Masquerading (Closed)

[heartofcourage]

"At the potential risk to my safety, I should tell you no." Elenora commented, glancing towards the man that seemed ready to follow her wherever she went.

She had no idea what his infatuation was with her. He seemed to only see her, never glancing at Catriona. What had happened between the two of them? Had Catirona bedded him and then dumped him when she grew bored? She had seen that so many times in the past that she was now jaded to her sister's exploits.

"It's a lovely evening." She commented, looking out over the water and at the stars beyond the darkened city. "One that would be better spent anywhere else but here."

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael offered an intrigued grin at Elenora's response. Another curiosity as she said 'no', then carried on as if she had said 'yes'.

He moved to stand at the balcony's edge alongside Elenora, though he granted her some space between them.

Following her gaze over the city, Raphael could see the ripples of canals and the ocean beyond as a silver moon cast a dim light upon them.

Then she spoke again, and the young merchant listened.

"It is indeed a lovey evening," he concurred. "So let us spend it elsewhere, if that is what you wish. I saw your father's guard - I can't think of him being incapable of managing your sister or any potential suitors."

He had spoken almost nonchalantly, suggesting a social escape as though he did it all the time. He wagered, though, that Elenora dreamt of being one such absconder.

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora glanced at Raphael as he suggested that they spend the evening anywhere but there. She had wanted someone to rescue her, but this seemed too perfect. He was offering to take her...away. Perhaps into the city, perhaps simply to another part of the party.

"Where would you like to go, signore?" She asked him, playing his little game for entertainment's sake. "The entire city is ours and the night is very young."

 

[KiwiD82]

The game was afoot.

Raphael grinned at Elenora's question. On the surface, she seemed to be a willing participant, but if anything was clear about the younger Simoneti sister, it was that nothing was clear about her at all.

Not now, anyway. Perhaps he might find a way to scale her walls, if she chose not to let them down of her own accord.

"Does it really matter?" he queried in the same warm tone he'd used with her all evening. "You said anywhere but here, so whether we go to Piazza San Marco, or to some dark alley, you're bound to be more pleased than if we were to stay at the party."

His lips were curled at the corners as he spoke, unable to avoid betraying is good-humoured intentions.

"The real question, Bella," he added, "Is where would you like to go? Name the place, and I will more than happily accompany you...if you'll tolerate me."

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora looked at him with her dark eyes, weighing what he was offering her. An opportunity to slip away from her life for a while, to leave her father's guards behind and escape the long shadow that her sister cast.

"The Basilica di San Marco." She said, without really thinking about it. "I wish to go there. I've never seen it in the evening time."

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael grinned.

For the first time since their conversation had started, Elenora Simoneti had spoken the plain truth.

But the situation was simple: if Bella Red wished to go to the Basilica di San Marco, then that was precisely where he would take her.

"T'would be an honour to be your guide, milady," he smiled, offering her a small bow.

Raphael peeked back into the ballroom and saw the guard who was in turn watching Catriona.

"It seems," he added with a conspiratorial smile, "that we shall have to escape your father's man. Do you have any ideas that don't involve me receiving an unwanted beating?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"Trust me, signori. He will never notice that I am gone. My sister demands much attention and I am the well behaved sister." Elenora said with a slight smile towards Raphael as he offered to take her where she wanted to go if they could escape the guard. "You will offer me you arm and I will take it. Then, we will walk out of here like an respectable couple."

 

[KiwiD82]

A respectable couple? Oh, how Elenora had suddenly warmed to the idea of spending time with Raphael.

Nor half an hour earlier, she had not wanted mere conversation; but now, she was a willing accomplice in what seemed like the societal escape of the century.

Elenora was a beauteous woman. Perhaps she herself couldn't see that, but it was undeniable from Raphael's position. The curves of her slender form were alluring. Her lips and the smile they hinted at were intriguing. Her dark curls framed her face and her dark eyes said so much - yet they were simply another part to the mystery of Elenora Simoneti.

Raphael couldn't resist allowing a small smile to play at his lips. Let Catriona the cat toy with the mice before her, he decided. Elenora was the Simoneti who deserved his attention.

"Milady," Raphael said, still grinning as he offered a deliberately overly extravagant bow and extended his arm for her to take.

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora smiled gently as Raphael did just as she requested. He bowed towards her, a grin on his handsome and dark features before he offered her his arm. She gladly took it, her small hand slipping through the crook of his arm. This was the most insane thing that she had ever done. It was tame compared to her sister's exploits, but it made her very happy.

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael watched as Elenora threaded her slender arm through the offered gap and he rested his free hand atop hers. It was cold given the evening air, but it was also smooth, and he squeezed gently as if to say "here we go".

He guided the Simoneti beauty back into the ballroom and made a deliberate effort to pointedly avoid Catriona and the drama that always followed her.

