I'd Give Up The World For You

Elaine realized she may need to change her strategy after she and Captain Conrad had dinner with the Mays. He seemed more subdued and less starstruck than usual the next time they met up and she could guess why.

Major May was his closest friend and had a very good relationship with his wife. Almost too good. She had never personally seen a couple as in tune with each other as those two were before.

If that was the sort of relationship he was expecting she wouldn't be able to get by simply on complimenting him and speaking the way she thought he wanted her to. Most men didn't like opinionated girls. She had learned that a long time ago back in her village.

Elaine needed to be more affectionate with him if she was going to achieve her goal but wasn't sure how to go about it without coming off as a hussy. She had been playing her demure lady role so well all this time that switching personalities suddenly would likely clue him in that something was going on.

Captain Conrad wasn't completely stupid even if he had been falling for her tricks for a while. She got the sense that he didn't have much experience with women and was simply excited to have one show interest.

She felt a bit sorry for him, honestly. He was an extremely nice man and given enough time someone would have realized that and fallen in love with him if she hadn't gotten to him first.

She might not love him but she didn't want him to be miserable. She was fully prepared to play whatever role he needed her to in order to get what she wanted.

Only acting until they got married would be unnecessarily cruel on her part. Elaine might value comfort over romance but he was pleasant company and spending time with him wasn't a chore. She could be a solid, dependable companion for the rest of their lives.

After seeing how he reacted to the Mays' simple acts of affection she could tell that was the sort of thing he wanted. She could definitely do that.

It wasn't as if she was averse to his touch. She rather enjoyed walking around town on his arm. Upping the ante wouldn't be difficult aside from making it happen in a subtle way that wouldn't make him suspicious.

Captain Conrad couldn't know that she had been trying to seduce the first person with a high-paying job she could find. Given his personality, he wouldn't take kindly to that and would drop her like a hot potato. She couldn't let that happen after all the effort she had put into this!

Elaine would rather die than spend the best years of her life slaving away in that laundry room until her youth, beauty, and vitality were all gone. She had seen it happen to other laundry girls and feared that end above all else.

She could start small. The next time he sent her a letter she would sign off her reply more casually.

Until now she had been signing them 'Sincerely, Elaine Fairweather' but that seemed too impersonal for someone she was seeing. 'Affectionately yours, Elaine' should do the trick. Not using her full name essentially gave him permission to be less formal in his address. Doing it from a distance would be far less embarrassing than in person. She was less likely to slip up that way.

Her plan worked since his reply was addressed 'Dear Elaine' instead of 'Dear Miss Fairweather.' He also signed off without his last name so the next time she saw him in person she was allowed to call him Silas.

His given name suited him though she doubted he heard it very often since he was in the army. He and Major May had called each other by their last names without the use of their ranks the only time she had seen the two of them interact and they were close friends.

This could work in her favor. Not hearing his given name often would make it feel more intimate.

Somehow it didn't seem like enough. Elaine needed to do more and she had just the thing that wouldn't be too forward since they had already discussed it.

"You seriously want to make socks for your boyfriend?" Juliet asked in surprise. "Is this part of your master plan to make him fall in love with you or what? You wouldn't do something like that without a valid reason."

She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you going to help or not?"

"I'll help. I may not agree with what you're doing but I'm not as gung ho about love as Mitzi. I can understand where you're coming from."

Elaine would take it. Juliet didn't give her nearly as hard a time about her relationship of convenience with Captain Conrad—no, she needed to start thinking of him as Silas—as the other laundry girls did. She was the practical sort even if she didn't want to use marriage as a means to her end. She wanted out of here as much as Elaine did.

Making Silas his socks took her two days since she didn't have much free time but she didn't mind. She was able to sit and chat with Juliet as she did so and that helped the time pass quicker.

On her next day off she left earlier than usual so she could catch him at the military compound instead of their usual meeting place. Establishing herself as having a relationship with him there would help her cause and she could use not wanting to have him carry the socks around all day as an excuse.

She approached the front desk and spoke sweetly. "Good morning, I'm here to deliver something to Captain Conrad."

The man behind the desk eyed her skeptically. "And you are?"

"Elaine Fairweather. He does know me, I promise."

Another soldier who seemed to have overheard their conversation stopped to address him. "Sir, Captain Conrad exchanges letters with an Elaine Fairweather nearly every day. I'm in charge of the mail so—"

"I see," the man behind the desk said. "Very well. Escort Miss Fairweather to the Silver Wolf barracks."

"Yes, sir!"

"Thank you," Elaine told him as they walked away. "I was afraid I would have to have him verify my identity and the surprise would be ruined."

"Not a problem, miss," the soldier replied.

The two of them walked for several minutes before the soldier banged on a door and yelled, "I hope you're all decent! A lady is here to see Captain Conrad!" She was slightly scandalized but the royal army did only have men in it. Things worked differently here.

Several unfamiliar voices came from inside as the sound of shuffling could be heard from inside. It seemed that some of them were not decent.

"The captain? Really?"

"Are we about to meet the legendary Miss Fairweather?"

"Hey, Captain, your lady friend is here!"

A moment later Silas appeared in the doorway with rather messy hair not wearing any shoes. Disbelief was written all over his face. "Elaine, what are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet in the usual place in an hour."

"I brought you a present and didn't want you to have to carry it around all day," Elaine informed him.

"Oh. Alright. Thank you. Briggs, you can return to your post."

The soldier who had escorted her nodded before turning to go back the way they came. "Yes, sir."

Silas still seemed very thrown off by her sudden appearance. He surreptitiously tried to flatten his hair but she noticed anyway. "So…um…what did you bring me?"

Elaine held the socks out with a smile. He was actually kind of cute when he was flustered. "Blue socks! I only had a little help from Juliet. They aren't perfect but I did my best. What do you think?"

"Wow, you really made them! Thank you!" He took them from her and turned them over to look at them better. "Nobody has made me anything in years. My aunt mostly got me hand-me-downs from the neighbors…These are great!"

"I'm glad you like them. Sorry for showing up too early; I didn't realize you wouldn't be ready yet. I can wait."

Silas nodded before turning and barking at someone inside. "Ferguson! Come out here and make sure no one bothers Miss Fairweather while she waits. I'll be done in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir!"

A tall, broad-shouldered soldier came out a moment later and shut the door behind him. He smiled politely at her. "Good morning, Miss Fairweather. How are you today?"

"I'm doing quite well, thank you. And yourself?" Elaine asked because it was the standard thing to do.

"Well enough. I'm going to visit my brother later."

They continued making small talk until Silas emerged looking much less disheveled.. He thanked Ferguson before dismissing him and offering his arm, which she gladly took as they went off to the bakery to get some breakfast as they usually did.