Hello everybody!
Thanks for your reviews! I know that normally I reply to every single one in a private message, but somehow I didn't get round to it this time. Please accept this as my sincere 'THANK YOU' for reading and reviewing this story!
To Dori: You have put some ideas into my head with your last review. Even if I originally planned for Bea and Don to hit it off – and even if I still might head in that direction, your suggestion of a Bea/Hawkes pairing has definitely made me reconsider my plans. Guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out what will happen in the end!
I know that it does not meet everyone's taste, but I am happy that there are some of you out there who like this.
Please leave me some feedback on this chapter as well! Thank you!!!
Thanks once again to my beta, Brina (Brinchen86)! You ROCK, girl. Thanks for all the support and I can't wait for our girls-weekend – will be so much fun!
Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.
It was the day of the ball and Lindsay was beaming with excitement. She had been running around the house all day, commandeering servants around, making sure that everything looked perfect and was at its right place. Now, she took a couple of minutes for herself, standing in the big and wide dining hall that her uncle had emptied for the occasion of the ball.
Lindsay stood in the middle of the room, her eyes closed. She imagined music coming from one corner of the room. She imagined other couples dancing, laughing, enjoying themselves. Lindsay caught herself swirling around with her eyes closed, in tune with the imaginary music. She had no idea that Danny was standing at the door, watching her.
He had a smile on his lips as he observed Lindsay dancing around the room with her eyes closed. He knew that he probably shouldn't be standing there, watching the young Lady, but the sight of her just fascinated him. She was holding her skirt up with one hand and the other one was leaning on the shoulder of an imaginary partner. She had a smile on her lips. Danny had never before seen anyone as beautiful as the Lady Lindsay. His heart was beating a thousand times faster just by looking at her and he felt as if a lump in his throat was cutting of all his breath. He knew that Adam had been right when he said that Danny was hopelessly in love with this young beauty. Danny knew that there would never be a chance for him and Lindsay and yet, he could not help but dream about a future together. It was in fact all he could think about. He felt foolish for such thinking, but still, deep down he hoped that maybe, some day, Lindsay would answer his feelings and society would change so that they would finally have a chance.
Danny sighed, louder than he had wanted to and so snapped Lindsay out of her reveries. She abruptly turned around and blushed.
"How long have you been standing there, Master Daniel?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.
"Not that long, Miss," he lied. "Sorry for watching you, but you just gave a pretty sight. I could not resist," he admitted and made Lindsay blush even more. But as soon as Danny smiled at her, she felt that there was no need for her to be ashamed. No matter what it was, a smile of his always put her back at ease.
"Do you dance, Master Daniel?" she then suddenly asked and caught Danny off-guard.
"I can dance, Miss, but I haven't in years. But I bet that all of your partners tonight will be very good dancers," he said, touched his wool cap on his hat and was about to turn around when Lindsay called him back:
"Would you dance with me, Master Daniel?" Lindsay surprised herself by asking this, but she thought it had been her heart asking, rather than her head, who knew it was a foolish idea.
Danny just looked at Lindsay and wondered: "But Miss, I have work to do."
"Just one little dance. There isn't even any music, so we will simply have to imagine it ourselves. Oh please, Daniel. Just one dance and I will let you get back to work," she pleaded.
Danny then stepped towards her and, unsure of where to put his hands, he had to have Lindsay do it. Strategically, she placed his right hand on her lower back and took his left in hers. She smiled a broad smile at him and Danny felt – at the touch of her hand and the feel of her back beneath his fingers – as if he would faint any second. He could smell the scent of her hair and he thought that he had never smelled anything nicer than that. Her body was warm underneath his fingers and her eyes were beaming at him.
"Should we just stand here all day or are you going to lead?" Lindsay snapped him out of his thoughts.
Danny cleared his throat and then started to lead. At first he thought that it would not be easy to dance without any music, but having Lindsay so close to him felt so natural that both immediately found their rhythm and danced through the dining hall. When Danny turned her around, Lindsay had to giggle. She had never had so much fun dancing and she had never felt so good before. She knew she had to tell all of this to Bea because her best friend would be the only one to understand her feelings for Danny.
The two of them were dancing around the dining room, completely forgetting that there was a world outside of their own. They continuously looked into each other's eyes and smiled. Lindsay had to admit that Danny touching her, his hand slightly moving over her lower back, sent thousands of little shivers down her spine. The sparkles of chemistry between those two were so evident and both hoped that this dance would never end.
"Lindsay!" her uncle shouted in an angry voice as he beheld his niece dancing with his servant.
