And then, there came a knock from the door behind me.

"Lill? Lill, are you in there?"

Ella! My angel, my darling sister, my life-saver! I love you!

"Yes! Yes, I'm in here."

Something pushed against my back.

"Why won't the door open?"

"Because I'm standing against it."

"And why are you standing against the door?"

"Good question. Have been asking myself the same thing." Like a fox between a regiment of red coats, I slipped between Eve and Flora. Turning, I saw the door open. Ella stood in the doorway, looking from me to Patsy to Flora to Eve and then to me again. When her eyes fell on me, an expression of quiet gravity appeared on her face which I had seen only once before: when our neighbours' cat had gotten squashed by a coach and she had gone to deliver the news to the bereaved family.

"Patsy, Ella, Eve," she said without removing her gaze from me, "would you mind leaving me and my sister alone for a few minutes? There is something we have to discuss in private."

"Sorry, Ella, not right now. We were here first, so we get to talk first." She waved Ella off. "Go off and play, we've got serious things to talk about."

At this, Ella did not quail and shrink back, or hurry off with an apologetic 'I'm sorry to disturb you' as I expected – she raised her chin and met Patsy's eyes.

"So have I, and what I have to say cannot wait. I have to discuss something of the gravest importance with my sister. You will please leave now. You can talk to her after I'm finished."

Patsy's mouth dropped open. She was so surprised that she did something which she had never, ever done before: what she was told. Her feet started moving towards the door, while her eyes were fixed with utter disbelief on the little wisp of a blonde girl ordering her around.

"Err... I see. All right, Ella. We'll see you outside, Lilly." And with a last look at Ella, like a bulldog would look back at the chicken that has just chased him off his yard, she left the room, Eve and Flora in tow.

Closing the door behind them, Ella advanced towards me. She was smaller than me, but still she made me feel like a naughty child as she looked at me with those wide, blue, sincere eyes of hers. Her gaze could have made an archangel confess his secret sins.

"Lill," she said, shaking her head.

I waited for more, but nothing was forthcoming. It seemed she expected me to know what she meant without actually saying it. Clairvoyance, however, was not yet among my many talents.

"Ella," I said, hoping to encourage some further explanation through reciprocal brevity.

"Lill," she said again, with another very graceful and sad shake of the head.

"Ella."

This was getting a bit tedious. I wondered if I should broach a different subject, or for that matter, any subject. But then, it was taken out of my hands.

"Lill, please tell me nothing happened."

Ah! Finally, a variation.

Not that I understood was she meant, but still, it was progress.

"Fine. If you really want me to: Nothing happened. Nothing at all." I rubbed my head, which was still throbbing a bit. "Now can you please tell me when and where nothing was supposed to have happened?"

"Lill!"

"And while you're at it, tell me what kind of nothing happened that was supposed to have actually happened. I am a bit fogged, to be honest."

"Lill, don't joke about this! This is serious!"

"Are you sure? I'm not, because I still don't have the foggiest idea what you're going on about."

At last some life flooded into Ella's face. She stepped forward, grasping me by the arm and shook it.

"Lill, pull yourself together! You were with a man last night, weren't you? That man!"

Actually, I had been with several dozen men, about half of which had been trying to kill me at one time or another. I didn't think it prudent to share this with my little sister, though. For some strange reason my aching head couldn't figure out, she seemed to think that the company of one man was already inexcusable. So I just said: "Yes, I was. What about it?"

Ella sucked in a breath.

"Oh God, Lill! Do you know what could have happened last night? Or... dear merciful Lord, what if it actually did?"

"Certainly I know," I mumbled. The pain wasn't getting better from the shaking. "I could have caught my death in that powder-room. Showers without boilers for hot water should be prohibited by law."

"Showers? Lill, what are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about? I still don't have a clue. You look at me as if you're not sure whether I should be confessing my sins in a month-long session, or thanking God on bending knees for escaping the jaws of hell. What's the matter with you?"

Ella bit her lip, hesitating. Whatever was biting her butt, it was something not easy for her to say.

"Did... it happen last night?"

"It? What it?"

"You know! It!"

"No, I don't know 'it'. I would be happy to make the acquaintance of 'it' and shake its hand, but only after you've explained to me what 'it' is."

"Well... it is... it! You know! It!"

"Thank you for that elucidating explanation, my dear little sister."

Ella bit her lip again. "Just... just tell me... what happened last night. Please."

I groaned. "I'm not actually very sure, you know. My memory of last night is a little vague."

