A/N: See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.

Chapter 3: Courtship

"It was one for the history books, Liz," Emmet informed his sister as they were sitting in their lounge later on that evening. "Mrs. Councilor Nugent threw a fit. You naughty little children ruined the entire tea party – and you also made my day!"

Liz laughed and said, "Oh, I hope we didn't make too much trouble for Hyacinth."

"So what if you did? For years, Hyacinth has constantly made trouble for us. I say one good turn deserves another. Liz, you really are too nice."

"That's what William says."

"You two must've gotten in a great deal of exercise today. I noticed that was a very long 'walk' you took."

Liz suppressed a laugh, playfully rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, and told him, "If you must know, nosey, we didn't just walk together. I took him to that little Italian restaurant that just opened up a couple of weeks ago and I treated him to supper. I felt it was the least I could do after he made me lunch yesterday. And speaking of which, I brought some food home for you too. It's on the kitchen counter near the microwave."

"Thank you. Well Liz, I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed your date with your new boyfriend."

"Emmet, it was not a date, and he is not my boyfriend. I already told him I didn't feel quite ready to enter the dating world again, and I'm not. William and I are just friends right now."

"Liz, when you allow a man to kiss you the way William did today, when you go out for walks with him and you're gone for hours, and when you take him out to eat supper at a cozy little Italian restaurant, he is undoubtedly your new boyfriend, and it was a date."

"Little brother, don't you have anything better to do with your time besides psychoanalyzing my new friendship with William?"

"Not at the moment, no," Emmet teased, and again, Liz rolled her eyes at him. Emmet then laughed softly and told his sister, "I'm sorry if I've been getting on your nerves teasing you about William. I'm just so happy for you. The two of you are obviously very attracted to one another. I say you are way overdue for a little happiness in your life."

"I do appreciate it, but I think your 'happiness' for William and me is a little premature. We've only known each other for two days!"

"He's crazy about you. And even if you won't come out and admit it yet, I can tell that you are just as crazy about him."

Liz stood in that moment, looked down at her brother, and said, "If you'll excuse me, Mr. Nosey, I have some knitting to do."

She went to her room to work on her knitting then, all the while Emmet remained sitting in the lounge, wearing a very smug grin as he was certain he was right about what was happening between the two of them.

"Living next door to Hyacinth has certainly been challenging over the years," Liz told William one Sunday afternoon three weeks later as they were having a picnic together in the park. "One thing it hasn't been is boring. Hyacinth may be difficult, but I'll say this for her: she and her family are actually very interesting people."

"When you say the people in her family are interesting, you're talking about her poorer sisters, Daisy and Rose, and her brother-in-law Onslow, right?"

"Yes. You see, Hyacinth is constantly trying to climb the social ladder. She is always trying to convince the people around her that she's more upper-class than she really is. And I think Daisy, Onslow, and Rose embarrass her. She always tries so hard to disassociate herself from them as much as possible. But no matter how hard she tries, it never works.

"I never will forget one time when my car had broken down, and Onslow, Daisy, and Rose had just shown up at Hyacinth's house. Hyacinth's senile father had 'altered' a number of toys with a screwdriver in the toy department of the mall, and her family had to pay them a pretty steep bill to cover it. In the meantime, Emmet and I had to go into town for some reason; I don't remember what it was. Anyway, Onslow was kind enough to offer us a lift, but there was only so much room in the backseat. Naturally, Onslow was in the driver's seat and Daisy was in the passenger's seat up front, and in the back, Hyacinth was on one side, I was in the middle, and Emmet was on the other side of me, and the only place for Rose was in Emmet's lap."

"Oh, no," William said with a laugh.

"We rode together in Onslow's car, all the way into town, with Rose sitting on Emmet's knee. Emmet did appear to be uncomfortable with that level of closeness to Rose. After all, she's constantly throwing herself at Emmet, and at basically every man she ever lays her eyes on. However, Emmet certainly didn't appear to be struggling. I think a part of him really enjoyed it."

"Isn't Onslow's car that deathtrap of a vehicle that's always backfiring?"

Liz laughed and told him, "That's the one."

"It's almost funny when you think about it. Hyacinth's always trying so hard to convince everybody that she's a member of the upper-class, when in fact, she isn't fooling anybody. People know exactly where she's come from. Ironically, the only person Hyacinth is ultimately fooling is Hyacinth."

