A few days after the feast, my uncle's family travelled all the way from Aldridge to Rhyland, and I knew that they did not come just to chit chat.

Supper was extravagant as usual, as expected of an Earl's household.

    As usual, Gilbert and I would fight over a particular dish as if our lives depended on it. As for tonight, it was rabbit stew, and he argued that my portion was larger, and I argued that it was fitting, as he had eaten almost half of my jar of sweets last week.

I then spooned the stew into my mouth, smiling sweetly at Gilbert victoriously, and he scowled bitterly in return. My cousin Benedict, however, was pale-faced and anxious, and barely ate a single mouthful.

        "He is acting as if marrying Grace Ainsworth is a death sentence," I whispered to Gilbert. He nodded, but then he said, "I agree, but Annie, I'm still mad at you."

As soon as supper ended, Mother instructed Lisbeth to take us, the younger ones, to the sitting room while my parents, my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Benedict went to my father's study to 'discuss' something.

        "I find it odd," Lisbeth said while closing the door to the sitting room. "Grace Ainsworth is far from ugly, and House Moreau doesn't exactly have any problems with the Ainsworths, besides hating the Queen, of course. Why does Benny look so anguished?"

       "Because he already has a mistress, silly!" Corinne suddenly exclaimed, unfazed by how taboo the topic was. I gasped in shock, and even Lisbeth was staring at Corinne with her eyes wide open.

        "What did you just say?" Lisbeth said in disbelief, but Corinne was still calm and relaxed.

       "He impregnated a girl. That's why he is so distraught," she sighed and sat down on the sofa, nonchalantly putting her feet on the leather ottoman.

I was both shocked and disgusted when I discovered about Benedict's philandering ways. I knew that Benedict was far from being moral and chivalrous, but I hadn't expected him to do such a thing.

      "Well, you can just pay her off and everything will be settled, right?" Lisbeth stammered.

If Benedict's infidelity were to be exposed, it would implicate likely herself as well, as House Moreau and House Winterbourne are closely related.
        If people find out that Benedict had been sleeping around, what will become of Lisbeth's reputation?
        What would become of Lisbeth's marriage? Who would want to marry the first cousin of an infamous philanderer? Surely, she must be as bad as he is!

        "The problem is, we can't," Corinne said, and the cheeky smile on her face faded. "She isn't a simple peasant girl we can just pay off. She's a noble lady from a minor family, but a noble nonetheless. That stupid dummy, I already told him to keep his hands off of noblewomen but he didn't listen, and now look where it has gotten him to!"

        "No, where it has gotten us to!" Lisbeth exclaimed, her face flushed red. "If everyone were to know about the animal that Benedict is, I would be shamed along with him! All of us would be shamed with him!"

I scooted nearer to my twin brother, having grown afraid of Lisbeth's sudden mood swings. I knew that if I were to enter her sight for even a split second, she would find a way to release all her anger on me.

        "That girl," Gilbert suddenly said. "What is her name?"

Corinne glanced at Gilbert and smiled.        "I thought that no one would ask!" she giggled. "She is one of Baron McCarthy's many daughters. Not exactly powerful nor wealthy, but beautiful. Everyone born to that family is strikingly beautiful," Corinne added.

         "Even more so than Grace Ainsworth?" I asked, and Corinne scoffed dismissively.
         "Grace Ainsworth's front teeth are so long that she looks like a wild hare, and her nostrils are so wide that I could fit an entire toe in there!" she spat while laughing hysterically.

I was unimpressed by this one-sided humiliation, and Corinne seemed to not realise that she was no great beauty either.

       "Prettier than you, then?" I jeered, narrowing my eyes in contempt.

      Immediately, Corinne gasped and looked at me in disbelief. That was when I knew that I had rubbed her sore spot.
     "Anne!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "How dare you compare that witch's sister, to me, daughter of an earl? Are you stupid?"

Gilbert, who sat beside me, rolled his eyes with annoyance. While I often tolerated Corinne's behaviour, my brother had never liked her and always treated her coldly. "I am going to the library and do something that is actually productive. Are you coming with me, Anne?" he says, and I briskly nod.