It wasn't so much so that the flamboyant sister wouldn't see the pair departing, but more of a subtle reminder to Elenora that from this moment on, the evening was about her and no other.

Raphael offered the beauty beside him a conspiratorial grin as they found the internal stairs, then crossed the balcony and, without a word, stepped past the doorman and into the night.

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora grinned as Raphael escorted her through the party and out into the night beyond. He never hesitated and she drew from his confidence. Her father might punish her when he found out where she had gone, but for the moment, she was content to be free and happy.

"You seem adept at stealing a woman away, Raphael. Perhaps I should be worried." She teased, that smile on her face growing wider as she pulled the mask from her face and allowed him to see her features for the first time.

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael was pleased that Elenora so swiftly followed his lead and he was already pulling off his mask, chuckling at her cheeky comment, as they left the building.

He turned to say something then stopped as he realised Elenora's mask was gone and he was seeing her face for the first time in years.

There was no doubt that the younger Simoneti sister had grown a lot since that fateful holiday on the coast. She was truly a woman now, and one of exquisite beauty, regardless of whether or not she could bring herself to admit it.

Raphael suddenly realised he was not only staring, but also holding his breath. It seemed Elenora - her gorgeous dark eyes looking back at him, her dark curls a becoming pile atop her head, her alluring form enticingly wrapped inside her red gown - had quite simply taken his breath away.

"Beautiful," he eventually whispered, finding his voice. "Absolutely beautiful."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Now I know that you must not be in your right mind." Elenora said with a slight smile as he complimented her on her beauty. "Catriona is the one who is the more beautiful. What she must have done to you, I don't think I'll ever know."

Elenora did not believe that she was of any great beauty. She was a simple woman with simple tastes, much like her father. Catriona definitely took after her mother in the wants and hunger for more. Catriona would one day marry a rich man and have everything she could have ever wanted in life, but she would have to decide when that moment would be.

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael chuckled lightly at Elenora's overt modesty, then feigned thoughtfulness as though he were seriously considering her claims of him having lost his mind.

"Sì, that is possible," he grinned at her. "But I'm not the one abandoning my familial responsibilities to explore Venice at night with someone I barely know."

Raphael offered her a playful wink then, before guiding her down the exterior stairs of the building.

"Speaking of which..."

The young merchant had spotted his carriage and whistled to the driver. The carriage, pulled by a pair of dark brown mares, was black in colour except for the side doors, which were red.

Raphael greeted the driver, telling him where they were to go next: Piazza San Marco.

Then he opened a side door and turned back to Elenora, offering her a hand and a smile.

"Shall we?"

 

[heartofcourage]

"My father knows you, however. That means that if something should happen to me, he and his men would know where to find you." Elenora said, smart as a whip and a pleased little smile on her face.

As he called for the carriage that had brought him to the party, she watched him closely. He was a handsome man, the kind that would make a woman weak at the knees. She found him charming and kind, intriguing. He had a sense of adventure and he seemed to be up for the troubles that might come with that adventure.

"Of course." She murmured as he opened the door and offered her his hand. "Our adventure awaits us."

 

[KiwiD82]

A flash of shock went across Raphael's face as Elenora spoke and he suddenly realised that he, too, was at risk.

While it was true that Signore Simoneti had always been kind to Raphael when Catriona had been on his arm, now that he was stealing the younger sister away from her social babysitting duties, there was no way to know how he might react.

"So he does," he admitted in reply to Elenora's observation that her father would know who he was, before adding a playful grin. "Then we had best make it worth the risk!"

The young merchant helped Elenora up into the carriage and then climbed in himself, pulling the door closed and sitting opposite her, his back to the driver who sat outside and above them.

The carriage itself lurched forward, hire hooves echoing off the cobbled streets as they were carried through streets and alleyways towards their destination.

The seating arrangement meant both passengers could comfortably observe each other, while outside the canals glittered with the reflections of lamps and moonlight.

Not long after leaving the masquerade ball, Raphael leaned forward and spoke in a conversational manner.

"So tell me, Bella," he smiled gently, "How is it that as a Venetian native, you've never been to the Basilica di San Marco after sundown?"

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora looked at Raphael as he asked her how she had never been to the basilica at night if she had lived in the city her entire life. She laughed softly at that, looking at him with her dark eyes that sparkled in the low light.

"Signore, you have never had an overprotective father." Elenora was with a grin. "We celebrate mass in our own home with a priest who comes by Sunday mornings. If you are lucky enough, you might receive an invitation to hear mass with us some time."

Her father used it as way to extol his favor on those that he wanted something from. An invitation to mass at the private chapel was just like being showered with the most precious jewels. It was status and her father knew how to make men and women clamor for the chance. She supposed that Catriona had learned her own seduction from the master.