"I know."

"Liz, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Certainly."

"How come you allow Hyacinth to take over so much of your life? She's constantly ordering you over to her house for coffee and tea, that is whenever you're not working at the bookstore. It seems that whenever you have a free moment, Hyacinth is always there, trying so hard to take over every possible spare moment of your life that she can. She's always driving you and your poor brother up the wall. You've stood up to narcissists before, like your husband Frank. Why is it so hard for you to stand up to Hyacinth?"

After a long silence, Liz finally told him, "With Frank, it was actually quite simple to stand up to him and kick him out of my life. He was hurting my daughter, and obviously, there was no way I could stand for that. With Hyacinth, it's different. It's as if there's this broken little girl living inside Hyacinth, just crying out for acceptance. There's a childlike innocence about Hyacinth. Yes, she's dreadfully irritating. Yes, she's utterly oblivious to the world around her. Yes, she lives in a fantasy world of her own making, which she is the queen of. But I don't believe she's truly capable of understanding just what it is that she does to the people around her all the time. Unlike Frank, Hyacinth never truly means to hurt anyone. Frank was cruel. Hyacinth is simply annoying. As difficult as Hyacinth can be, she does have a heart deep down underneath her snobbery – way deep down, perhaps. And I know she gets lonely, and there is this lonely little girl living inside her that really does need a friend. I know I probably do allow Hyacinth to get away with far too much in my life, but just think what it would be like for poor Richard if I weren't there to take some of the heat off him. The poor man does need somebody there to give him a break from Hyacinth every once in a while."

"You know something, Liz? I think I owe you an apology."

"Why?"

"Up until now, I made the mistake of believing you were being weak by not standing up to Hyacinth. But now I realize that I was mistaking your kindness, patience, and generosity for weakness. I made the mistake of believing that it was only a weak person who would put up with Hyacinth the way you do, but after hearing what you had to say just now, I understand. A strong person is the only kind of person who could endure her the way you do."

That comment deeply touched Liz, and she smiled at William and told him, "Thank you. Thank you very much for saying that. It means a lot to me."

William put his hand on top of Liz's then and said, "It's just the truth, my dear." Liz smiled at William again and squeezed his hand, and then he returned the smile. After several more moments of silence, William asked, "Liz, I know that three weeks ago, I kissed you at Hyacinth's tea party as a joke to ruin her day. With your permission, I'd like very much so to kiss you for real this time."

Liz laughed and said, "I assure you, you definitely have my permission."

In that moment, William leaned over and gave Liz the sweetest kiss she'd ever experienced in her entire life.

Over the next four months, Liz and William remained practically inseparable. They were constantly over at each other's houses, going out for walks, having meals together, and talking for hours on the telephone. They found they both shared a great love for literature and classical music, and Liz was often fascinated by all the things William told her about Askanian politics and about the political climate in various countries all over the world.

They also soon found that they adored one another's daughters. Not long after they first met, William introduced Liz to his daughter Priscilla, and Liz fell in love with her almost as quickly as she'd fallen in love with her father. Priscilla was a beautiful fourteen-year-old girl with reddish-brown hair and her father's brown eyes, and a person could take just one look into those brown eyes of hers and tell that she'd been through a terrible amount of pain in her young life. Thankfully, Priscilla was in a much better place now than she had been a few years ago, and in fact her harrowing experiences with her (so-called) mother had caused her to become wise beyond her years. Liz was often impressed by the girl's inner-strength and intelligence, and also by her kind heart and her pure empathy for other people. And a few weeks into their relationship, Liz invited William and Priscilla over to her house while her daughter Gail was visiting so that they could meet her, and they too were impressed with Gail's sharp mind and witty personality. William was touched when Gail invited him and Priscilla to her college graduation ceremony that was going to be taking place the following week, and they gladly attended with Liz and Emmet, and also with an old family friend of theirs, Paul Silver, and Priscilla's tutor, Sarah Johnson, both of whom had been staying with them ever since they came to England.

It was at Gail's graduation party later that evening that she and Harold announced that they were getting married. It was news that Liz in particular had been waiting for on pins and needles. The young couple had decided on having a small ceremony in their flat the following month, and naturally, Gail invited William, Priscilla, and their friend Paul to come, and they were all too happy to accept.

