Rouge decided to stay barricaded in her room the next day, mainly for two reasons. The first was that despite reading tons of romance novels and watching hundreds of period movies she really had no idea what a lady was supposed to do to occupy her day. A vague notion came to her mind that she was supposed to sew or pay social visits, but neither of those options really screamed good time to her. The second had to do with the distinct feeling of dread that washed over her every time her thoughts wandered to the dinner this evening.

She stood gazing out over the iron railing of the balcony trying to calm her thoughts. It was weird how last night she had managed to stay so calm as Charles talked to her. She knew the engagement had to be announced tonight, there was no way around it since the fate of the family depended on it, but somewhere inside her she had a funny feeling this was not the way Annabelle's life was destined to go. Even though Rogue was temporarily in charge of this body at the moment, it was if she could feel something pulling at her, begging for her to take a different direction.

Rogue's mind wandered back to her brief encounter with Rene on the docks. She didn't know why but she felt he was the key to helping Annabelle out of this mess. It was possible that maybe she felt that way was because the one who always helped her out of danger was Remy, but since he technically wasn't here she didn't see that she had a lot of options. The only unfortunate thing was she had not the first clue how to find Rene again, or even if he made it possible for himself to be found.

The last thing that bothered her was that her mind kept flashing back to the moment right before she lost consciousness at S'ayapo's. She remembered that the woman had turned over one last card and said it was her destiny. Rogue could see the motions clearly in her head but for some reason she could not remember the card. She knew she had seen it and at the time it had registered in her mind but now the image was unclear. Rogue couldn't understand why this bothered her but she felt that remembering that one card was important to finding her way home.

Rogue was so lost in her own musings that she hadn't noticed the time slipping away or the shadows moving across the balcony. It wasn't until there was a soft knocking on her door that she was able to pull herself back to where she was. Kathy and Jane were coming to get her ready for dinner. With a small sigh Rogue walked back into her room and let the two girls enter.

It was the same tedious process as the day before, but this time Rogue bore it in silence. Jane and Kathy could sense that her mood had changed so they said very little. Kathy pulled a midnight blue gown from the wardrobe, causing Rogue to make a face since she didn't really like the color blue.

"What's wrong Annabelle?" she asked.

"Nothing, ah'm just not fond of the color."

"You picked it out though," Jane said a little surprised at Rouge's reaction, "You insisted on it being ordered from Paris, said it was Colin's favorite color."

Once again Rogue's face twisted in disgust but she gave a slight nod of her head for the girls to put it on. She was well aware that it wasn't going to look right, not with her hair and eye color. Conformation of this came as she turned to look in the mirror once Kathy had finished fastening the small buttons in the back. Obviously nothing about tonight was going to work in her favor. The other two girls told her she looked wonderful and Rogue put on a fake smile for them. With all the finishing touches done Rogue took once last look in the mirror. She squared her shoulders and took one long deep breath for courage before facing the door. Well, she thought, lets get this show on the road.

OoooXXXXoooo

While waiting patiently for dinner to be served, Rouge took the opportunity to study the people around her. She was grateful that she was not sitting next to Colin, though in her opinion one seat away wasn't far enough. Colin sat at the head of the long dinning room table speaking in a low tone to Charles who was seated to his left. To her immediate left sat Krispin who was currently engaging in a discussion with Kathy about the need for a new gardener. Sam and Jane sat farther down and she could only just see the back of their heads. Rogue had hoped that this evening would merely be family but as her eyes swept down the opposite side of the table she could see many faces she didn't recognize. It would appear Colin wanted many of his neighbors present for the coming announcement, probably so he had witnesses incase Rogue's family tried to find a loophole out of the agreement.

One group caught her particular attention though and she watched them with great interest. On Colin's right sat a very proud and silent man who was intently studying the paintings along the wall, his concentration only broken briefly by the placement of his dinner before him. Even though the man had a full head of golden hair and a large mustache, it was easy to recognize where Logan got his strong features. The boy in question sat next to him, making a small growling noise at the peas that sat on his plate. The man didn't seem to take any notice until his son decided to launch an attack on the offending vegetables with his fork. Rogue watched as Logan's father shot his son a trademark glare that she herself had seen many times. It was no surprise when instead of being quelled by such a fierce look the little boy returned the glare, and halted just long enough for his father to turn back before continuing with his pea assault.

Before Rogue could give Logan a warning look across the table, a small white hand fell on the boys shoulder. The hand belonged to the woman who was sitting on Logan's other side. Rouge could see she was quite tiny in size even though she was sitting. Her dark hair was pinned in lose curls that fell around her heart-shaped face, accentuating her striking blue eyes. Rogue could only guess this was Logan's mother as the lady bent down and whispered something in his ear. Immediately Logan began to eat his food properly while the woman began her own meal. Rogue could feel the catch in her throat when the woman gave her son a proud smile, which Logan returned with a grin of pure adoration.

