Author: Lisa
Email: LWo1783@aol.com
Category: Max and Liz
Rating: PG to PG-13
Disclaimer: Based on both the book The Inheritance by Louisa May Alcott and the telemovie by CBS of the same title. Max and Liz are characters which belong to the show Roswell of UPN (yay!).
Summary: An abandoned orphan is taken in by a loving family but is raised in a society which shuns her. A rich aristocrat who no longer believes there is hope for love for him. Can they overcome the obstacles to somehow find happiness together?
Author's Notes: If you have read any of my other fics, you'll know that I always ALWAYS have happiness insurance on my fics. This means that Max and Liz will always end up together, if only to make me happy! BTW, I really don't know when this takes place but let's just call it a historical romance. Early 1900's perhaps.
Distribution: If you like this enough, thank you and yes! I would like a link back though.
Part 2
"I can't believe I'm going to have tea with you today," Liz said as she aimed drew back her arrow. "I won't know what to say."
"Please, Liz. There is nothing to be worried about," Maria comforted her friend. She knew how Liz got when it came down to things dealing with society, something Liz didn't feel comfortable with. She often became nervous and insecure.
They both released their arrows and watched them fly toward the targets. "How do you that?" Maria exclaimed as she saw that Liz's had hit the center - again.
"You're getting better, Maria. When you release, try to keep your balance a little better. And pull back an inch or two more," Liz suggested. Maria sighed and tried to follow her directions. To her surprise and joy, her arrow landed in the middle also.
"Woohoo!" she shrieked with joy and Liz couldn't help but laugh along with her. Then, she remembered the tea issue again and sighed. "What if I say something stupid?" she asked.
"What? At tea?" Maria was ready to aim again. "But that's what tea is for. To say everything stupid that we've been holding in all day."
"Maria."
"Lizzie, relax please. It's just going to be me, Mama, Papa, and Tess. We're all family."
Family. Liz wanted nothing more than to really be a part of Maria's family. They were like sisters and Henry and Amy treated her like their daughter. But there were constant reminders that she really wasn't a part of the family. Such as whenever someone visited, they would ignore Liz completely, even when one of the DeLuca's tried to include her in conversations. It came to be so that Liz never 'socialized.'
"Okay," Liz agreed for the sake of Maria. "Let's talk about the Green's Cup then."
"More sports?" Maria groaned.
"Well, I was thinking more along the lines of who this Mr. Evans was."
"Oh. Years back he visited us once, don't you remember? Wait, you weren't here. Where were you? Hmm... Oh, I remember! That was when you had the whooping cough and had to go into the countryside. Do you remember that?"
Nodding her head patiently, Liz motioned for Maria to continue. "I don't remember much about him. I think he was a little gangly, truth be told."
"Is that why your parents picked him this year to ride for the DeLuca's in the race?"
"I suppose so," Maria replied carelessly. She turned to Liz and pleaded. "Do you think this is enough? Can we please go back inside and act out the rest of 'Romeo and Juliet?' I'll even let you be Juliet this time."
Liz gave out a mock gasp. "You must be desperate to go back, to give up the leading lady role."
"We left right when something was happening on the balcony! I know Romeo is going to say something romantic, I just know it!"
"Okay," Liz conceded, much to Maria's delight. "Let's go."
As they walked toward the house, Liz suddenly remembered the task she would have later that day. "Maria, what's your cousin Tess like?"
"Tess?" Maria thought for a second. "I really don't recall. I only met her a few times and it's been years since I've last seen her. However..." she paused and grinned. "I wonder though since she has to come all this way for a husband!"
Liz jokingly pretended to be shocked by Maria's comment and the two girls laughed as they ran the rest of the way back.
~*~*~*
Liz stood in the shadows of the house outside while Henry, Amy, and Maria all waited as the carriage pulled up to the house. The driver stopped the horses and Henry went to open the carriage door.
Holding his hand out, he helped Tess out of the carriage. As she stepped down, she looked around in her new surroundings. Her eyes slightly narrowed as she saw Liz standing in the corner; however, she smiled when her Amy greeted her. "Tess, how was your trip, dear?"
"It was nice, but long," she replied.
"Of course," Henry said. "Well, you're here now so why don't we put your bags away so you can settle a bit. Maria can show you where your room is."
~*~*~*
Liz smiled uncomfortably as she sat in her chair in the main parlor. She couldn't shake the feeling that Tess didn't like her very much. 'Stop that. You haven't even spoken to her yet.'
She tried focusing back on the conversation that Mr. DeLuca was in the midst of.
"...and don't you think that it's utterly ridiculous that in our concern for the propriety of women, we have them risk their necks by riding side-saddle when they should be riding astride like men?"
