Three years ago...

"Tell me your name," Ralph asked and he feared his tone sounded very close to begging. "A name and I promise never to ask for anything else."

A hint of a smile twitched one corner of her lips. She was beautiful. Her beauty was not merely attributed to her outside appearance, but how she moved and the glint of something in her eyes. It was how she looked at him. It was with each twitch of her lips, the flutter of her eyelids, the movement of her shoulders... It was her.

He had to know more.

"I do not have a name to provide you with, my lord," was her answer. She said it not in the same way as other maidens would in their attempt to tease or dally. She said it in a way that told him she had no intention of providing him her name because she simply had no desire to. "Is it of too much import to gain such information?"

But Ralph was not one to be deterred. He widened his stance and placed his hands deep in the pockets of his trousers. "Then perhaps you shall allow me the privilege to know something else."

"Such as what, my lord?"

"Oh, many other things I could later use to gain what I truly want," he mysteriously replied. "Would you like to begin?"

As he looked at her, he knew he was going to win. She would either have to provide him with a name or play this game.

Lady in Blue smiled at the challenge.

*****

"This yer 'partment," was Alex's simple comment as Ralph led her up the dark staircase.

"Yes, and you shall stay here until I make certain it is safe to venture on. Let us hope that Osegod would not believe you will continue to stay here."

"Venture on. You mean findin' the caveman." When he did not say a word, Alex stopped and turned to look at him. "But we must look fer any information 'bout the bandits in that office, guv. We ought te come back while yer fellows are preoccupied, see?"

"Preoccupied looking for the prisoners we used to save you?" he asked, shaking his head. He gave her a slight push to continue up the stairs. "Fret not, someone is already doing the very same crime you are suggesting."

"But who—"

"Do keep in mind one very important detail, Alex," Ralph interjected, this time in a very serious tone that made Alex pause in the staircase once more. She looked at him and found that he was intently looking at her. His hand had grasped her upper arm in a firm hold as if he was afraid. But what was he afraid of? To fail in finding the caveman and Sophia? Or to lose Alex to Osegod? "They will not cease looking for you until Osegod is taken down." Their eyes locked in the darkness, Alex unable to form any word. "Do you understand? Your life is in danger wherever you may go and it is my task to keep you alive. I brought you here and although you may believe you are under my employ and chose to place yourself in this situation the responsibility to keep you safe is mine. I would not appreciate any impetuous actions from you for I do have too many loose ends to fix, this night being one of them."

Alex cleared her throat and nodded. What else was she to say? He was correct. And although she disagreed that he ought to take full responsibility over her welfare, Alex was quite certain voicing it out would merely lead to an argument. She was very much responsible for her life for it was she who made the decision to help Aurora and it was she who rode Siege to Whiston where this all began.

She nodded and Ralph let go of her arm. He led her to a small bedchamber where her bag was already waiting. The white box containing the dress was on the bed.

"Rest here. I have to leave the estate to join the other Guards." At the door, he added, "I shall have my valet order for your bath. You smell terrible."

"Would'ye like te kiss me 'gain, guv?" she asked in a half-hearted jest. She was too tired, but she did not wish to end this day with such serious atmosphere.

"Perhaps later, bandit."

Alex scoffed and then paused. "Will ye help 'em find the prisoners?"

"Yes."

"Ah, then 'twas good we only let go of the thieves."

"This is not the proper time to find something good in what we did."

"'Cors, it is. Ye almost unlocked the murderer's cell if I dinna stop ye."

He shook his head and turned in the doorway. "Good night, Alex."

*****

It was hard to find escaped prisoners in hiding, but it was harder to pretend to find one that he knew was hiding in his own bloody estate.

All but one of the escaped prisoners was accounted for. The other Guards were still tirelessly looking for the woman bandit all over Wickhurst, with some even riding out to follow any possible trail or leads.

Ralph was behind his desk, writing a hasty report about the incident earlier when Peters stormed inside from his own fruitless search. When his eyes landed on Ralph, he scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"All available Guards were called to help for the search."

His colleague's brow rose as he sauntered toward Ralph. "You mean to tell me that you helped in capturing all of the escaped prisoners except one?"

"Yes." He sighed and leaned against his seat. "You ought not to have taken her from my hands, Peters. She was trying to be very cooperative but you must have done something wrong to have changed that."

"You mean by cooperative she was riding with you inside your carriage, unbound like she was your mistress on a bloody holiday?"

Ralph let out a mocking laugh but did not comment. Doing so would merely make him appear unnecessarily defensive. "Think what you may," he uttered.

