"What are you doing here?" Byron asked, startling Ellie.

She whirled around to find him in the doorway of his study. "Oh, you are home."

"Yes, and you are in my study," he uttered, walking into the room, eyes bare of emotions.

"I was looking for a book to kill time," she nonchalantly replied, making certain her eyes focused on him and not on the table where she hid the letter. "And then I realized how very small your collection is."

"That is because the books are in the library," he said, taking her hand and gently guiding her out. "There are naught but boring books on agriculture in this room."

"Yes, as I have figured."

"Come, we have somewhere to be."

"Where?"

"The woods."

"I am not particularly fond of woods, Byron."

"Oh, but this one has holes above it."

*****

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," Samuel greeted the group before him. "Welcome to the Secret Theobald Game of this year."

Emma looked around her and found ecstatic faces, all eager and proud to have been chosen.

"Now that you know this game is not merely a rumor, shall I present the game?"

There were about twenty or so people crowded inside the closed parlor room and each one nodded their heads in excitement.

"Last year, the chosen ones played the game for two straight days, doing secret tasks to gain entrance into secret rooms. The winners took home these specially-made golden brooches," Samuel started, opening a large velvet box with two round brooches made in gold. "Ever since my brother started these secret games, he has acquired the kind services of none other than Maxwell Everard to design and create these. They are rare, of course, but ones you see someone wearing one, you and that person share a secret."

Emma could not believe that her own brother knew about this and had kept it a secret. But then, what did she expect from Maxwell?

"This year, we are doing a treasure hunt game."

Everyone started to chatter to each other.

A treasure hunt was not uncommon at all. One could even say it was too common. But this was a secret game and everyone was in on it. Whatever game it may be, the thought that they were chosen to be a part of this was enough.

"The pairs for tonight's game were already randomly selected by me a day prior," Samuel said, eyeing everyone in the room with a smile. "My brother designed the game and facilitated everything else necessary for all of us to play without his presence. Yes, ladies and gentlemen- I, too, received an invite for this game." He waved a piece of paper at everyone.

As the crowd chuckled, Emma knew who she would end up being paired with. She confirmed it when Samuel nonchalantly announced all pairs one by one from a list. What she did not expect was his choice of partner for himself.

Even the other players could not suppress their surprise and awe when Stella's name was announced as Samuel's partner for the game. Everyone knew it would not be a smooth night for them both.

"I do not know where the treasure is for it was my brother, Gabriel, who designed the game for tonight despite his absence," Samuel said after he ordered everyone to stand with their partners. Emma turned to Wynne who was already reading the paper handed to them by a footman. "In your hands is the first clue." With a smile, he looked at everyone and said, "The game officially starts. And please, try not to kill your partners should disagreements arise!"

Everyone laughed before they filed out of the room.

"If there is someone who ends up dead tonight, it will be one of them," Emma murmured to Wynne the moment they walked out of the room.

He was still reading the first riddle. "Who?" he absently asked.

"Mind not," she said with a wave of her hand. She looked about and realized that everyone went to one direction which was outside. "Have you figured out the answer?"

"It might be the-"

"Garden," said Emma, already leading the way.

"How did you-"

"Everyone's is already on their way. Of course, it is the garden."

"It must be the maze," he said, walking past her.

"Because it will hide the fact that we are playing a secret game."

"Yes."

Emma sighed. As they moved along, she looked asked, "What does the riddle say?"

"Enter the box with its many walls but never be lost," he said, slowing down. Emma realized he was counting candlesticks. "Your key is with the guard who goes short as he grows old. He is fifteen and easily seen."

Emma frowned. "Do we not have the same riddles as the rest?"

"We can ask," he said, lifting the fifteenth candlestick by its holder. A small note lay underneath and Emma immediately took it. "But I believe you might be correct. Surely, not everyone is that stupid to miss this."

Emma was no longer listening as she read the next riddle. "The box is not the maze."

"How so?" Wynne asked, stepping closer to read the note in her hand.

