Three years ago...

Alex was startled when Ralph immediately settled in the spot beside her. She quickly scooted away from him and he used the relieved space between them to rest his thigh, slanting his position, facing her.

He smiled and she waited for his words. "And where did you grow up?"

She smiled in return. "You are digging these details so you could investigate and find out my name."

Ralph merely chuckled. He was intricately handsome, Alex thought. He was not as handsome as Levi, the first Everard brother she met. Nor was he carrying a brooding mien about him like their eldest.

He looked like a boy, yet also a man.

"Would you ever tell me your name? We do have some time to spare in this garden, see?"

Alex sighed. She looked around and realized he might be correct. She loved the festivities inside the ballroom, but she also loved this game with him.

"Perhaps if you could play this game very well, my lord, I might be inclined to give you one," she said with a hint of challenge.

Ralph's smile broadened. "Then we ought to know each other more, my mystery lady."

*****

Alex was not certain whether she ought to join the Everards inside the small cottage.

She could hear talking and even angry outbursts inside and she had to admit that she worried over what this problem could bring upon the relationship of the people inside.

She turned her head to look at the footman. "Yer quite certain the mother is inside?"

The footman turned to steal a glance at her. "Yes."

"Tsk," Alex clucked her tongue, shaking her head. "Poor woman."

The footman gave her another look, cleared his throat and said under his breath, "Just so you know, Miss, the chaos inside is not entirely new."

Alex grimaced as Ysabella and Emma were heard yelling, "Stop it, Ralph, you bloody idiot!"

"Everyone leave me alone!" came a louder voice, one Alex suspected as Nicholas'.

"Have they ever tried te kill each other?" she asked the footman, flinching when a loud crashing sound of a wood, perhaps a chair, vibrated through the open window not far away.

"Aye," said the footman. "But not to a point we had to actually arrange for a burning ritual."

"I don't think there'd be a body te burn if they actually end up killin' one another," she muttered.

"Don't fret, Miss," said the footman. "And you are?"

She waved her hand in a dismissing fashion. "Oh, just passin' by."

The footman did not believe her but kept his silence.

"There're spectators, me friend," Alex said, watching villagers walk toward the direction of the cottage, their faces curious.

"They're not curious about the squabble inside, Miss," said the footman. "They're curious about you."

"Me?"

"Aye."

"Why?"

The man looked at her again. "You look like a bandit."

*****

"You cannot be bloody serious, Nick," Ralph indignantly uttered. "You go and confront the bastard and you are dead."

"As I have said, leave me alone," Nicholas growled at them all.

Ralph wanted to give his brother a blow but their mother was present and it was clear that the woman was still in shock. They had just told her everything they knew about Osegod. Whether or not she was shaken by the series of facts said to her, it was uncertain as she did appear quite composed.

"Did you know about this?" he heard Ysabella whisper to her husband. Wakefield reply with a simple, "Not everything."

He turned to Maxwell who was standing by the closed door. His brother nodded, understanding his question.

Ralph closed his eyes and turned to face Nicholas. His brother looked horrible and looked as though he had not had a bath in weeks. "Nick, do give us time. We have a lead on where Sophia might be."

His brother's head snapped, eyes turning to slits. Nicholas did not believe a word Ralph said. "It had been months, Ralph. That bastard has been keeping Sophie—"

"He had also been keeping Aurora and the child," Ralph interjected.

The room grew quiet. The only people absent were Ben, Margaret and Levi. Their two eldest brothers were on their way, but Margaret had apparently chosen to go back to Wickhurst to continue with her own investigation.

"Aurora?" Emma asked sharply. "Aurora Randolph?"

When none of the brothers replied and with Nicholas apparently in disbelief, their mother finally spoke. "Is there more you wish to tell us?" Her tone was one they rarely heard and it was that of controlled anger.

Maxwell, having sensed that he was better equipped to provide the information, pushed away from the door. "Aurora Randolph was Osegod's former mistress. She bore him a cretin and Osegod wishes to dispose of the child. The League managed to take Aurora under their protection but she was abducted around the same time Sophia was."

Ralph knew he could not have said it as matter-of-factly as Maxwell did. He waited for the bomb, the intense reaction from their youngest sisters and their mother, but it did not come. Ysabella stumbled back weakly, her husband catching her. Emma guided their mother to a chair before she straightened and turned to the brothers, her composure very much the same as Margaret's.

"You mean that the League took her and the child, intending to use them as pawns against Osegod." Her eyes narrowed. "Because there is far more about Osegod that the League desires to vanquish. He is up to something very horrid."

