Dedicated to maddycolton

" Captain Carter!"

The cheerful voice of the captain greeted me as I made out his shape in the semi darkness behind the curtains. His easy smile, fun sense of humour and willing acceptance of my feminist principles made him the only male friend I ever had or could tolerate without making me wish to jab him with a sharp parasol.

His appearance also relaxed some of my panic about answering Lord Dalgliesh. He would not dare to ask me about Mr. Ambrose and Mr. Linton, in the presence of another, would he? Or perhaps I could simply dance with Captain Carter and avoid him for the evening!

The idea of a gallop with Captain Carter along with the prospect of not having to face Lord Dalgliesh considerably brightened my dark mood as I grinned at tbe captain.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission to Greenland along with your fellow mates?"

His smile only widened in response, "Miss Linton, aren't you too supposed to be on the dance floor now, looking for possible suitors while crushing that poor man's feet into pulp?" Both of us burst in to laughter before remembering that others in the ball may be spooked out on realising that a curtain was laughing at them.

Coming out of the curtains, I swept my eyes on the dance floor to look for the Lord, before moving towards the table on which the bits of heavenly flavour were calling out to me. Captain Carter merely chuckled when he realised where were we headed before following me. Grabbing two pieces, I handed him one while I put mine in my mouth.

Savouring the sweet delicacy, all thoughts of Lord Dalgliesh, Mr. Ambrose and trouble flew out of my mind as I closed my eyes in bliss.

"Miss Linton, can I have the honour of your company for this dance?" My eyes flew open at the sound of Lord Dalgliesh's voice, and I nearly choked on solid chocolate. He stood in front of me , a smile in his face

Bloody hell! What was wrong with this man? Couldn't he leave me alone in peace with my solid chocolate? Also, he had chosen an appropriate place to ask me; many of the guests were looking towards the lucky lady, or unlucky me, in this case, who had a chance to dance with the Lord Dalgiesh, the second richest and powerful man in the British empire, the ruler of an entire subcontinent and the owner of his private army, so I wasn't sure that I would be surviving the night if I denied him.

That is, completely ignoring the fact that dearest Aunt Brank would be so disappointed and sad if I denied yet another potential suitor. Not. I would not even raise an eyebrow if she decided to torture me to death, bring me back to life, and then strangle me if I denied him and brought disgrace upon the so called honour of the family in society.

I cast a forlorn look at Captain Carter and placed my hand, unwillingly, I might add, into the extended hand of Lord Dalgliesh. The nerve of this man!Really, his hand had been outstreched even before I had looked at him! As if he knew that I had no choice but to accept his offer for another dance. As if the first one had not been uncomfortable enough.

As he led me to the dance floor where a slow melody had been struck, my subconscious did not fail to notice the similarity of the sense of authority and confidence with which both Mr. Ambrose and Lord Dalgliesh presented themselves. Even though it was eerily same, a part of me agreed that it really suited Mr. Ambrose, while it seemed out of place with the so called friendly Dalgliesh.

Even his hands on my waist were too close for comfort as he held my hand in his other one. I felt almost repulsed by the touch, my hands used to another gentle, yet firm ones holding me, caressing me..

Hello? Concentrate on the enemy, Lilly. Now is not the time to daydream about Mr. Ambrose. You have many nights for your fantasies.

Excuse me! I do NOT fantasize about my thickskulled employer of mine! No, not at all!

Silence from the voice in my head. A very, very meaningful silence.

Perhaps a teensy weensy bit, I corrected myself. Hey, wait! Why was the voice in my head starting to sound, or rather not making a sound, like Mr. Ambrose?

I was brought back from my musings by his voice, polite, yet threatening. " Miss Linton, please don't mind my asking this, but out of mere curiousity, may I ask, where your brother live? Or perhaps, what does he do for a living?"

Ah. The panic was back, now twice as worse as before. Should I answer him that I don't know, or perhaps a 'You may not ask.' , should suffice? Did he really doubt that Mr. Linton and Ms. Linton were the same?

Blast! Blast and double blast him! That son of a bachelor had not even appeared, leaving me to handle his business rival and enemy, who was hell bent upon interrogating me to the point where I might bash his head in, or simply tell him that I work for Mr. Ambrose. Bah! The latter was as possible as Mr. Ambrose being emotional, which is, you guessed it, impossible, so he could keep dreaming!

I nearly glared at him, before I realised the advantage of a dance with him. Giving him a sickly sweet smile in response, I stamped my foot upon his leg, in an absolutely unladylike manner, before pretending to be aghast about it.

