Hello, all! I am so so sorry for the slow update! I have been really busy these past couples of days and yay it was my birthday yesterday :D Hehe, now I really hope that you enjoy this chapter even though I am not yet sure if there are enough of you interested in this fanfic.

Also, if there is anybody that makes fanfiction covers, please let me know because I am in desperate need of a cover for this particular fanfiction.

Also, to answer the reviewer that wanted me to clear up the confusion about Caroline's father: Basically, he is still alive, but for the most part he keeps to himself and in a way, he blames Caroline for his first wife's death whom he loved deeply.

Enjoy!

"Um, I do thank you for the offer, but I really must be going. I do not want to keep- uh, m- my aunt waiting any longer than necessary." The blonde told him as she quickly looked away from him because she knew that she wasn't exactly one of the greatest liars.

"Your aunt?" He questioned as he looked down at her with curiosity in his blue-gray eyes. "Does your aunt have a name?"

"As we are at a masquerade ball, I do believe that I will refrain from answering whom my aunt is, your grace. Please do not see me as ill-mannered, but I am all about the keeping of secrets."

"Are you now?" He asked as he raised a quizzical eyebrow at her.

"Yes, your grace." She nodded as she gave him a short curtsy before she turned away from him. "It was lovely to meet you, your grace, but I really should get going."

As the blonde took a couple of steps away from the Duke, she heard his footsteps approaching behind her and then he clasped her hand.

"One dance, sweetheart. I assure you that I do not bite." Hard, he added silently as a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

"One dance?" She asked. "If I give you that, will you allow me to go?"

"Of course," he nodded. "After all, I am a man of my word and perhaps somewhat of a rake, but that doesn't really matter."

"A rake?" She questioned as her eyes widened. Immediately after her reaction, Caroline knew that she made a mistake because it the Duke had a reputation of a rake, surely every woman amongst the haute ton would know as such- her being one of them, but since that wasn't the case...

"Oh, yes." He nodded as his blue-gray eyes began to twinkle in mischief. "But I do give you my word that I will remain the perfect gentleman this one time."

"This one time? I do not understand." Caroline said as her eyebrows furrowed adorably in confusion.

Leaning towards her, she felt his breath on her ear and gave an involuntary shiver of excitement.

"You will," he promised before he took ahold of her hand and put his other hand on her waist. "Now, let us dance." Klaus urged.

"Your grace, it is not proper." Caroline argued.

Not saying anything, the Duke pulled Caroline against his chest and slowly they began to dance the waltz.

At first, the blonde was not sure of what she had to, but thankfully she knew some of the steps of the waltz because when her stepsisters were learning how to dance, she watched them.

Sighing to herself, Caroline realized that the life that she led was no life at all. After all, in the arms of the rakish Duke, she felt happy for the first time. Perhaps it had to do with that fact that the Duke was so bloody attractive, but she knew in her heart that it had to do with her missing the important part of having somebody to laugh and do trivial things with.

"What are you thinking about, sweetheart?" The Duke questioned, the seriousness evident in his voice as he looked down at her as if she was a puzzle that he was trying to figure out.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Nothing at all." The blonde added, reassuring him with one of her signature smiles.

"Very well," he nodded. "Now that we're dancing, I do wish to know more about you even though we may be at a masquerade ball."

"But why?" She asked. "I can assure you now that there is absolutely nothing interesting about me."

"I beg to differ," he whispered into her ear, his voice a low and seductive timber.

"Perhaps, but trust me. Instead, how about we talk about you and your life? After all, I am certain that your life is far more interesting than my own."

"Well, what else can I say?" He said as he seemed to think about it. "Other than the fact that I am a Duke and just about as royal as the royal family, I have a bunch of responsibilities that interfere with my life."

"Responsibilities?" Caroline asked, the curiosity evident in her voice as he spun her around with his hands tightly around her as if he would never let her go.

"Yes," he nodded. "I have to look over ledgers much like the other peers of the realm, but it seems like they are all looking to see if I will mess it up."

"I do not see you as the type that would mess anything up, your grace." Caroline told him.

"Oh, I do not care for what the beau monde may think of me. The point of it is that I am a Duke and if I set my mind to something that I want, I do get it." The Duke of Havonshire informed and that same delicious shiver ran down her back in desire because for a moment, Caroline believed that he truly did desire her.

As the blonde opened her mouth to respond with some witty remark, his own mouth closed over hers in one swift movement and she could have sworn that she was transported to heaven. After all, her toes curled within her slippers and she pulled him closer by wrapping both her arms around his neck.

Though, she has never been kissed before, Caroline did indeed have some novels that explained such things. She knew that it was not proper, but she needed some excitement in her life that she knew as hell.

Slowly, she patted her lips to exhale a gasp, but the Duke quickly took advantage of her vulnerable position and dived into the dark recesses of her mouth with his tongue. Then, they began a delicate dance for dominance, but ultimately Klaus was the one that came out the victor. Removing his hand from her waist, he placed it on her the small of her back and pulled her closer with a pull on the nape of her neck.

As they kissed one another with abandonment, Caroline heard her low feminine moan followed by a more masculine groan and couldn't believe just how much of a wanton it seemed she was. After all, she felt as if she was on fire and knew that those most private areas within her were now awakening from a deep slumber and would most certainly never return to oblivion.

Sighing into him, she wanted to stay with him like that forever even though she barely knew him. The voices that they heard coming towards the terrace, however, brought both of them out of the spell that they seemed to have cast one another.

Breathing heavily, the Duke looked into Caroline's bright blue eyes with wonder in his own stormy blue-gray eyes.

"I- I have to go." She stammered and with those few words, she was running away from the Duke of Havonshire and the happiness that she felt disappeared.