"I thought those two would never get serious about their relationship and tie the knot," Liz told William as he walked her home from the bookstore one Saturday evening. "As I'm sure you can imagine, Hyacinth has given me so much grief over Gail's situation in the past."

"And naturally, we know that your daughter's decisions about her personal life are always Hyacinth's business," William joked sarcastically.

"Right," Liz said with a knowing laugh. "As you already know, I am a Christian. I may have been distant from Christ through the years, but I never stopped loving Him and believing in Him."

"It's been the same way with me," William admitted.

"And I knew that when Gail moved into Harold's flat with him three years ago – his one bedroom flat – without being married to him, that she was doing the wrong thing. But I couldn't really blame her. It's not as though my marriage to Frank provided her a good example."

"As parents, we all long to be perfect examples for our kids. And none of us ever are," William said understandingly.

"That certainly is true. Anyway, a few weeks before we met, Gail and Harold actually got into a terrible car accident. Their car flipped, but miraculously enough, they came through it without a scratch. About a week later, Gail said to me that she wanted what I had. She said that she'd always noticed that I had this kind of certainty; that I knew I was going to go to heaven when I died, and that she wanted that. So, I just told her the simple truth of the Gospel: that all she had to do was trust in Jesus Christ and accept the free gift of salvation from our sins that He achieved for us on the cross. She hasn't been the same since. And not long after that, she told me that the same thing happened with Harold, and he too came to trust in Christ. That car crash really shook them up and made them start really thinking about where they would go when they died."

"It's a shame more people don't really stop to think about where they're going to be spending eternity."

"I agree."

"What's going on within the Christian church nowadays is utterly tragic. It's only just starting to come out in the news now, but for decades, Catholic priests have been sexually abusing children. And on the Protestant evangelical side, it's really not any better. As you know, Askana is a mostly Protestant nation, and I've seen this happen in my family's church with my own eyes. You know I have two younger siblings."

Liz nodded and said, "John and Olivia."

"Right. My sister Olivia married a dreadful man when she was eighteen. He really put her through hell, not just emotionally, but physically. She always tried to hide the bruises with makeup, but we could all see how badly swollen her poor face was. I stepped in whenever I could and convinced her to stay with Ann, Priscilla, and me, although our home environment wasn't that much better. I tried very hard to talk her into leaving him. The whole family did. Thankfully, she finally did, but it took years. For so long, our church kept convincing her that it was God's will for her to stay with him, even though he was abusing her. It just made me sick. Both sides are an equally tragic mess. Catholic churches are enabling pedophile priests, and Protestant churches are enabling wife beaters and child abusers in their congregations."

"I couldn't agree more. It is a tragic mess. It's heartbreaking what the Christian church has become."

"The only thing that could be more tragic is what's happening with people's eternal destinies because the 'Christian church' started preaching a false gospel that's not any different from all the other false religions of this world. Think about it. What do all the world's religions have in common? In one way or another, they're all about human beings earning themselves a place in heaven through their own self-righteousness. The one thing that sets true Christianity apart is, it recognizes the reality that no one can ever possibly be good enough to meet God's standards of perfection through their own effort, which is precisely why Jesus Christ went to the cross for all of us. Jesus did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves."

"You sound like our vicar. He talks about that same issue all the time, and how dangerous it is to combine salvation and discipleship and how churches are preaching a works-based gospel all the time."

"Are you really sure he ought to be the leader of an Anglican church?" William teased.

Liz laughed and told him, "He's talked about that a lot, too. He's told us before that he basically considers himself an Anglican in name only. He staunchly disagrees with much of Anglican theology, and he's always adamantly preached that we are saved simply by trusting in Jesus, not by dedicating our lives to Him or by our good works or by anything that we do personally."

"Practically no church in this world is out there preaching the truth these days, and they certainly aren't holding abusers and sexual predators to account, either."

"As far as abusers and sexual predators are concerned, it's truly a shame we can't load them all up on a shuttle and blast them into outer space," Liz teased, and William laughed.

"We'd certainly be a lot better off, wouldn't we?"

"I would imagine so."

They stopped walking then, and William gazed deeply into Liz's eyes, lovingly pushed a few strands of hair back behind her ear, and said, "Liz, I don't believe I've ever told you this, but it is such so wonderful to finally have a good woman in my life that I can share everything with: my faith in Christ, my ideas and passions, my every thought and dream. I only hope I've made you feel the same way."

