I've been thinking ahead in the lives of William and Eliza - especially since in my series of stories, they have married and are already parents to Henry Charles Wellington. Most of these stories are here on FanFiction in I'm On My Way, Three Weeks, An Leanabh Againn and Fathers and Sons. I haven't quite let go of Ollie and Finn O'Rourke though, as evidenced by my adding another chapter to my 500 word challenge, Leaving No One Behind. So here another's vignette from the future while we wait for William and Eliza to really get themselves together in the TV series. I will fill in more of Ollie and Finn's story as I go, but again - it's November, and I have a goal of 50,000 words this month, so on I write.

Thank you for reading this vignette as well as my other stories and for your lovely comments (thanks Anne!) which are so appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

And now:


"Rachael? RACHAEL? Are you up there?" He called as he peered up into the branches of the great oak growing at the edge of the property near the brook that flowed and eddied in quiet, whispering chatter. He caught sight of a thin swatch of deep mauve-colored fabric, adorned with ribbon and lace, peeking out from behind the curtain of swaying green leaves above. Chuckling to himself, he lowered his voice to a sing-song baritone. "I know you're up there, Rachael Wellington." Silence. Then he teased, "I can see your petticoats."

He heard the report of a book being snapped shut, followed by an irritated sigh, and he could just imagine the look of exasperation on her face and the roll of her eyes, as she remarked petulantly, "You absolutely cannot see them, Finnegan O'Rourke! I made quite certain they were tucked beneath my skirt, and that I'm high enough up in the tree so as to be hidden from view. I didn't want to be disturbed by Henry while I was reading." There was a catch in her voice, as if she wanted to say more but then pulled herself up short. As silence beat between them, he smiled and wondered when her curiosity about his presence at the foot of the tree would get the better of her. His patience was rewarded with a question, "How did you find me?"

"Well, I could say that you are almost certainly a creature of habit and that you've been secreting yourself away to read books undisturbed ever since you've known how to climb trees. But this time, it was really much simpler than that. It was the presence of your slipper on the ground beneath the tree that tipped me off as to your whereabouts."

"Oh, bother! And now I suppose you'll go running off to Da to inform him that you've used your skills and resourcefulness as a newly minted detective sergeant to find his daughter at last."

"Well, I would think your father would appreciate that I'm already demonstrating the benefits of his mentorship," he replied as he moved closer to the trunk to get a better view of her, their eyes locking as she leaned forward through the dense foliage. At 17, she was the loveliest girl he had ever seen, with eyes the color of the Irish Sea and her hair the same silk-spun gold as her mother's. He felt his heart twist in his chest as he watched the corners of her full rosy lips curve slightly upward as she took stock of him, a young man she had known her entire life.

"So why are you here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing so grand as detective work, in truth. I was dispatched by your father to call you in for supper. We're all waiting on you, you know - your parents, your brothers and sister, Ollie, Amelia, Aunt Maribelle and Uncle Andrew. It's time you came down, Rachael."

"All right, but since I've lost one of my shoes, could I get a bit of help from you getting down?"

"What? The ever independent Rachael Wellington asking for assistance from a man? Will wonders never cease?" He teased her in mock surprise.

"In that case, Mr. O'Rourke, please feel free to just throw my shoe up into the branches near me, and I will get myself down from here without your help," she retorted in a clipped voice.

"Come now, Rachael, please don't be cross with me. I am happy to come to your aid, although I'd advise not throwing your shoe up into the tree for you to catch. If you miss and fall out of the tree instead, your father will never forgive me for letting harm come to you. Shimmy closer to the trunk from where you're perched and then slowly work your way down from there."

"Finn, I know what I'm doing. Need I remind you that I had a very good teacher when it came to my learning to climb trees?"

"Why, I do declare, Miss Wellington, is that a compliment I hear falling from your lips to grace my ears?" He couldn't help but smile at her praise as he continued to follow her steady progress down the tree, seeing her feet appear, one clad in a light purple slipper that matched her dress, the other delicately sheathed in a white silk stocking that kept snagging on the tree's bark as she descended. When she was close enough for him to reach her, he placed his hands on her waist and gently lifted her the rest of the way down to the ground.

She set her book on the ground, then smoothed her skirts with both hands. Afterward she looked up into his face, her green eyes shining in the evening sun, and smiled sardonically at him. "You know, I could have made it the rest of the way myself."

He grinned at her, then reached up to tuck a loose golden curl behind her ear before agreeing, "Yes, I know you're quite capable of climbing up and down this tree, but since we are now late for supper, I thought it might be prudent to help expedite your extraction from it. Timeliness, of course, being next to Godliness, as you know, Rachael." He laughed and lightly tapped the end of her nose with his index finger.

"Of course, Finn, of course," she replied, as she smiled sweetly up at him, her eyes twinkling at his playful chiding.

Gazing into her eyes, Finn wanted nothing more in this moment than to pull her into his arms and kiss her tenderly, but he knew that he mustn't. He did not want to take advantage of her father's trust in him by making Rachael his sweetheart without Duke's blessing. Instead, he would wait until she was a bit older, when Duke might allow him to court her properly. Pushing himself away from her, he stooped to recover her fallen slipper from the ground, then got down in the grass on bended knee. "My lady, if you would be so good as to let me help you with your shoe."

"My goodness, Finn, so very gallant of you," she replied, the blush rising in her cheeks, as she stepped into the slipper cradled in his outstretched hand. "Luckily, it is not made of glass. Otherwise it might have shattered as it hit the ground. But unfortunately for you, I am not a beautiful princess in disguise, just a bookish girl who likes to read the works of Arthur Conan Doyle."

"Ah yes, and which of his works are you reading now?" Finn asked, as he gently set her foot on the ground and rolled back on his haunches to rise to his feet.

Showing him the embossed gold letters on the spine of her book, she recited, "'The Sign of the Four.'"

"And are you enjoying it? You must give me a full summary of it during supper." He paused, weighing his next words carefully before speaking. "And Rachael, some day, a man, quite like your father I would imagine, will truly appreciate a bookish young lady such as yourself, who is indeed quite beautiful, isn't afraid to climb trees and reads detective stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and that man will almost certainly want to marry you."

He didn't add, "And that man will be me, Rachael Elizabeth Wellington," as they walked along, side by side, her stride matching his perfectly, in the peaceful, quiet eventide toward the house to join the others.