For her brothers, Devonshire could be the very last place Cole would want to step into. It was, after all, Benedict's home, and Benedict was the last person Cole would want to face.

They had thought this through, she wryly thought.

She needed to be in Wickhurst where a response from Calan Haverston might already be waiting. She needed to know whose brooch it was that the League found in Osmond Trilby's room. And there was Faye. What if the child was still in danger? What if the men searching for her found her and Margaret was not there to protect her?

But then, again, staying in Devonshire might bring her good. She was the one being followed, not Faye. And if she could put some distance between herself and Wickhurst, the child would be safe. A stay in Devonshire would give her the perfect cover. All she had to do was send word for Calan Haverston and they could meet in Sheills where the social season was currently in full swing.

"I will stay in Devonshire, but I will have to leave soon," she declared as they rolled into the driveway.

"If you do have work waiting for you, Maggie, have it sent here," Nicholas said, looking out the window.

She glared at her brother. "Do you think that my work with the League is a joke, Nick?"

Nicholas sighed. "You can argue with Benedict."

"I'm not some criminal you pass around for a verdict and then leave behind because you think you've done your duty. I have a serious case I'm working on." She scowled at Maxwell. "This is more than my affair with Cole Devitt, or my heart being in potential danger. Lives are at stake here. Lives of women and children."

Her brothers stiffened and shared a look.

"What do you mean?"

The carriage had stopped and instead of answering, Margaret reached for the door. "That's all I'm willing to discuss with you."

"Maggie—"

She did not let Nicholas finish. She jumped off the carriage. When the footman opened the door, Nicholas and Maxwell were right behind her.

"What do you mean with the lives of women and children, Maggie? What is this case about?"

"I'm in no liberty to say anything—" she was saying when suddenly, Benedict appeared in the hall, looking surprised.

A frown formed on his face as he started to assess the three of them. "You do not look like you're here because you fancied a visit."

"They dragged me here from Ashmore," Margaret said, thinking there was no other way to say it. When her brother only arched his brows, she added, "Where I've been staying for a few days in relation to a case I'm working on."

Benedict stood very still for a moment before he spoke. "Ashmore?"

"Yes," she haughtily replied.

"For a case."

"That and something else unexpected."

Nicholas scoffed behind her. Benedict's lips pursed.

"He also asked me to marry him."

"What?!" Nicholas and Maxwell hissed out in unison.

"I have not yet given him an answer because my affair—" She paused to throw Nicholas and Maxwell a sharp look "—with him has made things a little complicated. Since I can't reveal details about my mission, the only explanation I can give is that if he finds out what I'm doing, I might lose him again. And before that happens, I have to finish my mission." Striding past Benedict, she added, "Which is why I need your office. I have letters to send."

"Margaret," Benedict said over Nicholas' incredulous, "Lose him again? What in the bloody hell does that mean?"

Margaret ignored them, her steps quick as she made her way to Benedict's office. She needed her letters from Wickhurst be sent here. And she needed to meet Calan Haverston as soon as possible.

***

Cole was surprised when the butler received him after a quick consult from inside the manor. If Jefferson was at all surprised to see him, he would not be alone. Even he was in disbelief that he came calling mere hours after he arrived in Wickhurst. What would he even say to her? She asked for time and here he was, mere days later, ready to beg.

Alone in the parlor, mulling over his thoughts, he scoffed at himself. Where was his practiced resolve? Gone. Vanished. And he did not even care if Margaret would think him insane now. If she wanted a proper courtship, he would give her that. If her brothers wanted to kill him, he'd let them try.

"What seems to be the problem now?" he heard a voice ask before two young women entered the room. One was frowning down at a piece of paper, the other frowning at the other. Neither seemed to notice his presence in the room.

Before he could stand and make it known that they were not alone, Ysabella Everard absently replied, "Wakefield."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Did he send the dance card back? Do you know what the brothers will do if they found out that you sent their friend a dance card asking him to fill the entire page with his name? They'll hang you before you can say hello to your first Sheills Season, Ysa."

Cole opened his mouth to speak, but Ysabella replied to his sister faster than he could summon a sound. "I did not send the dance cards, Em. I'm no bloody fool. It was merely an idea."

"You didn't? Then what is that?"

"He sent a reply."

Emma looked down at the paper. "Reply to what?"

"I sent him a note."

"What note?"

"A query note." Ysabella snorted before she added, "About a missing cat."

"And what is the reply?"

"He did not find a cat in his estate."

"Then why were you frowning?"

Ysabella's frown resurfaced. "Because... Well, I did not quite honestly tell him who I was."

"You did what?!" Emma cried out. "But he addressed the letter here. He must know—"

Ysabella shook her head. "No. This note came from Buford."

"Samuel's estate?" Emma's eyes lit up in understanding, and then horror. "What sort of agreement did you have with Samuel to have him be a part of this?"

"There is none, really," Ysabella said. "I simply told him that a letter addressed to one Lady Weis might arrive in the post and that he should pick it up and send it to me."

Emma gaped at her. "Ysa, do you realize what you have done?"

"It was not my idea! It was Samuel's! We wagered the last he was here. He thought Wakefield would never pay me attention as long as I stay Ysabella Everard, sister of his friends. Of course, I told him I shall prove him wrong. He challenged me to send Wakefield a note under a different name. If he replied, it would prove his point." Her shoulders sagged. "And now he did reply."

"Oh, I would strangle Samuel!"

"I did not truly expect a reply. It was but a random note about a bloody cat!" Ysabella said, awed.

