Elizabeth was doing her best not to look too uncomfortable. She knew that Laszlo enjoyed the opera. He would often play music at home, telling Elizabeth about whatever opera it had come from and trying to get her to enjoy it. But, no matter what he tried, she wasn't exactly a fan. And then he had told her how he would like to go to the opera the following week and she had tried not to groan loudly. She had agreed and Laszlo promised her that he would make it up to her and assured her it wouldn't be a wholly boring night.

She wondered what he'd had planned, but he had kept it quiet and secretive. Settling down in Laszlo's box, Elizabeth sipped on the champagne in her hand as Laszlo sat next to her, holding onto his own glass. There was a constant buzz around the building as people conversed and laughed before the performance was due to take place. Laszlo had responded with pleasant 'hellos' and 'good evenings' as they made their way through the crowds and towards his own box.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Elizabeth said to her husband, folding one leg over the other, the swathes of red material of her skirt falling down her legs as she turned her upper body towards him, her free hand going to sit on his arm. "You have been constantly mocked…humiliated in the papers…but as soon as people find out that you had a hand in finding the Vanderbilt baby, you're suddenly the only person people want to talk to."

"You know how fickle people can be," Laszlo said to her. "And a good word from Vanderbilt has certainly had quite an impact on Sara's detective agency. She told me that she is currently looking to take on another girl."

"She's doing so well," Elizabeth said, picking the glass up to her lips and taking a sip of the alcohol. Laszlo looked down over the stalls beneath as they slowly filled up, the red curtain draped over the stage. Elizabeth sat up straight, her corset digging into her as she shifted uncomfortably. "Anyway, has she said anything to you about John?"

Laszlo shook his head. "I do not think she wishes to dwell on it," he said to her. "As far as she is concerned, their relationship has finished, if there ever was a relationship in the traditional sense."

"There was something there," Elizabeth said to him and set her glass down on the table next to her as Laszlo saw her tugging at the bodice of her red gown. He had to admit that he had been taken back when he saw her initially come down the stairs.

Her hair had been cut earlier that day, now sitting just beneath her shoulders instead of falling halfway down her back. She had it hanging around her face, the red dress she wore gathered in swathes of material at her chest and sitting off her shoulder. The pattern was intricate, black mixed with gold and the skirt flowed out to her feet. He shouldn't have been surprised, of course, she always looked lovely to him, regardless of what she wore. But it was the smile on her face that made his own lips arch. She looked genuinely happy, despite the fact he was subjecting her to an evening at the opera, a pastime he knew she did not particularly enjoy as much as he did.

"Oh, we cannot deny there was something there," Laszlo said to her, nodding his head as he took a sip of his own drink once more and then placed it down too. He took hold of Elizabeth's hand, holding it gently within his own. "But I believe they both want different things. Sara wants a business. She wants to work and be successful. John wants a family and Sara doesn't know if she can give him that."

"I know, but time might have changed things," Elizabeth said to her husband, feeling his thumb run over her engagement ring as she lowered her free hand towards his too.

"I think Sara worries that time will not change anything," Laszlo told her. "She does not know if she ever wishes to be a mother. She is saying what many women are too afraid to say in life, but she is being honest. It is such a rarity in today's society."

"Indeed it is," Elizabeth said to him and she looked over him for a few seconds, seeing the way his bowtie sat neatly around his neck, his suit intricately crease free and his hair slicked back neatly. "What would you have said if I told you that I didn't want a family?" she wondered and Laszlo arched a brow at hearing her. He tilted his head to the side, his thumb running over the rock that protruded from her engagement ring, feeling the edges of it.

"Why do you ask?" he asked her.

"I just wonder," Elizabeth said. "We both never really discussed it before. We never discussed having a family or children, not in depth, anyway. Everything happened so quickly and I wouldn't change any of that, you know that, but would you have begrudged me wanting a career?"

