"Can the very first (and) that's before one, be classed as part of one. There is a space for it to go but beat one hasn't been struck yet."
No, but STEP one has already begun.
The "and" before BEAT one is not part of beat one, it is part of the preceding beat 3 or 4.
However, it is mostly part of STEP one, at least if we are talking about waltz.
"I think it is best left alone."
Indeed, it is best left alone. The only reason it came up was that someone misread the book rise and fall as being in terms of beats, and tried to claim that people were dancing it wrong. Actually, the book rise and fall is given in terms of the STEPS, not be the beats, and when you realize that, you would realize that the claimed technical error (not saving any rise for three - STEP three that is) is quite rare. An artistic error may still be there, but not a technical error in relation to what the book requests.