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copyright 1998
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*Chapter 1*
Antoinette awoke from her sleep and no sooner had she gently pulled back the sheets and placed herself in front of her dressing table, when she remembered what the day was to bring. She was told by her parants she must travel to Eton and pick up her brother, after he had boarded there for the term. She straightened her long brown hair and dressed herself in a dress and heels, grabbed her handbag and began to make her way towards the station.
She adored the mornings with it's freash breezes and gentle rays of sun that filtered through small crevaces in amongst the towering structures of London. Sipping a warm cappaccino and a chocolate filled croissant, Antoinette stopped as she often did, in front of her abosoutely favorite place in the world, a Tiffanies jewellry boutique. She pressed gently against the cold, shiny glass and stared longingly at the rows of brilliantly sparkling diamonds encrusted within delicate rings of gold, platnim and silver settings. Sighing deeply and contentedly, Antoinette pulled away from the building catching one last glimpse at it's grand marble exterior before contiuing on her way. How she adored such a place, however little such feelings would amount. The only thing she could possibly afford was a tiny silver something, perhaps, which would be of use only to those who had everything.
She reached the school's grand iron gates and smiled, it always pleased her how much the english adored their flamboyant and extravagant architecture and Eton was no such exception. No sooner had she ventured behind one set of large gates and she was greeted by yet another, finally however she reached what seemed to be the main building and entered hoping to receive directions. Straining to pull open the heavy oak door, she found the weight of it more than her thin frame could handle and Antoinette was about to give up when she felt someone behind her pull the heavy door open and herself still clutching the handle, she fell backwards. Someone caught her and helped her to her feet and Antoinette swung around to see who had helped her. Her eyes were met by a tall, sandy-blonde haied boy, who smiled shyly before looking downwards, towards his feet.
"I'm awffully sorry about that, I thought you needed a little bit of help with that door, and I didn't mean to make you fall, I guess I don't know my own strength." he said embarrassed, throwing another glance at her and then once again at his feet.
"Oh, no I am the one who should be apologising! I, I ...." She looked into his eyes, he was enthrawling. she caught herself staring and continued what she was saying
"I fell and... well thankyou for catching me, It was very sweet of you, I hope you don't think me a fool." She finished and laughed, lightly brushing some hair from her face. She looked at him more closely, he was tall, a little taller than herself and wearing the Eton unifom. He looked divine, standing there coyly, hands in his pockets looking at his feet scraping aroung the dirt on the path. He looked up
"oh, no, not at all, um,, we don't get a lot of girls at school. I suppose you must be here for a reason... can I help you with anything?" His eyes settled on her's nervously, inquisitively as she answered
"Oh, acctually I am here to pick up my brother James for the weekend. However your school is so very large, acctually it's incredible and I became quite lost. I fear that if you hadn't found me, I probably would have been lost here for days" she laughed. He laughed as well and took his hands from his pockets to run his hand through his hair. Antoinette began to sense he was becoming more relaxed and she found him having a devastating effect on her stomach.
"Would you allow me to point you in the direction of where your brother is?" He inquired quietly
"Oh, If you could, I would really appreciate it, I'm sorry to trouble you"
"It's fine, really, I will just excuse myself from chapel." He said smiling and then added more seriously "I would be happy to" He looked her in the eyes, she caught his glance and he blushed. He looked away and it was now Antoinette who began to stare at her feet. Neither could think of anything to say and there was a painful silence for both. The boy scratched his neck and said "Oh, sorry I don't beleive I asked you your name? I... I mean perhaps that would shed some light on which block he may be in" He added quickly covering his obvious intrest.
"Why I am pleased to meet you, my name is Antoinette" She motioned for them to shake hands and they bagan to laugh. William looked at her awkwardly and said
" That is a terribly pretty name."
"Thankyou" replied Antoinette seriously. She was not sure why she was feeling so wonderful in his company, but she knew that she had just met someone who was very special.
They began to walk toward her brother's destination, engaged in gentle conversation.
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*Chapter 2*
Antoinette glanced behind her once again, determined to discover the source of her feeling as if they were both being followed. Although she couldn't be completely sure, she had noticed some lingering shadows along their path and she was becoming quite unnerved. Antoinette wanted nothing to interrupt her conversation with William and she sensed he felt a little the way she did, as he had 'unwittingly' taken her around the entire school almost twice. She was not, however, complaining and if it were not for the nagging suspicion about a man she had seen many times along the same path as they, she would have been blissfully enveloped in conversation with her intriguing guide.
She looked at him, his black suit spotlessly clean and perfectly pressed. His shoes, which she had noticed were earlier shiny and now covered in a thin film of dust. He appeared to her to be the figre not of a boy her age, which he had revealed he was, but a man. The only thing which betrayed him as adolescent was a slight glittering in his eyes when he flashed her one of his gorgeous, devastating smiles, which he quite frequently did after he had slowly begun to relax in her company.