"Not in the slightest," Laszlo assured her, shaking his head back and forth. "Before you, Elizabeth, I had never been in love, not truly. There had been passing fancies, but work had been my life. If you came to me…told me that you had similar desires…then I would have been fine with that. I would not have pressured you into having a family."

"Just us two," Elizabeth mused. "Do you think we'd grow tired of each other? Start arguing like married couples do when they get older?"

"Oh, I think you're stubborn enough to cause us some arguments."

"I'm stubborn only when I know I'm right or I won't back down," she defended herself. "And you're just as stubborn as I am, Laszlo."

He chuckled, nodding his head. He agreed with her on that point. He observed her for a few moments before picking her hand up, kissing the back of it softly before lowering it back to sit against his thigh, feeling her legs bump against his as she continued to lean towards him.

"But I think that we would have been fine," Laszlo promised his wife. "We would be quite lonely, perhaps, and I might drive you mad sometimes, but we've gone through too much already not to be fine."

"I think so too," Elizabeth said to him, smiling up at him as he continued to stare at her before she continued talking, moving a hand to her chest and brushing her hair behind her shoulder, turning to look out over the stalls and lower balcony. "Anyway, we don't need to think on such things. We have Charlotte and Lucy and I imagine that they are going to be quite the handful for the foreseeable future."

"Oh, Charlotte most definitely will be," Laszlo said with a nod of his head. "She is an audacious child."

"She is that," Elizabeth said and nodded her head before she heard a soft cough from behind them. Laszlo turned his head over his shoulder as Elizabeth did the same, her face dropping at the sight in the doorway. Elizabeth moved to her feet when she saw him stood there, Laszlo also jumping upwards.

"I didn't know whether or not I should come," he said, hands in the pockets of his trousers. He was looking at Elizabeth as Laszlo stood next to her, a hand on the small of her back as he kept his front brushing against her side. "I had considered whether or not you would want to see me, but I know that my parents bumped into you last year."

"Your parents were particularly vocal in their disgust of me," Elizabeth said to him. "But I know that you never said anything. I don't know if that makes it better or worse, to be quite honest with you. Your entire family knew what he did, but none of you ever said anything."

"I know," he responded, hand moving to his black hair and slicking it back further from his head.

Elizabeth almost couldn't stand to look at him. He looked exactly like Jacob. He had his mannerisms, the same black hair and piercing green eyes. His jaw even locked whenever he was uncomfortable, just as Jacob's did. But Daniel Martins was different to Jacob. Elizabeth knew that. He was the oldest of the brothers, the one who worked hardest and lived in the office. He had always been quiet at family dinners, marrying a nice young woman from a well off family who he never saw because of long working hours.

"Joanna told me that you were married now…with children," Daniel said to her and his gaze flickered to Laszlo. "I've been working away for the past year and ever since Jacob died I…I've been trying to work out how to talk to you and apologise."

"Why?" Elizabeth wondered from him, uncertain of where this conversation was going and what he was doing. She could feel Laszlo's thumb faintly moving up and down where his hand sat, trying to soothe her and keep her calm.

"Because I didn't do anything," Daniel said. "I knew what he was like and I did nothing to help you."

"No one did," Elizabeth responded, "except for one." She said and Laszlo looked down to her at hearing her say that to him. He didn't need confirmation on who it was.

"But I should have."

"Daniel, I don't want to dwell on that," she said. "And I don't want you to come here and think that an apology several months later will make any difference, not really."

He almost looked ashamed, glancing down to the ground as she spoke, shrugging her shoulders.

"And I've moved on. I'm married to a man I love and who loves me. I have two children," she continued telling him. "I'm happy and I'm better than I have been in a long time. I know that your family despise me for what happened and tried to ruin me…running to the press…telling people I was practically nothing more than a using whore, but I don't care. None of that matters to me anymore because I have a new life."

"I tried to get them to stop, my mother and father," he said to her. "I tried to get them to stop talking to the press and spreading rumours."

