To my faithful readers,

Once again I must apologize profusely for taking so long to update this. I can honestly find no reason other than simple laziness on my part for leaving it so long as school has finished for the year. But I hope to have this story finished and posted as soon as I can, and not drag the final few chapters (I'm estimating) out until Christmas 2008.

Again, I am very, very sorry for my laziness in posting. My only wish is that you continue to enjoy my story.

The Beginning

It wasn't an especially eventful evening. People arrived, drank wine, feasted on the many exotic foods the Caribbean offered, danced; the women gossiped; the men talked business, and then everyone left. But one thing that had everyone's tongue's wagging, was the amount of attention, or lack there of, Governor Swann paid William Turner.

From the moment the Swann party arrived at the Knoll's home, 'the Turner boy' and Elizabeth had been together.

"Now Weatherby, you must tell me what you're doing allowing Turner near your Elizabeth." One asked.

The Governor turned to the man who had spoken, patted him on the shoulder, before responding; "Because, I have to come to the realization that one cannot always judge a child by the parents." Few people noticed the look Thomas Swann passed his father, nor the look the Governor returned. "William Turner is the grand-son of a man many people in Port Royal hold in high regard, despite him not even being alive today. Actions we can see, but punishing he who is innocent is a great injustice."

Elizabeth and Will however, were particularly unfazed by the tongue wagging most people had. They danced most of the dances together, ventured out onto the sea-gazing balcony to enjoy the light breeze and rarely were seen with anyone else.

At the end of the night when they parted, few missed the length of time Will's lips remained in contact with Elizabeth's hand.

She stared at herself in the mirror. Everything was just perfect. Her corset was pulled so tight she had the perfect shape, despite her bosom threatening to spill. Now she understood why Victoria was so against a low rise dress. But Elizabeth didn't care, because she knew the moment Will saw her, he would, well, lose control? She giggled and blushed at the thought.

Elizabeth looked in the mirror and licked her lips at the prospect of a certain ravishing she would receive at the night's end.

But wicked thoughts left her mind when she saw her father; his best wig atop his head, offering her his arm. Then suddenly they were at the church, walking up the aisle, and there was Will, but he didn't look shocked, instead he was calling her name.

Elizabeth frowned, as no-one in the church seemed to have noticed Will's shouting. She turned to her father, and found that he was now the one shouting her name, whilst rubbing her back, but his arms didn't appear to be doing it.

"Elizabeth!" Elizabeth opened her eyes to find her sister Victoria sitting on her bed. "You dummy and sleepy-head. Come on, get up. It's well past noon and I must know what's going on!"

Elizabeth was still in the process of rubbing sleep from her eyes when she heard her door shut, and found Victoria had gone. Unsure of what precisely had just occurred, Elizabeth found her robe and shrugged into it, before opening her balcony doors and allowing fresh air to flood into the room.

Will found himself waking up considerably early. Glancing in the direction of his windows, he could already tell that it was still night. Groaning, he rolled onto his other side, finding the jug of water and pouring himself a glass.

One of the many side effects of wine he would always hate, the headache and the stomach ache. And unfortunately water would never be offered at the parties he so regularly attended.

Hours later, and still unable to sleep, and with the growth of light arriving beneath his thick curtains, Will rolled from his bed, and dressed.

Slipping from his room, he slid down the stairs and headed for the kitchen, needing Mrs. Howard's amazing remedy for headaches. Although it tasted like mud from the streets, (not that Will would know what mud from the streets tasted like) Will had never been game to ask precisely what it was that slid down his throat.

Reaching the kitchen, and pushing open the door, Will would never be able to get used to the great rush of hot air that met him as he opened the door.

"Good morning sir Will." Mrs. Howard's friendly voice sounded as Will's hands covered his eyes, trying to block the surge of heat. As per usual, he failed to notice the amused smirk that covered her face as she watched him enter her 'hot-house'.

Will nodded after dropping his hands. "How can you work in these temperatures?" He asked her, moving into the room and taking a seat at the table.

"The same way you do in the smithy." She retorted chuckling, moving away from the table to the arguer, placing a bowl on the bench beside whilst stoking the fire for a few moments.

"But a blacksmith needs a lot of heat to be able to bend the metal he works with." Will moaned in response, rubbing his temple.

Mrs. Howard turned back to him, picking up the bowl and beginning to beat the contents fiercely. "Well, good sir, a cook needs a lot of heat to be able to feed food to her employers without making them sick. You would turn up your nose at raw eggs, and meat that is still oozing blood." She was still chuckling as she spoke.

