Disclaimer: I own everyone except Ichabod and Lord Crane, who I think might make an appearance in the chapter.

Once Upon A Time
Chapter Fifteen

Their great triumph over parents and higher powers alike was finally secure, and once they dressed themselves, they went downstairs to join the dinner party. However, their paths parted when Rose's mother came rushing to her on the stairs, and Ichabod quickly turned around and walked in the opposite direction before his lover even knew he was gone.

They met up again at opposite ends of the dinner table, and Rose almost huffed at the irony. While her parents (her mother especially), made small talk with the people next to them, Rose stared down the table at Ichabod, who was nibbling his roast goose distractedly. He looked up after a moment and caught her eye, and what followed was an awkward exchange of raised brows and blinks. In the end, neither one really knew what the other was trying to say, or what they were trying to say themselves.

Consequently, dinner was rather uneventful, and dancing followed all too soon. The quartet struck up a lively waltz, perfect for warming everyone's body and soul on such a chilly winter night. Ichabod and Rose were able to dance together only once, as various gentlemen persisted in asking the young Miss Hughes for a dance. She could hardly refuse them, as it was her family's celebration, and refusing her various guests would have been inexcusably rude.

So she danced with the fine, able-bodied young men while Ichabod showed off his skill at charity by requesting a dance with some of the older women who had no one. This earned him quite a few invitations to various houses after the end of the celebration, but he politely refused, saying that he had plans. While this wasn't technically true, it wasn't technically a lie, either; he had mapped out his evening before he even arrived.

The dancing ended after a few good hours, when everyone returned to the dining room and found that a Christmas tree had magically appeared. Gifts of every shape and size sat underneath it, and many people recognized them as the presents they had entrusted to the servants when they had arrived. The Hughes had earned a reputation of having very good servants, and so few people had problems with having faith in Chelsea and the rest of her brood.

Some of the younger guests rushed to the tree immediately, but were made to sit on the sofas and in the chairs and on laps as the servants passed out the gifts. Everyone got something, even Ichabod, who received a pot of ink and a new quill from Rose. Rose, on the other hand, gleaned many gifts from the evening, mostly jewelry, but a few shawls and gloves thrown in for variety. Eventually, she ended up giving most of these away as payment to people in the market or passing them along to some of the children who lingered at the end of the evening.

After that, the children went away to the sitting room to play with their toys, and some of the men, Rose's father included, went off to the smoking room to puff on their pipes and drink some wine. The women departed the dining room and went off into the east drawing room, where the bolder enjoyed wine and the more timid confined themselves to tea. Ichabod joined them, as he had decided the smoking room would have an ill effect on his health, and partook of some of the wine.

He listened to them chatter on, as he hardly had anything interesting to contribute to the conversation, and stole swift glances at Rose every now and then. More often than not, their eyes met, but they quickly looked away, as to avoid being noticed. However, they were not so discreet as they had hoped with their glancing, and at nearly half past eleven, when Ichabod was more inebriated than he had hoped to be, one of the women said, "Would you excuse me for a moment, Abigail, dear? I would like to have a little chat with this lad." She stood up and took Ichabod by the arm.

The woman led him, stumbling, out of the east drawing room. She set her glass of wine aside and took his now empty glass out of his hand. She set it down beside hers and held him against the wall with one hand. She stood an arm's length away from him and looked him up and down, finally deciding that he was in no condition to go anywhere on his own, not even back into the dining room. "Do you have any idea how much wine you've had this evening, son?" she asked him.

Drunkenly, he raised a finger and almost wagged it at her. But he couldn't do it. "No idea," he replied.

"Then you know you've had too much," she said. "I'm going to call a carriage for you."

Just then, the door to the east drawing room opened, and Rose emerged. She saw Ichabod, who blinked slowly and burped. "Ichabod, how many glasses of wine have you had tonight?" she asked, almost sternly, taking no notice of the woman who was supporting him.

"He can't remember," the older woman answered. "Where does he live?"

"Only ten minutes away, surely," Rose told her. "Have you seen the large house down the road? The red brick house with the ivy growing all around the pillars on the porch?"

"Oh, yes, that house," the woman said, nodding. "Then you must be Ichabod Crane," the woman said. Ichabod nodded weakly. "I know your father," she continued. "He didn't teach you to drink like this, did he?" Ichabod shook his head slowly. "Nevertheless, you're in no shape to do anything on your own. I'll drop you off at your house when I leave for my own home."

"Thank you so much, Misses Poole," Rose said.

"Think nothing of it, dear," she said. "But a piece of friendly advice: Be sure to cover up that stomach when it begins to grow."

Rose's dark eyes went wide. "How...?" she said, weakly.

"Oh, please, child, it's written all over your face," Mrs. Poole said. "Any woman with half a brain would know that you've made the beast with two backs, to use an old phrase. And you've made that beast with young Mister Crane here. I can see it in your eyes, darling, but I don't blame you. He's quite a handsome young man. Just...don't tell your mother who the father is. Tell her that you had too much wine and that you don't remember."

"Lie to my mother?" Rose repeated, indignant.

"Oh, it's not that difficult," said Mrs. Poole. "I must have done it plenty of times when I was your age, and no doubt you've done it before. Believe me, darling, it's going to save your lover a lot of trouble."

Rose glanced at Ichabod, who was too drunk to understand a word of the conversation, and then looked back at Mrs. Poole. The two women locked eyes for a moment, and then the younger one nodded. "Thank you, Misses Poole," she said. "And thank you for offering Ichabod a means of transportation back home." She kissed Ichabod on the cheek and stared at him affectionately for a moment, then disappeared into the east drawing room again.


After the Christmas celebration, Ichabod and Rose became somewhat estranged; not out of choice, but out of necessity. Ichabod took a long time recovering from his first alcoholic overdose, and his household's financial woes were of no help. Lord Crane was carted off to debtor's prison within the first fortnight of the new year, leaving his young heir to manage the house all by his lonesome. The servants were of some help, and managed to preserve the property just a little while longer.

But just a little while longer just wasn't going to cut it.

Eventually, Ichabod experienced some less than pleasant encounters with a few men who wanted their money. They were prepared to seize the property, as Lord Crane had agreed, if their fee was not paid by March of 1781. But Ichabod had no money to pay them, and a part of him knew that they wouldn't hesitate to kill him and take the house by force if he didn't comply with their demands.

But some time in late February, his salvation came...yet it was something of a blessing and a curse. Having been given nearly two months to recover, James Hall had displayed an incredible will to survive. He was up and about by the third of February, which meant that the wedding was held on the fourteenth of February, St. Valentine's Day. It was a private ceremony held in Rose's spacious backyard, with very few people in attendance, if only because Rose was going on two month's pregnant at that point. James pretended not to notice. And Ichabod could only watch from afar.

After the wedding, Mr. Hall more or less had two houses in his name, just as soon as the elder Hughes' died. And with a new bride, he felt on top of the world and ready to help out those less fortunate. Of course, his generous gaze fell first upon the unfortunate Crane boy, because it was what his wife wanted.

However, the bargain James had in mind was not what his wife had been expecting.


The blood is the life, Sikerra.