As usual Charlotte amazed everyone at the ball with her incredible beauty and as usual Alastor was the only gentleman she wanted to spend the evening with. This ball was especially wonderful because aside from dancing there was also going to be a concert of singers. In the middle of the event, all the guests became quiet and were seated as a group of richly dressed ladies and gentlemen sang before everyone.
As Charlotte listened to them she could not help but be reminded of how she used to sing for her father whenever he felt grieved. In fact it was a reminder that was so strong that she instinctively closed her eyes and joined in with the chorus, singing for the first time in such a long period. But she sang so much more harmoniously than any other that the performers became silent and all attention was shifted toward her. They couldn't help it, her voice was more beautiful than any that ever been heard. Alastor was immediately charmed by her vocals and was certain that not even the angels in heaven could sing better. He was in love, madly and beyond all reason.
So in love he was with her that as they danced together he could not resist pressing her fondly in his arms and kissing her lovely brow. She was surprised by his sudden gesture of affection but welcomed it by caressing his cheek with the palm of her hand. They were completely lost in each other and as the evening grew more late he led her out on to the balcony of the house where a view of the entire plantation could be seen. The cotton plants, the magnolia trees, the duck pond, the fields, but what Charlotte found to be the most lovely was the starry night sky. So many of them twinkling and shinning like diamonds.
"This place is so beautiful." She said. "Everywhere I look I can see so much beauty. Everything here is just lovely."
"All of it is nothing compared to you." Alastor said making her cheeks become even more rosy. She looked away from him shyly. "Does my flattery make you uncomfortable, my dear?"
"No." She answered. "Forgive me but it has been so long since someone has complimented me. Unfortunately I have become very used to being insulted and ignored."
"Who in their right mind would dare commit such a sin?" He took both of her hands into his own.
"It does not matter. I...I should not trouble you with my own petty woes."
"Oh trouble me please. I could not bear the thought of you ever being treated poorly." He took her into his arms again. "You should be cherished always."
Charlotte felt her heart flutter because of how gentle his words and his touch was.
"You are so kind to me." She told him. "You have made me feel so happy. I never thought that I would ever know such joy as this."
"Neither did I. To be perfectly honest you are the most wonderful person I have ever met."
"Do you really mean that?"
"With all my heart."
She moved her hand to his cheek again and brought his face closer to hers. For a moment they just stood there under the stars in the silent night, holding each other and sharing gazes of adoration. The two leaned in and at long last their lips met. They kissed. Kissed their mouths, their eyes, their cheeks, and then their mouths again. Their love was so deep and true that they could no longer keep it contained.
"Please tell me your name." Alastor pleaded when their lips parted. "Tell me so that I may engrave it in my heart forever."
"I beg you, do not jest." She said breathlessly.
"I would never play a jest with you. Not in regards to this."
"I want to tell you who I am but I am afraid of what you will think of me once you learn who I truly am."
"Whatever you tell me, it will not change how I feel about you and I must confess I haven't been entirely honest with you myself."
"What do you mean?"
"I spoke the truth when I told you that my name was Alastor but I am not merely just some guest who's attending the celebrations here."
"I do not understand."
With her hand still in his, he directed her attention to a house in the distance. It lay just at the edge of the cotton plants, a small and drab house which could only give shelter to a small amount of people.
"Do you see that house my dear?" He asked her.
"Yes I do." She answered.
"That is where I was born and grew up. My mother was a slave on this plantation and when the war freed her, the former master allowed her to work here with pay. He was very good to us, he paid for my education and made sure that I was sent to the best schools. He also taught me how to use a rifle and would take me out hunting on a few occasions. After my mother died and I became a man he helped me find work in polite society. For many years I wondered why he treated me and my mother especially different from all other servants and slaves and I did not get my answer until he died about a year ago."
He looked away from the house and turned back to face her.