Will smiled to himself, their usual banter of these moments always held it, mainly because his mother wasn't around. Being raised an aristocrat had taught her how to act with the family staff, but Will had never been able to look at any of them with the same air that his mother did.

"A steak needs to be cooked right through. But, you forget how rare my dear mother likes her steaks." He smiled at her.

Mrs. Howard nodded thoughtfully. "True; but if I were to serve her a raw steak, she would sack me! There must always be some level of heat involved. And for the way your mother likes hers, a lot of heat must be applied, but for a very short time."

There banter continued for a while longer, with Will watching as she prepared the breakfast, and Will, eagerly anticipating her headache remedy.

An hour later, opting out of having breakfast with his mother and brothers (having already ingested it in the company of Mrs. Howard) Will left the house, and headed out into the sunshine. He wasn't planning on walking far, just a light walk around the town, specifically to allow his lungs to enjoy fresh air, as they were still full of smoke from the night before.

Maybe he would visit Elizabeth; they could sit in the vast Swann estate, talking; or they could go for a walk in the town. He continued his wanderings, with his mind set that he would end up with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth found Victoria in the parlor a while later. With sleep still fogging her vision and mental functioning, Victoria's greeting of 'Good Morning' was met with little more than a mismatched collection of sounds that a linguist may have been able to decipher.

"Well aren't you a vision of elegance." Victoria giggled, placing the book she had been reading to a side.

Elizabeth looked to her sister through purposeful half-open lashes. "I detest being woken so early in the morning after a party." She groaned, falling into a chair, in a position that was most un-lady-like.

"Come now dear sister. It is barely twenty minutes past ten. The morning is all but over!"

Elizabeth made a great effort to straighten so she could look at her sister. "Exactly!" she slumped back into the cushions.

Victoria moved from the sofa she was sitting on, to stand before her little sister. "Now tell me, since when have you been madly in love with William Turner?"

At this statement Elizabeth opened her eyes wide, before promptly closing them again. She had not been expecting Victoria's round and perfect strawberries and cream complexion to be but a few inches away from Elizabeth's nose. Victoria giggled at Elizabeth's reaction.

"Madly in love with William Turner? You must have been imagining things." Elizabeth responded, but she could feel her cheeks flushing. Why did her body have to betray her?

Victoria nodded. "Perhaps. But judging by your reaction, your current color, and the way you could not keep your eyes off of him last night, there is something that beats within your bosom that is so much more than simple pleasure of acquaintance."

"Don't speak in long words!" Elizabeth groaned.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly call acquaintance a long word." She imitated Elizabeth's groan.

Elizabeth looked at her, eyes shooting daggers. "I like William Turner, yes. I think he is very likeable." Elizabeth attempted a response, knowing Victoria well enough to know she wouldn't stop hounding Elizabeth for an answer.

(She had tried avoiding Victoria's questions once before. That night at the dinner table, Victoria had managed to have everyone else wanting to know why she preferred beige to cream.)

Victoria shook her head. "Come now, Elizabeth. You think of him a great deal more than 'likeable'."

Elizabeth swallowed. "What does it matter how I feel for him?" She attempted to go for another angle. "For all I know, the next party we are in attendance of together we may not speak with each other but for a moment, enjoying other people's entertainments?"

Victoria's eyes narrowed, but she shrugged. "Perhaps, but we shall see."

Elizabeth watched as her sister picked up the book she had been reading, and continue. She knew she was by no means off the hook, and only that at the next party she would be watching closely. And Elizabeth had no desire whatsoever to spend a few moments away from Will's company.

But did it matter? Elizabeth wasn't sure. She picked herself up from the chair and headed for the dining room, feeling a rumble escape her belly. But before she had made it into the dining room, Hamish Olsen, the family's long-standing butler, was standing before her, informing her that William Turner was in the parlor.

Elizabeth returned to the room she had just left, and as she entered, Victoria exited, a knowing expression and smirk on her face.

Twenty minutes later, Victoria's face was forgotten by Elizabeth, as she and Will sat in the sunshine amongst a collection of tall trees, enjoying nothing but the presence of the other.

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A/N: As my current financial situation is dismal, I'm working two jobs over my summer break. So if I don't update soon, that is my only excuse. Come February, and a post has still not been put up, feel free to hunt me down and hurt me.