"They said you were here earlier when they escaped," Peters said, stepping in front of Ralph.

Ralph squarely met Peters' gaze and nodded. "Yes. I delivered two subjects involved in an altercation."

"Which subjects?"

Ralph pretended to look around. He happened to catch Clayton's gaze. The man shrugged and uttered, "They appeared to have settled their disagreement when we arrived dragging one escaped prisoner hours earlier."

Ralph spread his arms wide to his side and turned to Peters. "See? Now, would you please remove yourself from my line of path? I wish to return home and resume my well-deserved respite after this horrible incident."

But Peters refused to move. He took another step closer and whispered to Ralph, "The High Officer is expected to arrive soon and it would not do us any good."

"Yes, I also believe that. Which is why I am leaving as I am currently not officially assigned to be present here," he replied, stepping aside to circle around Peters. "But do assure him that I shall be present for my report on the morrow."

*****

Ralph received two important notes the following morning.

One was from Samuel.

Found the list. He was tried here in Wickhurst.

The note was not lengthy, but it spoke volumes. Ralph had all the information he needed to pursue his search for Jeremy Briars and that was somewhere he had hoped would bring him clearer answers. If Briars was tried in Wickhurst, it meant he would have records in the Men of Courts.

The second note was of no help.

Can't find Nick. He has not been in Whiston or his Wickhurst apartment. Hurry and see us!

Ysabella

"Yer brother's missin'?" Alex asked in disbelief and then groaned. "We must hurry and find the caveman, guv, 'fore yer brother loses his mind."

"I believe he already did," he muttered under his breath as he rose to his feet. "Stay here and dare not venture out. Osegod's men could very well be lurking everywhere, waiting for you to appear. I am but one man and I cannot look for four people at once."

After leaving his apartment, Ralph found himself yet again in his brother-in-law's private office, massaging his leg.

"Anything you can find about the man, Cole," he said, voice almost begging.

His brother-in-law nodded. "I shall try my best, but if the year you provided is correct, we still do have to go through hundreds of cases. But I shall supervise the search myself."

Nodding, Ralph jumped to his feet. He was expected somewhere else.

"Have you heard about Nick? Your sisters are looking for you. Meg is on her way to join Maxwell in the search."

"Yes. I will have one last stop after this one and then I shall see what I can do."

Cole nodded. "You are doing too many things for one man, Ralph. Do make certain you are taking care of yourself."

Without giving a reply, Ralph left the Men of Courts and rushed to the Town Guard headquarters where High Officer Clement Dupont, a stocky old man who had always aspired to climb up to the ranks of the Town Leaders but by some mystery had always remained with the Guards, was already waiting.

Dupont seemed like he was ready for his afternoon nap when Ralph was done with his official report regarding the incident that happened the night prior.

"Could you then say, Lord Beechworth, that one of the men who attacked you that night could be a woman?"

Ralph cleared his throat before answering. "No, Officer Dupont, I cannot."

"Surely you would have noticed?"

"I merely remember the blow, Officer Dupont. And should you ask, I have received a blow from the lady bandit in question and I can honestly testify that she has a force equal or beyond any man I had to ever contend with. So no, Officer, I cannot particularly point out if the one who attacked me was a woman or not."

High Officer Dupont gazed at Ralph for a long time before slowly nodding his head. "You may go, Lord Beechworth, but stay in Wickhurst for a little while. Some other High Officers may find a need of more questioning while this matter is being thoroughly investigated. Personally, I do not bloody know why they are pulling all ropes to get this woman bandit. But we do what we are ordered to, do we not?"

Ralph nodded. "Good day, Officer Dupont," he said with a slight bow.

"By the by, Lord Beechworth," the man said. Ralph paused and waited for his next words. "How is your mother, Lady Alice?"

"She is very well, my lord," Ralph replied, reverting to a less formal address for the man now that their official discussion was over.

Dupont smiled. "Good. Good."

Ralph quickly made his way out of the private office to evade more questions about his mother. Dupont had always hinted that he was interested with their widowed mother which had never been met with much enthusiasm by the rest of the Everard children.

When he reached the end of the hallway, Peters was already waiting for him.

Ralph walked past the man with no intention to play any more bluffing games. He had a brother to find and he had a bandit to keep out of sight.

"I do hope you know what you are doing, Everard," Peters said behind him.

Ralph merely lifted his hand as a wave goodbye.

