeningly in his stomach and he ran a hand through his hair almost nervously.

"What are you doing here?" Jeffrey's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I..." he started and turned to face him.

"They forgot to call you, didn't they?" Jeffrey sighed.

"I...uh...apparently..." he shrugged and smiled briefly.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"You can say that again..." Jeffrey muttered and ushered him out of the corridor and downstairs to the kitchen. "The lady is in mourning," he finally explained when they were both seated at the counter.

"My condolences..." Niles offered half-heartedly and continued to stare at his hands.

"Nobody died," the butler sounded almost annoyed "the Earl chose another one as his lady."

"Oh...OH!" he just managed to stop a chuckle from bubbling up.

But a moment later his desire to laugh faded altogether. As unfriendly as the old lady was, he guessed that a break up was unpleasant at any age. He himself knew all too well what it felt like...maybe "mourning" was a good word after all...

He spotted her the moment he entered the ballroom. His eyes were always drawn to her in an instant, as if they were made just to look at her. A brief pang of jealousy shot through him at her intimate interaction with the group of men around her, but catching sight of her golden engagement ring that glistened in the soft light, he forced himself to remain calm. Instead he let his eyes follow down the slope of her back, drank in the skin that wasn't hidden by the black fabric of the dress she wore.

"Well, I'm glad that Maxwell told me of this," he smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist "otherwise I would've missed it."

He only got as far as placing a kiss on her temple, before he noticed by the look she gave him that that was exactly what had been supposed to happen. At once his arm went limp and dropped to his side. "I see..."

The air outside was colder than he recalled and he shivered slightly. He looked up and down the street, pondering where to go, the lost look never leaving his eyes entirely.

"It was a business party." Her voice startled him, he hadn't expected her to follow him so quickly.

He nodded wordlessly and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"We can't continue like this..." she quietly continued and he nodded once again. "Maybe we should've known from the start that couldn't work."

He found himself numbly nodding over and over again, interminably muted while the woman he loved grew into a stranger in front of him.

"Don't think this isn't affecting me..." she whispered and looked down.

He wanted to reach out and touch her, talk to her somehow, but his body was painfully frozen. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders.

"But I'm sure this'll be best for us..." she nodded, as if to convince herself of the truthfulness of her words. "Find yourself a good woman," she had finally said almost softly and placed the engagement ring in the palm of his hand.

He vaguely registered the soft touch of her lips on his cheek before she disappeared and everything went up in flames. He stood on the dark street, faint music from the ballroom still reaching his ears, and stared at the ring until tears clouded his vision and the first sob broke from his throat in a pained howl. For a split second he thought of her family, their fights, their progress...

"We lost..." he whispered and that was that.