Eyes meet, momentarily, across a crowded ballroom. One pair brown: a luxiourious shade that money can't buy. The others', a stratlingly plae blue; beautiful yet shadowed by lack of sleep. Despite their differences, however, in that moment they share the same look- a thousand secrets are shared, a million stories told.
No-one else, not even their respective partners, can hold all that they have in that one glance. These are memories that no-one can take away, that no-one can intrude upon.
In the time they have before the spell is broken, a dashing socialite meets a breath-taking yet damaged seamstress at a masked ball. They meet again, through mutual friends, and again, and again. Eventually, they stop pretending that these events are accidental.
They start courting, though a rage erupts between the seamstress and her father. A glittering future- doctor training, a high-class marriage, already destroyed by 'lack of ambition'- becomes even less unlikely. Blood ties are denied, in the search for love.
Picnics are held, beaches walked; pictures are taken and memories made. Somewhere along the way, attraction becomes love. Happiness turns to bliss, as pain is forgotten and what was broken is healed. Against all teaching, an innocence is lost, and regretted by neither.
However, good fortune cannot last forever. Old demons return, and clouds start to gather. The seamstress is caught back up in her troubled past, and a dip of trust is inevitable. The socialite spend more time in the company of old friends, taking things to excess.
Amidst all of this, and without reconciliation, the seamstresses father quietly takes his last breath. His daughter is thrown into grief, fuelled by regret. She never got a chance to say goodbye, and the thought is a constant, heavy weight.
Things continue to unwind. Though love still exists, it's buried by life- the couple are so caught up in all that's rushing past, they have no time to hold onto what has value.
Finally, there is one argument too many. A ship departs for New York, for new beginnings. The couple is no more; that is it. That is the end.
Still, the world keeps turning. It doesn't stop, not even for a broken-hearted, broken couple. The socialite, in his new world, tries to forget all that's happened. Though a struggle, he has plenty to distract him, and soon gains a reputation as a heart-breaker. Eventually, he forms a relationship with a model half his age, which seems to have some chance of lasting. He moves on, and finds happiness- though he'll never really forget.
Meanwhile, the seamstress starts off by retreating even further, in her own bid to re-build her life. She throws herself into her work, as two slow years go by. She meets a charming, wealthy man- just the sort her father would have loved- who adores the ground she walks on. She gradually lets him in, and becomes reconciled to the fact that the past is behind her. Over time, marriage is offered, and she jumps at the offer of safety and security. Within seven years, she has three children. She moves on, and finds happiness- though she'll never really forget.
Then, without warning, they meet. Years slip away- once again they're young and carefree. Even though the moment passes, and- inexplicable, even to themselves- they silently agree not to speak, it's enough. It's proof that miracles happen, and it's a promise that, some way, somehow, they will meet again.