I am dressed in a giant, overwhelming black dress. On my head sits a hat, with a translucent veil that is thick enough to hide my identity, but thin enough to allow me to see through it. Damon is wearing eye-glasses, a top hat and a manly suit that I think used to be my father's. He is also carrying a cane.

It suits him greatly - and the cane makes for great comedy. Peter and I have been teasing 'the old man' mercilessly for hours now, attempting to ignore the shouts of men working around us, bustling boxes and clothes to their destination somewhere outside the house.

Mother has told us that the 'disguises' we are wearing will help us to remain anonymous to any treacherous souls who might see us and decide to inform Emmanuel and his parents. These outrageous costumes will help us travel without identification. Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, I readily accept anything Mother does to help Damon and I, aching to get out of here and begin my new life with the man I love.

Damon swings an arm around my shoulder for the millionth time today. I look up at him and then can't fight a little chuckle. "Damon, you look so funny in a top hat."

Damon huffs. "I know. I can hardly forget; you have been telling me that all day."

I grin up at him, my happiness running wild with the wind.

Damon uses his free hand to chuck me under the chin. "I am glad your mother decided that her actions were wrong."

I snuggle into his side, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Me too. Without her, we would probably still be apart from each other."

Damon sighs. "I know. Let's not be negative today, Eloise. Today is the beginning of our lives. Soon, I will marry you. We will be together forever."

I nod and then look towards the door as Mother strides in, her cheeks flushed, her hair in disarray. She looks at the two of us and smiles. "Right, you two. The coach is ready for you. Eloise, put your veil over your eyes."

I comply with her wishes, standing up straight and dropping my veil over my face. Damon picks up his cane and straightens his suit, obviously unaccustomed to dressing like this. We follow her out of the house, stopping to embrace Peter in a goodbye that says more than words ever could.

The coach is attached to another coach. The one at the back is probably filled with all the baggage the men were hauling around. Mother strides confidently over to the first coach, stopping and taking me in her arms.

I avert my eyes from the horses; it is too painful to look at them. Their shapely bodies remind me too much of my Chastity.

"I want you to be careful. There are people out there who would hurt you simply for the thrill. Do not take the veil off outside the coach whatsoever, no matter what happens. You will stop a few times in order to freshen yourselves up and have something to eat." Mother informs me, looking intently in my eyes. "Do not talk to anybody, okay? Damon will do everything; you need to remain silent. People do not forget the voice of a Duchess' daughter easily. Be careful, my darling. I love you."

"I love you too, Mother." I say as Mother gathers me in her arms, holding me close to her.

This is the most affectionate she has ever been with me. I revel in the moment, smiling into her shoulder, wrapping my arms around her. Just as I begin to get comfortable, Mother steps back, the corners of her eyes shining.

"Go, now. Go, live your life and be happy. Just remember your old biddy of a mother once in a while, okay?"

"I will, Mother. Thank you." I say.

Damon also hugs Mother and then turns to me, lifting me by the waist so I can sit in the coach.

He bustles in after me. As the coach begins to move, I stick my hand out of the window and wave to the shrinking figures of Mother and Peter. When we near the small slope that will extinguish my home from my view, Damon plants his hands on my waist and pulls me to him, kissing the top of my head.

"Knowing you, you most likely did not sleep well, Ellie." Damon states, wrapping his arms around me after removing his top hat. I push my veil back, relieved to be able to see properly.

"I did not." I admit, playing with the lapel of Damon's suit.

"Well, sleep now." Damon says.

"And waste this time we have together? I think not!" I snort.

Damon raises an eyebrow at me. "Very well, as you wish. Tell me what has been going on since I left."

Not wanting him to know about dark few months I had suffered through, I lay my head in his lap. "Actually, sleep sounds perfect right now."

Damon chuckles, but strokes my hair and hums a soft lullaby once I have closed my weary eyes. To my surprise, I fall asleep almost instantaneously....

When I awaken, the coach is no longer moving.

Damon is staring into the distance, his eyes dark and ominous, his jaw flexing methodically. His shoulders are hunched, his cheeks flushed and his mouth set in a gritted line.

"Damon, is something wrong?" I ask but it is as though Damon is closed off from the world because he does not reply.

I lift my head from his lap and even this does not rouse him from whatever desert of thought he is lost in.

Placing a tentative hand on his shoulder, I ask once more, "Damon?"

Damon jolts out of his reverie and then looks at me.

