Dedicated to dilwidit

Needless to say, I spent the next hour dancing with any man my aunt could pair me up with, but most of them refrained from returning after their feet had been 'temporarily put out of service' by yours truly, while I looked around for Captain Carter. It seemed that he had either left the ball with his friends, leaving me to bear the torture of dancing with all those nimwits by himself, or had perfected the art of disappearing at his will.

My thoughts flitted from looking out for Lord Dalgliesh to Mr. Ambrose, and often settled on Ella, who seemed to be tired out of her wits, as almost every man attending the ball wanted to dance with my poor sister. Whenever the hands of anyone of them decided to wander, I would make sure that his next dance was with me. All that left me with lots of grateful looks from Ella, and a number of perverts to get rid of, so no wonder that my aching feet soon moved towards the only source of relief in the ball room, the chocolate table.

Cursing the whole species of chauvinist idiots to hell, I put a piece in my mouth when the Captain chose to appear. He looked at me with apologetic eyes, but seemed to be nervous and his usual cheerfulness also seemed forced.

Why was he nervous? I had got a perfectly fine excuse of being in the enemy's lair, and yet he seemed more nervous than me. Perhaps there was some problem...

"Miss Linton, am I forgiven?" Oh, he must think that he was in trouble for disappearing!

I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a smile in mock anger, "You left me alone in the hands of the devil, to dance with other chauvinist fools, as a medium of torture, and disappeared without a word when I needed you the most, and now you ask for forgiveness? A friend in need is a friend indeed, but where were you? Did you really think that I would not forgive the only male friend I have and cherish?"

I grinned at the relieved smile that he gave me, and soon joined me to appreciate the piece of heavenly delight that is solid chocolate. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the song came an end, and the lively tune of a gallop was played by the musicians. I turned to Captain Carter, with a mischevious grin on my face, only to see him give a similar smile to me. He held out his hand and spoke, "Shall we?"

Giving him a nod, we made our way to the dance floor, and soon started the wildest dance ever invented, and a few indiscreet death threats and glares learnt from the frost king himself, ensured that the gallop lasted for nearly an hour. What fun we had! After tiring out myself with the slow monotonous dances with other men and the encounter with Lord Dalgliesh, I enjoyed myself with the best form of exercise ever. We both danced until our legs ached, and we collapsed on the chairs kept near the chocolate table.

I nibbled on pieces of the irresistable sweet, while we talked about random things, and the adventures he had had in Greenland, which were nothing but tales of fun and merrymaking. A part of me wished that I had been there with him, to play in the sparkling snow and make snowmen, snowballs and snow forts, but another part knew that I would have never given up the chance to go on an adventure with Mr. Ambrose, even if it was to hell and the other option was heaven, but without him. There was something which pulled me towards him, and I was not going to let that something between us go, at any cost.

"...and he fell into the icy cold pond, shivering in the blizzard, coat and scarf and all!" Captain Carter's laughter brought me back from the thoughts of Mr. Ambrose and I joined in his merry laughter at the little pranks he and his friends had played on each other, a geniune smile playing on my lips.

I caught Ella's eye and she winked at me, smiling with joy as she stood with Aunt and my other sisters. I gave her a confused smile, and when she looked pointedly at Captain Carter beside me, and mouthed 'secret lover', I mentally facepalmed.

Spiffing! Absolutely great! Now she thought that the secret lover with which I spent my entire day was Captain Carter! He was just my friend!How could I explain it to her to not blurt it out to my beloved Aunt, that I was in love the Captain, while in reality I slaved around, fetching files for the cold miser? Join that to the threat from the host of this ball, honestly, could I get into any more trouble tonight?

My Aunt caught my eye and called me over, apparantly we were leaving. Finally. Not that I did not enjoy myself with the captain, but I wanted to really rest my aching legs on my bed, and curl up to sleep for another whole day.

Turning to Captain Carter to tell him goodbye, I was definitely surprised to see him nervous again. His fingers tangled and untangled themselves again and again, as he gave me a weak smile.

What was the matter with him? Was there a problem? Was he sick or-

Before I could furthur worry about my friend, he took my hand in his big one and tugged me towards my family. I looked at him curiously.

"What happened? Is there a problem?"

"No, no problem. Just come with me now. I'll expain it to you later." He seemed too nervous for there to be any good news. Perhaps he was going on another faraway mission...No. One look at him and that option was out. Hmm...Was he resigning from the army? Or had he got into some trouble?