"Oh." Again that lip-biting. This apparently came as an unpleasant surprise to her. No wonder. When you were about to preach to somebody about the grievousness of his sins, it's preferable that the sinner still remembers them. It saves quite a lot of confusion.

"Well... when you came home last night, you were intoxicated. Do you remember that?"

I pressed my hand to the left side of my head. The ache was particularly acute there.

"Oh yes. I remember that."

"And I undressed you and put you to bed. Do you remember that, too?"

"No. I think I might have been unconscious at the time. That sort of thing usually impedes my memory a little."

Ella was immune to sarcasm. It was a very useful skill at times.

"And before that, my dear sister? Do you remember anything of what passed before you returned home?"

"It's all a little hazy," I said, evasively. My quota of good lies had already been used up for the day. Plus, my head wasn't feeling its best today.

"You went to see him, didn't you?"

I blinked in confusion. "Him? Him who?"

"You know perfectly well who I mean! You went to see him! The young man you have been seeing."

"Oh, him!" Right! I had given Ella some vague hints about Mr Ambrose hadn't I? She thought he was an admirer of mine. Sometimes it was really hard to keep track of one's own lies and fibs.

"Don't try to deny it," Ella told me, looking up at me with those big, blue, sincere eyes of hers. "You went to see him, and he... and he... oh Lilly!"

Suddenly, her arms were around me and she was crushing me to her with all the force she was capable of. Luckily, she was no Patsy.

"I can't bear it any longer! Please! Simply tell me Lill! You have to tell me! I won't judge you, I promise! I know you would never, before marriage... Not Willingly! Just please! Please tell me! I mean... He... you... did he... did you... did the two of you..."

My eyes went wide. Abruptly, it began to dawn on the excuse for a mind stuffed into my aching head what exactly Ella was talking about.

"No! No, no, nonononono! No, not ever! Never! Not in this lifetime or a thousand others, or if I were a bee and he a spring flower full of yummy pollen! No, no, nonononono No!"

I shook my head so vigorously my brown hair bounced around like chocolate come to life and I was in danger of head-butting Ella. I didn't care! The idea of Mr Ambrose and me... doing that—well, it was too horrible to think about!

Really? Are you sure about that? asked a little voice at the back of my mind.

I told it to shut up.

Ella pushed me away a few inches, just enough to be able to look me in the face. Hers was shimmering with tears.

"Really? Are you sure?"

She sounded eerily like that little voice in my head.

"I think I would have noticed, Ella. I wasn't that drunk."

"Oh. Um... well, good."

We stood there for a few moments, not knowing what to say—then Ella suddenly pulled me against her and started sobbing again.

"Hey! I told you! My virtue is safely under lock and key!"

"I know!" Ella wailed. "I'm crying from relief!"

"Oh. You could have fooled me."

"Shut up!"

"If you insist."

"Never do anything like that to me again!"

"All right. Next time I'll get drunk I'll be sure to be much more promiscuous."

"Oh Lill! Shut up!"

I could count the number of times my little sister had told me to shut up during my lifetime on the fingers of one hand. Anne and Maria were doing it constantly, but Ella? If she was being bossy, I really must have upset her. Tentatively, I put my arms around her and pulled her close.

"What did he do to you?" She sobbed.

"I told you. Nothing," I soothed, patting her head.

"I don't mean that! I mean what else happened to you? What about the drink? What did that vile man make you consume?"

"Ella, it's not like that. He didn't make me, I..."

"Don't you dare defend him!" Letting go of me, she stared up at me, her face wet with tears. "You didn't see yourself last night. You didn't see what had happened to you. Oh, Lill!"

"Ella, I..."

"I know you love him—"

O really?

"—but you can't defend what he has done."

Don't intend to while you're glaring at me like that, trust me.

"I thought he was good for you, Lill, I thought he loved you, but a man that can do that to a girl is not worth a grain of feeling. Please, Lill, I know it must be painful, but try to rid yourself of those feelings. They will only hurt you. He will only hurt you."

I felt almost like laughing. Poor Ella! If she only knew that all her concerns were for nothing. If she only knew that there was no special man in my life, certainly no man who could do anything to hurt me.

An image of Mr Ambrose's hard, chiselled face flashed across my inner vision. Suddenly, I didn't feel so much like laughing anymore.

"Please, Lill! Won't you try to forget him? For me? Please?"

She looked so forlorn, so torn apart by anxiety. What could I do?

"Of course." Tightening my arms, I pulled her towards me. For some reason, tears started to prick my eyes too, and as our cheeks touched as we hugged, our tears mingled. "I've learned my lesson. Don't you fear. Everything will be all right. Everything will be just fine."

"Oh Lill!"

"Shh."