I have too many stories, but none I can tell.

Find my friend who comes up and down without leaving his stand,

He shall offer his left hand and wish you well.

Come, for my stories are free so long as you have hand.

They both turned to the same direction and found the grand staircase. Without a word, they climbed and turned to the left wing upon reaching the second landing. The noise from the grand ballroom was muffled now and it seemed that the other players were out playing their own game somewhere.

Wynne gave her a questioning look as they moved further down the empty corridor. "I have merely been here once."

"For someone who loves libraries, that is quite surprising."

"They have five libraries in this manor," she supplied, stopping outside a door. "This is one of them." She pushed open the door and they found themselves into a vast library. "Now, where is it?"

"Hand," Wynne easily replied, walking over to the clock standing in one corner. With one arm, he reached behind the wooden case of the clock.

Emma smiled as she saw the triumphant smirk on his face.

Once he retrieved it, he waved the note in front of her. "This game is too bloody easy for the two of us."

Emma shook her head with a smile.

I am where she once hid; where most her memories sleep.

Beware for not many can find, the treasures she left behind.

I lie beneath the one who loses its head in the daybreak and grows it back at night.

Careful steps and fun flight!

Wynne looked at Emma with a frown. "Please do tell me you know where this is."

Emma scoffed. "Of course, I do."

His raised his brows in question.

"Maxine's old bedchamber."

He finally blinked in understanding.

Emma smiled and turned around. "Now, if you please, my lord, I shall lead the way."

*****

Emma had to go and find Ysabella in the ballroom again to inquire about the location of Maxine's old room. It was her sister who knew exactly where to find it, but the information came with too many questions.

"I am playing the Secret Theobald Game," Emma whispered to her sister whose eyes went wide with excitement.

"You have been invited!" Ysabella cried out in disbelief.

"Shh!" Emma shushed. "Now, tell me where-"

"But why? How?"

"I do not know. The invitation simply came."

"Tonight?"

"Yes. Now, please, Ysa. You have to help us."

"Us?"

"I-my partner and I."

"Who?" Ysabella asked, looking around. Then her eyes landed on Wynne who was standing awkwardly a few paces away. "Wynne?"

"Yes."

"And Samuel is fine with it?"

"He is currently also busy playing the game."

"He is in the game as well? Who is he paired with?"

Emma bit her lips to keep herself from smiling. "Stella Marie."

Her sister's eyes rounded even further. "No!"

"Yes!" Emma snickered.

"They would kill one another!"

"Precisely our thought."

Ysabella threw another glance toward Wynne's direction. "It is rather odd Samuel did not find a way to be paired with you."

"Oh, you know Sam. He wants to play the game fairly."

Ysabella looked as though she could not believe that. But the look quickly disappeared as she tried to cover it by shaking her head. "But he cannot win against you. That man ought to get a taste of defeat to tame him down."

"We would not win if you do not tell me where Maxine's old chambers are."

Ysabella looked about and leaned to whisper into Emma's ear.

After she had a clear picture of the direction they were supposed to take, she grinned at Ysabella. "Thank you. And I promise I shall try to convince Gabriel to invite you to next year's game."

"I do not wish to paired with Wakefield!" her sister called after her as she rushed to Wynne's side.

"Come," Emma whispered to him as she walked past.

He nonchalantly followed her out of the ballroom, back to the grand staircase and to the winding corridors that eventually led to a secret door.

Emma pushed against the paneled wall and it opened, revealing a bedchamber.

A sudden feeling of pity and compassion came over her as she pictured how her sister-in-law lived her days hidden in this bedchamber.

Shaking her head, Emma reminded herself that Maxine was now happily married with a child. She was somehow accepted by society after Samuel's public letter years past.

Wynne went directly to the large four-poster bed and looked under one of the pillows. There was nothing there.

Emma lifted the other one and found a piece of paper.

She was about to open the note when she realized that Wynne was curiously looking around the bedchamber.

"So this is where she hid."

