It was dark when a strong knock on the back door startled Michael. He had nearly dozed off due to his exhaustion. About an hour prior, Samuel had delivered a note to each of Tri's brothers, written by her, secretly summoning them to the Graham's little house. As Michael now opened the door, he saw the two men of about his own age standing nervously outside. He waved them inside without a word and shut the door behind them.

"Tri is waiting behind the door to the left," he motioned in the direction, and the two guests went along.

The room had been cleared of children and now only Michael's parents, Tri, her brothers and Michael himself were there. There was some noise to be heard from his siblings. He was not surprised that even with all their experience, the older sisters Primrose and Lilly did not manage to keep the smaller siblings quiet during such an exciting event. Besides the background noise, there was an awkward silence. Both Tri and Michael were visibly exhausted and dirty from their journey. Her brothers were apparently lost for words, perhaps from seeing her in such a state. Finally, Michael's father broke the silence.

"Welcome, Timothy Battersby, Theodore Battersby," John Graham said, nodding at the respective guest as he addressed them. In the other room, the children had fallen silent, perhaps to better eavesdrop. "Thank you for your coming. As you can see, your sister found some shelter here with us today. I'm not a man of big words, nor of a big home, so I'll leave the talking to you. Just know that this is a honourable household and I will not tolerate any big commotions." The two younger men looked at him sternly.

"Thank you, Mister Graham, for hosting this meeting, and for sheltering our sister," Timothy, the older brother said. Theodore nodded in agreement. "It is not the first time we have had to come look for her in some strangers' home." His tone was quite accusing, and he briefly glanced over at Michael.

"It's different this time, brother," Tri finally spoke.

"Oh I'm sure it is. Especially since this time, we cannot just drag you home with us." Timothy stared at her while Theodore looked at the floor.

"That's not what I mean, this family has nothing to do with my disappearance. I left to end the rumours, not to cause new ones." Tri stood up from the armchair and nearly spilled her tea. "Just tell me, how is Mathilda?"

"The maid?" Timothy asked, but he did not answer when Tri nodded eagerly.

"Father made her leave," Theodore said. His voice was much softer than his brother's. "Don't worry, I made sure she found employment elsewhere."

"Really? Who would take her in?" Tri seemed honestly surprised.

"The..." Theodore looked at the Grahams listening attentively. "An elderly couple," he said, clearly avoiding naming anybody, though Michael did not know why.

"Well, isn't that great?" Michael chimed in. "You wanted for her to be safe, so now that she is, you can return to your family." Three pairs of Battersby eyes pierce his soul at once. He lifted his hands defensively and fell silent.

"As I said," Timothy spoke slowly, "we cannot take her home this time. Father, I mean, Lord Battersby is unusually angry this time." He turned to look at his sister. "I am afraid he has had enough of your rebellious behaviour, Tri. He did something quite irrevocable." Turning once more to the Grahams, he added: "With all respect, I'd rather not discuss it in your presence. It should be up to her to decide whether she wants you to know, but only after we tell her."

When Michael's father rose to leave the room, his wife followed suit. Michael hesitated, looking at Tri. A part of him felt like she needed his support, but she nodded at him, so he left, pulling the door shut behind himself. Waiting outside was awkward. He tried to make conversation with his mother to block out the muffled voices from within the room. Luckily, it was not long before the door opened, and Theodore stuck his head out.

"She wishes to speak to Michael?" he said, clearly unsure who that was. Back inside, Michael saw fresh tears on Tri's face. Timothy was standing uncomfortably at a distance from her. The door fell shut behind Theodore.

Tri only briefly lifted her gaze to meet Michael's eye, then she looked back into her now empty cup. When nobody said anything for a while, Michael heard sounds from the other room again. Clearly, he was not the only one growing impatient. Finally, Tri managed to find some words, though her voice was weak and he had to concentrate to understand her.

"Father disowned me." Tri swallowed. "I almost expected that, but..." Again, their eyes briefly met. She looked at her brothers, searching for help. Timothy cleared his throat.