Rogue was so lost in the private moment that she didn't realize Charles had grabbed her hand until he gave it a slight squeeze. Rouge felt her stomach drop, as she understood that it was time. Looking up she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as he rose from his seat and loudly cleared his throat to gain the attention of the other guests.

"Dearest friends and neighbors, may I have your attention please for just a moment," Charles spoke in a clear voice, betraying none of the bitterness Rogue knew he must be feeling, " I have some very important news to share with you all. It is with the greatest pleasure that I would like to announce that our dear Colin has asked for my daughter Annabelle's hand in marriage, and has happily been accepted. I would like you all to join my family in congratulating the young couple and wishing them a prosperous future. In celebration of this news I would like to be the first to invite you to a ball I will hold in my daughter's honor in three weeks time. So raise your glasses to Colin and Annabelle."

Around the room glasses lifted into the air and many congratulations found their way to Rogue's ears. As Charles returned to his seat and the guests went back to their private conversations, Rogue risked a glance in Colin's direction. He was smiling, but it was not the nice gentlemanly smile she remembered from the picnic. This smile was the cool calculating smile of a man that knew there was no longer anything standing in the way of getting what he wanted. Rogue could feel the cringe creeping up her spine as she quickly went back to looking at her plate.

After the last course was complete Colin rose from his chair and invited the gentlemen to join him for brandy and cigars while the ladies retired to the parlor. Rouge could see she had little choice but to follow Kathy and Jane as they left the dinning room through a door on the far side of the dining room. As she made her way down the short hallway to the parlor she could hear Logan's loud refusals to go to bed and his fathers harsh orders. As Rogue stood in front of the parlor doorway, she watched in amusement as the small lady form the table stepped in between the two puffed up males.

"Darling," she said calmly, laying a hand on her husbands shoulder, "Please stop barking orders and go join the other men at their fun. James, please stop arguing with your father and do as you are asked for once."

Rogue couldn't help but smile at the obvious emphasis that was put on the word once. Though both were not happy, Mr. Howlett made no argument and quickly disappeared into a door across the way and Logan stomped up every stair. Turning the woman noticed Rogue for the first time and a grin lit up her face.

"Taking notes for when you start your own family?" she inquired.

"Nah, just admiring how ya managed ta get them two ta stop hollering so fast," Rogue replied, then added quickly, "Ah'm Annabelle by the way."

"Yes I got as much from the announcement at dinner," the woman laughed, "Im Marion Howlett."

"So what's the secret ya used to get those men ta do what ya said?" Rogue asked as she tried to cover up her embarrassment at forgetting that she had probably already been introduced to Logan's mother.

"Well I know that they both can't stand each other but love me, and I am not ashamed to admit I use it against them for their own good. They would really get along much better if they took a second to see how alike they really are instead of insisting they are nothing alike." Marion said.

"Amazing," Rogue said with true admiration in her voice.

"It's nothing you won't learn someday. Now I think we best better join the others before they send a party out for us."

Rogue found a spot by one of the tall French doors of the parlor that had a view of the immaculately kept gardens. Around her the other women sat on couches talking, sewing or in the case of some of the older female guest sleeping. Marion was over with Kathy looking through sheets of music so that one of them could perform on the little piano that was sitting in the corner. Rogue would never think a night home at the mansion would be boring ever again. She could almost picture it now. Scott would be trying to beat Jean at chess, which he never could manage since Jean could see every move he was about to make in his head. Piotr would be curled in a chair with Kitty on his lap listening to her go on and on about her day. Kurt and Bobby would be planning their next big household prank. Her favorite would be Remy teaching Jamie how to play poker. Every so often the two would yell "Go Fish" so Scott wouldn't know what they were really up to. Rogue knew she would be sitting in the window seat with a good book waiting for Jamie to jump up with excitement each time he won, and watching for Remy to give her a wink to let her know he let the young boy win.

The first stirring notes of the piano pulled Rogue's attention back to her current situation. Kathy was gently tapping the strings as Marion began to sing. Rogue could hear a woman next to her mention that the song was a new called "Twinkling Stars are Laughing, Love". As she listened to the lyrics she found herself drawn to the garden outside. Rogue didn't know why but she had the strangest urge to take a walk. The idea seemed ridiculous but the longer she stayed still the more urgent the need to flee the room became.

"Come on," she thought to herself, "tha singing aint that bad. Ah actually kinda like it."

No matter how hard she tried to fight though, she found herself making her way over to the closest member of her party, Jane. Jane flashed her a wide smile and set her sewing to the side as she saw Rogue approach.

"Jane," Rogue said, leaning over so that only Jane could hear her, " Ah think ah'm gonna take a short walk in tha garden, ah really need some air all of a sudden."