"I suppose," was all she could say. "But you must not think that her days here were lonely. She dressed as a servant during the Theobald parties as a way to entertain herself. And she lived freely in this estate the rest of the year. The Theobalds dearly love her."

"I did not say they do not."

"But it was a risky battle, what they did-fighting for her, I mean."

"She is family."

"Yes. Almost anyone would do anything for family." Their eyes met for a few seconds after she said those words.

When she blinked, pretending to be interested in the next riddle, Wynne cleared his throat. "You must be ready to do anything for your family."

"Of course."

She was reading the words of the riddle but her mind could not comprehend them as Wynne's footsteps reverberated around the room. He was pacing. Emma sighed. "What is it?" she asked.

When he did not reply, she looked up and found that he was already studying her, face serious. He was truly handsome, a part of her admitted. Not in a way that Samuel was, but in his own way. The confidence he was trying to hide from everyone else could be easily detected now that she knew who he was-what he was.

"What is it?" she asked again, forcing him to ask the question.

"It is naught but a stupid curiosity."

"One I am curious about now that you have mentioned it," she countered. "What is it?"

He shrugged. "I was merely wondering, Emma," he said, taking one step closer toward her before stopping, hands behind him. "Supposing you fall in love with someone you ought not to fall for. What would you do?"

"Someone like who?"

He lifted one shoulder. "Supposing a Trilby."

She stared at him in surprise.

"The Everards and the Trilbys are not chummy, yes?"

"How have you come up with such information?"

One corner of his lips twitched. "I am the gossip writer, Emma. I know."

Emma would not dare answer that question. "It is indeed a stupid curiosity."

"But one I would like to know the answer to now that it is out in the open."

"I do not wish to answer."

"Why?"

Emma tore her eyes from him. "Just because."

"Why?" he persisted.

Her jaws twitched. "Because if I do not like my answer."

His chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Now I am even more curious."

"Of course, you are."

"Well?"

Emma straightened her back and squared her shoulders. Her eyes held Wynne's. "IF I do fall for a Trilby, I believe I would act like an Everard."

"Which means?"

She hated her answer, but she knew it would be an honest one. He did not even deserve to hear it, yet she wanted him to. With her eyes still lost into the depths of his dark globes, Emma responded, "I will hunt him down and I will steal him away from his horrid family." It was indeed satisfying to see the surprise in his eyes. She did not end there for she added, "Should he allow me to do so, I shall drag him to Tiny Town. But he will have to agree that I will never associate myself with his family. Not even to share a single drop of tea."

It was him who blinked first. Emma forced a smile and said, "But that is not ever going to happen for my brothers might not allow it. We would both have to be cunning enough to reach Tiny Town." She sighed, her smile even wider. "Does my answer satisfy you, my lord?"

Wynne blinked. "It stunned me, to be truly honest."

Emma scoffed. "You, Wynne Hastings? Honest?"

"I am honest with you."

"Only after I caught your act. And even now, I cannot be certain."

He took another step toward her and frowned. "Why so?"

Emma shrugged despite her heart beginning to hammer against her chest again. "Because you might be deceiving me as you do everyone else. You could be playing a role like you do on stage."

She saw his jaw clench as he took another step... and then another, closing the distance between them. Emma could not move back. The wall was behind her. She could not step aside either for the bed was a trap to her left. To the right was the only escape, but she did not want to take it.

She hated herself at that moment for she was anticipating something. A part of her was even considering more provocation for him to do... what? What did she want him to do?

"Do you think I am being dishonest, Emma?" he asked, his voice low... husky.

"I... I merely said I cannot be certain. You cannot blame me."

"You do love formulating conspiracy theories, of course I cannot blame you," he said, moving closer until their chest touched. "I might have been dishonest to you, yes, and I do not deny it," he whispered as his head bent, the side of his cheek lightly touching hers, sending thousands of electrifying sensations to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Emma caught her breath as she heard his long intake of breath. He was not touching her anywhere else, yet she felt warm all over.

