Three years ago...

Ralph saw his sister and her new husband, the Lord of Wakefield, walking to another part of the ballroom.

He met them, filled with curiosity. He had made it one of his tasks to know every one of his sisters' friends. And by the interaction he witnessed earlier, he could tell that the woman in blue was not merely an acquaintance. However did she pass his notice?

He blocked Ysabella and Wakefield's path. "Who was that woman you were talking with?"

Ysabella frowned. "Who?"

"The black hair."

"Ah, a friend. Why?"

Ralph blinked. How should he phrase his acute obsession? No, there was no way in hell he could do so without Ysabella fuming at him. And so he simply shrugged.

Without offering a verbal answer, he turned his head to where the woman in blue was. If he wanted to know her name, he would have to learn it from her own lips.

He started to walk to where Emma and Lady in Blue were.

******

They could not stay long beside a lone road, the bandit had said.

She ordered Ralph to mount the battered man on his own horse.

"Why?" he asked, his mind still dumbfounded by the fact that she had actually scared away the two other men.

"Why what?" she asked, looking incredulous.

Ralph blinked. Her face was swollen, her hair rumpled to a point that Ralph believed there was no way in hell she would ever manage to use a brush without breaking it. Her clothes were covered with white dust and smears of blood, probably from her victim.

How did she manage to fight off three men again?

"Ye mean why do ye need to mount 'em on yer horse?" she asked, motioning her head at the man on the ground. "Do ye wanna drag him back to yer estate? He'll die fer sure."

The man began to shout at the top of his lungs, struggling to be free.

Alex walked to her horse. "But we can't do that, guv," she said as she settled over her horse. "Ye need 'im, aye? Ye need to question 'im."

Ralph frowned. "And where do you think you are going, bandit?"

"I'll go back te yer estate, guv," she said with a shrug. "Me 'Pa will kill me if he sees this." She pointed at her swollen face. She turned to the man, her eyes turning murderous. "And I wanna know why I was bein' chased!"

Ralph turned and looked down at the man on the ground. He sighed. This shall prove to be a very tough ride.

*****

"He's no Guard," Alex said beside Ralph, her arms crossed over her chest.

The two of them stood facing the man while he sat on a chair, still tightly tied, in the same bedchamber Alex escaped from.

Ralph turned to her. "Why the statement?"

She shrugged, eyes still on the man. "Guards chased me 'fter I took Forest Lady from the Dark Forest. And more of 'em Guards came fer me at Whiston. 'Twas not hard to believe yer friends were there fer more reasons than me profession, guv."

Ralph turned his attention back on the man, recognizing the fact that the bandit was not dimwitted. "Who sent you after her?" he asked the man.

The man glared at Alex and then growled at Ralph.

"He's not answerin', guv," Alex said, unfolding her arms to the side. "Mayhap he needs more of 'em beatin' and bitin'."

The man bared his teeth at her but Ralph placed his arm out to ward the bandit away from the man. "No beating and biting for you, bandit."

"Me name's Alex, guv."

"And mine is Ralph. As far as I am concerned, you do not use it either," he wryly retorted. He took a step forward, eyes boring into the man's. "I may be a Guard, but should you refuse to answer my question, I will not lift a finger while she beats and bites you to pieces."

The man's nostrils flared. "We were ordered to find her," was the man's simple response.

"Who made the order?"

The man shook his head. "I do not know. Our kind of business finds no need for names."

"Where are yer other friends then?" asked the bandit, taking one step closer. Ralph held his arm out again.

The man shrugged.

"Ye know where they were goin', guv. Tell us," Alex said.

The man simply glared at her. "You, wench, I am not telling you anything."

Alex jumped and lunged for him but Ralph stopped her. He pulled her away but she managed to plant one powerful kick against the man's shin.

"Ye dare call me a wench one more time, ye bleedin' bastard, and I'll—"

"Stop it!" Ralph shouted, firmly holding her in place. He looked into her blazing grey eyes. "Stop."

She closed her eyes and took in a long breath. "Very well," she said, letting out a slow breath. "Let me go, guv."

"No," he said, pulling her toward the door. "You are not permitted inside this room."

"Why the bleedin' hell not! They went after me, Guard! 'Cors I have the right te be here—"

But Ralph had already managed to take her out of the room. He slammed the door at her face. "Ack!" she growled in frustration. She whirled around and found a footman standing at the end of the corridor. "What ye lookin' at?" she snapped. The man jumped to his feet and cowered near the wall.

Alex turned and paced outside the door.

Her wait was not long for Ralph walked out moments later, massaging his knuckles.

"Ye dinna kill him, did'ya?" she asked, trying to look through the opening before the door closed behind Ralph.

"No," was his curt and absent reply.

"What if he escapes?" she asked.

"I tied him to the chair to be sure," he said, looking down at the floor, his brows fused together.

"Ye ought to have barred the windows, guv. That bleedin' room is easy te escape from," she said.

"Men are guarding every possible exit."

Alex nodded. She moistened her lips and placed her hands on her hips. "Well?"

"Well what?" Ralph asked.

"What did he say?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Yer lyin', guv. I hate liars."

He shook his head. "I am not." He turned and looked at her. Alex took a step back, suddenly conscious. His eyes were boring into her. "He must believe Aurora is alive."

Alex frowned. "Who?" she asked, but by absent look in his eyes she was quite certain he had forgotten she was there.

"Them chasing you must mean they believe you are Aurora or that you know where she is. He must believe she is still alive."

"Aurora?" Alex asked. "Is that the Forest Lady's name? Aurora?"