"You can't stop them, Daniel. They're too determined," Elizabeth said. "But you should go and find Joanna. I imagine you're here with her and I suspect the performance is about to start soon."

"I will, yes, but I just wanted to say that I am sorry," Daniel said, meeting her eye once more and she could only nod her head once. Did she accept his apology? She didn't know. It made no difference to her anymore. The entire Martins family was no longer relevant to her.

"And you've done that," Elizabeth said to him. "Take care, Daniel."

He knew that he was being dismissed and he left without another word, just a fleeting nod in their direction. Laszlo felt Elizabeth slump against his front, her shoulders falling and a breath leaving her. Laszlo's arm remained around her, his hand on the small of her back. Peering down onto her, his gaze was intense and focused.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," she said to him. "Daniel was always Jacob's nicest brother, I knew that, but I don't want to listen to him apologise. I don't want to listen to it or think about it because I meant what I said."

Laszlo's lips arched and he lowered his head, kissing her softly for a brief moment before seeing her smile up at him and move a hand over his cheek, stroking it softly for a few seconds before they went to settle down in their seats, the lights dimming. Laszlo kept her hand inside of his as they watched the curtain rise and he looked down, Elizabeth holding the glasses in her hand and using them for a better view.

He had to confess that he had missed this. He had missed attending the opera, the normalcy of it. He enjoyed it and looked to Elizabeth for a moment, making out her features as she kept staring straight ahead. He stifled a chuckle as he noticed her watching the scenes on stage, but her face was impassive as it always was. He doubted he would ever manage to persuade her to love the opera, but he would not change her for anything.

…

"You did this?"

Elizabeth wondered why they were going to a hotel, but Laszlo had told her to keep quiet and try not to ruin the surprise. Their luggage had already been sent up and Elizabeth wondered when he had even packed their things. She hadn't seen him pack a bag or even put it in the carriage. But he must have been particularly sneaky. He only hoped that Elizabeth was able to stay awake that long considering she looked as though she was about to fall asleep at the opera at any given moment.

Moving to the suite, Laszlo unlocked the door and the smell of food instantly wafted into his nose. He had asked for all of her favourite dishes to be cooked, knowing that would please her. Holding the door open, he let Elizabeth in and saw her looking around, eyes widening at the sight of the dining table just to the left as she entered. The plates were covered up in an attempt to keep the food warm, but she could still smell everything.

Heading to the table, she picked the silver cover up and from one dish, peering at the steamed syrup pudding sat there. She looked to Laszlo as she asked him if he had planned this and he nodded his head, telling her silently that this had, indeed, been his idea. He only hoped that he hadn't ordered too much food as he saw her move around, looking under each cover.

"Why?" Elizabeth asked from him.

"Does a husband need a reason to spoil his wife?" he queried, leaving his cane by the small trunk that held their belongings for the night.

"Usually, yes," Elizabeth said, "but with you, no."

Laszlo chuckled, nodding his head and agreeing with her on that point. He watched as she picked a fork up, digging straight into the gateaux without standing on ceremony. She took a bite and rolled her eyes to the back of her head, Laszlo shrugging out of his suit jacket, laying it over the arm of the couch by the door. Moving further into the room, he knew that he had to tell Elizabeth sooner or later why it was they were at the hotel.

"I think that might be the best gateaux I have tasted," she told Laszlo, taking another bite of it as he stood on the other side of the table, his hand curling around the back of one of the six wooden chairs around the large wooden table. He let his lips curve upwards at seeing her.

"Have you ranked them?" he wondered from his wife.

"In my head," she said. "These are important things, Laszlo."

"I would agree with you on that point," he told her and she took one final bite before leaving the fork on the side of the plate and nodding. She moved to hold onto the chair across from Laszlo's, bending at the waist and letting her arms fold over the top of it.

"So," she said to him, "what is going on?"

"Nothing at all," Laszlo said to her.