Liz smiled and told him, "I've felt that way since day one. You were the last thing I ever expected, and I couldn't have hoped for a more wonderful surprise. I've so loved every moment we've spent together."

"As have I," William agreed, and then they started walking towards Liz's house once again. "Unfortunately," he continued a moment later, "I have some rather bad news."

"What's that?"

"Priscilla and I have to go back to Askana next month – after we attend Gail's wedding, of course," William said with a smile, and Liz smiled in return. "Ever since I accepted my position in our government so many years ago, I have never once taken a vacation. I've never once taken any real time for myself, and largely because of that, I was able to get away for an extended period and come here and have some real time with my daughter. But that time is going to be up next month and Priscilla and I must get back to our lives in Askana."

"I understand," Liz said sadly. "I'll miss you both terribly, but I do understand. You'd told me about your extended vacation time a couple of times before, and I knew it couldn't last forever. I knew the time was coming when you and Priscilla would have to go back home."

"It hasn't been much of a vacation for Priscilla, I'm afraid. As you know, I arranged for her tutor to come with us and our friend Paul, so she hasn't been allowed to miss a moment of her studies."

"I doubt she's been very stressed or challenged by any of them. She's a terribly bright young girl."

"Indeed. I've always admired her intelligence. And her big heart. She's going to miss you."

"I'll miss her as well. I'll miss both of you. Terribly."

"Long-distance relationships can be quite tough. And my position in Askana is extremely demanding. I work very long hours. But I don't want what we have to die out because of the distance between us."

"Relationships only die out if people let them die out, William. And I'm going to tell you the truth. Over these past four months that we've been together, I've had more joy in my life than I've experienced in years. I can't speak for you, but as for me personally, I feel that what we have is far too important to allow it to die. I plan on calling you and Priscilla and writing you constantly."

"And I plan on doing the same. I'm going to call you and write you every single day, Liz, no matter how busy I get with my work."

"So am I," Liz told him sincerely, and then she giggled a bit. "I sure hate to think what our phone bill is going to be!"

"Indeed."

"But it'll be more than worth it to keep in touch."

"More than worth it," he whispered. And then, just as they approached Liz's front garden, William gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, stroked her cheek, and told her truthfully, "I love you, Liz."

"Oh William, I love you, too," Liz whispered. And in the next moment, he kissed her with all the love, tenderness, and passion he could muster, and she returned the kiss with the same fervor. It was then that Emmet came around from the back garden and saw the scene unfolding, and he smiled. After everything their parents and Frank had put his sister through over the years, she more than deserved to be happy now, and it was a joy for Emmet to see it.

However, unbeknownst to Liz, William, or Emmet, somebody else was watching as well, and she was not happy. Hyacinth had stepped outside for a brief moment, and when she spotted Liz and William kissing outside, to say the least, she was not pleased.

"Richard!" she called. "Richard, come out here!"

Knowing better than to disobey one of his wife's orders, Richard hurried outside.

"What is it, Hyacinth?" he asked.

"Look. Look over at Elizabeth's house."

Richard then spotted Liz and William kissing, and he smiled. "Ah yes, Liz and William. Looks like love to me."

"This is most inappropriate!" Hyacinth spat out in an angry whisper as she and Richard went back into their house.

"Why is it inappropriate?" asked Richard after Hyacinth closed the door behind them.

"Her husband's barely been gone a year, and here she is flaunting her new affections for another man for the whole neighborhood to see! It's such a disgrace!"

"I don't think it's a disgrace. Liz is in her own garden, after all, and it is a free country."

"It's not a question of whether or not it's a free country, Richard. It's a question of propriety. She has no right to be carrying on like this so soon after her husband's death. I never will forget the atrocious way they behaved at my afternoon tea with Mrs. Councilor Nugent. Elizabeth is utterly destroying her reputation, and the reputation of this entire neighborhood!"

"I highly doubt that. Elizabeth's a good woman, Hyacinth, and everybody knows that. And you do have to take it into consideration that Liz was all alone here while her husband was living in Saudi Arabia for all those years before he died. Liz has probably been very lonely. I don't think anyone begrudges her having a relationship now. I think we're all just glad to see Liz so happy. Elizabeth shouldn't have to mourn her husband's passing for the entire rest of her life, Hyacinth. She has every right to move on and find happiness."

