I walked through the Baines house with an increasing sense of doom.

The floor didn't seem as shiny. The curtains didn't seem so beautiful. Everything remained dull and dreary as it had for the past ten days—the number of days Louis had been missing, the number of days my brothers and sister-in-laws had been begging me not to go through with this plan, the number of days Lincoln and I had been spending every moment with each other as if it were our last.

They probably were.

At my last thought, I bit my lip to prevent myself from crying. My lips no longer tingled from the long, passionate kiss Lincoln and I had shared that morning.

"Miss Danbury, go inside. Lord Baines will be with you shortly," the female servant guiding me through the house said.

I smiled at her. "Thank you."

She blinked, startled. "Y-You're welcome, Miss."

The girl's staring unnerved me. I didn't know why she looked pleasantly surprised and yet worried. "What is it? Talk."

"You're kind," she whispered.

My head tilted to the side, trying to find a reason behind her sudden declaration. "Is that a bad thing?" 

The girl looked around, terrified that someone might hear her. "You need to leave here. It's not safe."

Oh. I see.

"Thanks for the warning but I don't really have a choice to be here."

The girl nodded and looked behind me. Her eyes widened and she bowed. "I'll be on my way, Miss."

The girl walked away quickly. I turned to check who was behind me. I came face-to-face with a chest. A finger touched my chin and tilted my head up. I look into unfamiliar brown eyes.

"You really are beautiful," he said, tilting my head side to side. I didn't respond and continued to stare at him with uninterested eyes. After a while of our silent eye contact, he smirked. "And incredibly strong-willed too. I can see why my brother is obsessed with you."

I was sure that even my bones were emanating hostile vibes but this guy seemed not to take a hint. Maybe he was taking the hint and ignoring it. I could never know with his brother and from the arrogant look on this one's face, I could tell that he behaved the same way Baines did.

However, unlike his brother who I didn't mind tongue-lashing, I refused to give him the gift of an answer. When he realized this, he frowned. "No response?" He waited for me to say something. "That's a little disappointing. I think conversing with you would be interesting."

Interesting. Lincoln had used the exact word to describe me in his journal. Hearing it from the mouth of a Baines who had no understanding of that word or its significance felt like an insult.

I stepped away from him and turned to open the door with shaky hands. His larger hands covered mine around the door knob. He leaned on the door. "Are you leaving so soon, Miss Danbury? You don't need to put on a composed mask around me. I've heard stories of your exploits with noblemen. Oh, what a naughty girl you are."

I scoffed and pulled my hand from under his. I glanced at his familiar facial features—he had an uncanny resemblance to Edward Baines—with irritation. "You bore me."

I walked past him and he pulled me back. He planted his arms on opposite sides of my head to trap me. "The princess finally decides to grace us with her voice. However, I would have preferred to hear my name first. Say August. You can do that."

I lifted my feet and stepped on his foot with my small heel. As he bent to cradle his foot, his forehead collided with my raised knee. He stumbled backwards and his back hit a large vase. "I'll go get you a doctor, my lord."

"You insolent–"

"Someone, help," I yelled. "Lord Augustine is injured."

Two females and a man ran towards us in panic. The females rushed to him and helped him to limp away. The man stopped to stare at me with curiousity. "How did Lord Augustine get injured?"

I could respect his ability to detect that his master had not been coincidentally injured. However, I smiled at his attempt to challenge me. "I stepped on his foot. He hit his head on my knee and stumbled into the vase behind me."

The man's curious expression melted and was replaced with a smile. "Miss Danbury, would you like to meet Lord Edward? He's in the garden gazebo right now, having a meeting."

Why was he not hauling me to the authorities or yelling at the top of his lungs for guards to hound me? Maybe he didn't like Augustine that much or...

Lord Anthony had told me that the Danbury family always had eyes and ears in the Baines mansion. Was this guy on our side?

The man watched me put two and two together. When he was sure I knew his identity, he adjusted his tailcoat and bowed, his left hand held out to the side indicating the direction of the garden.

I walked ahead of him, changing directions when he said to. When I finally got to the garden, I could feel my dress sticking to my body because of my apprehensive sweating. The little childish exchange had not erased the purpose I had come here for. I needed to get Louis back.

I stilled my nerves and walked into the garden. The first time I had been here, I had only seen the garden from afar and marveled at its beauty but walking among the rows of beautiful flowers was a whole new experience. I felt a teardrop slide down my cheek.

Lincoln would love to walk here with me.

"Miss Danbury?" I heard someone say behind me.

I wiped my tears with my glove before turning around. Whatever good emotions left in me drained at the sight of the old man before me. I curtsied. "Earl Davidson. I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Me neither. I suppose it's expected. Your marriage to the future marquess is almost certain, is it not?" Earl Davidson looked behind him at my least favourite man in the world.

"That depends on Miss Danbury. The heart is a mysterious place," Baines said like a man who was suffering from unrequited love.