*****

Alex waited patiently for Ralph to return which even for her was a great miracle. To be confined in one bedchamber for almost an entire day after having spent two nights in prison, one would think that Alexandria Griggs would have already fled to the other side of The Town.

But no, she remained in Ralph's apartment, inside this bedchamber, heeding his orders.

For that was the wise thing to do.

The knock on the door caused Alex to jump in surprise. And then her heart started to hammer in alarm. Ralph was not one who knew how to knock. Who could it be?

"Come in?" she cautiously uttered.

The door opened and Ralph's valet appeared. "Miss, his lordship has arrived and requests for your presence in his study."

With relief, Alex nodded and followed the valet out the door, through the corridor and down the staircase.

They were almost reaching the door to the study when they heard voices coming from the hallway. Alex did not have to turn around to see the owner for she knew them very well.

Without warning, she made a sharp turn and nearly dashed down the corridor to find somewhere to hide for she was not quite certain it would be wise for Emma and Ysabella to see her here now.

"Who was that?" she heard Ysabella ask.

The faint response of the valet could be heard down the corridor and so were the footsteps coming after her.

"She must be the mistress!" she heard Emma utter with excitement.

"Halt!" Ysabella said behind her. "My lady, please!"

Alex regretted having worn the blue dress procured by Ralph at Blucksley as she skidded to a stop, turning her head left to right, searching for a hidden service door. There was none. And she was trapped.

"What in the—" Ralph's voice boomed down the corridor but the rest of his words were left unsaid when he must have noticed his sisters' presence. Alex bowed her head and closed her eyes.

Ah, bleedin' hell!

"Where have you been?" Ysabella's voice demanded.

"Ralph, your lady guest is down the corridor in a very awkward situation," was Emma's welcoming words to her brother. "Perhaps you ought to do something about it?"

"She is not who you believe she is," Ralph snapped and Alex heard his footsteps coming closer toward her.

She knew then that they did not have any other choice so she slowly turned around and lifted her face. Down the end of the corridor were her friends, Emma and Ysabella. Both looked astonishing in their walking gowns and both looked very much astounded.

"'Ello, me friends," she said, followed by an awkward chuckle.

"Alex?" the twins gasped.

"Aye, 'tis I," she said, walking past Ralph to meet them. He followed close behind. "I was runnin' 'way 'cos I wasn't certain I must come face te face with ye," she said. "And nae, I'm not yer brother's mistress if that's what yer thinkin'!"

Both women closed their gaping mouths and let out a collective of what seemed like a very dramatic sigh of relief.

"I was truly afraid for one moment there," Emma said, chuckling with relief.

"Why?" Ralph demanded, taking offense.

"'Cos yer not the best man fer me te be a mistress te, guv," Alex said, adding a wink for the twins to see.

Both ladies chuckled lightly before they frowned and Emma inquired, "But whyever are you here, Alex?" She turned to glare at her brother. "Do not tell us that you—"

"Nae, he didn't arrest me," Alex said, giving Ralph's back a loud smack. "He couldn't."

That brought another series of chuckles from the twins.

But then Ysabella suddenly stopped and said, "Pardon, Alex, but we came here in haste." She turned to Ralph and in a serious tone, added, "You have not replied to my note. Nick is missing!"

Alex and Ralph shared a quick glance at each other before Ralph faced his sisters. "I have been quite busy. I meant to go and search for him but the two of you arrived."

Worry reappeared on Emma and Ysabella's faces. "We have been searching everywhere. Max and Maggie are currently on their way to Beechworth in hopes to find Nick there," Emma supplied.

"And William is talking with everyone in Whiston," Ysabella said, her voice growing strained. "We cannot find him, Ralph."

"And mother? Is she aware?"

The twins nodded. "You know the woman," Emma murmured. "She knows everything."

Ralph nodded. "Very well. I shall go and see what I can do. Perhaps I can ask for the Guards' assistance."

Emma was looking at Alex and she knew she would be facing a lot of questions from the woman if they went any more undistracted.

But what was she to do to keep them from asking such questions? Ralph was leaving!

"While you go and search, Alex can come with us," Ysabella said, reaching for Alex's hand. "And you can answer all our questions. We have a ton," she added in a whisper.

"No, Alex is not leaving my apartment," Ralph stated matter-of-factly.

Emma frowned. "Whyever not?" And before Ralph could lie, she added, "Is she in trouble?" She turned to Alex. "You are in trouble, are you not? You would dare not be in a Guard's presence if you are not."

Ralph sighed in defeat. He gave his sisters a serious look. "She is being hunted."