"You do not entirely believe me," Maxine told him as they traveled back to the townhouse. "Why would you want to help me?"

Maxwell Everard did not look away from whatever he was staring at outside the window. He sighed. He apparently found her questions bothersome. "If you are truly who you say you are, proving that you are Amelia Trilby's daughter will erase all doubts I have about you."

Maxine scoffed. This Everard brother was indeed wise. "Very well, I agree."

He turned his head and their eyes met. Her heart oddly raced inside her chest and she suppressed it by cocking a brow. "I simply said I'd help you. I did not ask that you agree."

Her heart stopped racing as she froze with irritation. With a stiff, cold smile, Maxine uttered, "I do adore your arrogance, my lord."

He offered a cynical, short bow, one very close to a nod, and said, "As I do your beautiful mockery."

She offered the same cynical, short curtsy with her head. "Thank you."

His lips quirked. It could have been a smile, it could have been a frown. Maxine sighed and looked out the other window. "Since you have so graciously imposed helping me, you surely do have a plan, yes?" she asked, belatedly adding, "my lord."

His hand rose to brush his long hair away from his face, eyes still outside the window. "We will have to wait."

"You have said as much moments earlier. I would appreciate if you can elaborate further."

"I will have to figure out a way to set up a meeting with Amelia Trilby."

"The Everards are not in good terms with the Trilbys you said," she pointed out.

He turned to look at her again. "I do have connections."

"Thus we must return to Wickhurst first," she concluded.

"Yes."

Maxine studied Maxwell Everard when he tore his eyes from her again. What had changed his mind? Why was he helping her now?

Merely weeks ago he threatened to take her to the Town Guards. Now he was suggesting she stay in Wickhurst?

*****

"He claims he needs fresh air," Nicholas murmured inside the carriage. "The entire bloody Town does not have fresh air unless you are under a bloody hole!"

Maxine pursed her lips to keep herself baring her teeth. She did not know why Maxwell had insisted that he sit with the carriage driver, but she was quite certain she had something to do with it. Did he think she could not handle the journey simply because she was a woman?

But surely he would not think that? He had let her sleep on the floor. He had let her suffer the journey to Willowfair.

Perhaps he simply needed fresh air, she silently reasoned to herself for she did not wish to entertain any thoughts about Maxwell Everard being concerned about her wellbeing. For now, she had to focus on keeping Nicholas from this dire tirade about his brother. It had been going on for nearly an hour since they had left Willowfair.

The rest of the family had not yet departed as Margaret asked for another day so her adopted daughter, Fiona, could have a longer stay with the Haverstons.

Nicholas and Maxwell had claimed to have prior engagements in Wickhurst they could not postpone, thus they were all relieved.

Maxine was thankful that Ysabella did not seek her out since their last encounter. The woman dared not even notice her when she entered the parlor earlier. She merely wished that Ysabella could keep this secret long enough for Maxine to finish what she had set out to do.

"Ah, perhaps he is tired of my jests," Nicholas was saying, drawing Maxine's attention. "What do you think, Max?"

Maxine smiled. "I believe he is tired of hearing you refer to him and I as Max, milord, with pun intended."

"But you are both Max, of course I would refer to both of you as Max!"

Maxine simply smiled. She looked out the window.

"Have you a woman back home, Max?" Nicholas asked, surprising Maxine.

She swallowed. "A woman?"

He nodded. "Yes. A lover." He frowned. "Or mayhap you are married? But you look too young to be with a wife."

"I have none, my lord."

"Ah, then perhaps a lady you intend to court?"

"Yes," she lied simply to get it over with. "As you do, milord?"

Nicholas' laughter rang around the carriage. He shook his head. "No, I do not."

"Lover then," she said. It was not a question.

The man chuckled. "Yes, of course." He looked out the window. "Do you know of Rock'oles?"

Maxine blinked. "I have heard of it, milord, yes."