Antoinette remembered that in all of the excitement of the moment, she had failed to ask her darling companion his name and began embarrassed " Oh, how terribly rude I have been, I never caught your name, my kind guide". He had been relaxed and opening up to her as the journey progressed, but suddenly he Stopped walking, stiffened and coldly replied
"Antoinette, I am terribly late, I should probably be getting back, I am going to be punished for being so late." He held his head down, away from her and turned and replied "I am sorry I cannot be of further assistance to you. Goodbye." He turned from her and began to walk away. Antoinette, confused called to him
"Stop, please! Please, wait!" He stopped walking, his back still turned towards her. "I, I don't understand. Did I say something that has upset you?" She pleaded "I am awfully sorry, but you have been so kind and I thought we were getting along quite well." Antoinette turned her back to his, slowly and then turned back to face him. She then saw it, this time, quite clearly. The man who had been so mysteriously lingering aroung them both for much of the morning, was now clearly visible and facing them both, not far away. She gasped. The boy heard her gasp and looked up immedietly to see him standing close by and then to Antoinette. He raced over to her, grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward a large sandstone building, close by. When they were both out of his veiw, behind the shadowy veil of the building, he ran his hand through his now toustled hair and placed it on top of her hand. He held it there for a moment, both breathing deeply and looked at her, standing against the wall, her hair sweeping wildly around her face, her eyes staring at him, wide with disbeleif and he began
"Antoinette, I had no right to treat you as I did. No right to attempt to leave without explanation...." He looked down, then up again and continued "but I like you too much to allow you to be pulled into my world. I am trouble Antoinette and you are far too special to belong in my world." His eyes pleaded with hers' intensely "Please, do not ask me to tell you my name" She had barely opened her mouth, to voice her distressed enquiry when they heard a man's voice yelling.
"William"...They both turned in the direction of the noise "Your highness, please I must now ask you to accompany me back" Antoinette had heard every word of the man, whose identity had now become known to her. Her mind racing, she once again turned to him, with a look of horrid confusion as she tried vainly to make sense of it all. He looked deeply into her eyes, still clutching her hand in his, as she began madly muttering
"You, You... You are William, Prince William?... As in.. future king of all of England William?" She pulled away from his grasp
"Antoinette, I realise now this changes everything. Please, accept that it changes nothing of whom I am."
"Oh, no, that it does not change, but the company you keep shal not be the same. I could never do for, for... for a prince" Antoinette turned from him. The bodyguard was once again souting for William, he was getting closer. William took Antoinette's hand gently and held it once again in his, turning her towards him he spoke hurredly yet softly
"Antoinette, it is me who shal choose the company that shall be fit for myself! And, I choose you." With that, they embraced for the first time and William tenderly lifted her head to his and kissed her softly on the lips. They pulled away just as the detective shouted at them, from around the corner and William whispered quickly to her
"Antoinette my dear, meet me outside the gates tonight at ten, please." She nodded and whispered back hurredly
"Don't worry about me hurry, goodbye William darling".Antoinette's figure dissapeared from sight as a heavy hand was lain on William's shoalder. They had parted not a moment too soon.
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*Chapter 3*
Antoinette had rarely been one to rush into annything. She was usually entire sensible and the events that had just gone on spun mercillesly around in her head. She moved quickly. It was becoming cooler. What on earth could have possibly endeared her to behave in such a manner. She was angry at herself for letting William make her feel so frivolous, so uncontrolably happy. So open. she wondered if she had acctually agreed to meet him tonight, or weather her mind was playing cruel tricks on her. But the idea did not make her feel uncomfortable, it surprised her how much she was seriously considering the meeting. The boy was a prince? surely she was mad. She wrapped her coat tightly to her waist and pulled her hands closely to her tummy in an attempt to avoid the painfully bitter winds that had crept up as suddenly as the liasion she had just experianced. She could not explain the way she was feeling, it was as though her entire body had beem filled with bubbles. It was beautiful, warmly painful. Oh...the confusion. Antoinette made her way from the steps of the station and smiled to herself 'Gosh, he must have really had an affect on me because I didn't even stop at Tiffanies.' She sighed deeply and thought ,a little sadly, that boys like William who went to Eton, could buy anything they wanted at tiffanies for their girlfreinds; unlike her brother, who of course was only there on a scholarship. She suddenly stopped walking. " Oh my god! My brother. Oh I forgot to pick him up from school.... Oh damn!" she yelled, receiving an assortment of amused and unimpressed glances from passers by. She continued home even faster than before. Thank god her parants were not home for another four days, she thought quickly. Trying to calm herself and rationalise her mistake, she decided to simply pick her brother up tomorrow. Meanwhile, she was beginning to feel dizzying pains in her chest from the accumulating coldness in the air. Antoinette was bewildered and cold and after fighting with the door key, stumbled up the stairs and into a dark bedroom kicked off her heels and collapsed on the bed. Spinning...Nausion?...Darkness.
