I didn't bother to hide that I was staring at Lincoln. I liked him. I knew. He knew. Everyone knew. Moreover, I enjoyed his fidgeting and nervous glances as he deliberately tried to avoid looking at me despite the fact that I was sitting next to him.

"This was a possibility that we hadn't considered. The servants in both households could play a huge role in this matter," Henry said.

Harry nodded. "I mean it would be difficult for Baines to get and copy Lord Arden's handwriting, seal, and signature. He doesn't write his letters."

"That means someone close to him in his house stole it," Bella added. "But what would a marquess' son offer someone who works for a duke?"

I chose then to focus on the conversation. "He could have threatened to harm their family or expose some ghastly secret of theirs that would ruin the lives." When everyone turned to me with a deadpan look, I raised my hands in defence. "Come on. It's Baines we're talking about here."

"That's true." Christine frowned, hanging her head in her hands. "I hate the fact that he's unpredictable. However, his thought process just seems interesting."

Bella and I scoffed in unison. That man-child didn't have an attractive bone in his body.

Lincoln cleared his throat awkwardly. "The problem is getting concrete evidence of a spy inside the house."

"Someone would need to go undercover." Suddenly, I squealed making the other table occupants turn to me in concern. "You have no idea how much I've always wanted to say that."

"She's not wrong," Henry said.

"It can't be any of us who would go. That would be like signing a death sentence," Christine said.

"As nearly impossible as the plan seems, we would just leave it among our options. If the oppor-"

"It won't work." When Lincoln noticed my narrowed eyes, he sighed. "I'm not being a pessimist. It just won't work at this moment. House Arden is in a state of uproar and financial distress. The doors are not open to anyone except a high-ranking noble, like a fellow duke or trusted marquesses, or a servant recommended by one."

"How do we find a servant recommended by a noble or become one ourselves? All the people who can help us in this country would be unwilling to, just in case we do not succeed and Baines becomes the duke," Henry said.

Someone who would help us. Someone who would help us. Anyone at all.

My eyes strayed to Bella and the answer suddenly came to me.

I snapped my fingers. "Not all of them. We might have to present something or someone as a tribute for help though. There's no harm in trying."

"Who are you talking about?" Bella asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I smiled, a plan forming in my head. "Because you're the resident expert on this. Tell me everything you know about the noble Danburys, particularly Lord Anthony."

***

Bella and I sat at the worktable in her bedroom, heads pressed together, whispering excitedly about the masterpiece of a dress that was stringing together before our eyes.

During the round table meeting a half hour ago, I discovered that House Danbury didn't have a lot of political power not because they couldn't but because they didn't want to. However, they controlled or were involved in all the domestic and international trade in the country, particularly in the fashion industry. Hence, there was no better way to get their attention than through discussing profitable investments while wearing a pretty dress. The plan was to ask Marquess Baines for help at the city's summer ball while wearing a dress design he had never seen.

"Bella, there's no corset," I repeated, pressing my lips together to prevent myself from laughing.

She frowned. "What do you mean, no corset? How do you shape the dress without a corset?"

"You'd use my body measurements. No allowance." She looked at me with a horrified expression. "Or maybe just a little so I can breathe."

She looked at her drawing with fondness, gently stroking the right side of the paper. "It seems like a lovely dress but I don't know if I can do it. It seems beyond me."

I grasped her shoulders. "Enough with that depressing talk. I believe in you. I wouldn't have thought this up if I didn't think you could do it. Besides, any other dressmaker I go to with this dress would recommend an asylum. Your generation isn't ready for this.

She let out a small laugh. "We definitely aren't." She raised the paper to the window. "Do you really think it can be done?"

"Yeah, I believe so. I wore a dress with a similar design at my welcome back party from the military, only that it was red. I worked closely with the tailor then so I think I'll be able to help."

She hummed absentmindedly, scribbling quickly on the paper. "I forgot that you were in the military."

I looked over her shoulder. "What are you writing?"

"Practical steps to make this dress feasible."

Before I could reply, I heard a tsk sound from the doorway. I turned and saw the back of Lincoln's coat leaving the room.

Huh? Why didn't he say anything?

"I'll be right back," I said, getting up to chase after him. Bella didn't respond as she was concentrating on her writing.