"After all, there is only one person I can never lie to," Wynne whispered. He tilted his head, caressing her skin with his nose, his lips brushing against the corner of her mouth.

Emma gulped, feeling a shiver down her spine as his breath stroked across her skin. "Who?" she asked, turning her head in search of his eyes. He stared back at her and she realized she was losing this game.

"Me," was his quiet reply. Tearing his eyes from hers, they traveled down to her lips and then back to her emerald globes. "I cannot lie to myself for long," was the last words he murmured before claiming her mouth.

The rush of overwhelming emotions she anticipated and hated and even denied almost caused her knees to give in. She expected to land on the floor but the fall never came for Wynne had her pinned against the wall in a gentle yet not-so-gentle fashion, opening his mouth over hers, the feel of his chest against hers as he moved even closer was both a pleasant assault and an invitation.

His sharp intake of breath reminded Emma she had to do the same and when she opened her mouth, Wynne dived once again, his tongue gaining entry, sending stronger sensations all over Emma's body, giving her a sense of urgency she never felt before.

And then, just as she thought he was unstoppable, a force to be reckoned with, he slowed down. She feared he would stop, but he did not. His hips ever slowly ground against hers, his hands roaming freely at the small of her back. And his mouth was cherishing the taste of her.

The most wondrous part was when she realized her arms were locked around his neck, her hands clasping his hair, his collar, his shirt.

In ragged breaths, he whispered in her ear, "Perhaps it is time you try to be honest to yourself as well, Emma." Her eyes opened wide but before she could push him away or utter a sound of disagreement, he harshly added, "No, stop lying," claiming her mouth once more, stealing her breath, stealing her senses.

Emma closed her eyes as she felt the tears. She hated betraying herself. She hated losing to this man.

And if this was the passion Ysabella and Alex were talking about, then perhaps she would be the most broken loser of all for if she were to lose to this man, she would not merely lose everything she thought she knew about love and passion. She would also lose him.

*****

Samuel was not aware that Gabriel had given every pair a different set of riddles. Although he knew Emma was safe in the Theobald estate, it was still quite vast. Anything could happen, he thought, but he brushed the worry aside.

Wynne would not be stupid enough to do anything untoward. That was not his game.

This was his game, Samuel thought. He went to quite lengths to assemble the pairs for tonight's game without raising suspicion from his absent brother. Although Gabriel always loved to design the games, he was not one who liked playing with everyone else. Samuel rarely attended the Theobald weekend parties but whenever he could, his brother always made certain he had to be one of the players.

He had been through quite a few, but this was perhaps the first game he did not want to end too soon. Not when he had secrets he wanted to dig from his partner.

But Stella Marie was proving to be quite smart. The woman had solved the first three riddles without much help from Samuel and they were now on their way through the maze garden without a hitch.

"Are you certain this is the way back?" he asked, following behind her. They had just acquired another riddle and now had to escape the maze and return to the manor to find the kitchen.

"Yes," she said over her shoulder. "I am quite surprised you do not."

"I do not find pleasure walking through this crazy garden," he explained, catching up to her to walk beside her. "You must know, Miss Stella, that I find your calm demeanor quite astounding."

A brow rose as she flashed him a smile. "Well, thank you, but how do you say so?"

"You are always rather perfectly calm despite being in the presence of the man who wrote the harsh articles against Above and Below."

"Ah," she uttered in understanding. "You must mean your articles which happen to be your opinions." She threw him a glance. "I care not for your opinions, my lord." Samuel fell a step behind, taken by surprise. He blinked and caught up again to catch her say, "I live my life the way I want it, my lord. You live yours the way you wish it as well. Why would I bother myself with one person's opinions when I have a crowd to please who can please me back?"

"Fair enough," he said, raising his hands as though in surrender. They walked easily from that moment as she led the way out of the maze. "You know who P. Wallace is."

"Yes," she said, her voice filled with pride. "We have known each other since childhood." She gave him a sideway glance. "And no, I will not reveal my friend's identity."

Samuel raised his brows. "You are that loyal to this friend?"

