"OH, THAT INSOLENT WOMAN," The Lady Beaumont of Bellevue hall cried, clutching the letter that had come from Portsmouth that early Saturday morning. She had come down feeling rather fresh and had, much to her husband's surprise, hummed a delightful tune that complimented that of the eccentric blue bird's which sat perched on her window sill. Her happy disposition only to be brought to a crashing halt as she went through the early morning post and read the letter from The Countess of Brockenhurst, "She has the audacity to criticize how I raise my children when she inevitably drowned my eldest! And even then she's telling me that 'I thank goodness, I was in charge, Ruth, or I torture myself to think how everything would've fared, were you.' I have half a mind to go to Portsmouth this instant and get Diana back from that vicious snake's hold."

"You will do no such thing," Lord Augustus Beaumont articulated as he lowered his quizzing glass to shoot a pointed look at his wife, "My sister claims that both, Diana and Alicia, are on the mend. What happened, as she writes clearly, was an accident, and as much as I care for both the girls deeply, Agnes is not to blame and neither are you."

"Lord Beaumont, you are blind to your sister's deviousness," His wife huffed, annoyance clear in her tone, "Heaven knows how you both are even related." With that being said, Lady Beaumont got up and walked over to the drawing room window, looking out into the early morning hustle and bustle on the street in front of the Bellevue Hall. Then she continued in a quieter voice, "Lady Templemore says Lord Buxton and Lord Algernon saved the girls."

"I was wondering when you would acknowledge that part," Lord Beaumont mused, returning to the newspaper he had earlier kept to the side.

The lady of the house turned from the window, a concerned expression on her face as she looked at her husband in thought. "What is it?" he inquired as he caught her worried gaze, sighing once again as he was forced to keep the newspaper aside a second time.

"I know I've stressed the benefit of these matches for our girls before, even in front of my sisters, but it's just that we don't know him, or them, except from the reflections of their characters we've seen through Arthur's struggles. And I would much rather my daughter associate herself with a middle class honest gentleman than a mysterious one with a large income," her gaze dropped to her hands as she fiddled her fingers together.

"He saved her life, surely that accounts to something in his character," Lord Beaumont pointed out and his wife shut her eyes tightly in response, nodding in agreement, "Also, before you go about paying calls to your sisters to narrate the contents of the letter, I prefer them to be kept from the children. It would give rise to unnecessary worry and distress in them, now that the girls are fine and well."

"Well, I for one, think Lord Algernon is of a brilliant character," Lady Hyacinth Kirkpatrick declared as she clapped her hands together that evening as she sat with her sisters in the east drawing room of the Mansfield estate, "I've always thought so, since the controversy was merely about Lord Buxton, and now that Lord Algernon saved my daughter, I can't help but think good of him."

Lady Ruth Beaumont's smile shifted as she straightened herself, "Well I think good of Lord Buxton as well, after all, he jumped in after my daughter. He's just mysterious, and Lord Beaumont says that such an act definitely accounts to something in him."

"How romantic, I dare say," Lady Charlotte Allan, the youngest of the sisters added, a bright smile on her face.

"We may have engagements on our hands after the girls return," Lady Margaret Seymour pointed out, sipping her cup, "Or if they return."

"One would think the accident was all for the better," Rebecca Seymour spoofed, rolling her eyes at her aunts and mother. It wasn't that Rebecca deemed the action to be saved by a suitor unromantic; it was just that she tended to, at present, focus on the darker part of the situation, more than the fairytale part of it. As much as she rarely got along with either Diana or Alicia, hearing about the accident was unsettling and upsetting to the core.

"Nonsense," Lady Beaumont declared, ignoring Rebecca's sarcastic observation as though she hadn't spoken at all, "They must return. They have Rebecca's wedding to attend, and besides, I won't have Diana instantly marrying in the night as though she were a thief, without a considerable length of engagement; it is highly improper, and that too in Portsmouth without her family."

"I second that," Lady Kirkpatrick chimed in, "Alicia must return as well. I'd like to formally meet this Lord Algernon. If I might've known he'd show such a prolonged interest in my daughter, I'd have already had him over to tea when they were here for the fair."

"What's all this talk of marriage?" Oscar Seymour blurted out, his instincts getting the better of him as he changed his tone by laughing nervously when he gained the attention of his aunts and mother, "I mean, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Surely a gentleman can save a lady in distress out of respect too. Perhaps they are good acquaintances, considering the fact that they are currently part of a weekend party at The Brockenhurst estate."