As I thought over the possibilities, we soon faced my Aunt, who, for once, did not look at me like I was tarnishing her reputation and honour by even breathing, while she directed a sugary sweet, fake smile towards the captain, who returned a much less sweet version of his own. I avoided Ella's gaze, which was pointedly shifting from me to Captain Carter and back. Blast!

"Captain Carter! Pleasure to meet you. I hope you enjoyed the evening with my favourite niece." She purred in the sweetest tone that I never knew she ever had. Any more sweet and I would not be surprised if solid sugar started crytalizing, right then and there!

"Mrs. Brank, the pleasure is mine. I certainly enjoyed myself with Ms. Linton here, and if you would allow me, can I borrow her for a few more minutes? I'll drop her home in my carriage, you need not worry about that." He looked at her hopefully, while Aunt nearly pissed herself with joy! I swear, I could almost see her counting the profits she would make if Captain Carter wanted to court and marry me. One girl off her hands, five others to go...Too bad that he was just my friend.

Anne and Maria shot wistful looks at the Captain, and disbelieving ones at me, as if they were unable to believe the simple fact that Captain Carter wanted to spend any time with yours truly. I ignored them, as well as the knowing smile Ella gave me and turned to look at the captain. Something in his behaviour was getting fishy tonight...not only fishy, but an entire sea of all aquatic animals, and I was determined to get to the core of this little problem.

"Of course, Captain. I'm sure she would be delighted to enjoy your company for some more time tonight. Goodnight, Captain. I hope to see you soon. " She gave him a smile so sweet that I nearly puked, but straightened when she shot me a warning glare to not ruin this for her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Goodnight, Mrs. Brank. And thank you for your generousity." She smiled at him and turned to left, after giving me another icy glare. Thankfully, I was immune to it, all credit to the cold glares from my miserly employer.

My thoughts involuntarily turned to him. A part of me missed seeing him today; I was used to having him glare at me whenever I annoyed him.

See, you just admitted that you are missing him...

Blast! You are back! Couldn't you stay away for some more hours and let me rest in peace?You are so infuriating! And by the way I never said that I missed him, just that I was too used to my weekday routine.

Really? Don't lie to yourself now, Lilly.

I ignored that last comment of the annoying voice in my head and looked at Captain Carter. Turning to me, he spoke, "Shall we take a walk in the refreshing night air outside?"

I must admit, Lord Dalgliesh had got quite a beautiful garden, to say the least. The trees made dark shapes against the twinkling stars in the night sky, and the leaves rustled against each other, whispering with the wind. The wide variety of flowers danced beautifully in the soft breeze, almost glowing in the moonlight.

I was busy drinking in the sight of natural beauty in front of me, which was why I did not notice the captain go down on one knee in front of me, until he took my hand into his. But when I did, I paled at the sight of a beautiful solitaire ring in his other hand. It glinted in the silver moonlight, and the diamond sparkled brilliantly, even in the dim light in the garden.

What! Was he really going to propose to me? Captain Carter? I had always thought of him as only a friend, and nothing more. Not that he was not good enough for me. Not at all. In fact, from a purely hypothetical view, he was quite handsome and the perfect gentleman. Even though I could easily imagine a future with him, happy and content,there would always a piece of me missing, it was almost painful to imagine a world of mine without a pair of cold sea green eyes. Even if we both were opposites like ice and fire, we still fit together like we were made to.

But until today he had never admitted to having feelings for me, a proposal was still far away. And who knew if I would ever get a chance like this again, my handsome, charming and eligible friend was proposing to me, and I would have no problems to spend the rest of my life with him. But was I ready to let him go, at the risk of a chance in a million, of an imaginary and impossible proposal from Mr. Ambrose?

"Miss- Lilly, you have captured my heart ever since I met you for the first time, at Lady Metcalf's ball. I know not how I slowly fell for you, your feminist ideals, your hot headed charms, your love for solid chocolate, and last, but not the least, your brown eyes like melted chocolate that I have come to love. I promise to forever love you and keep you happy, not as merely my wife, but my equal." He looked at me with hopeful eyes and spoke the words I had so dreaded, "Will you marry me?"

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Dear Ladies and gentlemen,
I am so sorry for the late update, but I swear this terminal exam is pressuring me like hell! It is still less than two weeks away, but I have not even done halfway with my portion!
Thank you so much for 460 reads and 50+ votes! That too in just 6 chapters? I love you all!
Anyways, how was the twist? Do you think Lilly will say yes? Or how will she put him down gently, after she has always chased away men with heels and parasols? Any guesses? Any suggestions or corrections?
Stay tuned for more action and drama! Au revoir,
Ifrit5789❤