"Really?" Elizabeth challenged him, brow arching on her forehead and she cocked her head to the side. Laszlo watched her scrutinise him and he knew that she was going to get it out of him soon enough. Besides, she wasn't blind. She was perceptive, just perhaps not as perceptive as Laszlo. However, this was different. She knew when something troubled him. "Because you were staring at me all throughout that opera and you've had this look in your eye, almost as though there is something on your mind and I can guess what it is."

"Can you?" Laszlo asked, wanting her to be the one to bring it up in case they were on the wrong page.

"Of course," Elizabeth said and stood up straight once more, picking up another cover to find the syrup sponge. She moved her fork into it and Laszlo wondered if she intended on eating any of the main courses or sticking with sweet items. "Vienna," she said to him and took a bite, looking over to him. "Am I right?"

"As always," he confessed and Elizabeth reached for the back of her dress after putting her fork down, scratching just beneath where the material sat. "I know that we haven't raised the topic of conversation in quite some time."

"And I suspect there is a reason for that," Elizabeth responded and Laszlo nodded his head. "We've had to deal with Libby and then there has been you getting your license back…the Institute being busy…and Charlotte's recovery. But I knew that we would have to talk about it sooner or later, especially with Karen leaving imminently."

Laszlo nodded, knowing what she was saying.

"She has pushed back her leaving date for another two weeks or so. Apparently she still has business to conclude that has taken her longer than she thought it would," Laszlo informed his wife. "But I know that it is something that we perhaps should discuss sooner rather than later."

"Alright," Elizabeth agreed with him, moving to take a seat as Laszlo did the same. He sat down at the head of the table, Elizabeth to his right. He didn't bother picking at food. He usually adored fine cuisine, but at that moment in time, he wanted to have the conversation with Elizabeth first. He wanted to talk to her and tell her what it was he was feeling and thinking. And he wasn't nervous. He knew that he could talk to his wife regardless of anything.

"If I tell you the truth and I tell you what I want, I need you to be completely honest and tell me what you want," he demanded from her, his tone serious as he watched his wife, holding her gaze and not dropping it for one moment. "You have to promise me, Elizabeth."

"I promise," Elizabeth said with a nod of her head.

"I want to go," he said to her and she nodded her head, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her at hearing him say that. She continued to keep quiet, letting him continue as he reached for the bottle of wine in the middle of the table, pouring them each a glass. Elizabeth watched the liquid pour out, sloshing against the sides as it filled the flute.

"I want to go to Vienna and see what it is like," Laszlo informed her. "I want to go and see if I can learn from others…discover more about our field that I could bring back and apply to the work that I do here. The Institute has brought me great joy, Elizabeth. It continues to be the pride of my work, but perhaps I need a break from it. Perhaps I need to go somewhere else and learn more."

"I understand," Elizabeth said.

"Sometimes, and most certainly more recently, it feels as though I have hid in the Institute. It feels as though I have been hiding behind books and theories instead of actually experiencing things. When I have done that more recently, challenged myself, that is, I've felt invigorated. I've felt as if there is so much more that I can learn and that I can do."

"Of course," Elizabeth said.

"And I know that six months might not seem like a long time, but if I want to come home early or if you want me home early then I would return," Laszlo promised her and she nodded her head, trying not to get emotional over what she was hearing. Laszlo watched her, studying for any sign of hesitancy or reluctance to what he was saying. But she was remarkably calm, almost as though she didn't want him to see how she felt.

"And I have told you that I want, now you tell me what you want. Do you want me to go to Vienna?" Laszlo asked from her.

She took in a breath through her noise and exhaled before reaching for her glass of wine. She took a long gulp of it, placing it back down and then toying with her hands in her lap. "If you are asking me if I want you to leave for six months then the answer is, of course, no," she said and Laszlo was glad for her honesty. She managed to look up and over to him, the weight of her wedding wing on her finger suddenly tugging on her mind. "Why would I want to be without you, Laszlo? But if you are asking me if I want you to go on this new adventure…excel as you always do…learn from new people…then yes. I want you to do that. I want you to go and have new experiences. I want you to go because we both know that it is the right thing for you to do. It is too good an opportunity to pass up."