"Oscar dear, are we still talking about your cousins?" Lady Charlotte Allan cast him an observant glance as her brow rose slightly.

Oscar's jaw parted in shock before he gained his composure, "What? Of course we are."

"Can't say I am convinced, but oh well," the youngest aunt responded, getting up from the sofas and walking over to the spot on the mint carpets where her youngest daughter, Fanny, sat playing with a stuffed doll.

"Well, that does it. Since a subject highly to my dislike has been probed, allow me to excuse myself," Oscar declared with a wide smile as he gathered the book he was reading and got up from the sofas, "Mother, aunts," he acknowledged, and with a bow, he pivoted and exited the drawing room.

"I was thinking it is high time they return," Lady Seymour spoke, continuing to help herself to the biscuits on the tray the footman held up to her.

"Diana and Alicia?" Rebecca asked curiously, it was getting harder and harder for her to deduce differences between conversations when the elders around her liked to be far from specific and jump onto different conversations quicker than one would change their attire.

"Yes," her mother replied promptly, then turning to her sisters she asserted, "Rebecca's engagement ball is in a week, instead of asking them to return two days before, I want the girls to come back early. Drowning, indeed. Those girls must be exhausted to their core by the chain of events. I do not want their health to falter all the while throughout Rebecca's marriage events. They've done enough, and it's time for them to come back home."

"I was thinking the same, especially after this accident. Frederica's health has returned, Arthur is well with his situation, the children are fine, there's no further need for Diana or Alicia to stay," Lady Beaumont acknowledged slowly.

"I know, but what about the gentlemen? I am hoping for an engagement at least," Lady Kirkpatrick cast a worried glance at her sisters.

"If these gentlemen really are all that, surely they won't let distance get in between their intentions," Lady Charlotte Allan spoke as she stroked Fanny's curls, with a teasing smile on her face, "Besides I should very much like to see the lengths they would go to."

Rebecca gasped as she lowered her tea cup and looked at her youngest aunt in disbelief, "I am highly uncomfortable with where this conversation is going."

"So it's settled then," Lady Seymour declared, her voice louder, dismissing everything else that counteracted her statement, "Ruth, Hyacinth, in the next letter you're sending to Portsmouth, ask of the girls to return promptly, their time in Portsmouth has been long enough."

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

"Ah, welcome," William Percy's sly voice came as Edward and Isaac immediately got off of their horses in front of Percy Clinks & Co. In the darkness of the night, the factory looked as though it had stood for far longer than any other building in the city had. The entrance was unkempt, with piles of shipment boxes lining the warehouse entrance. It looked civilly like a place of business, however barbaric the businessman standing in front of it, with his hands tied around his back, may be.

Edward Buxton, disheveled from his ride, with his hair messily windswept and the top buttons of his shirt undone, lunged towards William Percy, grabbed him by his collar fiercely and pulled him roughly to face, "Where are they?"

On his journey from Brockenhurst, as the wind had harshly whipped against his skin, and his adrenaline had pounded in his veins, Edward had acknowledged that the time to put up pretenses was over. The time to ignore his feelings, of both, revenge against an enemy, and of the ones he felt for a certain lady, was over. He had to face everything now, and he would do it with every ounce of courage he had in him.

"I see, resorting to violence instead of conversing things out as a gentleman of your stature should," William Percy mused with a smirk, against the glare from Edward's eyes, "We both know, I am far better fluent in the language of violence than you are."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't break your neck right here and now," Edward growled, his gaze burning with deeper intensity into his rival's each passing second.

"Alright, my men are inside with the ladies and two of them are watching me from the windows as we speak, for any kind of signal or warning. I think that is reason enough, I should say," Percy smirked again, feeding off of Edward's anger.

Isaac Algernon glanced towards the windows of the darkened warehouse, and sure enough, spotted at least two pairs of observant eyes peering from the higher windows. He leapt towards Edward and grabbed his arms tightly, pulling him off of William Percy with force. Edward started fighting him off, before Isaac tightened his grip and whispered caution into his friends ear, "Don't do anything foolish, stay calm, we'll work this out."

"What do you want?" Isaac demanded looking head on towards William Percy, once his friend was in control of his composure.