"I am so sorry, Lord Dalgliesh! Are you hurt?" I really should have been an actress, I was born with the talent, after all!

There! He had his curiousity answered, so unless he wants to leave the dance floor crippled, he better keep his curiousity to himself!

His smile only flickered, and nearly gave way to an furious expression and I nearly flinched away from the hatred in his eyes, before he put on his calm and polite mask as he answered me.

"It's fine. I am sure it happened accidently, didn't it?" This time his threat was not so subtle, but if he thought that I would back down, then he could shove that thought up where the sun doesn't shine! I returned his polite smile with another fake apologetic one of mine. Apology, my foot! He could attempt to kill me and Mr. Ambrose and then behave like the perfect gentleman, then he could keep his manners to himself! If he wanted a war, then he would get it!

"Yes, I just tripped over my dress and missed the step. I hope I am forgiven." Ha! I stepped on his other foot once again, before he could start his interrogation, and grinned at him as he did not even flinch in protest, but his eyes glinted dangerously. He pressed my hands with a firm grip as I tried to squirm out of his hands, until I nearly grimaced from the pressure.

He released my paining wrists abruptly as the song came to an end, and I glared at him, cursing him under my breath. Bloody hell! As much as I hate to admit it, he was strong! I glared at the chauvinst, fake bastard as I rubbed my now red hands together.

I really hoped that there would be no heavy files to carry tomorrow, or I was sure to drop a few here and there, with my hands aching like hell. Probably not. Knowing that bloody unreasonable and hard headed employer of mine, he would make me climb the stairs upto his office, only for him to tell me that I was fired for taking a day off without prior permission!

Lord Dalgliesh surprisingly took a step towards me, and leaned towards my ear as I stood stiff, not quite knowing how to react.

"If I were you, I'd probably come clean about the relation between you and Mr. Ambrose, as soon as possible. And also tell him to stop searching for the file. If he doesn't, then I don't think anyone will be fond of the repercussions." His voice was not above a whisper, yet every word was a threat, a dangerous one, from a person who had apparently no qualms about carrying it out. He even had the power and money in his acquisition, so one thing was sure, it was no empty threat.

And there! There was the file again! Even Lord Dalgliesh knew about it! It felt like everyone knew about it, except for me! What the bloody hell was in that blasted file of his? If Mr. Ambrose really thought that he could take this secret with him to the grave, then he'd better start digging it himself! That chavinist, useless, semi-human machine! He was really going to need it if I did not come to know what was in the file upto tomorrow evening!

I looked into the dangerously cold eyes, threatening me, and gave him one of the best quality, ice cold, fire freezing glare I could muster, as he smiled at me.

"Goodbye Miss Linton. I hope you enjoy the ball." He turned around and left as I glared a hole in his back, seething with anger. The nerve of that man! Threatening me! Threatening Lilly Linton! A half hour with him in a soundproof room along with me, Patsy and a couple of sharpened parasols would do the trick nicely, thank you very much. For the second time in two days I exhausted my very extensive list of curses and profanities as my eyes wandered around out of their own will to search for the familiar sea green pair of eyes, before giving up the futile search. He was probably not foolish enough to walk into the direct trap of his nemesis, but why was it causing a wave of disappointment to take over me?

Ignoring my throbbing heart, I looked for my dearest sister Ella, in case she needed rescuing from any nutcase my aunt had told her to dance with. A soft smile took over my frown as my thoughts wandered around the nights we both had spent in the garden, me in my secret hiding bush, and she in the arms of her lover, Edmund. Chastely, obviously. I was her elder sister, and it was my duty to look after her safety, even if it meant taking out her lover with a whack in the head, just in case he got too close to her.

Hypocrite. Haven't you often got 'a bit too close' to Mr. Ambrose, and always loved it? On a bit too many instances?

Ahem. I am going to ignore you, so its no use interrupting me again and again. So shut up.

Although, now that I am thinking about it, I missed feeling his soft, warm and gentle lips on mine, his comfortable, strong arms around me...

See. I told you.

Uhm. No. I just did not have that last thought. You only imagined it. Yeah, right. You only imagined that. Fine, I'm not thinking about him anymore, see, I am going to find Ella or Captain Carter and have some actual fun tonight.

Fine. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Ugh! You are impossible!

Aren't we both the same person?

God. I give up.

I looked for the familiar blonde head of my sister in the bobbing crowd in the ball room, when my eyes met the glaring pair of my favourite and beloved Aunt Brank, and I gulped as she observed the lack of presence of either Lord Dalgliesh or Captain Carter at my side.

Uh oh.