Danny and Lindsay both felt as if they had been caught doing something illegal and broke apart vehemently. Danny just stared down on the floor and as he caught Lindsay's gaze once and saw her nodding at him, he understood it as his sign to leave the room as quickly as possible. He turned around, hiding his face with his wool cap and walked past Lord Hammerback, out of the room.
Sid looked at Lindsay, anger written all over his face and gestures. His hands were stemmed into his side and his eyebrows were raised.
"You want to tell me what this was all about?" he demanded an explanation from Lindsay.
"We danced," she answered shyly.
"I could see that," Sid replied and took a deep breath. "Lindsay, the other servants might have seen you!" he reproached.
"I am so sorry, Uncle. I do not know what has gotten into me," Lindsay tried to apologize.
"I have so much to do; I cannot deal with you right now. I want you to go upstairs in your room and get ready for the ball," he said and Lindsay had already walked past him, tears in her eyes, when he called after her once more: "We will talk about this some other time. I will not forget that this happened!"
Lindsay did not turn back round; she just fled the room as quickly as possible and stumbled up the stairs into her room. Inside, she fell down on her bed, crying. Why was love so very difficult, she asked herself.
By the time Beatrice and her father arrived at Lord Hammerback's house, the ball had already started and the first guests were already dancing. Her father had been home again late and so they had come past the time. They gave their coats and hats and bonnets to one of the maids and then walked into the wide entrance hall. Lord Hammerback's house was freshly polished and there were flowers everywhere – Lindsay's doing as Bea guessed.
Just as Bea and her father walked into the wide dining hall that had been made into a ball room, they both ran into Flack and Jessica.
"Earl of Heslington, so nice to see you here tonight," Jessica greeted him. Jessica was wearing a beautiful red ball gown which suited her paleness and long, dark hair perfectly. Bea had to admit that she looked splendid.
"Deputy Chief Constable Flack and Mrs Flack! It's so nice to see you two out tonight. I haven't seen you out and about in quite a long time," Mac remarked.
"My wife has been ill and so we had to cut down on public obligations," Flack explained.
"I hope it was nothing serious," Bea then brought herself into the conversation.
"Lady Beatrice, you look absolutely wonderful tonight," Flack then remarked. He looked at Bea and had to say that she looked really beautiful that night – she was wearing a dark blue dress, laced around the neck line. Her long and blonde hair was falling down in curls, looking like silk. She was wearing a silver diadem in her hair and it was sparkling in the light. The dark blue gloves put an emphasis on her slender and slim arms and hands.
"Thank you very much," Bea replied, blushing lightly. "But so does your wife," she added, out of politeness.
"Thank you, Lady Beatrice," Jessica said and then stayed silent.
Bea and Mac, both, noticed that Bea had never gotten an answer to her question as to Jessica's illness. But because neither one wanted to be impolite, they dropped the topic and did not press it any further.
Bea then touched her father's arm slightly and whispered to him that she would now go and find Lindsay. She nodded and smiled at both Flack and Jessica and then left. She looked around the room, trying to find Lindsay amongst all of those guests. There were a lot of people who wanted to start a conversation with Bea, but she always excused herself, wanting to find her best friend first. When she saw Lindsay across the room, her friend was talking to Dr. Hawkes, laughing at something he had said. Lindsay was wearing a beautiful and lacy white dress and she looked like a princess. She had flowers in her long blonde curls and Bea had to admire her friend's beauty.
Bea walked over to Lindsay and cleared her throat to get her friend's attention.
"Bea! Finally!" Lindsay greeted her friend enthusiastically and took both of Bea's hands, to take a closer look at her. "You look so splendid! Oh Bea, what a beauty you are!" she called out. "Don't you agree, Dr. Hawkes, doesn't Beatrice look very handsome tonight?"
Sheldon nodded and smiled at Bea, who smiled back at him, seemingly embarrassed at all the compliments that Lindsay gave her.
"Lindsay, this ball is perfect! You and your uncle have outdone yourself!" Bea then said and smiled at Lindsay – a wide and open smile, very genuine.
"You think so?" Lindsay asked, needing reassurance. "You think everyone feels welcome and is having a good time?" she worried.
Bea and Lindsay then looked around at all of the other guests and everyone was either involved in deep conversation, was dancing or laughing. Across the room, Bea could see her father talk to the Baroness Bonasera.
"Looks like she found him," Bea said and pointed her father and Stella out to Lindsay.
Lindsay giggled and retorted: "But do you think it so very bad if your father remarried? And then someone like the Baroness? She's got class, she's got style. And if you ask me, she really is a very nice sort of person."