"Getting straight to the point, I like that," The prosecutor smiled, then as he looked towards Edward, he continued, "Are you sure you don't want to be in my office before I put my demands on the table? The office does forces me to be a tad civil in my dealings."

Edward's anger flared as he let out a snarl and was grabbed by Isaac by his shoulder before he could pounce on Percy.

"Sure, as you wish," William Percy shrugged nonchalantly, "I want the land my father gambled off to you, and I want Frank Templemore's investment; as ransom if you will. I know that he has already decided to turn to your business, so I was debating on whether approaching him directly, or perhaps The Countess herself, instead of taking the money from you. After all, I do have a family member of theirs in my possession, so the reward may be greater."

"No," Isaac let out furiously, "Whatever you want, you'll get it from us."

Edward looked at his friend, it was hard to believe that both of them would be willing at such a point to hand over all that they held dear, years worth of hard work and business, the livelihood their money provided, all for someone they valued more than their lives. If someone had told Edward of this moment a few months ago, he'd have laughed, and yet in a few months all had changed. It was frightening, and unbelievable, yet there was no one now who believed it more than he.

"Yes," Edward added, exchanging a determined glance with Isaac in attempts to compose himself, "But first, you let them go."

"And how am I to ensure you keep your word after I let them go?" William Percy smirked again, not entirely convinced of the proposal.

"I always keep my word, Percy,"Edward fumed, his fists tightening at his side.

William Percy held his rival's gaze for a while. Years of being rivals had entailed that Lord Edward Buxton did keep his word, he was a man known for it,and despite their differences, if there was one thing Percy was to believe about his nemesis, it was this.

"Very well then," he smiled and shrugged.

"The boss wants them, let's go," One of the two men William Percy had assigned to his captives spoke, his round stomach knocking his colleague's thin one as they both turned from the window and rushed towards Diana and Alicia, tied and bound, in the corner of the dark room. It seemed as though their jail had had no windows when Diana had first inspected it, but the captors had been quick to come back and unbar a seemingly existing window with hammers and pulling out nails.

Both the men had, favorably, made an enormous discussion of the matter being sorted in front of the warehouse, a matter Diana and Alicia hadn't seen unfold, yet they had heard the details as their captors had debated on them most argumentatively. The girls were relieved to have been sought out by Lord Buxton and Lord Algernon, yet they found themselves less excited for it than they would've earlier imagined.

"They're going to give in to him," Diana whispered to Alicia, grief in her hushed voice.

"They have no choice," her cousin whispered back, making sure they weren't heard by their captors at the window.

"I won't be able to forgive myself," Diana lamented, pushing back a sob building up in her throat.

"I think I may have a plan," Alicia spoke after a pause and she felt Diana's curious eyes on her. As the captors started coming towards them from the window, Alicia quickly turned to her and uttered in a whisper, "When we pass by the way to his office, I make a run for it inside, look for evidence to frame him, and you distract these men. He's got to have something."

Diana blinked. The plan sounded dangerous, how was she to distract two captors? There was no time to voice her concerns, as the round one of William Percy's men, bent down and started untying the rope that bound her feet, while the thin one untied Alicia's hands. She glanced at her uncertain cousin and shot her an encouraging nod, telling her that she would figure it out. Although, Diana found little solace in that silent encouragement than she had in a long while.

"Are you going to let us go?" Diana asked obliviously with innocence lacing her tone, feeling suddenly better than her hopeless self a few minutes ago, as the round man pulled her to her feet and grabbed her sore arm again. She cursed him inside for not switching to her better arm.

"Yes, I reckon so," The round man responded, clearly unsure of his boss's decision.

As the men dragged them along, Diana made note of her surroundings. While she was fully unaware of the location of the room they had been held captive in,she was fully aware of the hallway paths they had taken to William Percy's office earlier. According to plan, Alicia would put her scheme into action as they neared any of those paths, or the office entirely.

As they stepped down some wooden stairs, Diana instantly spotted the familiar hallway to their right and she quickly glanced over her shoulder at Alicia, who shot her a determined nod. This was it.

Having not entirely thought out her mode of the distraction she was to offer,Diana settled on what she knew best, dramatics. After all, living in the Southampton high society, dramatics had been a daily occurrence in everyday correspondences, and Diana was fluent in it.

"Oh my goodness," she exclaimed suddenly, halting in her stop at the bottom of the stairs and forcing the round captor at her elbow to stop as well, "I feel strange."