     Corinne made a sound of displease after realising that no one wanted to listen to her humiliating and bad-mouthing another girl who had done nothing wrong to her, and crossed her arms sulkily. Gilbert and I could not care less and we calmly headed outside.

    To get to the library, you had to pass by my father's study, and at that particular moment, the door was slightly ajar, and I could hear the voices of my parents, my aunt and uncle, and Benedict, all shrieking at the top of their lungs.

         "You can't kill her!" I heard Benedict shout. "Not Leanne, not my Leanne! She is pregnant with my child, Father! My heir!"

        "She is carrying a bastard in her belly!" his father, the Earl snapped and Benedict fell silent, and only his soft sobs could be heard.

      "But we don't have to kill her," Father suddenly said, his tone calm and lighthearted, a stark contrast to the tumultuous atmosphere of the room.

     My mother, Uncle Tristan and Aunt Catherine all opened their mouths to refute him, but my father stood his ground.

         "Why kill someone who could be our ally? It is the enemy that we should kill," he declared coolly.

Gilbert and I then decided to peek through the slightly open door, and I could see my father sitting calmly on his armchair, while Mother stood in the middle of the room with her hands on either side of her waist.

      Benedict was kneeling on the floor completely downtrodden, but after hearing Father's words, my cousin glanced up at him with a hopeful smile on his face, as if the sun had finally shone again.

      "You are saying that we should kill Grace Ainsworth?" my uncle the Earl said, subconsciously stroking his long brown beard. "She is the Queen's sister. Our actions will not go unnoticed."

       "Yes, it will not go unnoticed. But without evidence, how can they trace it back to us? They won't be able to accuse us, let alone implicate us for her death," my mother said thoughtfully.

       "But how, Sister?" Uncle Tristan asked sceptically. " Send an assassin? Stage an accident?"

      "We shall use poison," Father stated simply, and my uncle's eyes lit up as he cupped his hands together in agreement, and said, "Yes, that seems efficient. We should get this done and over with soon--"

      "You seem to have forgotten something," Father chuckled, his violet eyes narrowing as he glared at Uncle Tristan.

      "What do you mean by that, brother ?" my uncle asked stupidly, and my father scoffed at him.

      "This is House Winterbourne, not a charity home. If you want something to be done, you must pay," Father said coldly. Uncle Tristan looked at my father in disbelief, and then at my mother, begging for help.

        "But Husband !" my mother cried out. "They're family! You wouldn't want to see poor Benny being humiliated by everyone!"

        "Belle, none of my children went on to impregnate women all across the continent. It was your brother's," Father hissed.

The very next morning, the Moreau family went home at the crack of dawn, huffing and complaining about every single thing that entered their sight.
Uncle Tristan was furious with my father for demanding money in exchange for killing Grace Ainsworth, while Corinne was still angry about what I had said the night before.

         I thought that would be the end of it - maybe Grace Ainsworth would live after all, and Benedict would have to marry her, and as for his mistress Leanne McCarthy, she would have to make do with whatever fate befalls her, or even get rid of the baby inside her belly. I truly thought that would be the end of it.

     But a fortnight later, a large crate bearing the Moreau family crest was sent to Winterbourne Castle. It was taken straight to my father's study, and the table groaned under its heavy weight. Gilbert told me that the crate was filled with so much gold and jewellery that it burst open as soon as the latch was lifted.

      Mother gave Lisbeth and me baskets full of jewellery, but she did not tell us where it came from. I had so many necklaces and bangles that I could not decide which to wear, and I ended up ditching them altogether.

A few days later, however, Father gave me a new bracelet, which is rather surprising, considering the fact that I had boxes full of unworn jewellery simply gathering dust inside my wardrobe.

      It was pretty and delicate though, crafted from a smooth, shiny silver with pearl tassels, but one of the pearls looked odd. It was much duller than the rest, and looked as if it were hollow and could easily be cracked open.

      "Why do you give me this bracelet, Father?" I asked weakly, knowing that it could mean nothing good. He smiles benevolently upon me.

"I have a task for you, dear Anne."

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