Maxine hurried down the familiar street, head bowed. She stopped outside the estate and ran up the stairs to knock on the doors. She rapped some more when it did not immediately open.

Finally, it did.

"My lady? My lady!" the aging butler cried in both confusion and surprise, blinking three times at the sight of her.

"Hello," Maxine simply said as she ran past him, the handkerchief still covering half of her face. "Would you be so kind as to send a very hasty note to Kenward and inform his lordship that I have arrived safely?"

"B-but—"

"Now!"

"Yes, my lady!" the butler said, jumping on his feet.

Maxine rushed up the stairs and halted when she reached the second landing. She made a sudden turn and started to go down, stopped and turned to climb back up only to stop again and hesitate.

Perhaps she ought to order for the horse be saddled and rush back to Kenward alone. She would reach home faster that way and mayhap then she might survive her husband's wrath.

But it must be done for he would not have allowed her to go alone.

Night time had come to the Town and the lights had become dimmer. She may be able to survive a safe journey back to Kenward now but not Maxwell. She would dare not add another crime to the previous one.

Maxine sighed and turned to find her their bedchamber in his Vinge estate. She must prepare for the worst for if the butler in Kenward relayed the message she had left for her husband, Maxwell would be here in no time.

*****

Maxwell jumped out of the carriage before it even stopped and nearly caused the butler to fly across the hallway when he harshly pushed the door open.

"Where is she!" he demanded from the startled and scared butler.

"Here!" Maxine's panting voice said and he looked up to find her running down the staircase. It seemed to him that she had been waiting for his arrival. Well, of course she must, for he would hate to chase her around the bloody town to hear what he had to say!

"Stop right there, Maxie!" he said with warning. She abruptly halted in her steps. "That's it. And turn around and go back to the bedchamber!" He stalked after her when she did as he ordered, looking surprisingly scared. Good, he thought, for she had caused him to almost go insane with worry. "You must have forgotten you have a husband, woman," he raged on behind her.

She hastened her steps, almost running toward the bedchamber door which was already open.

He entered after her and slammed the door behind him. The banging sound echoed around the room and his wife flinched at the sound from where she stood near the bed, clasping the wooden post. He took a good look at her and silently let out a sigh of relief. She was all right. She did not look harmed. But she did look tired with dark circles under her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Maxine blurted as he stood there with rage, eyes alight with fury, concern and frustration. "I did not go to my aunt if that is what concerns you," she carefully added, her voice weakening with each word until the last was barely a whisper.

"Of course you could not have," he roared through his teeth. He breathed through his nostrils. "Why did you have to come here alone, Maxine?"

She swallowed and cleared her throat. Her hand was almost white as she gripped the post tighter. "To deliver a letter."

His eyes narrowed into slits. He took one step forward. She took one back. "A letter. You could not have done it in Kenward?"

She winced. "I did not wish for the letter to be traced to home, Max."

And it finally dawned on him. His nostrils flared with contained fury. "And you thought it best to leave me in the dark? What could be so important you have to tell her but you cannot tell me!"

"I refused the dinner invitation, that is all!" she snapped, her own eyes flickering with annoyance. "I merely refused it saying I do not have any desire to be acquainted with their family, that is all! But I am not daft as to send it from Kenward and have her know that I reside there! I will not allow the Trilbys to know!"

"There are other means!" he cried. "It was a foolish act, Maxie, you have to admit it. Do you realize what I felt when I woke up and found you gone!"

She flinched once again. "It told the butler to relay where I am going. It was not as though I left without telling you," she murmured under her breath.

"How bloody responsible of you! I am utterly grateful!" he snapped with derision. "Would you care to leave a note next time? I would appreciate one!"

It was the last straw and he knew it by the way her shoulders stiffened and she lifted her chin to haughtily say, "You are welcome, my lord, and yes, of course, I shall consider a note," and walked to the door.

He whirled around when she brushed past him. "Where are you going? We are not done talking."

"For tonight, I believe we are!" she snapped over her shoulder. "And we were not talking, Maxwell, you were yelling!"

"Maxine, where are you going?" he asked, voice laced with warning as he followed her into the corridor.

"To my former employer!" she snapped. "Fetch me by the morrow but dare not follow me tonight!"

Maxwell stood gaping in the middle of the corridor as his wife descended the stairs. She was the one who disappeared and traveled to Wickhurst alone to deliver a bloody letter and now she had the audacity to leave the estate!

"Very well!" he shouted after her. "See you on the morrow then!"

"Have a good night!" she shouted back in response.

When he heard the sound of the front doors closing, he yelled for the footman. "Follow her and make certain she enters my brother's estate in the same haughty manner as she left! And unscathed as she is!"

"Yes, m-milord!" the footman stammered, rushing after his wife.

*****

"You must realize this is quite awkward," said Molly the following day as they ate their breakfast. "You can dine with your brother-in-law later, my lady. Or we can have a meal delivered to your chamber if you wish."

