Wakefield and Cole were the first to block Maxwell's path when he burst into his Vinge estate. Emma, Ysabella and Margaret were in one corner, comforting their crying mother. Should he look at the four ladies longer, Maxwell was certain that he would have gone insane.

And so he chose to glare at his two brothers-in-law. "Step aside," he said through gritted teeth.

"Max, she is—" Nicholas breathlessly said behind him but Maxwell started pushing through Wakefield and Cole. "Step aside!" he roared.

"Maxwell, you ought to calm down," Cole said, pushing him back. "Doctor Johannes is—"

"I said step aside!" he roared, causing his mother and his sisters to whimper in their corner. "Step aside, Devitt, before I make another push," he growled at the man.

"Let him pass, gentlemen," Margaret said in a shaking voice.

Her husband and Wakefield did as were told and Maxwell ran past through them and up the stairs. "Where!" he shouted.

"Your bedchamber," he heard Emma answer.

Maxwell's legs took him down the corridor with great speed. His heart was hammering against his chest and when he reached the door, he stopped. Fear struck him again, rendering him immobile. His throat seemed to have closed up on him that his intake of breath was a wheeze. He bent down, resting his hands on his knees to breathe as a whimper escaped his tight throat. He started to heavily rasp, his eyes staring wide at the floor. A tear escaped and he watched it soak he carpet, his vision getting blurry by the second.

He rubbed his hands over his face and raked it through his hair, drawing a shaky breath as he straightened to full height. Looking to the left, he realized his family had decided to leave him alone. And he did feel alone.

No.

No, he could never be alone.

He rubbed his hands over his face again to wipe the tears and pushed the door open.

His entrance caught the attention of the doctor bending over his wife and the servants who were rushing to and fro with towels, washbasins, bandages—all of them covered with blood.

"My lord, if you can please stay—" the doctor started but Maxwell was already on his way across the room, running to the other side of the bed.

"Continue with your work, doctor," he ordered coldly. "Do not mind me."

His eyes settled on his wife. She looked utterly pale, unmoving on the bed. Her dress was dirty, torn in some places and covered with patches of blood and mud.

He slowly climbed the bed and took her hand. It was cold. He bent down to whisper beside her ear. "Maxie," he said. "Maxie," he choked. His other hand brushed her hair away from her forehead. It was a great struggle not to gather her in his arms and whimper in defeat.

He straightened and looked her over, finally seeing the damage.

Her upper body looked utterly fine but the sight of her right leg caused a sound that was both pain and horror to escape his throat. He saw the young doctor's jaw tighten over his reaction but the man merely continued with what he was doing.

Suddenly Maxwell felt utterly vulnerable as he watched the doctor work for he did not know what the doctor was doing. He could not tell him how to do his work better or see if he was doing it wrong now.

Another tear rolled out of Maxwell's eye, his hand tightening around his wife's hand. He blinked and roared at the servants, "Open the bloody curtains!"

They all jumped to their feet.

"How can he work if there is barely any light!" he screamed again.

"My lord," the young doctor said as he bent over Maxine's broken leg, "please, your voice."

But Maxwell was not listening as his eyes were glued on the ghastly long wound that ran from Maxine's inner thigh, over her knee and down to the middle of her shin.

"I assume no one was able to explain to you how it happened?" asked the doctor.

Maxwell's jaw tightened. "I will soon find out, but what I want to know is if she will be all right," he said, voice cold and filled with fear. "Bloody answer me, doctor."

Doctor Johannes threw him a quick glance before he continued with his work. "The man who rescued her tied the upper part of her thigh to minimize the bleeding. As of now, I just finished washing the wound of any debris from the broken carriage and I shall do so again before I stich—"

"I did not ask for specifics, doctor. I want to know if my wife shall live," he said in a controlled, shaky voice.

The doctor swallowed and sighed. "If we can prevent an infection and if her body can compensate for the loss of blood, your wife shall live, my lord," the man replied as he frowned down Maxine's leg and ordered for a maid to wipe off the fresh blood. As the woman did so, the doctor looked up at Maxwell and gravely added, "but I cannot say the same for her leg. If it gets infected and we cannot save it, we will have to amputate. If it survives an infection, then we must pray for the best. It is not just flesh that that accident has broken, my lord, but a bone as well. I have called for another doctor who is an expert on bone healing and he is being rushed here as we speak."

Maxwell's breath became heavy again. "Call everyone you think is best," he snapped. "Do you mean to say she may never be able to walk again?"

Doctor Johannes carefully answered, "We cannot say for certain, my lord. We shall do our best and hope that our best will suffice."

Maxwell's jaw tightened. It was not enough reassurance, but he would have to settle for it.

Maxwell turned to cup Maxine's face with one hand. She was not waking up. She looked as if she was in a deep slumber. But her temple was soaked with sweat. Was she suffering in her sleep? Could she feel the pain?