"Eloise," Damon says in a low, baleful tone. "What was supposed to happen in four months?"

I stare at Damon, my insides burning with shock and trepidation. If Damon finds out, what would he do? "N-nothing, Damon. Why?"

Damon regards me skeptically. "You were talking in your sleep, Ellie. You were asking me to save you before four months were up."

I rake in a deep breath and let out a shaky laugh. "I... I don't know, I was probably spouting nonsense - "

"No." Damon interrupts me. "You do not talk in your sleep unless there is something bothering you. Tell me, Eloise."

"Damon, it is nothing." I insist.

"Eloise Jane Kempston, I did not risk my life twice for you to keep things from me. Tell me what is happening in four months, Ellie."

I look under at my lashes at Damon. "Please, Damon. Do not make me do this."

"Eloise..." Damon says in a warning tone.

I groan. "Why must you be so stubborn?"

Damon just chuckles and then looks at me expectantly.

Unable to see his reaction, I choose instead to look down at my clasped hands. "Well, after they raided the house where you stayed, Emmanuel took me home. He dragged me upstairs, to a window overlooking the stables. Master Phillip and Richard... they... they killed Chastity. They shot her over and over, right in front of me. Then they locked me in a shed for a month. It was cold and damp and dark; I contracted many flus and fevers but nobody cared. When they finally let me out, it was though my soul had been broken. I did not have any hope left. I resigned myself. They wore me down, Damon. They wore me and down and then they struck. They asked me for an heir to the family. I told them that once I was eighteen, I would try. I gave myself, I gave you, four months to come and save me."

When I look up, Damon is staring at me, his eyes burning with a deep intensity. He leans forward, his voice low, "Eloise. I am going to ask you a question. For my sake, answer it honestly."

I nod silently, a little afraid of his threatening demeanour.

"Did that lowlife Emmanuel touch you? Did he force himself upon you?" Damon clenches his jaw, refusing to budge his gaze from my eyes. His nostrils flare in an attempt to control his anger.

I reach out, no longer afraid, brushing my fingers along his taut jawline. "You have nothing to be afraid of, Damon. I did not allow him to come near me, no matter how much of my very essence they drained from me. I would never do that to myself, I would never do that you. I am yours, Damon."

"No." He shakes his head. "It is I who is yours. I belong to you, Eloise. I always have and I always will."

I nod silently, sighing when the fervor in Damon's eyes dims.

Without warning, Damon leaps forward, grabbing me and scooping me into his lap, cradling me in his arms, his eyes closed, mumbling something indecipherable as he rocks us back and forth. Surprised - yet comforted - by his sudden show of affection, I throw my own arms around him and press my face against his cheek, inhaling his familar scent, my insides jumping as his arms tighten their hold on me.

Then, too soon, Damon says, "Come on. The coach driver told me that he has instructed a food stall to remain open. We must go there and get you some food."

I nod and sit up, straightening my hat and dropping the veil over my eyes.

Damon eases out of the coach, nimbly hopping on to the ground. He holds his arms out for me and I fall into their comforting embrace, allowing him to gently let my feet touch the floor.

He brandishes his cane and holds his arm out. "Shall we proceed, m'lady?"

"We shall, sire." I simper, supressing a laugh.

We walk down a cobbled road, the only light provided by the moon and illuminated gas lamps that people have thoughtfully left out by the side of their doors. The night is silent; even the owls are still tonight. It is almost as though the whole Earth has inhaled deeply and is waiting for some occurence that will permit it to exhale. The sound of my shoes and Damon's boots crashing on the cobbles seem too loud; as if they are clattering a warning to us.

But what could go wrong? Damon and I are together now, Mother has approved of him and Emmanuel is all the way in Stonegate.

I push away my foreboding thoughts and focus on Damon's presence, leaning closer to him as we walk, often gazing up at his strong features.

As we walk to this stall that the driver is supposed to have arranged, the wind begins to pick up, whipping around my dress, teasingly batting my veil around. Damon's top hat is also nearly knocked off his head.

"What happened to the weather?" Damon frowns, holding on to his top hat, sheltering me from the wind by stepping slightly in front of me.

If we were in any other situation, I would have rolled my eyes at Damon's instinct to protect. But today, after everything we've been forced to undergo, I enjoy this trait of his and take comfort from it.

"We're nearly at the stall." Damon quips, taking my hand in his and taking a corner into a dark alley.

