[b]Ella smiled softly after listening to Marken promise to stay with her for the day. He was so kind, not thinking for a moment that he preferred to be somewhere else. A lesser man would allow his discomfort to push him from the prison.

At Marken's question of what cake they should have, Ella tilted her head a little, blushing. He might laugh at her, but as an unprivileged woman, she hadn't sampled many cakes in her life. Sugar & other spices were a luxury that even her well-to-do family usually didn't splurge on often. Her step-mother's tea was kept under lock & key, & only brought out on special occasion.

"Umm... I've never had chocolate cake before," Ella admitted, her face turning pink, "I would like one of those for the wedding... i-if you don't think that's too extravagant, of course. My papa used to tell me that chocolate was a very expensive import."[/b]