"I gave her a high dose of laudanum," Doctor Johannes informed him.

Ignoring the doctor, Maxwell bent lower. "I'm here, love," he harshly whispered as he buried his tear-streaked face in her neck. Her faint pulse gave him comfort as he began to shake in tears. "I'm here, love," he repeated in a broken whisper.

*****

He did not bother to ask how his wife's carriage got into an accident while on her way to the Everard estate. Everyone was aware that such details were not important to Maxwell now.

Almost the entire Everard family was residing in his estate now, including Doctor Johannes and his friend who tended on Maxine's bone after the bleeding was stopped. It had been three days since the accident yet Maxwell had not said a word to anyone.

Margaret had ordered for Benedict and Levi to come to Wickhurst at once. And upon hearing of Maxine's accident, both brothers arrived the same day as the Theobalds.

Maxwell was inconsolable and he refused to talk to anyone although he was in the same room as them. And everyone kept their distance as they knew him too well. There was merely one person who could get up and come near him now and that was the very same woman lying in bed upstairs.

Margaret gathered her brothers inside Maxwell's study. Everyone else but her husband was kept out, giving the Theobalds and each other comfort somewhere in the parlor.

"Maxwell has advised me to tell you all about Osegod, but I withheld it until I have enough reason why we cannot be involved with the man."

"Nearly caused my wife's life, thank you," Maxwell cynically snapped from one corner. He looked like hell and smelled worse, but cared not. "Hurry, Maggie, for I do not wish to stay in this room one minute longer. My wife—"

"I am sorry if you feel that having not made an early decision against Osegod is the reason for Maxine's accident, Max, but I must remind you that I am a Leaguer and I have already done so much against my duty to protect this family."

Maxwell did not comment but his jaw tightened. He did not want to blame his sister for she did not know—as no one else did—that this accident could have happened, the same way they did not see the mine accident months before.

Margaret sighed and looked at Benedict. "The League has come to believe that Osegod is not merely the head of the Town Leaders, but also that he is gaining control over Tiny Town."

"But Tiny Town is a separate state," Levi pointed out.

"Then he must be a very good player," said Margaret. "The Trilbys own almost half of Tiny Town—its land, the businesses and the people there rely upon their graces whether they know it or not."

"Ah, of course, the bloody Trilbys," Maxwell said with scoff. "Who would have bloody thought?"

Margaret ignored his derision and kept talking. "As what Ralph has also been able to discover through his investigation, Osegod is involved with the slave trade. Cole and I have been closely watching the Trilbys since we discovered their connection to the trade years ago. Osegod's name never came up until Ralph found traces of his name in his investigation."

"Although we are yet to find concrete evidence of his direct connection to the trade," Ralph supplied.

Margaret looked around the room at her brothers from where she was standing in the middle of the room. "They have never made any efforts to hide the fact that they are chummy with each other—Osegod and the Trilbys."

"You have more to say, Maggie," Benedict seriously said, giving their sister an assessing look.

"The League has gained leverage, but it is very little. We have in our possession two people that Osegod desperately wants." And she went on to tell everything that Maxwell already knew about Aurora Randolph and her child.

"Bloody hell, Maggie," Ralph said in disbelief. "You did what?"

Margaret stiffened as she haughtily lifted her chin. "They are safe, do not worry. We are keeping them safe for they are more important to us than alive. They are not my mission, so is Osegod, but I have to keep track of the investigation because of the recent attention he has been giving the family."

"You realize you've let them keep a mother and her child as pawns, do you not, Maggie?" Levi said, a frown on his face.

"And would you rather it be your wife and child? Mine? Yours?" she directed the last question at Benedict. "I did what I did to save us all from Osegod!"

"And he still managed to get to us, did he not!" Nicholas roared. "The mine accident and now Maxine." He scoffed in disbelief. "Now, do not get me wrong, Maggie, I do not like the chit, especially after what she did to Ysabella. But what your precious League of Founders is planning to do to her is worse than anything she could have done to us. No wonder she did it, eh? She must be the only person in the Town to realize that no one can ever be trusted and that life is naught but a game of using everyone around you!"

"It could be worse should Osegod realize we kept Aurora and the child, Nicholas! Do you realize that the only people who want them now are the League of Founders? Because no matter how you look at it, gentlemen," Margaret said, panting with fury as she looked at her brothers, "no one—and yes, that includes us—would want to have anything to do with the danger that comes with helping them. Do not be too righteous, brothers, for we all know that what I did was right. We are better off without such burden when we can barely manage to say no to a business proposal from Osegod! We have surpassed petty scandals, but this matter about Aurora and her child is not comparable to when we took a woman suspected of witchcraft or a bastard into our family. Aurora is not a scandal we can easily patch for her own enemy is the enemy of the entire Town itself. This is no longer about avoiding a scandal, my lords, but of preservation! Aurora is fully aware of that for she had lived her life that way and we shall do so too for once! I will not let any of my children, to wake up with no future because we took pity on one woman and her child! It was the hardest decision I have ever done and I will do the same again because I am a mother, a sister and a child!"