When no one spoke, Ysabella gasped. "Pawns! Aurora was our friend!" She let out a whimper. "She did horrible things but we allowed the League to have her—to use her and her poor child!"

"You did not do anything, Ysa," Maxwell uttered. "You, Emma and Mother are not to blame."

Lady Alice looked up and asked, "And Maggie?"

"Maggie is aware," Ralph said, not too confident to tell the women that their sister was a Leaguer.

"And how is the fact that Aurora has been abducted be a form of help in finding Sophia? How is that a bloody lead, Ralph?" Nicholas asked.

"She is dead," Maxwell uttered without hesitation, sending Ralph a look.

"Oh my God!" Ysabella and their mother cried out in horror.

Nicholas stiffened.

"But we do believe the child is alive and with Sophia," Ralph instantly supplied. "She was found by someone and the last words she uttered were to go and find help to save Sophia and the child."

"Who found her?" Nicholas inquired, jaw tight.

"Alex," Emma said with a gasp. "It was Alex! That is why she is under your care!"

Ralph nodded. "Osegod's men, some of them also amongst the Guards, are hunting down Alex as we speak. We are to find someone who can help us find where Osegod is keeping his prisoners. We have reasons to believe he is keeping them along with the slaves that are part of the illegal trade."

"I will come with you," Nicholas said, turning around to go back to his room.

"No," their mother's voice said, overpowering her children's own objections.

Nicholas skidded to a stop. "Mother, please—"

"You are not going anywhere, Nicholas Charles Everard," she indignantly said. "Should you wish for it, you would have to go through your own mother, do you understand? You are not equipped to find Sophia. Your inability to stay focused in questionable, my son. If you want Sophia found alive, you will stay here with me and be patient. I promise to be with you waiting for her." Ralph saw his brother's face turn scarlet but Nicholas did not say a word. Lady Alice turned to Ralph, eyes watering with different emotions, but still gracefully composed. "Go." She turned to Maxwell, Emma, Ysabella and Wakefield. "All of you, leave me alone with Nicholas."

Ralph saw Nicholas trying his best to maintain composure. His brother could choose not to abide by their mother's words, but Nicholas was not a fool. He knew their mother was correct.

As Ralph turned to walk out the door, Lady Alice said, "Ralph, do be certain you bring that horrid man, Osegod, to justice."

He nodded. "I shall, Mother."

*****

Emma and Ysabella dared not speak with Maxwell or Ralph as they all filed through the door of the cottage. Both brothers understood that the news about Aurora was a terrible surprise and there was nothing they could do to comfort their sisters.

"I shall keep them safe," Wakefield promised as they waited for the carriage.

No one even noticed Alex standing beside the footman at first, trying to appear unimportant. But before Emma and Ysabella could climb into the carriage, they both turned to go to their friend and embrace her in turn.

"Alex, please be safe," Ralph heard Ysabella say to her friend.

"Oi, nae need te fret," was Alex's awkward response.

Emma, however, turned to Ralph. "Should anything happen to her, Ralph, you know we would have a very hard time not blaming you."

Ralph nodded. "As I would myself."

Emma nodded. She turned to Alex and asked, "Aurora, did she have a proper burning ritual?"

Alex nodded. "Aye, like a princess."

Ysabella whimpered, wiping away tears as she turned to her husband for comfort.

Alex saw her friends' grief and added, "I'm keepin' me promise to her, me friends. I'll find 'er child. And Sophia."

Emma wiped her own tears and nodded. "I would love to be part of this rescue, but I know I'd merely attract attention." She threw Ralph a meaningful look. "Your promise, Ralph."

Ralph nodded and they watched Ysabella and Emma climb into the carriage with Wakefield.

"I shall be back by the morrow. More footmen are on their way to guard the cottage. Who bloody knows what our Mother has in mind to distract Nick," Maxwell said before he, too, left on horseback.

When they were finally alone with the footman standing merely a few feet away, Alex sighed. "I'd love te meet yer mother, guv, but I believe not's the time, aye?"

"It is the worst, bandit."

"I see," she said with a nod.

It was then that Ralph realized there were a group of villagers across the street unashamedly gazing at their direction.

"Just so ye know, guv, I'm losin' me patience with these folks," Alex said under her breath. As they both moved, waiting for Ralph's carriage, the villagers' eyes followed them. "Oi! Watye lookin' at?"

Apparently, she had had enough. Ralph instinctively grabbed her arm before she could move to cross the street and confront the people. "Easy, bandit," he wryly uttered although he was considering letting her go just to give the villagers a lesson.

*****

The next day, Cole arrived with little results.

