Chapter 1

A Chapter by Ashton A.

This is a story. Like most, it has a beginning, middle, and an end. It has a plot, characters, conflict and ending. But there is something this story has that few others have...

Soul, pure emotion, and passion beyond it's time.

Yet, it is but a simple love story. One that may seem quite conventional at first glance. No, there are no evil step mothers, no knight in shining armor, no happily ever after. There is only greed, pain, death and heart ache.

If you are expecting anything different, stop reading immediately.

This tragic twist of events does not start out so tragic. It begins in London, England towards the end of the 19th century. It was a time of great innovation and high society, yet also of disease and filth. Yes, Survival of the physical kind was tough enough, but how it dwarfed in comparison to surviving the social aspect.

Classes were parted in to three basic classes as they are presently: Lower class, who were on their own, trying to survive on the filthy streets, getting by selling cheap goods or doing dirty work for small pay or even a meal. The middle class was better off in the sense that they could hopefully afford to have fairly decent meal every evening. They worked for a living, their children destined to continue in their footsteps. Or if luck shined upon them, they may seek a higher education, for the hope of a brighter future. Finally, there was high class. High class was for those born into a position of power, or for those who built themselves up enough to be important to society. Even those who had initiative to try to create a business empire from the ground up would have a hard time making it big. The only chance of success would be due to luck, connections and word of mouth. That meant attending every garden party, hunting trip, ball, play or any other event to socialize with higher classmen, so that you may stick your foot in the door and build up your name.

As you can see, class position was hard to manually put into place. It mostly depended on luck. Pure luck, whether you were born of high class or low. One of our Protagonists was lucky enough to be born into a standard above middle class, yet she was cursed for her background. Her name was Adele Ellie Williams.

The Williams family was one of the most respected and feared names in past years. But it has recently been tarnished, in fault of the current generation.

Charles Williams, Adele's father, was next in line to proudly head up the family's trading company, carrying on the reputation and quality they had been serving for years now. His father had decided to make him his official predecessor once he married the daughter of the Bridgman Family. The Bridgeman's were a large family line full of Dukes and Counts. It was an honor to be invited to their home let alone to court their daughter. The match, and others much similar, had been arranged so two families and their wealth would be combined. It was all routine, and expected until a fate changing business trip dashed Charles' father's hopes and almost toppled his 'empire'. In early autumn, Charles' father would always go on a round trip to the different shipping points of the company, taking inventory and making sure things were up to par. Charles was given the honor of foreseeing the port in Spain in place of his father, since it would be his last trip as a single gentleman. No one knew how correct that was.

While there, Charles found himself inexcusably bored. Still being a young man, he found himself growing tired, physically and mentally, of the formalities he was to survey. So on slow afternoons, he would spend his time wandering the halls of the hotel he was staying at for the time being. He seemed to be going nowhere until one evening, he found himself being lured into one of the hotel's parlor. It was decorated exquisitely just as he was accustomed, but what caught his attention was in the corner. A large grand piano sat near the wall with a young woman playing it. At first he thought he was hallucinating, for the woman was breathtaking, so angelically beautiful, that he couldn't take his eyes away. She was of Spanish persuasion. That much was obvious. She had jet black, silky hair that was swept up into a loose but elegant twist. Her eyes were downcast but soft. He could tell from here they were a rich hazelnut-brown, even behind her long eyelashes. The most radiant thing though, was the music emitting from the piano as her fingers danced elegantly to and fro upon the keys.

She seemed to glance up, but when she caught sight of him, her hands jumped from the keys, making an unpleasant sound. He apologized for startling her, explaining that he had never heard or seen anything more beautiful. Scarlet red, the woman seemed to understand English and introduced herself as Lorena. Charles asked if she would play for him the following night. Since he was a guest as well as a gentleman, she politely agreed. The next night he requested the same for the following night, and the next. It started out innocent, chat about music and travel, sweet compliments, flirting gestures. It seemed of no concern until Charles found himself madly in love with Lorena. He'd spend hours talking with her, until departing in the wee hours of the morning, never getting sleep. Even if he did get to bed, he couldn't sleep for his mind was filled with images of Lorena. After some point, it'd started to make him feel weak and exhausted.