The darkness is cut by a flickering gas lamp attached to the food stall. The owner of the food stall is waiting patiently, a tolerant yet strained smile pasted on his face. To one side, stands our coach driver, a silent but observant sentry.

As we approach, the owner pushes a pie across the stall in our direction, gazing at the two of us with open curiosity.

A piece of paper attached to the post of the stall catches my attention. I glance at it and my breath catches in my throat. I nudge Damon and he also looks at the paper.

'Missing' it reads in bold, accusing strokes. Under that, the writing says 'Eloise, daughter of Duchess Adeline and wife of Master Emmanuel Colleton has been abducted by this man'. The rest of the paper is covered in two rough sketchings, one of me and the other of Damon.

Leaning closer to me reassuringly, Damon hands me a slice and a napkin, which I use to catch any crumbs that fall as I eat, the image of that paper stuck in my head. There must be hundreds of them. For a few minutes, there is silence; Damon and I are occupied with our pie, the driver is standing guard and the stall owner is staring at us rather brazenly. I find his staring extremely audacious and rude, however, I choose to focus on my food for I do not know when we will eat next.

As I put the napkin back on the stall, a strong gust of wind rushes around me and my veil is swept back, revealing my flushed face.

Damon steps swiftly in front of me, but it is of no use. The damage has been done.

The stall owner's eyes widen and he stumbles away, his back hitting the wall. He raises a shaky finger and points at me. "You - you're the - the Duchess' daughter. You're - you're missing. And I - I found you." He suddenly beams at this realisation. "I found you. Me. Wait right here, I'm going to fetch an officer!"

The man scrambles off, screaming in glee.

The driver of the coach begins to run in the opposite direction but Damon rapidly grabs him by the collar.

"Not that way!" Damon hisses. "The first place they will go is in the direction we came from. We need to go in the opposite direction and circle round to the coach. We will avoid that stall owner this way."

The driver nods fearfully and then, suddenly, Damon has my hand clasped in his and we are running. I stumble over cobbles multiple times and nearly fall many times, but each time, Damon's tight grip lifts me back steadily to my feet.

At one point, we even see the stall owner heading back to the alley with a police officer. Damon had pulled the driver and I into the shadows and all of us had held our breath in trepidation until they had passed.

Then, we had ran faster than before.

I am out of breath as we approach the coach, holding my aching sides. Damon is bent over, his hands on his knees, gasping for oxygen. The driver merely walks over to the horses and pats them comfortingly.

Once he has composed himself, Damon ushers me to the second coach. "You need to change your disguise, everyone will know what you were wearing today by the time the sun rises tomorrow."

I step into the coach, shutting the door behind me. Rows of trunks line both benches of the coach. On the floor, more trunks and boxes and miscellaneous items have been scattered around, making it difficult for me to move around. I open one of the trunks and see a dark blue dress with a high collar. There is a hat with a veil sitting atop it, matching the one on my head.

I quickly slip into it and perch the new hat on my head, eager to escape the musty confines of this coach. As I leave the coach, Damon hops into it, mumbling that he also needs a new disguise. The driver is now sitting in his positions, reins in hand, ready to resume our journey. He looks strangely calm; as though the events of the evening have not fazed him at all.

As for me, I am strangely numb. The events of the past few months were much more horrific and shocking than this. Being hunted down by a measly stall owner and a police officer does not hold much suspense or emotion for me. It is rather menial, as far as I am concerned.

Damon emerges from the second coach, wearing a waist-coat under a suit jacket. He has a gold pocket watch attached to his waist-coat and he is wearing a top hat again. He walks over to me, grabbing me silently by the waist once he has opened the door of the coach. Once he has put me down in the coach, I take a seat.

Damon knocks on the side of the coach closest to the driver and immediately, we begin to move. I settle into my seat and Damon sits beside me, his eyes trained on me, guarded.

I look up at him, "What is it, Damon?"

Damon looks away before replying, "I just want everything from here on to go smoothly. I do not want there to be any problems, any obstacles in our way. I just want it to be you and me, us, together for as long as it can be."

I smile softly, wrapping my arm around his shoulders comfortingly, bringing the side of my face closer to his. I whisper in his ear, "Sleep now, my gentle Damon."

Damon looks at me. "That is what my name means, you know. Damon means gentle."

I nod. "I know. Now sleep."

I sit back and Damon rests his head on my shoulder, his arm curled around mine, his top hat falling on to the floor...