Alicia and the thin man at her elbow stopped as well, a few paces ahead them. "What is it?" the round man asked Diana, looking at her as though she were a creature of an unknown species. It was smart, Diana had realized, to use the word strange to describe what one was feeling. It made people curiously intrigued, whether for the best or for the worse, even they couldn't tell.

"My chest, it feels- it aches," she cried, her face scrunching up in pain. The round man seemed more alarmed than ever as his eyes widened, "Is it an attack?" He stammered in concern.

Diana tried hard to level her face to mimic the initial stance of pain she had displayed as she tried to ignore how the first thing her captor thought was the occurrence of a heart attack. Surely with women, chest pains could be a thousand other things, but this round man at her side didn't look as though he'd ever encountered a woman before. Then, Diana let out a shriek and let go of her composure, closing her eyes and falling to the ground slowly as the round man let out a huff and struggled to bend down above her. Alicia, seizing the moment, turned around and used her knee to strike her thin captor well below his stomach, as he toppled over in pain before hitting his head on a wooden plank protruding out of the unkempt wall and falling to the ground unconscious.

"Hey," The round man shouted after Alicia's figure as she ran towards his boss's office, upon which he scratched his head in confusion. He'd expected her to rundown the stairs and escape, yet the mad woman had gone through all the trouble just to explore his boss's office, it did not make a lick of sense to him. He looked at the women at his feet, as she groaned in pain and her eyes moved underneath her eyelids. Then he looked at his colleague, the thin bastard was out cold with a single female strike, it made him want to laugh out loud and then punch him himself.

Alicia quickly snatched a drawer open, the first drawer of the oak desk in the office. It sprung open as commanded, with a few pages spilling over onto the floor. She quickly glanced through the transparent office door outside, sure enough, the round man was trying to shake his thin colleague awake, while Diana still tossed and turned and groaned in pain, the sounds which didn't reach the office. She couldn't help but smile slyly at how William Percy had underestimated female strength, especially that of hers and Diana's, to have only two weak men appointed. Diverting her attention back to the drawers, she rummaged through the papers, trying to find something of significance, possibly something related to the fire that might prove William Percy guilty of the act.After she slammed the final drawer shut, her will stirred as she glanced around the office, trying to find somewhere else a man of Percy's stature would hide his documents. Just when she was about to give up, she unknowingly stepped over a noisy wooden plank in the floor, a plank that felt and sounded too movable.

Bending down, she tossed away the portion of the rug until the plank was visible, and sure enough, it was a movable one. Pulling it out, she found a hidden compartment inside, a small space the length of the plank and the width of a book. Inside, there was a metal box, which she instantly pulled out and tried to open. The lid was stuck, and she heard disturbance outside. Peeking through the transparent doors, she saw the thin man rub his head as his round colleague yelled at him something Alicia couldn't make out. With her breath caught in her throat, she put all her might into opening the lid and inside she found a bunch of papers. A quick inspection entailed that they were illegal documents of some sort, considering a portion of land. Having no time to read more, Alicia double folded the documents in a small square and lifted her dress up quickly to fit them in her garter. Then as she fixed her skirts back, she threw the box in its place and put the plank and rug atop, just in time as the two men burst into the office and the thin one quickly snatched her arm as he dragged her out.

"What a useless stunt you pulled," The thin captor laughed, his hold on Alicia tighter than it was before.

"Yes, if you wanted to see boss's office that bad, should've asked us nicely and we'd have given you a tour," The round captor laughed in turn.

Their mockery did not matter, Diana was relieved. Having exchanged assured glances with Alicia, she knew that her cousin had found something, and it wasn't quite what she had been looking for or what Diana had been expecting she'd find, but the look in Alicia's eyes told her that it was something.

They reached the exit, and a fresh gust of the night air flew past them, blowing their skirts and hair with the breeze. Stepping outside, Percy's men pulled and dragged them along towards where William Percy, Lord Buxton and Lord Algernon stood.

"As you can see, they are perfectly unharmed," Percy's icy voice claimed and Diana had the sudden urge to slap him again. It had felt so good the first time, and she ached to do it again. But her arm ached as though a thousand knives had jabbed into it repeatedly. Her head was pounding and she felt weak and exhausted, so now was certainly not the best idea for a slap, despite how much the reptile deserved it.