"Annabelle are you not feeling well again?" Jane was immediately concerned.

"Ah'm fine Jane, ah just need some air," Rogue tried to give what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Jane looked like she was debating for a moment. Finally she said, " You really should wait until the gentlemen rejoin us but I guess it would be alright if you stayed in the garden. I know you probably have a lot on your mind right now what with Uncle's announcement. Are you sure it's not too dark though, should I find someone to accompany you?"

"No. The moon is very bright ah can see just fine and ah'd really like ta be alone for a while. Please just don't tell anyone where ah've gone."

Jane didn't seem thrilled with this idea but she merely gave a slight nod of her head and resumed her sewing. Rogue quietly slipped out the door and down the steps to the brightly lit garden path. It felt so good to be outside. The night air was full of the different scents of the flowers. It was warm out and she could hear all the familiar night sounds of the South. She had no real destination in mind, she just found herself wandering farther away from the house and deeper into the night. It wasn't long though until she recognized the hill that overlooked the little white houses on the back of the property.

The moonlight made the little houses stick out eerily in the dark. She could see no movement among the neat little rows; Colin must have a curfew or something so everyone had to be inside at a certain time. Most of the little windows had the shutters drawn, but oddly a few had candles burning in the windows. Rogue stood on the hill and watched the little flickering lights wondering if there was any way she could help the people who called these glorified sheds home.

She caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. She stood rooted to her spot as she watched a dark figure creep out of the woods just to the right of the houses. It moved slowly but silently across the ground. Rogue could not make out the shape of a man or woman because the figure looked like it was wearing some sort of long dark cloak. Rogue watched fascinated as it made its way past the first dark little house, where it paused for a second. It must have been looking for something it didn't see for it continued to the next house where a candle lit the window. The figure moved to this houses door and in the still night Rogue could hear the faint thump of a knock on wood. Suddenly the candle disappeared and the door opened. Figures began to fill the space in front of the little doorway. They waited for an instant until the figure pointed toward the woods.

Rogue's attention immediately shot towards the trees where she could see a light waving through the trunks. It had to be a lantern she thought cause this light was slightly bigger and brighter then the candles. Glancing back at the house she could see the figures begin to run toward the shinning star that was now at the edge of the trees. They weren't alone as more candles disappeared from windows and more figures began making their way across the lawn.

It didn't take Rogue long to figure out what was going on. These slaves were escaping and apparently some group was helping them. She strained her eyes to try to make out the person with the lantern. At first all she could get her eyes to focus on was the light. For a moment it looked like it was turning and lifting in her direction and she panicked. It wasn't until she realized that the dark color of her dress blend more with the night so it would make it hard for her to be seen. Yet in that brief moment when the lantern was raised she had caught the glimpse of a strong familiar jaw and the color of auburn hair.

"Oh my Gawd," her mind reeled, "It's Rene."

He wasn't a smuggler. He was helping slaves escape. Suddenly the talk she had overheard on the pier took on a lot of new meaning, it also explained why he had been so reluctant to let her go until her knew what she heard. Hope seemed to swell in her chest, now was her chance if she could get down there to him she might be able to ask him to help her. She didn't want to jeopardize what he was doing but she could let him know she needed to talk to him.

While she was thinking though the cloaked figure had reached the last lit house and was now making their way back to the woods. Rogue almost cried out when she saw Rene turn and disappear back into the trees. She couldn't miss this chance. Rogue picked up her skirts and began to run as fast as she could toward the trees. It felt like it took forever, and she didn't pause at the edge but merely burst into the growth with all her might.

She began trying to make her way through the dark maze of trees. The ground was uneven and tripped her a couple of times. The only thing that kept her going was the tiny pin prick of light that was moving in front of her. It looked like it was getting further away and Rogue kept getting caught on branches. Her foot hit a large pit in between to trees and she fell on her face. When she managed to pull herself back up she found that the light had completely disappeared. She looked around frantically but could not locate it anywhere. Rogue let a small cry escape her lips as she sunk to the ground. She wouldn't cry, not here. She now had to focus on getting back to the house.

Pulling herself up painfully she dusted of the front of her dress. She was about to turn when she sensed something directly behind her. In her exhausted state she didn't feel she could fight, but she would sure try. Her mouth began to pull in air for a scream, though out here it would do little good, when a strong arm came around her waist and a large hand clamped firmly over her mouth.

A/N: I finally got a chance to write another chapter; sorry it took so long, life got in the way. I hope this one is good I wrote it at three in the morning. Just a side note the song I mentioned is actually period but I don't know whether it had lyrics or not. So what's going to happen now, it looks like Rogue can't catch a break and when she does it walks off. I will try to put up a next chapter sooner then I got this one up but I can't make promises. : )