The boisterous earl laughed loudly and patted Baines' shoulder. "Ah. Young love."

After the earl left, Baines sneered and pulled out a handkerchief from his suit jacket to wipe the area of contact. "What a disgusting man. How does he know you?"

"I caught him about to have sex with my mother a few months ago," I replied.

Baines' eyes turned cold and he walked up to me and grabbed my chin with so much force that it hurt. I didn't have the strength to resist anymore. I just let him huff in my face as he wished. "You will not use such crass wording in public."

After a few seconds, he pulled away from me and caressed my cheek. "Look what you've done. My fingers have imprinted themselves on your skin." His eyes strayed down to my body. He smiled triumphantly. "I see you're putting on the dress I sent you. I was right in thinking that you would look beautiful."

"Where's my brother?" I muttered.

His smile grew wider. "In a very safe place. With his attitude, I'm sure he would be playing cards with his guards now."

I looked down at my hands and smiled. Louis was just that good with people. If he was alive, my sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

"So you do have him? You kidnapped my brother," I said in a firmer voice.

"Yes. Since you understood my note, you knew that." He pulled me closer to him by my waist. "Can you see the extent to which I can go to have you?" He kissed my jaw. "You are mine. Mine." He pulled my collar to have access to my neck. Before he kissed my neck, he froze, his eyes narrowing to slits and trained on my neck. "What is that?"

My heart rate picked up at the promise of murder in his voice. I hadn't felt this much fear of anyone in years. I had to restrain myself from clutching my chest.

Lincoln. I needed Lincoln.

"What man left his mark on you? You let a man kiss you when you belong to me. How dare–"

His hands reached to wrap around my neck. I slipped out from under his arms and moved closer to the servant who had brought me in earlier. "What more do you want from me? You have your father's title. You want the duke's title. You have all the young ladies in London, fawning over you. Did you have to kidnap Louis?"

"So what if I want it all? Can you do anything to stop me?" he yelled and I flinched. He leaned closer to me with a grin. "Who would believe you?"

The madness in his eyes had me backing away as fast as I could. I was mostly concerned by the fact that he didn't care that there were servants in the garden. Even though it was a reasonably private garden seeing that he could have a conversation with Earl Davidson about their plans since the earl was on Lord Anthony's list of offenders...

I looked at the guards who stood in the area. They no doubt had heard incriminating stuff. M-Maybe–

"Imelda, since you're so open to other men, I'm sure you'll enjoy my company as well."

It took me exactly four seconds to register what he had said and an extra two to realise he was pulling me in the direction of a small house near the garden. I dug my heels into the ground, clawing at his wrist. "Let me go! Let me go!!"

"If you don't come along peacefully, your dear brother suffers for it," Baines said.

All the fight evaporated from my body. Tears filled my eyes. "Please, I'll marry you. Let Louis go. Please, I beg you."

Baines slowed down and turned to me with a smug smile. "You can be broken. I have the pleasure of breaking the famous 'Miss Danbury' into pieces. However, I do not like what you offer. I can have you as I wish now and dispose of your siblings later, one after the other, and perhaps after that, the Castillas that you adore so much."

"Stop!" I screamed. "You can't hurt my family."

"Says who?"

"I suggest you take your hands off the lady, Lord Edward," a man said.

I turned around. We were surrounded by servants with guns on every side. I burst into tears of joy and slipped away as Baines' grip on my hand loosened.

Baines chuckled and shook his head. "What do you think you're doing?"

The servant who had led me into the garden lowered his gun and pulled out a paper and the badge of the royal guard of the country. "We have come to take you to the queen for questioning."

Baines' amusement evaporated when he realised that he was in real trouble. He tried to bolt. A shot was fired at his knee and he slumped forward with a groan.

The shooter—James—twirled his gun in the air and caught it. "I've been wanting to do that for a while."

I fell to the ground, my shaky palm covering my mouth.

The plan worked. I can't believe it worked.

"Oh, my goodness. It's over. It's really over," I whispered, my brain not willing to accept that the bane of the months of my 19th-century existence was defeated in two minutes. "E-E-Everyt-thing i-is f-f-f..."

"Are you all numbskulls? The girl is going into shock," someone yelled.

Through my hazy vision, I could see Marchioness Baines run to me to help me stand up. I pointed to her son. "S-s-sorry."

She looked at Baines being led away by law enforcement officers. "Tsk. He deserves it. You should focus on yourself. People are waiting anxiously for you." My head felt too heavy to turn. It fell to the marchioness' shoulder. "Imelda, stay awake. Stay awake."

I saw a familiar figure run towards me. I tilted myself forward with the last strength in my body. "Lincoln."

"I'm here. I'm here," he whispered and lifted me from under my knees. I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to reduce the little space between us.

"C-C..."

Lincoln bent his head to hear me clearer. "What? Do you need anything?"

"C-Clergyman now."