A/N: Okay, this is based off the book Emma Brown, by Clare Boylan, which is an excellent book. I highly recommend it. Anywho, it's actually based off an unfinished manuscript of Charlotte Bronte's, and it's wonderful. But this is a very, very fluffy piece that takes place five or six years after the book. I also interpreted the book as Mr. Ellin being seventeen when Teresa had had Emma, even though he says he's more than twenty years older than her. But even if she's fifteen during the book, he''s thirty-five, so anyway, that ramble made no sense. Whatever. Here's the story.
Diamonds in Velvet
They sit.
Although they have spent nearly five years arguing and debating and talking, now they sit on the ridge quietly, watching the sun set over Fox Clough.
Miss Brown speaks first. "I will be twenty-one soon," she says quietly.
Mr. Ellin laughs as softly as she spoke. "What do you want, Miss Brown?" he asks.
"I would wish that you call me Emma."
There is a pause.
He has loved her almost since he first met her, though that type of love is different than this kind. And once she was under the care of his beloved friend Isabel, she was Miss Brown and nothing more. She is seventeen years his junior. To him, she is but a child.
His heart tells him otherwise, but he manages to speak. "That would be indecent, Miss Brown," he says.
She turns towards him slightly. "You called me Matilda when that was all you knew me as. You called me Emma in London. But you cannot call me it now? We are friends, Mr. Ellin."
Her gray eyes are serious. He swallows as he thinks, his own eyes mirroring hers. He could hear Isa's voice in his head: 'William, you know it is bound to happen eventually.'
Perhaps it is, but—
He speaks suddenly, as if his mouth has cut off his train of thought. "If I am to call you Emma, then I ask that you call me William."
"Done," Emma says, laughing.
She has changed since their first meeting, or even since her last adventure in London. She is more confident, with a pale flush in each white cheek. She is pleasant to look at now, almost remarkable. William wonders what she wants with him.
It is almost dark now, and Isa's voice echoes up to the ridge. "Emma! William! Please come in; I don't wish for you to catch a chill."
He helps her up, taking her arm and leading her down the ridge.
They are nearly at the bottom of the hill when Emma stops. "Look, Mr.—William!" The stars are coming out, appearing rapidly as the sun recedes from the sky. "They're like diamonds in velvet!"
He takes her in his arms and kisses her.
It is unexpected for both of them, though it is not unwanted. She kisses him back ardently, sweetly, and he has never been happier than he is when the break apart and she leans on his shoulder.
"William! Emma!"
He takes her arm again and leads her though Fox Clough, stopping at the front door, where he kisses her hand and says, "Good evening, Emma."
She smiles at him shyly, and responds, "Good evening, William."