Ralph blinked and shook his head. Without answering her question, he looked over her shoulder to where the cowering footman was. "Take her to a bedchamber. One without a window."

Alex's eyes widened. "No bleedin' hell—"

He stared at her. "You could be working for the bad guys."

Her face flushed. "Are ye bleedin' serious?"

Ralph Everard shrugged. "I will have to take him to prison," he said, motioning his head to the door. "He cannot stay here, not if we need his statements to be official."

"I'm not stayin' here, guv. Ye can't keep me prisoner here," she said, glaring at him.

Ralph sighed. "Bloody hell, woman, you are not a prisoner here."

"Ye just said I could be workin'—"

"Yes, I did, which is why I am going back to Wickhurst."

She frowned. "I don't see why—"

"You claim to be friends with my sisters, do you not?"

She nodded slowly and then realization quickly came. "Ah, 'cors! Ye will confirm it at Wickhurst."

Ralph Everard smiled mockingly. "Yes."

Alex shrugged. "Very well," she uttered. "But I'm not stayin' here long, guv."

He frowned. "And where do you plan to stay? You plan to go home?"

Again, Alex shrugged.

"Do you hope for your friends at home to have to deal with your enemies?"

She stiffened. She would dare not take an enemy into Meriwether.

"Just as I thought," Ralph said with contentment as he turned to return inside the bedchamber.

"If ye prove I'm friends with yer sisters, I deserve an apology, guv!" she called after him.

He stopped and turned to face her. "Apology?"

"Aye! And since ye can't express it in words, procure somethin' fer yer apology."

"Procure what?" he asked, his face incredulous.

"Ye buy me bloody bullets fer me pistol, guv!" she said with a smile.

Ralph scoffed and entered the room, slamming the door behind him.

Soon, the footman approached her. "This way, Miss—"

"Dinna touch me, footman," she snapped at the man. "Lead the way." The man jumped and scurried to the opposite wing.

Alex followed, looking over her shoulder to the closed door where Ralph entered. She heard a commotion, a sign of struggle. She looked ahead and shrugged.

*****

Peters approached Ralph as he sat behind his desk, massaging his right thigh.

"Well?" Ralph asked.

Peters frowned at him. "Are you certain he was chasing after a friend of yours?"

Ralph nodded. "Yes."

"He said it was a woman," Peters said, eyes narrowed at Ralph. "He claims it was a bandit?"

"No, it was a friend," Ralph insisted. He stood up. "He did not divulge anything else?"

Peters shook his head. "If we can talk to this friend of yours, we might have a clearer—"

Ralph was already shaking his head. "No. The poor woman is too bloody traumatized." He could hardly believe his own lie for he knew that Alex was far from traumatized. If Ralph knew better, the chit might be planning her second escape from Beechworth that very moment.

He merely hoped she would still be there when he returned.

"I will interrogate him myself the moment I gather more information," he said to Peters instead. "Do not allow anyone near the bastard until I return for him after I file the papers at the Courts."

Peters' brown eyes looked at him. The man nodded his auburn hair and sighed. "What is this case all about, Everard?"

Ralph smiled. "Attempted murder," he simply retorted. "The bastard is one of the suspects."

"Ah, yes," Peters said, nodding. "You are looking for the other two."

"Yes. And this may not be their only crime," he supplied. "I will take my leave now."

"Where are you going?" Peters asked.

"Grey's, of course."

Peters sighed and returned to his own desk. The other Guards worked silently behind their desks, others walking in and out, some carrying prisoners while others escorted witnesses and victims.

Instead of leaving, Ralph turned to Peters. "Say Peters," he said, "whatever happened to that bandit you were chasing from Whiston?"

Peters growled. "Escaped."

Ralph scoffed. "Hope for a better luck next time, eh?"

Peters just shook his head. "Them bleedin' bandits..."

Ralph simply laughed. As he turned away, the smile on his face vanished. Peters was amongst the Guards who came for Alex at Whiston.

He did not like to place the prisoner here, but it was the only legal place to do so. Cole, his brother-in-law, would not accept a witness who had been held somewhere else. Ralph would simply have to take his chance, hoping the Guards would dare not do something stupid.

*****

Alex was surprised when a flock of maids came into her windowless bedchamber.

They carried with them trays of food, buckets of hot water and fresh towels.

"His lordship gave specific instructions, Miss," said the housekeeper who laid a tray in one corner. "These are concoctions for your wounds."

Alex shook her head. "I need no concoction—"

"Pardon me, Miss, but you look terrible," the housekeeper said, studying Alex's face. She made a tsk-ing sound. "You must take your bath. We need to see to the swelling before it worsens."

"Oi, woman, dinna order me about—"

"No, Miss, I am not ordering you about," was the housekeeper's stern reply. "It was his lordship who said you shall prove to be difficult and we must be stern on delivering his orders. Whether you like it or not, was what he said, Miss."

Alex fumed. "I just need food and a bath, is all," she insisted. "Nae concoction and that bleedin'—"

"His lordship says that should you refuse our medical attention, we must see to it that doctors shall be called to look into your injuries—"

"Bleedin' hell! Fine!" Alex growled, stripping off her clothes. "Ye can see te me wounds later. No bleedin' doctor!"

"Doctors," the housekeeper corrected. "Plural, Miss. His lordship insisted on doctors."

Alex rolled her eyes. She walked toward her awaiting bath.

She wanted to be rebellious, but she had been through enough for days. She at least deserved a bath, food and even bloody concoctions!