"I shouldn't have done that! God, I am such an idiot. Ella, that kiss was a mistake. I'm with Princess and I should NOT have done that."
Ella glared at him a second and then jumped up and left. She ran out the side gate and to the front of the pub. She was about to run back to the lodging house when she ran into someone.
"Elizabeth!" William cried. "I was just coming to find you. My father just told me about James Kelly finding his long lost children and that you were one of them. I couldn't wait to see you, I've missed you," he said, leaning in to place a swift kiss on her rosebud lips. "There's something I want to ask you. These 2 weeks away from you have been miserable, sweetheart. I realized in the misery how much I care about you and need you. Will you be my wife?"
Ella blinked at him in shock. I do care about him and my father would end up marrying me off to one of his kind anyways, she thought.
"Ok" she replied softly. William let out a whoop of joy and swung her in his arms. She quickly untangled herself from him.
"I have to go. My father is coming to get me early in the morning," Ella said.
"I'll stop by your house next week to speak to your father. Adieu, my dear," William said, kissing her softly.
A wave of confusion, guilt, anger, and doubt swept over her as she walked down the street. She had just agreed to marry a guy she knew she didn't love, the guy she thought she loved had said kissing her was a mistake and she was about to meet her entire family for the first time. She walked into the still empty lodging house and her eyes began to tear up. She quickly sprinted up to her bed and let herself cry out all the pain.
****
The next morning brought on even more tears as Ella said good-bye to all her friends. She gave everyone a hug except for Hoops who she just walked past. Her father helped her into the carriage to the sound of final farewells. They drove silently most of the way to the Kelly townhouse.
"My wife and our 2 children will be arriving today from our country house. There's something I've been meaning to tell you. When your mother and I divorced I had one condition; I got to at least keep one of our children. Jack was very attached to your mother as were you, so I took your twin brother, T.J., back to Ireland with me. We stayed with your grandparents until I made my fortune."
"Are you telling me that, not only do I have 2 half siblings, but I also have a twin brother who no one found the time to tell me about?" Ella said incredulously.
"I'm sorry lass, but I couldn't find the right way ta tell ya. I just told T.J. about you yesterday when he got hom from his last week at Eton. He's waiting for us at the house."
Ella stared straight forward the rest of the way.
****
T.J. sat silently in the parlor of his father's London home. Clarisse and the babies were due with in the hour. His father and his twin sister were coming down the street. His sister! For most of his life he had longed for a sister his own age or younger to protect and pet. He had a lot of friends at his boarding schools, but he still felt like he had an empty spot in his heart. It had lessened a little when the twins were born, but it was still there. He hoped that his sister would be the sister he had always wanted.
