Elizabeth Cole walked down the street towards Felicity's house, her straw hat in her hand, tendrils of blonde hair loose from her bun as they swirled around her face in the breeze.

The second she had gotten out of the sight of her house, she had taken it off, holding it by the pink ribbons that served to tie under her chin.

Hearing the rattling of a carriage, she looked up, her eyes meeting those of two proud horses trotting down the road. She gulped. Here they came. The carriage rattled by, but not before she looked into the carriage and spotted a young man, maybe twenty, watching her.

She blushed darkly, then grabbed a handful of her dress, and ran to Felicity's house, eager to tell the news.

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She arrived breathless at Mr. Merriman's store, where she knew Felicity would be, pretending to help customers while really trying to get as close to Ben as possible.

"Felicity!" she gasped, running up to her friend, who was looking sulky as Ben helped Annabelle choose out ribbons, as she giggled and put a hand on his arm every few seconds.

Felicity's face broke into a wide smile and the panting, disheveled Elizabeth. "What?"

"You won't ever guess what I just saw!" Elizabeth let out a small giggle.

"Whatever do you mean, Lizzie?" tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Felicity peered at her friend.

"A carriage!" Felicity still looked puzzled. "They're arriving! For the spring ball season!"

At this, Felicity's face broke into a wide smile herself. "And, you'll never guess what happened." Taking Felicity's arm, Elizabeth leaned forward to speak softer. "There was a man in the carriage, and he was looking at me!"

Felicity let out a delighted shriek, clapping her hands. "Lizzie! That's wonderful!"

"What's wonderful?" Ben called from over the store, a grin on his face as Annabelle began to sulk, pulling money for the ribbons from her pocket.

Felicity danced over to him, linking her arm through his. "The spring ball season is what's wonderful! Ball after ball, night after night, filled with glittering and satin and new gowns!" Ben grinned, looking at Felicity with brotherly affection.

"Oh yes. Mother's making me a new gown as we speak! That's what I came over to tell you in the first place, darling." Elizabeth tore Felicity away from Ben, grasping both her hands. "It's going to be absolutely gorgeous. Mother's been spending so much time on it. You must come over to my house so that we can get ready together."

Felicity smiled, dimples showing. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Now tell me more about this man of yours."

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An hour later, the two girls had relocated to Felicity's house, talking quietly as they sipped tea. Felicity had started her usual rant about Bananabelle's flirtations.

"She just bloody throws herself at him, for God's sake! Did you see her when you came in? I'm surprised she didn't bloody well kiss him! It was as good as it! Even before you came in, she kept touching his chest!"

Elizabeth gasped.

Getting the reaction she knew she would get, Felicity continued. "I'm just wondering why she didn't trail her hand just a bit lower, while she was at it. It certainly looked like she was thinking about it."

It took a second for Elizabeth to understand what Felicity meant, but once she had, she blushed a brilliant scarlet. "Felicity!" she hissed. "It's not good to talk of such things! It's scandalous, even!"

"I don't bloody well care. Bananabelle can go rot in hell. She's going to try to violate him some day!"

Elizabeth, to which the matters that conspired between husband and wife had not been very clearly explained, frowned. "Is it possible, for a woman to violate a man?"

Felicity laughed out loud, the sparkle that made men collapse at her feet leaping into her eyes. "Did no one ever tell you what happened when husband and wife share a bed?" she asked, grinning widely.

"Well, Mother explained the night of my birthday, but she wasn't being very clear…" she trailed off, worried as Felicity moved her chair closer.

"Well, then let me explain." Felicity said simply, putting her mouth near Elizabeth's ear and beginning to whisper.

During her explanation, Elizabeth turned a deep scarlet, her hand permanently against her mouth in shock. "You… you must be joking." She stammered when Felicity was done, staring at her friend with wide eyes "Besides, how do you know all this?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to know as well. My mother got rather carried away when she was describing it to me; the marriage between her and my father was one of love sprinkled with a lot of lust."

Elizabeth regained her normal color. For a second, I thought Felicity knew from experience! she thought, shaking her head. Glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece, she started. "I have to go, Fee. Mother will be most angry with me if I am late again."

Waving goodbye, she set down the road, kicking up her heels as she ran towards her house, hat swinging from her fist, where the ribbons were becoming sweaty from her clasp.

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When she arrived at the house, she leaned against the wall, catching her breath, just as her pins gave out and her hair tumbled down over her shoulders. Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head. Mother would give her a scolding, but there was no way around it. She couldn't pin it back up on her own.

As she walked past the parlor, she heard her mother's voice. "Elizabeth, darling, is that you? Come in here, we have visitors." The color drained from Elizabeth's face, but she entered the parlor, smiling shyly, despite her mother's stern glare.

She curtsied, not wobbling an inch. Turns out those lessons and Miss Mannerly's had paid off after all. As she straightened, she met the dancing blue-green eyes of a young man sitting on the sofa, next to an older, stately woman.

Dear Lord, she thought, It's the man from the carriage!

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A/N: Bwahahaha. Cliffie. The reason these two chapters are updated so close to eachother is that I already have the first couple chapters typed up. So that's good. No need to wait very long. :)