"So what do you do now?" Emma asked, looking at her sister. "Ysa, you cannot be seriously thinking that—"

At that point, Cole made the brave decision to clear his throat. The conversation had progressed beyond his comfort.

Startled, the two ladies jumped and faced him.

"Lord Ashmore!"

He allowed a small, awkward smile. "Good day, my ladies," he greeted with a slight bow.

Ysabella belatedly hid the letter behind her.

"What—Why are you here?"

"Did you hear everything?" Ysabella asked over Emma's question.

"I'm afraid I did," he said, looking at Ysabella. "And I'm here to see your sister," he said to Emma.

"Margaret?" Ysabella asked, blinking in confusion.

"But she's not here," said Emma, face tight as she regarded him up and down.

He frowned. "But Jefferson did not say. He invited me inside."

Ysabella lifted her chin. "Jefferson is getting old. He must have forgotten."

He could tell that the two sisters were not pleased to see him. Whatever happened years ago was no secret to the pair.

"Please, forgive us, my lord. Margaret is not here. Jefferson was mistaken."

"No, he's not," another voice said in the doorway. Lady Alice walked in with a smile. "I told Jefferson to answer Lord Ashmore's call."

"My lady," Cole said, bowing as Alice Everard sauntered toward a settee, leaving the two younger ladies by the door to watch with interest.

"Did Maxwell and Nicholas reach her in Ashmore?"

"Yes," Cole said in nearly a whisper. "I came here hoping she would be here. And the brothers, of course."

"Then you have to do it in Devonshire," Lady Alice said with a wave of her hand. "Your quarrel is not with me—" She threw her daughters a reprimanding look, adding, "—or my daughters."

"I—" Cole Devitt started, but stopped. "She's in Devonshire?"

"If I heard my sons correctly, yes." Lady Alice watched as he struggled, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. "Are you anxious to face Benedict to ask for his sister's hand?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Emma and Ysabella walk closer.

Cole Devitt moistened his lips. "That is quite true. But I'm also..." His voice trailed as words failed him. He frowned at the woman. "Why?"

"Why I'm making it easy?" Lady Alice asked, amusement in her blue eyes. He slowly nodded, words drowning in the overwhelming feelings trapped in his chest. "Because I don't hold my daughter's heart, my boy," the woman replied.

Emma and Ysabella stepped forward, and Lady Alice raised her hand to stop them, her eyes fixed on Cole.

"Love is about everything good and bad; of losses and claims. Don't you agree, Lord Ashmore?" When Cole could not answer, Lady Alice looked at her daughters with a smile. "One should be careful how they interfere with the lives of others, for everything we do affect the possible future of people, as well and that of the people around them." Turning to Cole again. "Love is an unstoppable force. It may not go well with the desires of those who witnessed the pain it caused in the past, but it is true to those who are still bound to it in the present." She motioned her hand to her daughters. "Who are we to refuse it when the very people who had been stripped of it are finally reclaiming it?"

Cole's jaw tightened as he swallowed against the tears. Never had he been met with open understanding, and to receive it from Alice Everard herself, Cole was at a loss. He should be grateful—and he was—but how could he when all he felt was guilt? Surely, what he did to Benedict and Margaret were unforgivable.

"I understand, Cole," Lady Alice said, calling him just as how she used to call him in the past. "You had your reasons for the past. Fate had been cruel to you and my daughter. I shall not be that bad fate."

"Thank you," he managed to choke out. "And I'm sorry. For everything."

Lady Alice scoffed. "So long as you don't whisk my daughter to Tiny Town, I shall receive your apology and gratitude," she said, smile wide. As Cole blinked back the tears that burned at the back of his eyes, Lady Alice turned to her daughters. "And where is tea? I thought we're having tea? Join us, Cole, before you travel to Devonshire. Lord knows my sons will not bother serving you one."

***

It had been days since they had arrived in Devonshire and yet Maxwell and Nicholas were still there. When she told them of her plans to go to Sheills for a League business, they volunteered to take her. They did not question what she would do there, nor did they ask after her case again. They were just there, making sure she was where they wanted her to be.

"You know your brothers," Agatha said one afternoon while Margaret gathered the things she had to take with her to Sheills.

"And you know me, Agatha. I hate being controlled."

"You know that's not what they're doing although it may appear to be so," her sister-in-law replied, eyes gentle and filled with understanding. "They have seen how Cole Devitt hurt you."

Margaret sighed. "I just wish they can trust me with my own pain."

Agatha's brown topaz eyes shimmered as she smiled. She tucked a few strands of her auburn hair away from her face to meet Margaret's gaze. "That's what family does. They share your pain. And they will also want your joys."

"I know."

Agatha's mouth twitched with a smile. "I shall try to talk to Benedict, but I cannot promise my husband to be cooperative."

"I understand."

"He loves you dearly, Margaret."

Margaret took Agatha's hand and squeezed. "I know that, too."

***

"She will marry that bastard," Nicholas said, swallowing the bitter taste of brandy.

"We cannot keep her here forever," Maxwell muttered as he poured himself another glass.

Benedict remained silent as he stared outside the window of the drawing room. A carriage was approaching the driveway and he knew who it was. His entire body tensed as he prepared himself for the inevitable.

"Ben, are you listening?"

"I'm watching," he replied to Nicholas. "Devitt is minutes away from my doors."

His two brothers jumped to their feet to join him at the window.

"Bloody hell," Nicholas said.

Maxwell stared at Benedict. "What do you plan to do, Ben?"

Benedict sighed and turned away. "Whatever I have to do."