Tess laughed. "But the scandal," she said.
"Who cares?" Henry asked, not seeing the point.
"The hunt club would have us thrown in jail for being so unladylike," Tess joked.
"Good," Henry replied staunchly. "A night in jail would do us all good."
At his comment, Liz nearly choked on her tea with laughter. She caught Maria's eyes and Maria winked at her. Liz could almost hear Maria say 'I told you so.' Amy looked mortified at her husband's comment.
"Maybe we should discuss something else," she said, wanting to change the topic.
"Like what?" her husband asked. He really wanted to talk about this more.
Trying to think of something, Amy waved her hands a little. "Um...we could discuss the arrival of our guest, Mr. Max Evans."
"He doesn't ride side-saddle does he?" Again the three younger girls tried to hold back their laughter.
"I heard he had his heart broken tragically," Maria began dramatically. Liz couldn't help but smile affectionately at her. She had such a flair for these things.
"Uh, no gossiping," Amy reproved. At the same time, Tess leaned forward and said eagerly, "Do tell."
Ignoring her mother, Maria continued. "They say that he once fell madly in love with a girl. On the night before he was going to proclaim his love, he found out his brother was in love with her too. So he put aside his own feelings and worked to bring them together. He never said a word about his own feelings except to his mother. Then a year later, the couple died in a tragic accident. This was many years ago and he's never given away his heart since."
Everyone was quiet for a moment as they processed this story. Then Maria added, "Or perhaps no one would have him. He was a bit...awkward looking."
"Maria!" her mother exclaimed. "That is not nice to say! You only saw him once as a little girl."
"I'm sorry," Maria said automatically.
Amy caught sight of Liz and decided to bring her back into the conversation. "What do you think of the story, Liz?"
Caught, Liz froze. Amy tried again. "Liz, what do you say of how Mr. Evans is based on this?"
Swallowing, Liz started. "A face can change over a lifetime...but the heart can stay true forever. It sounds as if Mr. Evans has a very pure and true heart, one that would be worth winning."
The DeLuca's gave a small chuckle. "Liz, you're a romantic poet," Henry said in praise of the girl he considered another daughter. Tess noticed this and studied Liz a little more.
~*~*~*
"...and this path here leads down to the stables. In the summertime it is covered in the most beautiful wildflowers," Liz said as she pointed down the path. She was showing the estate to Tess, leading her down the main path. "And that over there leads to the crags. I'd love to show it to you one day if you'd like."
Tess really could not care less about the crags. She wanted to know more about Liz, what it was that made the DeLuca's care so much about her. "I want to thank you, Liz, for showing me around. It is very kind of you."
"Well, I want you to feel at home here. We all do," Liz started but then corrected herself. "I mean, the DeLucas and I do."
"You're very close to the DeLucas, aren't you?" Tess probed.
"Yes," Liz nodded. "I love them as if they were my own family."
"Of course," Tess put on a sympathetic face. "My aunties told me how Mr. DeLuca found you in an orphanage in Italy and took you in. A child in such dire circumstances would attach on to anyone, I suppose. And you could have landed anywhere, but you ended up here."
"I'm very lucky, I know." Liz was getting a little uneasy with the conversation Tess was leading her into. It pained her to know that no matter how much she wanted to, she would never be a part of Maria's family.
"And also access to the best society," Tess giggled, implying that perhaps that was the reason why Liz was so close to the DeLucas.
Immediately Liz shook her head and was a little taken aback by her comment. "No, that's not why... that is, I don't socialize. I am just Maria's companion, after all."
"Come on, Liz. You can't be Maria's companion forever. Do you mean to tell me that you never think of romance," Tess queried. Then she couldn't help adding, "Being the romantic poet that you are."
Liz just remained silent, not sure of what to say. When Tess saw that she wasn't going to answer, she continued, "Perhaps later you'll tell me when we become better friends."
Liz smiled weakly and continued on with her tour. Why did she have a feeling that she and Tess were not going to be better friends?
I wanted to thank everyone for their fabulous feedback! It's been wonderful! I hope you enjoyed this part! More parts are to come, I assure you, and the next one might even have a little Max and Liz interaction. *hint, hint*
Genius, I'm glad that you're going to read The Inheritance. It's one of my fave books but just to let you know, most of my fic is based on the telemovie of the book so there's not going to be a lot of similarities. It's a good book though!!
Humalien, wow, you mean there's someone out there besides me who's actually seen the movie too? Wow. :) Put a twist on it? Ack! Talk about putting pressure on a girl! I actually don't know if I can. I pretty much suck at being creative like that.