"He is not to wake up until very much later," she said through a mouthful of bread. "And it is a bore to dine alone."

"You said last night that you and Lord Max fought," Lottie said with a frown. "Why?"

"Because he became very furious when I left Kenward without him."

"And you are angry toward him because he was worried?" Fanny asked.

Maxine blinked and shrugged. "Well, he refuses see the logic behind my action." Silence reigned inside the kitchen. Maxine dropped her bread and groaned. "I hate that I have to apologize again." She looked at Fanny. "I have to, don't I?"

Molly, Lottie and Fanny all nodded their heads.

"You are now with husband, my dear," Fanny said. "You can no longer be as impetuous as you were before."

"I am afraid it did not pass my mind, yes," she admitted gravely. "By the by," she added, looking around, "where is Albin and Oscar?"

The three women looked at each other. "Oscar is somewhere in the estate doing Albin's tasks," Molly provided.

Maxine frowned. "Why?"

"He left, see?" said Lottie, her shoulder sagging. "He found a butler post in Shiells."

"Poor Oscar, really," Fanny added with a shake of her head. "He is getting thinner by the day. His lordship ought to find a replacement very soon."

Maxine smiled. "Perhaps if my husband will not come for me this morning or today, I could resume my work here."

The three women did not laugh or smile.

"That was merely a jest," she said.

They all forced a laugh and as it died down, Oscar finally showed himself in the kitchen. His sighed when he spotted her around the kitchen table and he said, "Lord Maxwell is outside waiting for you, my lady."

Maxine looked around the table and smiled. "Very well, I have to go," she said, standing up. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck, my lady," they all murmured as Maxine followed Oscar out of the kitchen.

"Why did Albin leave, Oscar?" she asked as they crossed the dining hall.

"He found a post—"

"No, I meant the real reason," she interjected.

The butler turned his head and Maxine was surprised to find a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Oh!" she ecstatically said. "Oh, goodness! Truly? Molly and you? Is it real?"

Oscar did not offer a reply, simply shrugged and smiled. "Off you go, my lady," he said with a bow when they reached the front doors, closing it after she stepped out.

Maxine's heart started to hammer when she saw Maxwell waiting in the driveway, looking utterly calm and well-rested. Well, she could not say she did not also have a good night's sleep!

She forced a smile on her lips which later turned into a genuine one when he offered his arm for her before they started walking away from Nicholas' estate to turn into Vinge Road toward his own estate.

"How was your evening?" he quietly asked.

Maxine's hand tightened around his arm. "I slept well. And you?"

"I did, too."

A comfortable quiet fell between them as they strolled down the side of the street. There were but a few people who glanced their way, but none took real notice.

"I apologize for my recent actions," she sincerely said, looking up at his face. He turned to stare back at her, raising his brows expectantly. Maxine sighed. "And my behavior last night."

His face softened. He grabbed her hand from the crook of his arm and clasped it with his.

"I know I must now start to understand that I am with husband—"

"—whom you love," he interposed.

Maxine nodded before she continued, "—and with it comes specific responsibilities."

Maxwell sighed. "Dare not do it again, Maxie," he said, letting out a breath. "I nearly killed my own butler."

"Why am I not surprised?" she asked with a laugh.

*****

Ralph was already waiting for them when they arrived and it seemed he had been pacing around the drawing room for quite some time.

"Good, you've arrived," he said. "Where have you been in such an early hour?"

Maxwell shrugged. "I had to fetch a runaway vixen," he said as he let Maxine's hand go. "What is the matter?"

Ralph looked serious.

"Please, let it not be about Rock'oles," Maxwell said with warning.

"No, that is not that," Ralph snapped. "But now that you mentioned it," he turned to Maxine, "when will you get around to writing that letter to Rock'oles, Maxine? I need to regain my membership now more than ever."

"My wife has wasted enough energy writing letters for now," Maxwell said with meaning, garnering a scowl from Maxine. "What is it?" he asked Ralph again.

"We must travel to Devonshire very soon," Ralph said. "We have to warn Ben. We cannot engage into any sort of relationship with Osegod. The man's name is all over our slavery investigation."

"You mean you found proof?"

Ralph nodded. "But not enough to bring it to the Men of Courts. Not yet. Which is why I need to go back to Rock'oles," he added over his shoulder.

"Fret not, Ralph, I shall write that letter when we return to Kenward," Maxine with a sigh. She turned to Maxwell. "What do you plan to do now?"

Maxwell was deep in thought. When he looked up, he said to Ralph, "We cannot make a hasty move to go to Devonshire simply because of what you have learned. This might alarm Osegod."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"He shall make contact again soon. For now, we have to wait."

*****

One of Maxine's horrible nightmares came to life two days after she sent her letter to Amelia Trilby, just as when she and Maxwell were getting ready to go home to Kenward.

When she thought that things could not grow greater to cause them more devastation, she saw her name on the front pages of the Herald.

MAXINE: THE SECRET THEOBALD BASTARD!