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael patiently studied the beauty sitting opposite him as she spoke of her overprotective father and the possibility of an invitation to mass at the Simoneti household.

It was a passing gesture and one that Elenora herself couldn't make, but the young merchant decided to play along.

"I'd be flattered, I'm sure," he grinned, leaning back into his seat as the pair were jostled with the carriage's movements. "Especially if it mean you'd be there, Bella."

He held her gaze then, for a time, before forcing himself to look outside towards the lights and the shadows of The Bride Of The Sea.

"I'm not surprised your father is overprotective," he added in an almost whimsical tone, "If you make a habit of disappearing into the night with men you barely know."

Somehow, Raphael managed to resist looking back to see Elenora's reaction, but he was powerless to hide his mischievous grin.

 

[heartofcourage]

"This is the first and only time I've ever run away with a stranger." Elenora said as she glanced towards him with a slight smile on her lips. "This is my sister's expertise if I'm honest with you, signore."

"You would have to earn an invitation. A new business venture is the quickest way to ensure that you will be invited to the villa on a Sunday. My father is very serious when it comes to business." She murmured, giving him the information he needed to come and see her again. "That is, if you were interested. Of course, it would be in a crowd of people. It is a very crowded event."

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael allowed a quiet chuckle to escape his lips as Elenora insisted it was her sister who was more prone to running away with a stranger.

"And yet, Bella," he teased mischievously, "Here we are."

He listened as his beautiful travel companion spoke or how to gain the attention of her father.

"I'm a merchant," he smiled warmly. "I'm sure I can find a trade route somewhere that could prove lucrative to your father. And I am comfortable with crowds, even if it means something of a press of bodies."

Raphael grinned again, leaning once more as the bumps in the road shifted the pair in their seats. Even in the relative dimness of the carriage, the young man couldn't help but admire the form of the woman opposite him. She probably had no idea that she matched herbsister for beauty, but she didn't flaunt it and to Raphael, that was an indescribably more attractive quality.

"I'm sure you know the Basilica di San Marco is the Doge's chapel?" he inquired, deliberately changing topic. "One cannot simply arrive and expect to be granted entry...so you mustn't tell anyone you've been inside."

Raphael's voice had dropped. Mischief remained in his tone, but it was clear he was being serious.

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora raised an eyebrow as Raphael suggested that they would see the inside of the basilica that evening. He had a sense of adventure. That made her smile, even if she were secretly terrified of being caught. She supposed that she could get out of any bit of trouble that came her way, but she also knew that her father was notoriously hot tempered.

"I will simply have to blame you if we're caught." She murmured with a soft, melodic laugh. "After all, you've convinced me to run away from a ball to a dark basilica in the middle of the night. A man can certainly corrupt a woman."

 

[KiwiD82]

Elenora's smile caused Raphael to do the same. She truly was beutiful, especially when she smiled, even if the grin was conspiratorial in nature.

"Bella," he nodded, reaching forward to take her gloved hands into his own. "I promise you that should we get caught, I shall take all the blame."

There was really no need to hold the beauty's hands, but he was enchanted by her, and the feeling of her fingers being wrapped in his own was an enticing one.

"I shall insist you are innocent," he added with a playful wink. "A delicate flower corrupted by a terrible rogue."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I don't believe for a moment that they would believe that lie, signore." Eleanora said with a soft laugh, her gloved fingers curling around his tighter by the moment. "I myself would not and I consider my brain to be above average."

She enjoyed talking with Raphael, even if she were doing something incredibly risky. She trusted him, even if she had just met him.

 

[KiwiD82]

Raphael grinned at Elenora as they held hands, her silken gloves accentuating her forearms as the red material crept past her elbows.

"Bella," he feigned chiding, "Your brain is far greater than merely 'above average'. Your intelligence is only matched by your beauty."

It was true. Elenora was every bit as gorgeous as Catriona, but she didn't flaunt it like her sister did. Elenora had a quick wit and a clever sense of humour which had drawn Raphael in from the moment they'd begun their conversation.

Even so, he enjoyed the idea of pushing her boundaries and taking a risk like this one.

The young merchant lifted one gloved hand to his mouth and kissed it gently, then offered a playful wink that was followed by him letting go of her hands and turning and thumping the internal wall of the carriage, which drew to a halt. Then he opened the door and stepped out, turning back to offer a helping hand.

"Bring your beauty and your wit, Elenora," he said with a slight now, "But above all, bring your mask."

 

[heartofcourage]

Elenora laughed as he told her to bring her wit and her mask. She smiled towards him as she grabbed the mask from the seat beside her and gave him her hand to step out of the carriage. She had never seen the area in the dark before. Only in the light and with her father and his bodyguards. There was a sense of freedom that came with doing something that wasn't expected of her.

She glanced around at the quiet of the evening, placing her mask back in place before she turned towards Raphael. "Lead on, signore."