"I know that she is nice. And if my father likes her, then he shouldn't mind me. But if you want my honest opinion – she is trying too hard. Women should make themselves scarce, the men should be the ones chasing women down, not the other way round," Bea remarked.
Just as Bea said this, Lindsay eyed Danny from across the room, serving some drinks. She had to think of their dance again that afternoon – a mistake in her uncle's opinion, the greatest thing Lindsay had ever done though.
"You'll excuse me," Dr. Hawkes said – the two ladies had already completely forgotten about him anyway.
Now that they were finally alone, Lindsay took Bea by the hand and took her into the adjoining room, out on the balcony, where they were alone. And there she burst out:
"I danced with Danny today, Bea, and my heart was so wide – I have never felt like that before! What do I do now?"
Bea smiled at her friend. "Looks like you finally made your decision," was all she had to say.
"What do you mean by that?" Lindsay needed to know.
"If you ask me, you finally decided not to marry Dr. Hawkes. Your heart belongs to Master Daniel – you should follow it," Bea advised.
"But Bea, it's not that easy, is it?" Lindsay looked at her friend pleadingly. She was so confused that she simply needed her friend to make a decision for her.
"Lindsay, do not marry Dr. Hawkes, please," Bea finally said.
"Why? Just give me one good reason,"
"Because I want you to be happy and as nice a man as Dr. Hawkes is, he is not the one for you. But Danny seems to be," Bea said and gently caressed her friend's cheek.
"My uncle will not like that," Lindsay said and smiled at Bea. She was so happy to have a friend like that.
"Who cares about your uncle? You will always have me to rely on," Bea said and the two of them stared out into the night.
Mac and Stella were on the dance-floor and both had to admit to themselves that they really enjoyed the other one's company.
"Your daughter looks very beautiful tonight. You have done a splendid job at raising her," Stella complimented Mac.
"Thank you, Baroness," he said and smiled at her.
"Please, just make it Stella. Amongst ourselves there is no need to be formal, is there?" she suggested.
Mac beamed at her and nodded, keeping Stella very close to him. He really liked her, but he did not know what his daughter would say to his possible plans of another marriage.
Bea and Lindsay were still standing on the balcony, talking about this and that, just as friends normally did. Lindsay started to rub her arms because she felt chilly, so she decided to go back inside. Bea, however, wanted to remain outside – she enjoyed the fresh air and she thought she could never get enough of it. She missed the healthy air of Heslington Hall while she was staying here in London. She couldn't wait for winter to be over and go back. She had actually talked to Lindsay about Heslington so many times that her best friend was quite set upon spending her summer there as well – possibly the last summer that both could spend together, unmarried.
Bea sighed. She still had her father's threats at the back of her head.
"Aren't you a little cold, Miss?" Flack walked out onto the balcony. He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and black bow tie. He looked very sophisticated tonight and, as Bea had to admit, very handsome. He was wearing his hair a little longer than others, with sideburns running down to the middle of his cheeks. His hair was black and full and more than once had Bea felt the urge to let her hands go through them.
"I'm fine, Constable. Thank you for your concern though, I feel honoured," she smiled at him.
Flack settled down next to Bea and looked out into the garden behind Lord Hammerback's house. He had some candles put up around the garden and the vague, flickering light of them put the whole garden into a sombre atmosphere. Not spine-chillingly weird, but comfortably relaxing.
"This is nice," Flack said, not looking over to where Bea was standing. She, however, had turned her gaze towards Flack and was watching him. Just as she had always felt a certain sensation rushing through her body by the sight of the very handsome and tall man, she couldn't help but feel the same at that very moment. She barely knew this man and yet, he held a certain power over Bea's mind. She didn't know what it was – it might have been just his very pleasing outer-appearance. But Bea felt as if she was a character in one of the novels she always read – falling for a man who was already taken.
"Is everything alright, Lady Beatrice?" Flack asked, noticing that Bea was watching him.
She felt caught and blushed. "Everything alright," she said and then added, after she had found her composure again, "And why don't you just drop the title? Make it Beatrice."
She offered her hand for Don to shake. He had never had a woman give her hand for shaking. It was the custom that men kissed the back of a woman's hand, but somehow Don had always known that Bea was different from the rest of the women. So he laughed at her and shook her hand as a sign of a beginning and blossoming friendship.
Next chapter: The ball will continue! What will Lindsay say to Danny the next time they get some quiet alone-time? How will Bea react when she overhears a private conversation between Mac and Stella? And what happens when Bea suddenly finds herself between two men, one of whom she had never considered as a suitor before – will she maybe change her attitude?