"But it is an opportunity I can pass up if you want me to."

"I don't want you to, that's the point," Elizabeth said. "And I will be fine here. I have Sara and John…I have Marcus and Lucius…I have people who I don't doubt will help me pass the time and those six months will fly by and you'll be home before you know it."

"I don't pretend that it will be easy," Laszlo said to her. "I will miss you so very much, you and the girls, and I don't know if I will be able to last six months without all of you."

"I think you would."

"I don't know," Laszlo said, still not entirely certain if that would be the case. He took a few moments to regain his composure before he shook his head and took another sip of his wine. "Would you be able to cope, Elizabeth?"

"Would you?" Elizabeth retorted.

"I would not be leaving with two children, darling," he said to her.

"I guess not," she conceded on that point. "But I would be fine. Charlotte's recovery is coming along well and I can help her. Lucy…she will grow, but she will still be so young when you return. I just worry that perhaps I would not be able to check on the Institute or look after the house."

"Those are things that I do not want you to concern yourself with," Laszlo said with a shake of his head. "I have been looking for caretakers to take over the Institute while I am away so you need not be concerned with it. I have also been considering asking you if you feel…well…would it be helpful to hire a maid to help at the house? Not to live there, but just to come occasionally and lend a hand?"

"I…that would be nice," Elizabeth confessed to him.

"Consider it done," Laszlo nodded his head once and firmly. He would see to it that he did that. "And I suppose the practicalities of me leaving are easy to resolve, but it is simply more of a question of emotions…if we both could handle me being away for six months."

"Laszlo Kreizler," Elizabeth drawled his name and he watched her as an amused look formed on her face. "The man who told me that love was just like cholera is now becoming increasingly sentimental and letting emotion overcome him."

Laszlo chuckled at hearing her say that, entertained with her comments. Elizabeth took another sip of her drink, holding the glass in her hand and looking at him with that wide smile on her face as she reminisced.

"You told me that love was nothing more than chemicals in the brain reacting," she reminded him and he nodded. He recalled that all too well. "And I argued so much with you over it…telling you that it was more than that. Are you ready to admit defeat on it yet?"

"Never," Laszlo responded. "However, I do concede that I never thought that it would feel as it does…or that it could be as joyful as it is and as painful as it can be. But it is still not controlled by the heart."

"So why do people talk about the feeling of their heart breaking whenever they are in pain over love?"

"Because people are rather dramatic," Laszlo declared. "You do know that a heart cannot be broken, not as people claim, anyway. It is simply a saying."

"A saying because love is a matter of the heart," she said. "People don't say that their brain is breaking, do they?"

"That would hardly sound as poetic and is also not possible."

"My point still stands."

Laszlo smirked at hearing her and sipped on his wine once more, the grin never leaving his face as he lowered his glass back down onto the table, letting it sit there as he turned to look back at his wife, eyeing her with intrigue as he spoke.

"You're not going to back down on this, are you?" he questioned.

"Neither are you." She retorted.

"Then we must agree that we have reached an impasse and that this is not actually solving any issues," Laszlo said. "And it has taken us terribly off topic over what we were discussing."

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders and moved to her feet, moving to the other side of the table to see what other food Laszlo had asked to be sent to the room. "We've already discussed it, haven't we?" she asked from him, not sure what more there was for the two of them to discuss. "You're going to go to Vienna."

"Well, I expressed that I wanted to go," Laszlo said to her and she nodded her head. "But we did not say for certain that I will be going."

"But we have," Elizabeth said and she picked up a piece of asparagus, chewing down on it slowly. "If you want to go then you're going. There is nothing else to it, Laszlo. I'm not letting you turn this down when it is what you really want. It is six months and we will both get by. You will be fine because we know that in six months time you'll be back…you'll be back home and then we will wonder why we spent so long talking about it when we could have sat and ate all of this food instead."