Nicholas turned to fully face her and she suddenly grew conscious. She had never ridden inside a carriage with him before. "You are not curious?"

"Of course, I am, milord."

He chuckled. "Of course, you would be. Are you aware that the chambers are carved into the rocks?"

"Yes, milord."

"And are you aware of how beautiful the women are?"

She flushed. "No, milord."

"They are, you see," he said, leaning back against his seat. "The most beautiful creatures indeed!"

"You have seen them all, milord?"

The question gave Nicholas pause. He blinked and inclined his head to the right. "Now that you have mentioned, no, I believe I have not seen all."

Her brows rose. Now she was utterly curious. "Not everyone show themselves?"

"Most of them, yes, but I have heard that there is one particular woman who does not wish to be seen."

"She does not? Then why is she there?"

Her master shook his head. "No, she does show herself to the men she chooses to welcome into her chamber, but none of this lords would dare talk about her at all."

"She is a mystery then?"

Nicholas narrowed his eyes. "Indeed she is!"

"Have you made no attempts to be invited into her chamber?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Whyever not?"

He shrugged. "I had always assumed she does not exist."

"Well, mayhap she does not."

"But she does, see? I know she does. I have passed through her chamber countless of times."

"And you have never seen her at all?"

"No. She never leaves. The woman would not talk about her, of course. Secrecy is of utmost importance in Rock'oles."

"What could be the reason for her not to show herself?"

"How would I know?" he said in defeat. He suddenly straightened in his seat and slapped his thigh. "You just gave me a very good idea for fun, Max!"

"I did?"

"Yes!" Nicholas' eyes were alight with mischief and excitement. "I shall make it my mission to find out who this mysterious Rock'oles woman is!"

Maxine simply smiled for she did not how to properly react. A man would know, but for a woman like her, the topic was simply uncomfortable.

"Mayhap she is part of the case!"

"The case, milord?"

Nicholas' eyes flickered with alarm as though he had been caught telling a secret he must not. "Never mind, Max, never mind," he said, leaning back into his seat. His smile returned. "I shall find out who this woman is."

"Good luck then, milord," she said.

"I will find out who she is."

"Yes, I believe you will," she replied.

She turned to look out the window. Perhaps she could demand later that Maxwell must share the carriage ride with his brother and that her rightful place was beside the driver.

*****

Back at the tavern, Maxine was talking with the driver inside their small rented room. The man was narrating how he courted his wife with freshly baked breads every morning when a series of knocks came to the door.

"Have you tethered the horses?" Maxine asked him with a frown.

"'Cors I did!"

"Then who could—" The rest of her words were interrupted by another series of knocks.

"Go answer it," the driver urged. "I am weary."

Maxine stood and walked to the door. She pulled it open an inch.

Her eyes widened when she saw Maxwell standing too close to the door.

"Well, who is it, lad?" asked the driver from behind.

Maxwell's frown deepened when he heard the driver. "Outside," he hissed.

"I am being called upstairs. Do sleep. I will find my way back later," she hastily told the driver before slipping out into the narrow corridor. "What is it now?" she asked Maxwell in a whisper.

But instead of offering a reply, he turned and said, "Upstairs."

Maxine's jaw tightened. "I am not sleeping in your room, my lord."

He paused in his steps and turned. "I said, upstairs, woman."

She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Do not—"

"You are being too considerate, my lord. Simply because you know I am a woman?" she asked in a low voice.

"Yes," was his surprising answer. "Now, upstairs."

Maxine shook her head, still quite confused why he seemed unperturbed by his own admission.

"Do not force me to—"

"I will go upstairs if I get the bed." He scowled at her and she smiled. In the many encounters she had with Maxwell Everard, Maxine knew that to insist on sleeping with the driver meant an endless night of hissing and growling in this corridor. But if she were to concede, she would, at the very least, have to make certain that the defeat would be comfortable. "If you must know, I do have a bed in that room I share with the driver. What makes you believe I would suffer another night on the floor?"