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*Chapter 4*
Later in the evening ~
Antoinette began to wake. Her hands knocked about blindly in the darkness and she instinctively glanced immedietly at the clock. "oh god" she thought, it was nine forty-two. She remembered the day's events and that beautiful feeling of warmth that enveloped her and sent waves through her still-sleeping limbs when she thought of how he had kissed her unexpectedly. Oh her darling.....she thought. She jumped out of bed and grabbed her bag and a pair of black closed heels, threw a black scarf around her neck and fled for the station. She knew she had to see william. He was so charming, so... so... Antoinette heard the familliar sound of the screeching breaks of the train and began running. she had so little time. she tripped down the steps as tyhe door of the train began to close and reaching them just in time, forced herself inside the warm safety of the carriage. She sat down finally and fumbled around in her purse for her lipstick and compact. She glanced at her reflection and made a face. Oh god. How horrid she looked, she wondered again what she was doing on a train , at night looking in such a state. All during the day, andf well into the evening, Antoinette had, had conflicting feelings about William. On one hand she had never felt so happy or secure in the prescence of any male before, on the other hand, however, things were moving so quickly and she found herself nievely rushing around London at night to meet someone she had only met that day. Her thoughts were interrupted by the announcer's voice over the loud speaker informing her of the train's arrival at her stop. She thoughtfully took one last look at the train's buzzing neon lights and stepped outside, into raining, windy, blizzardous hell. Antoinette could barely see what was ahead of her and had to strain to find her way, led alone force herself to stay upright. She finally fought her way to the gates, where she was to meet William. Her eyes stinging, her head once again spinning, she felt sick like she would faint. She caught a glimpse of a shimmery black figure coming towards her and suddenly felt herself being lead away from the seemingly endless blizzard. Antoinette gasped and caught her breath, as she watched the figure remove the black hood of their raincoat and realised, intensely releived that it was William. The tender smile that he had given her, however, quickly dissapeared, as he realised Antoinette standing in front of him, soaking wet, violently shiverring and barely able to answer him.
"Oh god, Antoinette, you're freezing... Oh god, I am so sorry..." He took her gently but firmly and rapped her in his own raincoat. she wanted desperately to say something to him, but the words would not form in her throat.
"I, I'm fine now William" she managed to whisper. He held her close, trying to warm her. He gave her a dessolate glance, as if he were trying to find something there. He pulled his coat over her head, and Antoinette once again began to feel the cold stabbing pains which caused her to shiver uncontrolably. She felt her face being whipped once more by the wind and rain, as William steered her towards shelter. Her chest hurt, her ears were ringing, and she was completely soaked with rain but she did not care. Throughout all of the wind and the rain and the aching of her numb body, she felt so safe in his strong arms, so secure. It was as if his touch made her completely oblivious to anything exterior, almost as if the weather had suddenly stopped. Then, there was calm. He gently lead her down a dark, narrow hallway, where she could still hear the howling wind hissing through the trees outside. Exhausted and shivering, Antoinette was half aware of William leading her up up flights of stairs, quietly whispering words encouraging her to continue, when her tierd body resisted and then, finally into a small room. William eased the door shut behind him and suddenly they were in complete darkness. william fumbled around for the lamp switch for a few moments, until he found it and switched it on, flooding the room with a soft, warm glow. He then turned to Antoinette who was standing in his rainjacket weakly.
"Antoinette, I am so sorry... it is my fault this happened to you... I never realised the weather would take a turn like this. He looked at her deeply, unable to find the right words.
"I can't let you go back out there, you're so unwell. You must stay here tonight." All she could do was smile weakly as she shivered, barely able to tell him thankyou because of the way her body convulsed with every breath. Had he any idea how much she adored him? She wondered if he felt even partly the way she did at this moment. He sat her down gently on the bed and was about to wrap his blanket around her sholders when he realised for the first time just how wet her clothes were.
"My god, your coat it soaked, you will catch hypothermia if you don't change." She smiled up at him weakly, too cold to be able to talk, as he fussed over her, so entirely concerned that she should need care. William removed her coat and realised shyly, looking down at her damp black dress, that she would have to change out of her clothes. He walked hurredly over to his own wardrobe and began to search for something warm he could dress her in. He wrapped her in the blanket from his bed and then handed her his rugby jersy to put on.
"Thankyou" she whispered under her breath, deeply touched by his warm show of affectionate concern for her. She felt her once quite violent trembling, now calming.
*Soon to be continued*
