Prologue 1

A/N: I am in a fandom I never thought I would find myself in. Then again, I am not exactly writing for the main pairing, which will not play much of a role in this story at all. I have done the research; I know that the historic personage that I am using for the pairing was engaged at the time. For the purposes of the story, he is single. This is the first of two prologues. A massive thank you goes to The Cowgirl Bookworm for helping me getting it all together and helping me make sure everything comes out correctly for the era. Any translations of Welsh in this chapter are from Google Translate. Hope you enjoy the start. Sparky She-Demon.

June 1893, Wales, United Kingdom.

Roland had been gone since midmorning with Harry. Ever since the news of Great Uncle Robert's death in Colorado, and the inheritance of three gold mines, and a dozen apiece of silver and copper mines, plus the 20 million US dollars, things had been chaotic in the Lethbridge home, getting ready for the move. Albert suspected that Cecily was also out of the house, likely trailing after the boys, much to their annoyance. No pair of ten-year-old boys wanted a seven-year-old girl following them around, no matter how occasionally tolerant they were of her presence. So they had probably gone off the beaten path to try to avoid Cecily. Which, knowing his daughter, would only made her more determined to find them.

With both of his children spending as much time outdoors as much as possible, committing as much of their childhood home to their memories as humanly possible, they were not underfoot of the packers and movers.

Just as he was about to leave the back room, Albert heard creaking of the back gate and the slapping of bare feet on the stones. Three distinct sets of feet as a matter of fact. Why were Roland, Cecily, and Harold coming in the back when they could have just as easily come in the front?

"Why were you spying on us?" That was Roland.

"I wasn't spying on you two. You were just skipping rocks." Cecily replied.

"Will you two be quiet? Do you want to get caught?" Harold was definitely there, trying to keep the peace.

When Albert finally got a good look at the children, but was still in a position to not be seen by them, shock and amusement hit him: All three of them were soaked to their skin and were in the process of removing their shoes, socks, in Cecily's case stockings, and drying their hair.

"How did you get up that tree in your dress?" Harold asked.

"Same way you would Harry: I climbed," Cecily was now wringing out her hair, having unbraided it.

"Girls don't climb trees," the other boy countered. Roland nodded in agreement.

"Just last week, you two said I was not a girl," his daughter had quite a satisfied grin on her face.

Deciding that now would be a good time to reveal his presence, Albert said, "Get inside. All of you. Roland, once you're in dry clothes go collect a switch."

As his daughter started snickering, he continued on with, "Just wait till your mother sees you!"

The snickering ceased immediately as Cecily bolted upstairs in her haste to avoid her mother's wrath.

He then turned to the second boy, "Come on inside. Once Roland is done getting dressed, you can borrow some of his clothes while yours dry."

As much as Roland liked wearing his sailor outfit, he still wished that it did not match Cecily's. Both were dark blue with white piping. As soon as their mother wasn't looking, the pair of them removed their hats.

The goodbyes had not been fun. Neither he nor Cecily had the easiest of times making friends. But compared to Cecily, he was a social butterfly. His sister was painfully shy around other people that were not family or those that she did not already know. At least Cecily had her violin lessons, which she was already showing a great deal of talent in. His own music lessons focused on singing, which Cecily would soon be accompanying him in.

Her goodbyes to Harry after his had been weird, making his parents smirk. When Roland had asked what had been so funny, his father said he would tell him when he was older.

The closer they got to Liverpool, the more anxious he could see Cecily get. While Roland was ecstatic about being on board a ship, she was eying the approaching harbor with considerable apprehension.

"What is wrong chwaer bach?" he queried, pulling lightly on the emerald green ribbon holding back his sister's nut-brown hair from her face.

"What if the ship sinks?" Cecily replied in a small voice.

"If the ship sinks, I promise I will rescue you. I won't let you out of my sight the entire voyage I promise."

At that, she relaxed a little, curling into his side. This really was the beginning of a grand adventure.

Roland hoped that neither of them got seasick.

January 1897

It would have been a matter of time, but did mother have to die on Christmas Eve?

Denver Colorado had not been kind to Maeve Lethbridge's lungs. The change in altitude and the cold air kept her inside most days even in high summer. In the winters, it was only going to Mass on Sundays that got Cecily's mother out of the house.

In the end, it had been a bout of pneumonia. It had started around Roland's birthday, and a few days later, the two of them were forbidden from seeing their mother, even their father was barely allowed in.

Smoothing the white dress that she had worn for the funeral, Cecily looked up to the mirror. Like Roland, she favored their father's side of the family, though in her case, she got one thing from her mother: her bright jade green eyes.

The High Funeral mass had been long. The incense had made both her and Roland sneeze. Now it was time for the reception. Black crepe was on everything that could stand still.

While Cecily milled about, she spied several women eying her father with avarice. Her mother wasn't even five hours in the grave, and they were already looking at her father for remarrying!

Before she could go off on one of them, Cecily decided that it would be a better idea to head upstairs to practice her violin. Her skill with the instrument was another thing she had inherited from her mother. Roland had gotten her singing ability. Besides, playing right now made her feel closer to her mother.

"What's going on Cecily?" It was Aunt Mina, who had only just gotten to Denver this morning from Wales.

"I suppose it was too much to expect that my leaving went unnoticed? It was either me leaving or going off on one of the women circling dad," she hissed without missing a beat.

"Your father can deal with those women. Besides, I believe Mrs. Brown and your housekeeper Sra. Montoya were handling the less discrete ones."

"You mean the bints who want dad for his for his money," Roland had strolled in, picking at his tie.

"Your father is not planning on remarrying. He's got a plan. Several, as a matter of fact. And no, you two do not need to know any of them!"

"Will he require our assistance in any of them?" Cecily inquired. She knew she had an evil grin on her face that matched the one on Roland's.

"No he does not. I am going to bring you two back down to the kitchens. I believe Rafaela has some good food for the two of you. Now scoot!"

A/N 2: Here ends the first prologue. I want to get the second one up as soon as I can. I won't get into the casting till I'm in 1912.