"Yes."

"Even if this friend does something that may displease you?"

"Never did, never will."

"But what if your friend does? Say, something almost evil?"

She scoffed. "Then I believe whoever is the subject of my friend's deviousness will deserve it. Let us cease talking about my friend. I know you merely want to know the identity of the writer and I am the wrong person to ask."

"This friend of yours is a man, yes? P. Wallace has to be a man."

She looked at him with a knowing smile. Bloody hell, he now understood why many men swooned at the sight of this woman; her beauty was quite enchanting. "You and I both know he is a man."

"Ah, really? I was not even certain."

She shook her head. "Why are you so against him, anyway? What could he have possibly done against you?"

"Oh, believe me... he never did. Not yet."

Stella made a sudden stop, startling Samuel. She gasped in mock amazement. "You do surely think too highly of yourself to believe that a man such as P. Wallace would bother with you."

"Whatever do you mean by that, Miss Stella?"

"Oh, please, my lord. Do not think me stupid. I am certain your fiancée does feel the same such as I. The frustration to be in constant presence of your overwhelming sense of pride is draining!"

Samuel scoffed. "Ha!" He forced a laugh and she continued to walk, now showing little signs that she was irked. "And how did you know I have a fiancée?"

"She told me. We have talked a few times. She is a great fan of our play. Fret not, I shall not tell on your secrets."

He shrugged. "In time it will no longer be a secret."

"Of course, it would not be," she said, adding, "If the time ever comes." Before Samuel could rebute, she added, "And why did you not find a way to be on this game with your fiancé? Surely you do not find my company more appealing, yes? Or perhaps you do not want her company?" And as he opened his mouth to answer, she waved her hand, brushing the topic off. "Oh, no matter. I care not. And let us cease talking about the play for it fouls the mood for us both." Samuel realized that he was listening now more than ever as she continued talking. "I have admired your works before. In fact, I never missed a single article since you wrote about your sister. But now, I am starting to get bored."

Samuel's jaw tightened. He took offense on that. "And why do you say so, Miss Stella?"

She shrugged as she continued walking. "I know a work with soul and passion for it is no less different from any forms of art. As an actor, I can easily sense a work that is starting to lose the richness of its soul as it is being replaced by the blinding light of stardom."

Samuel felt the first sign of anger rise up her throat. "You cannot possibly be suggesting that I am-"

Her laughter stopped the rest of his words. "I am not suggesting a thing, my lord. I am merely stating my own opinion as you often do yourself. If it does hurt, then I am as unaffected by your reaction as you are with the feelings of those you attack." She continued to walk on. "Now, I believe the riddle does not point to the kitchen after all..."

*****

Wynne was as surprised as Emma when the kiss finally came to an end.

They were both breathless and neither knew what to do next.

Surely, something less awkward could be said?

He reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears, cupping her face in his hands. "Do not expect me to beg for forgiveness for I do not regret kissing you. In fact, I would do so again if we stay here much longer."

She blinked and he saw clarity and reality come back to her emerald eyes. He planted one last lingering kiss on her forehead before he forced himself to take one large step away from her.

He bent down to pick up the piece of paper from the floor and read the riddle. "The treasure is in the kitchen."

He looked up at her. She was fixing her hair.

With a sigh, Wynne stepped forward to help her with her stays which he had managed to untie earlier. Silently cursing himself for losing control, he finished the task without a word. To his surprise, she let him.

Was she as shaken as he?

"There," he said, turning away from her. "Let us leave this room before I do anything you will regret."

"Wynne," she said in almost a whisper behind him. He looked back at her and suddenly he wanted to pounce on her again, but no... no more tonight. He had showed enough of himself to her. Instead, he clenched his fists behind him and raised his brows.

"What is the true reason why you do not show people your true self?"

He read the true meaning behind her words. "I never hide, Emma. My true self is in plain sight." He smiled softly. "They simply do not bother to see." He started to walk backwards as he managed a grin. "So perhaps you can say I am hiding in plain sight."