Gently, I held her in my arms and rocked her from side to side until her sobs had subsided. The Rocking made my head ache, but seeing her like this made my heart ache, and that was far worse.

Reaching around me, Ella gently stroked my hair.

"I... I'm sorry. I know I'm asking a lot of you. I know it must not be easy to give somebody up, when you feel about them this strongly."

Feel strongly? Did I feel strongly about Mr Ambrose? I had, on more than one occasion, wanted to take him by that short, shiny black hair of his and slam his head into a wall. But those probably weren't the kinds of feelings Ella was referring to.

"Yes. It will be very difficult to stay away from him." Particularly since I want to see a paycheck from him at the end of the month, and he isn't going to cough it up if I'm not there, doing my job. "Almost impossible. But I'll try."

And I'll fail. But you don't need to know that.

"Oh Lilly. Thank you!" Once more, she hugged me with a ferocity I would not have suspected could fit into her small, slender form. "It may cause your heart terrible agony now, but you will see, it is for the best."

She let go of me. Relief was shining out of her still watery eyes, but it was mixed with apprehension.

"You won't blame me for this, later, will you?" She asked, fearfully. "You won't say I was terribly harsh and robbed you of your love? Please, Lill, I couldn't bear it if you thought that of me. I'm only trying to look out for you. And it's not as if I don't understand what you're going through. I and Edm-"

Her lips clamped shut, and her eyes widened in shock.

I knew perfectly well whose name had almost escaped her mouth. Immediately, my headache was pushed to the back of my mind, my attention focused. Could it be that not all her tears were for my sake? Was she afraid of her approaching elopement? Had she found out when it was to take place? Dread flooded my chest. Imagining my life without my little sister... it was a barren prospect.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about anything like that," I said with an airy wave. "I know you were only giving me good advice – stay away from men. And why not? They are all beasts anyway, the whole lot of them."

Ella's cheeks flushed. "Some are not so bad. A few can be really nice."

Probably in particular if their names began with "Edm". But I didn't voice my thoughts out loud. Instead, I said:

"I won't ever start to hate you, Ella. How could I? You're my little sister, the one who has always been there when I needed someone to talk to, or to undress me because I was passed out drunk..."

"Lill!"

"You get my point. I could never, ever hate you." I gave her a final hug – and inspiration struck me. "I will heed your advice," I continued. "But you must promise me something in return."

Curious, Ella looked up. "What?"

"You must promise me to learn from my example. Never do anything rash or improper where a man is concerned. Never. Promise me."

What little colour there was in Ella's ivory face drained away as if she'd seen a ghost.

"I..."

There was hesitation in her voice. I never would have thought it possible. Ella hesitating, where honour and propriety were at stake? Blast! Things with Edmund had to be even worse than I had suspected. Or better, from his perspective. But I wasn't very inclined to see things from his perspective at the moment.

"Promise me," I said, putting emphasis on both words.

"I... Lill..."

Behind us, there came an interrupting knock from the door. I wasn't remotely as pleased about this as I had been the last time.

"Yes!" Ella called in an eager voice. "Yes, enter!"

Slowly, the door open, and Leadfield stuck his bald head into the room.

"Breakfast is served, Miss Ella, Miss Lilly."

Ella was out of the room before I could demand her word again.

I remained, alone in the room where she and I had slept, laughed, cried and simply spent time together for years and years. For the first time I asked myself whether soon, I would be alone here.

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My dear Lords, Ladies & Gentlemen,

The moment has finally come! The day has arrived to throw a big Victorian ball and celebrate the conclusion of the big Storm & Silence Fan-Art contest! Thank you very much, everyone, for participating & sending me big boatloads full of marvelous images! My thanks similarly goes to all those who sacrificed some precious free time to cast their vote on the numerous submitted artworks! You have spoken, and I, Sir Rob, have listened. The official winners of the contest have been found! I counted all the various retweets of the various iamages on my twitter profile, and  I have concluded that these are the final results! **drumroll** Here are all the winners of the  great contest, the artists who produced your favorite portraits of of Lilly & Mr Rikkard Ambrose:

3. The amazing @amy_ren101 - 72 Votes (55 + 17)

2. The wonderful @jdbscutie - 231 Votes (193+38)

And, with a massive 257 votes  (192+65)  on 1ST PLACE, now wearing Sir Rob's official laurels of victory, the incredible, masterful, magnificent @powerpuffpits!

The most popular runners-up who definitely deserve an honourable mention are:

@Ethereal_Rogue

@linsarah44

Three cheeers our wondeful artists! :)

Yours Truly

Sir Rob