He and Ralph locked themselves inside the study to discuss his findings.

"There were five Jeremy Briars tried in the span of twenty years," his brother-in-law provided calmly. "As I cannot allow more people involved in this case, I have to go through each case and cross-examine them to pinpoint the one we are looking for."

"Bloody hell, Cole, we do not have plenty of time. Some of the Guards are suspicious of me and I cannot move about Wickhurst without thinking I am being followed. I feel crippled in this bloody town. We have to get out of here the soonest possible time. And I am certain you have heard that Nick is almost out of his mind."

"Is there any way into the Dark Forest without Jeremy Briars?"

"We can simply walk in and venture the place. That is if we are suicidal. I do not believe I am currently lucky to survive should we risk it."

Cole nodded. "I am certain I can provide you with the last known location of the Jeremy Briars we want to find in a day or two. Simply give me time."

Ralph sighed. "Fine. Let us hope the man is still alive or all of this is fruitless."

*****

Alex was impatiently waiting for Cole Devitt to exit Ralph's study. She was waiting by the hallway, pacing around while the footman, who Alex now knew went by the name Wax because his mother said she had an odd fascination nipping candlewax during pregnancy, stood guard, following her movements with his head.

A knock on the door came and she and the footman both looked at each other. For some odd reason, the footman did not open the door and joined Alex to the window where they both looked out to see who was standing outside.

Wax let out a groan.

"Is it 'nother mistress?" Alex asked.

Wax nodded. "Lady Crystal Burrows, the meanest of them all. She once dragged one of the maids down a corridor when the poor girl accidentally burned her hair while curling it."

Alex's brow arched higher. "'Nother name startin' with C, eh?"

"Hmm," Was said, "Now that you've mentioned it, Miss, there is also Lady Caroline. And Candice, the oddest of all as she demanded to be called Candy by his lordship."

"Cockroach," Alex murmured.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It also starts with C, aye?"

The footman let out a snort and then jumped in panic when Alex turned toward the door. "Miss, no, please! Lady Crystal is—"

"Oi, dinna have to fret, Wax. I have this," Alex said as she pulled the doors open with a big smile on her face. "Oi, good mornin', milady! How may I be o' help?"

The blonde woman's light blue eyes grew wide upon seeing Alex. "W-who are you?"

"Ye must be Lady Crystal, eh?" Alex asked. "Mistress number..." she looked over her shoulder to where Wax was standing, holding up two hands to show her a number. "Eight?" Was nodded. Alex turned to the woman again. "Eight!"

The woman took a step back and studied Alex from head to foot. "Are you another woman he rescued from the slums? Does he even know you are here? You must be a thief!"

"Oi, woman," Alex said, mocking a patient tone, "Ye don't wanna know who I am. He is not here, see? Ye can return tom'row."

Lady Crystal's face turned scarlet. Alex realized these women must all be the same. One ought to expect Ralph Everard would have a sundry collection. The woman raised her hand to slap Alex but Alex caught it. "How dare you—" Lady Crystal started but stopped short when Alex held up her hand as if preparing for a very powerful slap.

But Alex extended her arm higher with a yawn. "I need exercise. Me limbs are killing me!" She let go of Lady Crystal's hand and stretched her other arm to join the other as the woman stared at her in horror. "Are ye not leavin'?" Alex knew that the woman was on the verge of doing the same thing to her as she did to that poor maid Wax was talking about. Alex, of course, would not have any of that. She stomped her foot and the woman jumped with a yelp. Alex gasped as she looked down on the ground, mocking surprise. "I dinna know there are cockroaches here!"

"Ralph shall know of this!"

"Nae, milady," Alex said, "Ye dinna have te tell his lordship. I'll report it meself, see?"

"You do not know who you are facing, you wench."

"Good day, milady," Alex said and closed the doors.

Wax was gaping at her when she turned and they both started laughing together. Perhaps their humor lasted longer as they were still chuckling with menace when Cole Devitt and Ralph walked into the hallway together.

"What happened?" Ralph curiously and suspiciously asked.

"Got rid of a cockroach, guv. I dinna realize ye have lots of 'em here!" was her simple response. "Good day, milord," she said to Cole as she walked past them. Alex then pocketed the diamond bracelet she snatched from Lady Crystal's wrist earlier.

She went directly to her room that overlooked the street below, waiting for Ralph to come and find her. Her serious demeanor had returned.

Had Cole Devitt found the caveman yet?

She was looking out the window, watching as Cole's carriage drove away, and that was when she noticed the man standing across the street.

He was looking up directly at her.