I ran down the stairs as fast as I could in a floor-length robe and nightgown, calling Lincoln's name. I was only a few steps behind him so I was sure he could hear me but he didn't stop walking towards the front door.

In a quick burst of strength, I ran past him and stood in front of the door, looking at him with a small smile. "Hey, is everything alright? I was calling you."

He stared at me with a blank look and tried to sidestep me. My smile dropped. I blocked his way on every step. "We can go on like this for as long as you want. Just tell me what's wrong. Did I do something wrong?"

"Miss Danbury, I have to be somewhere," he said. Those words, although sounding normal to the average listener, pierced my heart on many levels. He sounded the way he had when I had first met him, months ago. Like my concern didn't matter to him.

Like I didn't matter to him.

I stumbled backward, holding onto the door for support. "I...I-Is there something wrong?"

"What makes you think so?"

I was waiting, hoping that he would break into a smile or at least, get that slightly mischievous look he always had in his eyes when he teased me. Neither came.

"T-the way you're speaking. I'm sorry if I did anything."

He gently pulled me away from the door. I didn't have the mind to resist him. "Stop this childishness. You're a young woman soon to be married."

With that, he left the house, slamming the door in my face. My knees gave way and I stumbled to the ground.

"What just happened?" I whispered. The light breeze in the room carried my words to a nonexistent hearer. I sat still pondering on Lincoln's bizarre actions, watching evening fade into the night. At some point, I moved to the couch, staring at the empty fireplace.

I would wait for him. He had to come home and tell me what I did.

Eventually, the door creaked open. The sound broke me out of my haze. I stood abruptly. "Lincoln."

He looked in my direction at my whisper and turned in the direction of the stairs. I ran up to him and hugged him from behind. He stiffened.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll apologise a million times if you'll stop avoiding me." The first tear of the day fell. "I'll do anything. Please."

"Miss Danbury, it's unacceptable for a woman to hold a man if they aren't married," he said.

So the coldness wasn't a one-time thing.

The thought made my tears fall quickly. "I don't care. I just want to hold you. Can you let me have that?"

He didn't respond and instead, pried my hands off him. "Miss Danbury, there are many pressing matters to be handled. There is no time for your whims and-"

"And if Baines wasn't here. If he didn't want me and we were not in the middle of a battle, would you let me hold you?"

As that question slipped out of my mouth, I regretted it. It was a different thing for him to admit that he didn't like me at the moment because logically, neither of us had time for romance in our situation. It was another thing for him to say that he would have never liked me regardless.

"Do you want the answer to that?" he asked me. My heart fell between my cold, bare feet. He didn't even bother to turn around despite hearing my sobs.

"I'm not Imelda Danbury. I'm asking as Andrea. I...please, don't do this to me."

I grasped at his coat as he began to walk up the stairs as I was still speaking.

"Miss Danbury, have a good night," he said and walked into his room. I heard the bolt click. He never locked it when I was around. He knew I liked hearing him read at night.

What did I do?

A new batch of tears began to flow again. I dropped on the first stair and covered my face in my hands, shaking with sobs. A pair of soft arms wrapped around me.

"Why does it hurt so much?" I cried, snuggling into Bella's embrace.

"You like him, don't you?" Bella asked cautiously.

"So much that it hurts."

"I'll give him a good beating. Who does the idiot think he is, messing with my best friend's feelings like that? I am so sure that he returns your feelings."

Bella's comforting words widened the hole in my heart but cleared the fog in my head. I gave her a shaky smile. "He already made it clear. He doesn't want me near him."

Bella sighed, her anger rolling off her in waves. "Just another reason to beat him up and make him live on biscuits for a month. He knows physical contact is the way you express your affection and he's your emotional support object." She slammed her fist on the stair above the one they were sitting on. "Make that two months."

I stayed silent, thinking about what I could have done between when Henry, Harry, and Christine were here and when Bella and I moved to her room. Something so bad that Lincoln would stop talking to me. When I came up short, the sobs came again with more vigor.

Maybe he had gotten bored of me. If we had been in the future, I would have been more impressive. Andrea Taylor was pretty average in 1807.

"Lincoln Andrew Castilla," Bella yelled, stomping up the stairs. "I am going to kill you."

I couldn't even lift my hands to pull her back. Crying had pretty much exhausted me that even the yelling and occasional crashes I could hear upstairs didn't stop me from falling asleep on the stairs.