A Time and Place for Us

The Last Dance

So sorry for the wait! I hope you like it xxx

The feeling of his lips against hers sent Nellie into a blissful oblivion. It did not matter what had happened, why she was crying or where they were, only him. Hence, she kissed him back with the abandon of a soul who has been reunited with its mate after a long drought. She did not want this joyous moment to ever end.

Yet, her mind had other plans. That pesky voice inside her head would not shut up, reminding her that he was likely doing it again, using her, taking advantage of her and her seemingly undying love for him, only to abuse her when it tickled his fancy. He is not kissing you because he loves you, nor because cares about you, he just wants to manipulate you. He is a lonely man who wants to keep his little slave no matter the cost.

Said thoughts were becoming harder to ignore, and they were about to take a turn for the worst. He hates you, because you lied about his love. This is all part of his evil plan, to submit you, to make you think he could be yours and murder you when you least expect it. He's tried before...He can't love you, he never will. No one will.

Suddenly enraged, Eleanor pulled apart and raised her left hand to punch the man who'd both made her the happiest and the most miserable. She hit him, squarely on the nose. He had no time to react and stumbled backwards in the face of her assault. "Don't you do that ever again!", she warned him. Her tear-stricken face simultaneously conveying her boiling fury and her despair.

He brought his palm to his rapidly bruising nose, the anger that she'd hit him and the shooting pain she'd caused him did not prevent him from following her as she made her way back inside the ship. Because it was now or never, and even if he rationally knew she'd be better off without him, it wasn't so easy to let her go. He loved her, whether she hit him once or a millionth times. "Nellie, wait! Eleanor!"

Harold Winslow's rigid stance greeted them as soon as she crossed the glass door, with her supposed brother trailing close behind. Nellie felt as if all oxygen was leaving her lungs at the possibility of him having overheard, or worse, seen her kissing him. In both cases, their engagement would be broken, and she might even end up in jail. "Harry, dear, what is the matter?" she managed to sound calm, though her head was spinning.

"I was looking for you, Eleanor, everywhere. And you were here, with him" he replied after a few seconds, his tone stern, disproving. Oh, God, she thought. Her heart was pounding out of her chest as her house of cards crumbled before her eyes, the happy life she envisioned that would never be. Away from London, away from Sweeney Todd. Now they'd surely be deported, to rot together in Newgate before they were executed. Her child would never have a chance, all because of her stupidity. She could hardly breathe.

"The Duke of Bedford had passed away and instead of being with me paying our respects as my future wife ought to, you were seemingly frolicking with your brother without a care in the world!" he spat, his deep-set eyes looking accusatory at her.

That's it, he's seen, he knows, we're going to be arrested for incest. Or murder, or both! She felt her legs giving out and a sharp cramp low on her belly. Placing her hand there to soothe the anguished life within was the last thing she did before it all faded to black.

"Eleanor!" both men exclaimed in unison, but it was her fiancé who caught her in his arms before she dropped to the floor. "What did you do to her?" was his first reaction, prompting Sweeney to take a step back. Was he to blame? He seemed to have upset her past her breaking point with his theories, and the kiss. He regretted neither but she was pregnant, he should have been more careful.

"I... Nothing, we were just chatting. Family concerns, is all," he lied but all he got from Mr. Winslow was a scowl.

"People seem to drop like flies in your presence." Harold commented. What he was implying was not lost on Sweeney, but he had no proof. Besides, there were more important matters to worry about now. Namely, Nellie's health and that of their baby.