"This matter about Aurora Randolph and her child will simply be an endless debate of right and wrong," Benedict interjected. "It is best we move forward," he added, a signal for Margaret to continue.

Ralph, Levi and Nicholas shook their heads in disbelief.

"As I have said, the fight against Osegod is weak, but we are gaining momentum."

Cole stepped closer to his wife and said, "We cannot present a case against him for he is far too powerful at the moment."

"One wrong move and we could start a civil war," Margaret said. "He holds majority of the high ranking officials of the Town Guards in his hands. His power could have infiltrated the League of Founders as we know which is why every step we make must be with caution." Margaret swallowed, her eyes glinting with unshed tears. "We do not plan for a battle of blood, but one that will be legal and clean. We shall catch Osegod and his friends for their crimes and persecute them as our law dictates. A bloody civil war will not merely cause us lives but can very well be the end of our entire existence."

"And when do you plan to make these moves?" Nicholas asked. "When do you plan to use your pawns?"

Margaret's eyes flickered with anger at her brother's derision but she maintained her composure by shrugging and stating, "I do not know as I am not part of the core group that handles the case. And we may not have to use the pawns as you would call them, Nick."

"How very reassuring," Nicholas mockingly replied.

Margaret looked at her husband but did not say another word.

"You have something you are not telling us, Maggie," Maxwell observed from one corner, his eyes looking tired by keen. "What is it?"

Margaret let out a shaky breath. "I believe I know why Osegod wants to be close to us."

"They suspect we are keeping Aurora and the child?" Ralph guessed.

Margaret shrugged. "Perhaps, but as I have said, he is not merely playing a hunting game. He is planning something bigger." When her brothers simply stared, she uttered, "He wishes to expand his power over all gentries."

"Even a fool can come up with the same conclusion, sister," Nicholas uttered.

"As my wife has been trying to tell you, gentlemen, Osegod is planning something far bigger than anyone here can ever imagine," Cole calmly said.

Benedict was watching Margaret, eyes serious and unblinking. Ralph and Nicholas restlessly shifted in their seats while Maxwell remained unmoving.

Margaret drew a deep breath and carefully said, "Osegod is in contact with aboveground and from what I have gathered, whatever he is planning might cause the ruin of the entire Town."

*****

Maxwell barely had chance to be as surprised by Margaret's blasted revelation as his brothers were, nor did he bother to stay longer while Benedict talked with the others about completely refusing Osegod's offers and other ways they could do so without causing future accidents.

His uttermost priority was to keep his full attention on his wife and make it certain that she showed no signs of infection. He went straight to her chamber and urged Rachel to rest or join Gabriel and Samuel downstairs with the others for tea.

Maxine's stepmother gave him a faint smile, her face tired as she said, "Thank you. My husband may not say it, but we both are grateful. For accepting her. For loving her."

He merely nodded and waited until the woman walked out of the room. He took the seat she vacated beside the bed and held his wife's hand. She had not woken up since last night when she did with so much pain that Doctor Johannes had to give her another dose of laudanum to subside it.

He planted the back of his palm over her forehead and sighed with relief. No fever. Her breathing was slow but visible.

Ysabella came through the door, face solemn and slightly wary as she approached. "Gustav sent a missive," she said in a soft, low voice.

Maxwell nodded and took the letter from his sister. Ysabella looked at Maxine's sleeping form before she brushed away a tear and turned to leave.

"Ysa," Maxwell croaked, "Thank you."

His sister nodded and left.

After staring blankly at his wife's bandaged leg, Maxwell tore his eyes away from it and the gut-wrenching fear it stirred inside him, opening the letter.

Ei Guv!

Forgive the letter. I try my best, see?

My friends from the west confirmed a woman from Wickhurst had joined 'em many years ago. They took her in after findin' her in an abandoned carriage in the middle of the road. She was bleendin', see? Said she looked like a woman who had been bleedin' from childbirth. They cared for her until she was well. She lived with them then but was killed when their village was attacked two decades ago.

My friend cannot say for certain, but she could've been the same woman you are lookin' for. She never spoke about her past, see? She was the first and last gentry their village welcomed. Those men came for her, not them.

Do be careful with those Trilbys, guv!

Your bandit acquaintance,

G

P.S. How is my writing? Better than my speech, eh?

Maxwell folded the letter and his head fell back against the winged chair. He closed his eyes and sighed.

Now, how could he tell his wife that her mother might possibly be dead, left to die by her own family in a lone road and later killed when they found out she survived?

Tears appeared behind his closed lids as another question came to his mind. And how could he tell her that she might never be able to walk again?