Diana's gaze caught Lord Buxton's, something she had avoided as soon as they had stepped outside. She hated to be seen in the condition she was in right now, with her hair falling out from all her pins, with dirt on her riding habit from how she had laid in the corridor for Alicia's scheme, with dried tears on her face from the moments of hopelessness she had fallen prey to in the darkness. She was at her worst, despite still staying strong, and surely being seen at your worst was an entirely different experience.

His gaze was full of concern, it was passionate, and it was full of anger? At any person in the room, or at himself, Diana really couldn't tell. She broke away, dropping her eyes to her free hand and then to Alicia.

"Now you let them go," Lord Algernon spoke sternly and everyone turned to look at him.

"Out here in the streets? Be more specific please," Percy responded, his icy tone not once faltering.

"The carriage," Lord Buxton roared, his anger evident as he pointed towards the carriage parked in front of the warehouse that had brought the ladies here in the first place, "They will go back to Brockenhurst and Isaac will go with them."

"What?" Lord Algernon let out, confusion in his voice as he faced his friend, "I am going to be here."
"No, you are going to make sure they get safely back. I will be here," his friend imparted sternly.

"Well, I guess it's settled then. Get on with it," William Percy spoke again as he nonchalantly motioned for his men to take Diana and Alicia towards the carriage. Diana stilled suddenly as she realized Edward was going to give away everything, she looked at him and he looked as unaltered and as determined as he had ever looked. She had to let him know about what Alicia had found, she had to let him know that there was still hope.

Opting once more for a similar display she had performed earlier, Diana let go of her composure and gave up her stance, as her body limped and fell to the ground slowly, the round man at her elbow once again struggled as she touched the ground. Much to her expectation, Lord Edward Buxton let out an audible breath and rushed towards her and she felt him roughly push the round man aside as he put his palm under her head to hold her, with his other hand behind her back.

"Diana, are you-,"

"Don't do anything foolish," she quickly hushed, opening her eyes and making sure he was in close proximity to her so that no one else should overhear. It was a compromising position if ever there was, Diana felt. Their foreheads were only an inch away from each other, and she could feel his unsteady breath fan her face. Shivers trickled down her body and with all her might she pushed back every other feeling to convey the important message she had to, "Alicia found something in his office, it's enough to frame him legally."

Edward blinked, startled at the unexpectedness of it all. He nodded, although not knowing full well what he was consenting to. She nodded back and he helped her up, his heart immediately stilling for a second as she winced on his hold on her right arm. Percy was wrong; she wasn't perfectly unharmed as he had put it, and that only fueled his revenge deeper.

Once the ladies were settled into the carriage, Isaac exchanged one brief nod with Edward, before he too sat in. The carriage pulled away, and Diana held Edward's gaze as long as she could before he was too far away. She should be rejoicing, she was safe and sound, she on her way back to family, back to people she loved, cared for and trusted with all her heart. But still she felt as though she had left something precious to her back in that dark warehouse. She couldn't relax, couldn't release that breath she was holding, not until she saw Edward Buxton again.

"It is a forgery. A series of fake documents entailing his rights to the land he owns," Lord Isaac Algernon's voice interrupted her thoughts and Diana turned to her companions in the carriage. Isaac held the crimped documents Alicia had stolen in his hands, as he read them, "And it is approved, no wonder, by an official Percy bribed."

"Is it enough to frame him?" Alicia asked desperately, her eyes peering into Isaac's in the darkness of the carriage and of the night.

Isaac Algernon broke into an excited laugh as he took off his top hat and tossed it to the side, running his hands through the darkness of his hair in relief, "Yes, he can't escape this."

"Convince me he'll truly pay for it," Diana spoke, her voice full of hope as she looked at him.

"He's looking at approximately ten years behind bars for bribe and forgery, with the confiscation of all his illegal lands and eventually bankruptcy for his business," Isaac answered, his lips in a smile.

"You're a genius," he added slowly, his gaze locking with Alicia's as she held it with just as much intensity.

Diana bit her bottom lip slightly, trying to control the heated smile forming on her face as she looked away from them and out the carriage window. She was exhausted, but the word didn't quite sum up all that she was at present. The day had been like no other she had ever witnessed before in her life. It had felt like the end of everything, but now as she sat in the moving carriage with her cousin and Lord Algernon quietly gazing at each other and a villain that had caused the man she carried such affection for and ultimately her uncle such distress soon to be behind bars, she felt as though the day had become the start of everything.