7

The words that were written three quarters of the way into the small notebook made Ana feel sick. They had allowed her little sleep, leaving her with heavy bags under her eyes the day of Mrs Shelby's dinner. It was her mother name, her address and her exact location that unnerved her. The priest had already singled out her only weakness, before she even had a chance to begin to work with her distrust and it made her hate him even more.

Tatiana had made them late, not that it would matter. Though the title of Duchess was impressionable, there would be many people attending the dinner held by Grace Shelby. Ana had a feeling that the obnoxious Russian's wouldn't be missed, especially when it came to Mr Shelby himself.

When her Aunt had seen her dress, she was horrified. It was a darker rose colour, but it was pink all the same, and her hair was decorated with jewels at the back, her mother's jewels. She had protested, but Ana refused to change. The dress took away from her distressed and tired appearance, and that was more important than anything. She had been awake early enough to start pulling through her wardrobe, searching for the perfect garment that she surely held.

If Ana had looked any worse than normal, it didn't show. Apart from the pure anger toward her choice of dress, there was no mention of her lack of insults or unnaturally pale complexion. It was the only time she had been thankful for their plain ignorance when it came to their youngest niece.

They were silent in the car, or at least they were to Ana. She couldn't hear anything, her ears were unintentionally blocked by the ringing that was constant. She heard the words of the priest on repeat.

"You may find that I have more power than you think."

Tatiana nudged her from the thoughts. She was glaring with her, the dark makeup around her eyes making the look harsher and meaner. It matched the dress she wore, the typical dropped waist, coloured in black and decorated fancily in jewels and diamonds.

The sight of her Aunt and Uncle made everything worse. Dressed elaborately, they stepped out of the car, their chins raised indignantly, radiating more obnoxious self-importance than the intimidation that they were reaching for. It was embarrassing.

"You are acting weird. Stop it." Her sister snapped, looking at her with raised brows as she pulled herself from the car.

Ana followed moments after, straightening her shoulders and pushing all thoughts of the priest from her head. She would enter the hall without a hesitation or fuss- she had to.

"Don't do anything stupid." Tatiana said as they entered the large room, leaving her seconds later as she weaved easily through the crowds of guests all dressed neatly and properly.

Ana didn't regret her choice of dress. It was not vulgar in any way, as her Aunt had suggested. But it seemed as others thought so too, as she walked through the middle, feeling the judging stares. She made a b-line to Thomas Shelby, seeing him toward the edge of the room.

"Mr Shelby, it is nice to see you again." She said, nodding politely as she stood beside him.

"I trust your sister has caught you up."

They weren't facing each other. Instead they looked out across the hall, side by side, eyeing each individual that walked by them.

"With some persistence, yes." She said, before turning to face him properly. "I wish to mention something, without the knowledge of Tatiana."

Her words had gained his interest. He looked at her now, hands slung in pockets but ears leaned to hear.

"What is it?"

"Father Hughes, I think you are wrong to trust him. I made it vocal to my sister, and he threatened me." She said.

The fact that he had threatened her to prevent her from doing the exact thing that she was doing then didn't effect Ana. Her mother was tough, and she thought the priest wouldn't dare do anything. It hadn't occurred to her that he had the power to do things without even being in the room. It was a matter of protecting her family from a bad deal with the man.

"Right, thank you for telling me." He said, and Ana nodded.

"My sister wishes to speak with you, Mr Shelby." She said, before sliding away, feeling an arm in her shoulder, causing her to turn once again.

Tommy had left somewhere, either to talk with her sister or sort his own opinion of the priest. In front of her, was his wife, the beautiful woman of the house.

"I don't think I have introduced myself, Grace Shelby." She said, a smile easing on her face.

"Ah, Mrs Shelby, it is lovely to finally meet you." Ana said.

"I have heard many things."

"All good, I hope." Ana smiled. "Anastasiya Petrovna."

Grace smiled at the introduction. She was saying something, but Ana couldn't make out the words. Her eyes were glued to the large sapphire that hung from her neck, glittering against the brightness of the room. It was familiar.

"What a beautiful necklace." She commented, stopping her in the middle of a sentence to admire it. "A style I remember much from home."

Though it was a compliment, Grace frowned. Tommy came up behind them, Tatiana by his side, who was smiling slyly between them.

"Ah, Tommy, have you met-"

"My sister." Tatiana interrupted, her eyes laying suspiciously upon Ana.

Grace's brows were raised as she looked between her husband and the two women. A woman came up behind her, placing a hand gently in her shoulder.

"Grace there's a Lady Dowager who wants to speak to you about coffee mornings. She mentioned a £2000 cash donation." She said, letting her eyes fluttered over the group that had fell silent rather quickly.

"Tatiana you and I will speak later." Grace nodded, excusing herself. "Anastasiya, it was good meeting you."

The three of them remained quiet as they watched Grace leave slowly. Tatiana turned to them, glaring warily to her sister.

"I trust I am not the only one who noticed the necklace." She said, and Ana nodded.

"No. I did too." She said, shaking the lump that had formed in her throat. "If I may excuse myself."

Ana knew where she was pushing her feet to hurry to. It was the reason why that she didn't know. She saw the man that she was looking for at the edge of the hall, stood next to the drinks with two boys who had been with Tommy the night of his wedding. It was presumably his brothers, as they all looked similar in a way, identifiable by their blue eyes.

"John." She called, standing beside him, her breath shaky.

"Ana?"

"You need to go see your brother. Something isn't right." She said.

"Why? What happened?" He was panicked, looking to her brothers.

"I don't know yet. He doesn't either. Just go." She said, pushing him away.

She didn't know what would happen. But both her and Tatiana had seen the jewel, felt the evil that would be caused by it. She had told Tommy, he was rushing to his wife, eyes glued to the blue necklace.

They couldn't have warned them any earlier.

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