The next morning, Caroline awoke to the lovely memory of the duke's lips on her own. As she lay on the straw mattress with her hand over her forehead, she felt the tingles in her lips.

Smiling at the memory, she was quickly forced out of it when she heard the approaching footsteps.

Scrambling to sit upright, the blonde forced herself to put in place a mask of indifference. Pulling on the mask that lay beside her hastily, she put her hands on her lap and waited because surely her serenity would shatter as soon as one of three women entered: her stepmother, her step sister Rose, or her step sister Alexandra.

Without further ado, her stepmother entered with a furious expression on her face.

"It is half past noon and still you lay in bed? Are you daft, girl?" The incessant woman questioned as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at her.

"I- I did not realize that it was already so late." Caroline retorted lamely because she didn't know what else she could say.

It was not as if she could tell her stepmother that she slept so late because of how exhausted she was after the ball.

"Obviously," she responded. "Now get up off your behind and do what it is that you must. I will not have you lounging about in my own home while my daughters are working hard." The marchioness added as she turned away from the blonde with a disgusted look on her face.

"Your daughters do not do anything, though." Caroline said before she could think twice about it.

In three steps, the marchioness had a harsh grip on Caroline's wrist before she struck her across the face.

Gasping at the stinging pain on her cheek, Caroline tried to move away from her wicked stepmother, but to no avail.

"Because of your inability to know when to keep your mouth shut, you will not be having any food this day." The marchioness told her. "And if I find out that Cook has given you something behind my back, she will be excused without any references and you will be thrown out onto the streets."

"My father will never allow that to happen." Caroline said, trying to keep her voice even and devoid of any emotion even though she knew that her father wouldn't so much as raise his voice in his wife's direction.

"Oh, darling." The marchioness said, sounding unpleasantly relaxed. "Your father barely even acknowledges you and when he does it is because he needs you to do something for him. Pray do not fool yourself into believing that any person of importance cares for you."

Nodding, Caroline could feel the tears forming in her eyes and the marchioness smirked before she left her be and left the attic with her slippered feet pounding on the floor elegantly.

Once alone, she allowed her tears to fall and to make matters worse, heard her stomach growling.

Shaking her head, she removed her sleeping gown and pulled on her day dress. Once she had it on, she smoothed the wrinkles on the folds and took in the dirt smudged skirt with a shake of her head.

Perhaps the night before, she felt like a lady worthy enough to be apart of the ton, but that dream was long gone. It was not like she would ever see him again anyway.

As she descended the four story staircase, she made her way into the kitchen. Once there, she looked over at Mrs. Higgins and the elderly woman was smiling at her brightly, but the blonde could not return her smile.

"Whatever happened, sweetheart?" She questioned as she made her way over to her with a worried expression on her face. "Was the ball not to your liking?"

"It is not that, Mrs. Higgins. The ball was an exceptional dream and I felt as if I was worthy to be apart of them."

"Did you meet someone?" She asked as she ran soothing hands over her arms.

Looking down at her soiled slippers, she nodded.

"Who is he?" Mrs. Higgins asked as she led Caroline to a seat.

As she was going over to the pantry to no doubt get her some food, Caroline shook her head.

"You're not hungry?" She questioned, the confusion evident in her voice.

"The marchioness has forbidden me to eat this day." Caroline responded.

"Oh, Caroline! That is complete nonsense and it is not like the marchioness is here."

"I am sorry, Mrs. Higgins. I cannot because if I do you will be put out of the job and I will end up on the streets."

"That woman is the most vial of people that I have had the displeasure of knowing! She cannot forbid you to eat, Caroline. You need your strength and you are thin enough!"

"I know," she told her. "Believe me, I know." Caroline added as the tears came to her eyes once again. "But you know that father does not care enough about me to put a stop to his wife's demands. Perhaps it would be better if I simply disappeared."

"And where would you go? You have no friends outside this home and for most of your life you have been forced to stay within these walls." Mrs. Higgins told her, an expression of sorrow on her face.

"I know that," Caroline told her. "But what else is there for me to do? Maybe if I go somewhere else, I won't be treated the way I have been for the past two decades of my life."

"Sweetheart, there has to be another life for you outside those walls and perhaps the first step towards your new life has to do with the gentleman that you met last night."

"Oh, Mrs. Higgins… I do wish that we were on the same level, but he is an established peer of the realm and I cannot see him getting past the fact that I am the Marquess of York's invisible daughter and surely if anything does happen, he will want to see my face fully unveiled."

"Like I have told you before, you are beautiful in every way… I myself do not know how you look under your mask, but I can tell from your kind heart that you are a diamond of the first water."

Blushing, Caroline looked away from Cook and was thankful for her kind words, though she was still unsure.

"Go to his home, love… Leave him a letter asking him to meet you someplace and if he comes you will know that he wants to get to know you."

"And if he comes, what then? Last night he wanted to know who I was, but I said no for the sake of us being at a masquerade ball… Now, what excuse will I have?"

"Just tell him the truth." Cook urged. "I refuse to believe that something terrible will happen once you confide in him your deepest secret."

"I want to," Caroline admitted as she thought back to how she felt while tucked securely in his arms and just how wonderful his lips felt on her own…

"So, do it." Mrs. Higgins advised giving her a reassuring smile.

"Okay," Caroline declared with a content smile on her face. "I will do it."

"That is my girl." Mrs. Higgins smiled as the two women embraced with smiles on their faces.

There you have it! So, I hope this chapter was alright and I hope that Klaroline's first kiss was enjoyable to read :D So, I do intend to update weekly, so fingers crossed that I'll be able to have the third chapter completed by next Wednesday!

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~Hana :p