Sophia did everything to avoid meeting Henry again the following morning, but she stood, the tip of her freckled nose and the palm of her hand pressed to the freezing window of the ground floor library where she was reading with Aunt Jane's children.

Well hidden in the shadow filled folds of the deep green velvet curtains, her breath mystifying the glass panes just as Henry's presence had mystified her mind, she watched him cast one last, hopeful glance to the upper stories' windows where he most likely expected her bed chamber to be, before he finally climbed inside the elegant carriage carrying his coat of arms.

It was starting to snow, Sophia noticed with a sigh, a thick layer of snowflakes would soon cover Rosings and the surrounding lands, just like time and distance would settle inside Henry's mind, making him forget her even before he reached Dover and his cousin Ferdinand. And it was well, Sophia forced herself to believe, as she, straightening the skirt of her black gown with her hand now as cold as the frosted window panes, left the spot beyond the long drapes and approached her pupils, resting the same hand on the small, blonde curls covered head of one of her three young cousins. A seventeen-year-old impoverished cousin was no match for a rich, dashing duke like Henry Brydges.

Sophia needed to forget him, and she also needed to write a letter to Victoria to warn her; she resolved as she corrected the French pronunciation of the little girl.

*

An anonymous parcel addressed to her reached her aunt's house a week later, but Sophia had no doubt about who had sent it the moment she opened it.

It was the most magnificent ball gown she had ever seen made of the finest silk taffeta and velvet in the colours of winter-- all snow white and ice blue-- and it fit her perfectly when she tried it on later that night, when she was finally alone. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror and blushed, feeling vain, rushing to remove it before her candles burned out, leaving her unable to read in bed.

Henry had sent it, she was certain, and the rascal had guessed her size perfectly. There was no way, and no reason now for refusing to accompany Aunt Jane's family to Windsor for Victoria's Christmas ball. She should definitely go to guard her cousin from Ferdinand personally, she had to, her conscience would not allow her otherwise. That her heart was asking to see Henry just as much as her mind needed to protect the Queen, she would never admit to herself.

*

Sophia, who had never seen a more pompous ball than those held regularly at her Aunt Jane's, felt awestruck when she was introduced and led, by a steward who could have stepped out of the pages of the novels, along with Jane's family into an enormous ball room, one of the countless halls of the Windsor Castle, wonderfully decked out for Christmas.

She dropped her eyes and curtsied to the Queen and her soon to be husband whom she almost hadn't noticed among the many people filling the room, scattered in groups, talking above the softly playing music-- the pleasantly unofficial atmosphere of the Christmas ball surprised her even though she recalled that Victoria had written to her that this one ball would be for her family and the closest friends.

But how was she going to talk to Victoria in private, without raising anyone's suspicion? She regretted now not having sent her a letter of warning after all. But it had felt like betraying her family, her Cousin Henry, namely, when she had written and burned the letter... On the other hand, though, Victoria was her family too, and she needed to know about the boyish conspiracy her two cousins prepared against her...

And where were those two rascals now???

Sophia could see Victoria now walking into the centre of the hall on Albert's arm, from her spot by the wall, next to one of the uncountable Christmas trees. They only had eyes for each other as they started to dance the moment the music grew louder... She was so lost in observing the enamoured Queen that she jumped when Henry suddenly appeared in front of her.

"I am stealing Sophia, Aunt Jane," he called over the loud tones of the piano, plucking her from her aunt's coven even as the older woman smiled and waved at them indulgingly.

"Where is Ferdinand?" Sophia demanded without a preamble as soon as they were out of their aunt's earshot.

"The dress suits you perfectly. You look wonderful tonight, Sophia," he murmured, ignoring her question, leaning in so close that his breath and the feel of his body pressing against hers made her shiver pleasantly.

Goodness, she had missed him, and his closeness felt good, Sophia realised, but she had no time to consider those feelings further, or pause at his, for the first time ever, calling her by her preferred name.

"Thank you, Henry, and for the dress too. However, the only reason I am here is to prevent you from ruining Victoria's happiness," she insisted.

"I thought you said that she was too young to get married to Albert," he said as he turned her around, and paused for a heartbeat, her back to his front, one hand holding her fingers in his, the other pressed flat to her waist, his forehead leaning against her temple making her feel unsure on her legs and scattering her thoughts.

"She is..." Sophia said on a sigh.

"Is she too young for... this?" He teased, shifting her around again, leaning in so as their lips almost touched before he was obliged by the rhythm of the music to twirl her again.

He had almost kissed her!-- she almost wished he had. Sophia had never been kissed, but she knew that his kiss would feel extraordinary, just like those she had read about.

However, she had no time to daydream now. "Where is Ferdinand?" she insisted, forcing her mind to produce coherent thoughts. She had a mission to accomplish, and she would not fail.