"Not when it could damage the overall reputation of our entire neighborhood, Richard," Hyacinth insisted. "If a person must engage in outrageous behavior like that, the least they can do is wait until they're behind closed doors."

Richard laughed and said, "I'd hardly call kissing 'outrageous behavior.' Hyacinth, it's really not that serious of a thing. Elizabeth is a grown woman, on her own property. Her husband died fourteen months ago, so she's single again. And she and William are obviously in love. And a grown woman, standing on her own property, has every right to kiss the man she loves if she wants to. And besides, it's not as if any of this is our business anyway, because it's not."

Hyacinth shook her head and complained, "I don't like this, Richard. I don't like it at all."

Before Richard could respond, Hyacinth stormed off into the kitchen.

The following afternoon after church, Liz went over to William's house and enjoyed lunch with him and Priscilla. As soon as they were finished eating, though, William got an important call that he had to take in his office upstairs, so he left Liz and Priscilla alone. Liz helped Priscilla with the dishes, and then they came into the lounge and sat down on the settee together to talk.

"So, your father says you two are going back to Askana next month," said Liz.

"Yeah, that's right," Priscilla said sadly.

"You don't seem very happy about it."

"I'm not," Priscilla told her honestly. "You have no idea what it's like for us there. Most people here in Britain don't know the first thing about Askana. Because of Dad's role in our government, the Askanian press literally watches every single thing Dad and I ever do. The time Dad and I have spent here in England this year is really the only time we've ever been allowed to just be people, just like everybody else."

"I know it's difficult, love. And I know that throughout much of your life, you really have gotten a bum deal. Your father's been very candid with me about what your mother put you through. I know your life hasn't been very easy. And I don't know if this will be very comforting or not, but it's the truth. Priscilla, honey, all the hardships you've endured throughout your young life have helped shape you into the strong, mature, wise, kind, resilient young lady that you are. You're a thoughtful, caring young woman with true character. And what's most important of all, you really do care so much about the people in this world who are hurting the most. And the reason you're like that is because you understand what it's like to endure tremendous pain. Oh Priscilla, I do admire you so much."

"Really?" Priscilla asked as a real light came into her brown eyes.

"Of course I do. You've been through so much, and you've become so strong because of it. You are such a special, wonderful girl."

In that moment, tears filled the young girls eyes as she told Liz truthfully, "Mother never once said anything like that to me. Never. She always found something wrong, something to criticize or complain about, in everything I ever did. Nothing I ever did made her happy. Nothing about me was ever good enough for her."

"You'll forgive me for saying this, but your mother was a fool, my dear girl. Priscilla, like I said a moment ago, you are a wonderful girl. And your mother was ridiculously stupid not to be grateful to God for a gift like you."

Priscilla then leaned over into Liz's arms and embraced her, and much like a mother would with her own daughter, Liz lovingly kissed the top of her head.

"You're not like all the others, Liz," Priscilla told her while still in her embrace.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a ton of single women in Askana who are always throwing themselves at my dad. They want his status and his money. That's all they really care about. You're not like them. You really do care about my dad and me."

After their embrace ended, Liz looked into Priscilla's eyes and told her, "Well of course I do, honey. You and your father mean a very great deal to me."

"I really am happy that you and Dad are seeing each other. Dad has dated other women after he divorced Mother, but like I said, none of them really cared about him the way that you do. You're the first woman Dad has dated since the divorce who really feels like family to me."

Again, Liz hugged her close, and she told her, "You are a very dear, sweet girl."

Priscilla simply looked up at Liz and smiled, feeling more contented than she had in a long time.

Three days later, Liz was concerned after not hearing a single word from William. Throughout their courtship, they'd been speaking to one another at least once a day, so for William to suddenly stop calling her and coming by the bookstore was quite unusual. So that Wednesday, after closing up the bookstore for the day, Liz went by William's house…and got the shock of her life.

Much to her surprise, when she arrived, the front door was wide open…and absolutely everything (and everyone) was gone. There was no trace of their furniture or belongings. There was no sign of either one of them. Liz went through the house calling their names, but every single room she entered was empty. For the longest time, all she could do was just stand there in the empty house, feeling as though she'd been punched in the gut.