His work suffered as well. He'd forget to double check labels on packages, once allowing a Beijing tiger, meant for a zoo in France, to be sent to a governess in England. He was also the cause for many work related incidents on the shipping sites, because he was too busy daydreaming or dozing off. His father caught word of this and was concerned. He knew Charles was a hardworking, diligent boy. He had no clue as to what could be wrong. So he arranged to head to Spain to see the problem for himself. But by then it was too late. Charles let his love for Lorena take over him, proposing to her seemingly forgetting London and his agreement with the Bridgman's. Not knowing of his prior engagement, Lorena agreed happily. They were wed the next week. A bout a month later, Charles' father finally arrived in Spain to find his already betrothed son, married to a Spanish pianist. After much ranting and raving between the two with Charles trying to reason with his father that he loved Lorena, and his father asking why he'd damn the company as he did, Charles was given an order to annul the marriage. With a frustrated and hopeless sigh, Charles finally revealed another important factor. "She's Pregnant." He said shortly. His father stopped his mad rave and looked to his son. He sighed deeply as well, took a seat and rubbed his temples as swallowed a shot of gin.

For that single fact, Charles' father begrudgingly allowed the two to stay together until the birth under one condition. Lorena was to travel to London to give birth to the child. Charles had already disgraced the family enough by marrying a foreigner, but his father would not allow his grandchild and hopeful predecessor to be born anywhere else than in England. He figured they'd find a solution once the child was born. Yet things wouldn't be so easy. Soon the Bridgman's caught whiff of this 'disrespect' and took it personally. They did everything in their power to soil the Williams' reputation, succeeding to a certain extent. Charles' father spent months trying to patch things up to no avail. The stress of it all literally put him on his deathbed. In his last few hours, he requested of his son, one thing: to make sure Lorena's children didn't follow in his foot steps. That he had caused enough turmoil to last his children's children generation. He died with those spiteful words, just a week before Lorena gave birth. Charles was already feeling guilty about his father and what he said to him, but now, he didn't just have a child to look after… he had two. Yes, Lorena had given birth to twins, and because of the lack of medical precision and cleanliness, she died shortly after giving birth. Charles' Mother, who had stood by watching everything that took place, said it served her right and that now he would have to raise these children on his own. Heartbroken and alone, Charles managed to repair the family's relationships and raise his children as best as he could. He swore he wouldn't let his children make the same mistakes he did, and hopefully have them bring back the honor and sophistication of the Williams name.

Adele is the younger of the twins, and according to her grandmother, the only good thing to come out of this mess. Unlike her brother, she resembled her father perfectly. Her skin was a light, creamy ivory. Her hair was silky like her mothers, but the same rich auburn brown as her fathers. Her eyes were also the same bright, lively green, though she had her mothers' eyelashes and elegant lips. She was built dainty but sturdy, a bit busty, and had a medium height. She was quiet and well mannered around her fathers' associates, but in reality, she was much more lively. She loved to play sports with her brother and his friends, usually inviting some of the worker boys to join in. Her grandmother highly disagreed while her father seemed to be relieved that she at least had some interests.

Her brother seemed to be quite opposite in the physical sense. Lucas Levi Williams was much taller than Adele, very well built, and muscular. The thing that made him stand out however was that his Spanish blood shone through. He had a light, chocolaty skin and jet black hair. He had his mothers' gentle brown eyes, but his father's bone structure and pursed lips. He seemed almost intimidating at first glance, but he was really soft hearted and quite gentle. He looked after his sister first and foremost, not wanting her to become a part of this class-obsessed community that, he believed, 'killed' his mother. He was originally to be the heir to the company, but his grandmother persisted it would be a mistake. "He's got too much Spaniard in him!" She'd shout while Adele cowered behind her big brother. "He'll never be accepted in this society!" Lucas set out to prove her wrong in many ways.

© 2008 Ashton A.

Author's Note

I will be uploadingthis multiple times as I slowly add on and edit it. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong so far and what I need to fix. Or tell me what you do like about it. Just be honest but kind. I'm a big girl , I can handle truth, but it's a bit trivial for people to trash my writing when I'm just asking for some constructive criticism.