"He is not here," Henry finally admitted, smiling at her. "He and Victoria spoke before the ball. When I met him in Dover, he told me that he had just gotten engaged to Maria of Portugal. He left last night; he is on his way to his royal fiancée." Henry shrugged.

Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. So all was well, after all. There was no danger to the Queen; everything had sorted itself out...

"May I have a word, cousins?"

Victoria's voice stratled them both as they stood, motionless, in the middle of the heaving sea of dancing couples, staring into each other's eyes, perfectly lost to the world. They nodded without uttering a word as they followed in her and Albert's wake, across the vast room and into a long and empty corridor.

The sudden silence of the room Victoria led them into felt deafening, just like the darkness filling it, defined rather than dispelled by the small fire burning on the hearth, was momentarily blinding. Sophia didn't quite gather her scattered thoughts until Victoria, her three years older, favourite cousin, a head taller than herself, pulled her in front of the fire and into an embrace.

"Thank you, Sophia, I will always be grateful for your love and loyalty. I know that you only came here today to warn me; Henry had admitted to everything. Boys will be boys, am I right?" She addressed the two men even as she let go of Sophia but kept her at her side.

"It was only meant as a little joke," Henry said, smiling at Victoria before he cast a careful look at Albert.

"Ferdinand would never have a chance," Albert answered good humouredly, making everyone laugh.

"Now that we have cleared this, would you, gentlemen, please leave us alone for a moment? Sophia and I have urgent things to discuss," Victoria said after a while, her large blue eyes pausing first on Henry, then, lovingly, on Albert.

"Come, then, Henry, I have not drunk anything yet tonight, you must reccomend me some of your English wine, I have heard so much about them," Albert said, taking Henry by the elbow, leading him towards the door.

Henry, with a polite bow to the young Queen and a 'I will find you later' look at Sophia, followed him, leaving the two girls alone.

"Here," Victoria whispered conspiratorially the instant the door closed behind the men, producing a large envelope from the mantelpiece. "My Christmas present."

Sophia raised her eyebrows in surprise, opened the envelope, and looked through its contents while Victoria kept talking.

"I am so sorry, Sophia, for not having paid more attention to your situation lately. I would never have found out about your father's misfortunes should Henry not let it slip. But I will be more attentive from now on, I will keep a close eye on your parents and siblings, they will miss nothing, and you will not need to worry about them."

Sophia's eyebrows drew into a pensive frown as she met her cousin's eyes, a large silver ring with several skeleton keys she had pulled out of the envelope full of papers in her hand. "What... is this?" she asked.

"The keys to your freedom. Your dream, Sophia, the one you keep talking about in your letters. I am giving you a house and a bookshop in Brighton."

Sophia gaped at her, not realising her mouth was open in the most unladylike manner until Victoria nudged it gently closed with one gloved hand.

"I am only giving you a choice. It is not much, you must not thank me. What you will do with it is up to you." The Queen smiled, drew her cousin into another embrace, then turned her around to make her face two doors set in the wall opposite the fireplace. "Walk out that door," she said pointing to the far left, "and your dream, becoming who you always wanted-- Sophia Locksley, an independent woman without the shadow of your family looming above you-- will come true. Or choose the other door, and talk to Henry. He had been waiting for you this past week most impatiently, and he is ready to propose to you."

"No..." Sophia breathed, her hand flying to her lips in shock. She had not expected this, Henry knew what she thought about marrying young...

"Yes," Victoria said, giggling. "I told him that you would not accept, not yet, anyway, you are simply too young."

Sophia drew a deep, shaky breath. She tried to picture marrying Henry now, or in a few months, and failed. The rekindled emotions from their childhood, the infatuation they were feeling for each other now, needed time to blossom into love.

The keys she had slipped back into the envelope, which she now clutched to her chest, felt more tempting than marriage at the moment. They were a promise of something unimaginable, something that only happened in books, of freedom she had never really hoped to obtain.

She drew Victoria in an embrace this time before taking the first step towards the distant door on the left, hurrying as she heard the approaching footsteps accompanied by Henry and Albert's voices from the corridor.

"Tell him, please, that I think he is a wonderful man, but I am just... not ready. I need time... I will write to him..."

"Go, Sophia. Live your liberty, enjoy your free choice, even for me. Your carriage is waiting at the garden gate; the valet has all the necessary instructions. And send all your letters for Henry here, I promise I will forward them to him until you choose to tell him where you are. Now hurry, my dearest, brave friend, I can not keep them in that corridor forever."

"I... Thank you, Victoria..." Sophia muttered, her sight blurred with tears of gratitude before she vanished beyond the door.

"Merry Christmas, Sophia," Victoria whispered even as she turned to the other door that had just opened, admitting her beloved Albert, followed closely by Henry.