Laszlo laughed at that, nodding his head and moving to stand up form his chair. Elizabeth finished eating the asparagus and moved back towards him. She took hold of his shoulders, running her hand underneath his waistcoat and feeling his white shirt beneath her grip. Laszlo dropped both of his hands to hold onto her hips, thumbs running over her hipbones as she looked at him and massaged the muscle along his shoulder.

"You are certain?" he asked from her.

"I am certain."

"Promise me that you're not saying that just to placate me?"

"I promise."

"And that you will let me know at any moment if you are not comfortable with the decision."

"At the drop of a hat," she assured him and he nodded, seeming to be placated by that comment. He bent forwards and kissed her once more before she ran her hand down his chest to the buttons of his waistcoat, pulling them undone with nimble fingers as Laszlo felt it fall open and her fingers travelled lower. He pulled back after a moment, seeing the flush of her cheeks.

"I had thought that you wanted to eat this food?" he asked from her. "We wouldn't want to let it go cold."

"I lost my appetite," Elizabeth said in a low voice as Laszlo moved his good hand up her back, feeling the top of her dress, his fingers skimming along her bare, pale skin as he sought the top of the lace holding the dress around her. He finally found it, tugging on it slowly.

"But there is quite a lot of food here," Laszlo continued teasing her.

She knew that two could play at this game. She bent her head, kissing along his jawline and feeling him shudder as she kept her hands sitting just above his hip. Laszlo chewed down on the inside of his cheek, not wanting to moan out loud. But he couldn't stop himself when she moved her mouth over his ear and then down his neck. Elizabeth's lips arched against his skin as she found a weak spot on his neck and felt him shudder against her. As she felt his fingers tugging harder on the lace at the back of her dress, she straightened up and turned back to the table.

"You're right," she said. "There's too much here to ignore."

Laszlo growled lowly at that comment and reached for her, hearing her shriek and laugh as he turned her back around to face him, pushing her back until she was perched on the edge of the table and he bent down to kiss her once more, feeling her wrapping her legs around his waist to keep him pressed against her.

"I suppose I can change my mind and be persuaded otherwise," Laszlo said, bending down so that he could run his mouth along her neck instead, kissing her with vigour and feeling her tilt her head back, giving him better access. "Besides, I have it on good authority that there is a new corset underneath this lovely dress of yours."

"Who told you that?" Elizabeth managed to gasp out as he kissed her collarbone, his beard scratching her skin as he felt her chest heaving beneath his lips.

"I received the invoice from Mrs James," he muttered. "And I did wonder when I would finally see it."

"And what makes you think I'm wearing it now?"

"Because I'd like to hope that you've been saving it for a special occasion."

"Ah, so you hope," she teased him. "You don't know."

He chuckled and tugged her harshly towards him once more, a hand going to her wrist and pulling her from the table. She stood up and he turned her around, her front pressed against it as he kept her pressed there, tugging on the laces of her dress until it was loose around her frame and had fallen down to her waist. His eyes looked down at the lace corset, taking in the intricate detailing of it and noticing the way it emphasised her cleavage. It was a dark green, almost illuminating her pale skin. She turned her head over her shoulder and caught his eye once more.

"Turns out your hunch was correct," she teased him and he kissed her, arm slipping around her waist and hand resting on her stomach.

Pulling back from him, she looked him in the eye as he watched her back, his own lips arching upwards.

"If I am to be gone for six months then I think we need to try and compensate for that time."

"Do you not make up for lost time when you get back from somewhere?" Elizabeth said, still playing with him as he rolled his eyes and kissed her once more.

"We're changing that saying," he grumbled and Elizabeth laughed once more as he grabbed her hand and tugged her down the hallway towards the bedroom.

…

A/N: So I'm posting two chapters today - next one should also be up!