"Well, apparently, our father went to the monastery where they keep birth records for some families, including ours. I knew he was going to disown Tri, but I didn't know why he would go there, so I went there a day later and found out that he had made an official claim for her to be removed from all family records on grounds of being-" he briefly paused and lowered his voice "- another man's child, born to our mother as a result of adultery." He gave everybody a moment to breathe before he continued. "I confronted father about this later that day, thinking he had made it up to cleanse the family of the rumours associated with Tri, I thought it was outrageous to thus sully the name of our dead mother. Father denied it being a lie, he said he had known for a long time, ever since it became apparent that Tri had nothing in common with him. He blames her behaviour on it, too. Apparently, he had known of an affair around the time of Tri's conception but had believed mother when she swore Tri was his, and thus raised us all even after mother's death. He even made us believe mother had had brown hair when Tri's initial light colour darkened far from resembling any of ours. I think he really wanted you to be his, until he could not bear it anymore." Timothy looked at Tri, but she stared at Michael.

"Get me out of here," she finally whispered. "Get me out of here," she repeated, louder this time. "I wanted to go to Welsborough, to get some distance so father – Lord Battersby – would forgive me, but now I don't need his forgiveness anymore. I can't go to Welsborough because of the stupid plague, but I cannot stay here either. Please, Michael, I beg you, take me out of Limben."

"Can you do that?" Timothy looked surprised.

"I, ehm, I'm just a travelling merchant. I only know the route between Limben and Welsborough." Michael felt overwhelmed with everything.

"Then there's nowhere for you to go, sister. Come, we will take you to an inn where you may stay for now, I'm sure we will be able to arrange something with friends soon enough." Timothy reached a hand out to her.

"No. I'm no longer part of your family. You can't tell me what to do. I won't hide in an inn or in father's friends' spare rooms. I am leaving, and you cannot stop me." Tri pushed past her brothers, grabbed Michael hard by the arm and dragged him out the door.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Michael swore silently as he stubbed a toe being dragged along. Tri did not answer until he finally managed to get her to stand still.

"I cannot stay here." She was in tears.

"Yes, you can. For now, at least. We will find a way, I promise, but you have to stay, at least for tonight." Michael felt everybody's eyes staring at his back. His thoughts were racing. He knew there was no way to convince her to listen to her brothers just now. "Either in an inn or here with my family. We need to rest, look at yourself, look at me! We are in no state to leave, we have no supplies and no plan. Tomorrow, we can think about what to do, alright?"

"Michael, a word." His father's voice betrayed impatience, so Michael dared not hesitate. He left Tri right at the door, pushed his way past her brothers and followed his father into the now empty room. Once again, the door fell shut. "She cannot stay here. Don't you see how her brothers look at you! I may believe you when you say you did not sleep with this girl, but they surely do not. You know what rumours can do to a man and his family in this city." Michael felt heartbroken.

"Pappa, I am just trying to help her. If she runs out of this house in this state in the middle of the night, she may get hurt, even if she doesn't make it out the city gates. I know the rumours around her are bad, but right now, she needs our help. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have people think I was indecent with her than to actually have her blood on my hands. We are an honourable family, you said it yourself."

"Don't you lecture me!" John Graham's eyes narrowed dangerously. He took a deep breath. "Alright, she can stay here, but only for one night. I want her out by nightfall tomorrow, no matter what. And we are keeping this quiet!"

Michael thanked him and rushed back outside. Tri was still by the door, her brothers talking to her in low voices, though they stopped when they heard Michael.

"Mamma, please take Tri to rest with you and the girls. I will make sure the boys get ready for bed as well." His mother looked at Michael, then past him at his father. Satisfied, she told Tri to come along and disappeared into another room. Without a word, Tri made her way past her brothers and disappeared as well.

"Thank you," Michael said to the men. Timothy eyed him sceptically, nodded, and left. Theodore lingered a little longer.

"Take care of her," he finally said. Michael nodded and closed the door behind the brothers. As he turned around, his father looked discontent, so Michael whispered a quick good night and hurried to get to his own brothers.