She enjoyed watching his jaw grow tight before he harshly brushed his hands through his hair. She thought she heard a growl but she waited until he conceded with the slightest of nod. "Upstairs," he snapped.

She gave him a mocking curtsy and walked past him to head upstairs to his room.

*****

"Why are you doing this?" Maxine asked in the darkness.

Maxwell was somewhere in one corner, on the floor and she did not even care. He had forced this situation after all.

"Doing what?"

"All of this. Why?"

"Because I enjoy normalcy," his voice wryly replied.

"And my presence is not what you would call normal."

"You are correct, yes."

"And you wish to get rid of the very subject that threatens your normalcy."

"Exactly. You are not part of a routine I am comfortable with."

She fell silent.

"You can speak your mind, Max."

She slowly turned in the bed to face the other side of the room where she believed he was situated. "I have lived my entire life in a routine."

He did not speak for a long time that she started to believe he had fallen asleep. "And this little adventure of yours is far more exciting."

"Not really," she said with a yawn. "But it is different. Not entirely exciting at all. Scary is what it is, truly."

"How so?"

She smiled. "For one, I am sharing a room with Maxwell Everard."

"Arthur."

"Hmm?"

"My full name is Maxwell Arthur Everard."

"The Lord of Kenward."

"The Lord who wishes to sleep."

Maxwell scoffed. "Enjoy the floor then, Lord Maxwell Arthur Everard," she whispered.

"Enjoy the mattress."

"I shall."

"And cease talking."

"So should you."

"I will have the last word."

"I can stay up all night."

"You just yawned."

"But I am very much awake."

"And I am determined to have the last word."

"As I am determined to make you concede."

"Dare not dare an Everard."

"Dare not dare a woman in breeches."

"Sleep."

"I shall."

"Now."

"If you give me the last word."

She stiffened when she heard a rustle, followed by his footsteps. The door opened and light burst into the room. As his silhouette loomed in the doorway, he said, "Not tonight," he droned before walking out of the room.

Maxine let out a snort. What a blood childish bastard!

*****

Their arrival in Wickhurst surprisingly offered Maxine a great deal of relief.

But to her great disappointment, Albin was not in residence as he left to spend a week in the small village of Dovier where his parents resided. The footman had finally gotten his well-deserved vacation, but it meant that Maxine had to face more work and Oscar's watchful eyes.

Maxwell Everard was also back in his own estate, providing Maxine more time to think about everything that happened in Willowfair. Was he truly going to help her? He would not forget his promise, would he? Surely he could think of a plan very soon. She could not stay here forever.

Nicholas was out that very same night, probably on his way to Rock'oles to start on his new mission.

Maxine was inside her room, alone now until Albin was back, staring up at the ceiling with a frown.

If Maxwell Everard would ever change his mind, what would she do then? She had allowed him to convince her to wait and waste the time she could have used to meet her mother in Willowfair.

She was starting to regret not confronting Amelia Trilby at the Macy ball. Her mother would have talked to her. She would have wanted to face Maxine.

If Maxwell did not offer her a plan soon, she would make one on her own.

Her family might be closing in on her. She knew her father. He would not rest with worry, her stepmother as well. And Samuel! Her brother might be forced to use his connections to find her. He knew too many people who knew too many individuals.

Maxine's thoughts were suddenly put to a halt when she heard the door open. Her heart started to hammer inside her chest in anticipation. But she started to frown when she remembered that Maxwell had gone back to his estate.

What a ridiculous thought! For a moment she thought he would barge into the room and demand that she sleep upstairs!

Maxine jumped out of bed when the door opened wider. And she caught her breath when she saw Molly step inside.

"Hello, Max," Molly said, closing the door behind her. She batted her eyes at Maxine.

And she was in her nightgown.

"I missed you, see?" Molly purred, making her way toward Maxine.

Maxine stepped back in alarm.

What the bloody hell was Molly doing!