"When the former master died his lawyer informed me of a secret that his client had been carrying for twenty-two years and that secret was that the former master was my father. He and my mother were secret lovers and he had intended to marry her but my grandfather refused to allow it. He forced my father to end the relationship but by then my mother had already become pregnant. My father was not allowed to marry her but he spent the rest of his life secretly supporting her and myself. And it was written in his will that everything in his name would be given to me once he had passed on. His money, his house, and his land."
Hearing his words, Charlotte felt her heart pound with fear. She began to pray from the very depths of her soul that what she feared was not coming to pass. For if it did then she believed that all hope of happiness was lost.
"My name is Alastor Devalcourt and I am the master of this house and of this cotton plantation. When I inherited all of this, I had no intention of sharing it with anyone because I did not believe there was anyone I could see myself spending the rest of my life with. But after meeting you things have completely changed." He once again took hold of her hands in a most tender manner and kneeled down. "I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anything or anyone that I have ever known and I would be most honored if you would become my wife."
Charlotte felt her heart shatter into thousand pieces at this revelation. The man she loved was the young master. A man of great wealth and status. Which meant he could never accept who she really was. A kitchen servant marrying a land owner? It was unheard of and completely un-befitting. She was not worthy of him. As much as she wanted to, she could not marry him.
She pulled away from him with tears already forming in her eyes. This caused his smile to fall and he became concerned.
"I...I should never have come here." She finally spoke.
"What?" He said standing up.
"I made a terrible mistake attending this festival."
"Whatever do you mean? Have I offended you in someway?"
"No. No it's not that it's just...I...I can't. I can't accept what you are offering."
"Why not?"
"I cannot say."
"Is it because that you do not love me?"
"I cannot say that either. I was a fool to associate myself with you. I had no right to and to marry me would be a terrible mistake on your part."
"Why do you say such things?"
She looked up into the night sky and saw that the morning star was beginning to fade.
"I must leave you now. For good." She said starting toward the balcony door. "Thank you for spending this week with me. It was the most wonderful time of my life and I shall never forget it so long as I live."
"No wait!" He grabbed her hand desperately. "You can't just leave for good! At least not without an explanation!"
"I don't have time to explain."
"Then tell me who you are and where you live." He persisted. "So that I may find you."
"I don't want you to find me. I want you to forget me and acts as if we never met."
"You cannot ask that of me." He said. "Not when you hold my heart. Please, if I can't see you again I know I will die."
"No you will live. You will live and love another. One who is suitable enough to be your wife. Goodbye my sweet Alastor. You will never know how much our time together meant to me."
She broke away from him and fled from the balcony. He chased after her as quickly as he could, refusing to let this be a permanent farewell but he lost her in the crowd of dancing guests and by the time he made it through them, she had vanished without a trace.
"Sir are you alright?" Husk asked approaching him at the stairway entrance.
"Where is she?" Alastor asked his servant. "Where did she go?"
"Where did who go?"
"The young lady I was with. She ran off and I don't know to where."
"I didn't see her."
"She just went right this way."
"I wasn't here."
He looked outside and his eyes desperately scanned the area for any sign for his beloved. Her blonde hair, her blue eyes, her white gown, she had to be somewhere within sight. She just had to be. She couldn't have just disappeared into thin air.
"It would seem that she is gone with the wind sir." Husk said. "But perhaps it is for the best. A brief fleeting moment of romance that was just not meant to be."
"Bite your tongue Husker. I'm not going to let her go just yet." Alastor declared. "Not until she tells me that she doesn't love me as much as I love her. Until she speaks those words to me I shall continue to pursue her."
"But the festival is over. It is very unlikely that she will come back to this house."
"Then I shall search for her."
"You don't know her name or where she lives. How do you expect to find her?"
"I don't know but I have to try. I'll search to the ends of the earth if I have to."
With that vow made he went back aside with his servant following, unaware that the woman he seeked was hiding in the bushes by the stairway wearing only a ragged dress of moss. She watched him leave with tears streaming down her cheeks and blew kiss to him just before she discreetly walked back to her quarters.