Geneva panicked, and her eyes jumped to Freda and Roxie. "No," she said. "I mean I am—" She struggled, the pain in her head not helping.

"Of course, she's Geneva," said Roxie, looking at Matthew. "Geneva Withers..." The girl's voice trailed when her gaze locked with Geneva's pleading one. "Spoon," Roxie added with a smile. "Geneva Witherspoon."

Matthew frowned at first, but he had no choice but to believe Roxie, did he? Most especially when Freda piped in and said, "Miss Witherspoon, we've been waiting for you. What happened? Why was Matthew carrying you on his back?"

"Did she trip and fall again?" Roxie asked Matthew. "She's a little frail, you see."

"Yes, she did. Hit her head," said Matthew, looking a little more convinced as seconds passed. "I have to take her back to the manor."

"Of course," said Freda, eyes glinting conspiratorially. "Because she's our dear governess, isn't she, Roxie?"

"She is," Roxie said, biting her lips as Geneva threw them a sharp look. "Well, go on then, Matthew. Do you want us to fetch the doctor?"

"Can you do that?" Matthew asked, guiding Geneva over his back again.

"Of course."

"You'll have to tell us what happened later, Miss Witherspoon," said Freda with a knowing smile.

"Before you go to the doctor," Geneva said through her teeth, "Can you alert the manor that Mr. Matthew and I are arriving?"

The smile on the girls' faces could have made her blood boil months ago. Now, it just made her want to throttle them. "Of course, Miss Witherspoon," Freda said with a grin before they ran off, skipping expertly over traps.

***

Damon was already in the courtyard, pacing around while Harry sat in a chair under the shade of the tree with their grandfather.

"And she's supposed to be the governess?" the old man asked again.

"Yes," Harry patiently answered again.

"But she's really not the governess?"

"Of course she isn't," Damon said, craning his neck. "Let's just act like she lives here."

"But she doesn't, does she?"

Harry laughed, patting the man's hand. "Damon will kill you if you continue with the teasing, old man."

The earl chuckled and continued reading his book.

When Geneva and Matthew finally arrived, Damon rushed to their side. "What happened?"

"She fell and hit her head against the tree trunk," said Matthew. "Did you call for the doctor?"

"Yes. He'll be here soon. Thank you, Matthew. I'll take Miss Geneva."

"It's nothing," the young man said, putting Geneva back on the ground. "She barely weighs anything."

"Excuse me?" Geneva asked as Damon took her hand.

Matthew laughed and turned to greet Harry and the earl. Geneva was about to do the same, but Damon pulled her away, saying, "You have to be ready when the doctor arrives."

"I don't need—"

"You'll see Doctor Peters," he interjected with finality. "Matthew, thank you once again."

"Thank you, Matthew," Geneva said in a lower voice.

"I'll see you around, Miss Geneva," the young man said before he waved goodbye to the earl and Harry.

As Damon led her into the manor, Geneva looked over her shoulder at her departing brother and murmured something under her breath.

"What was that?" Damon asked, leading her up the stairs.

"He hates me," Geneva said, her eyes filling with tears.

Damon stopped and looked at her. "No, he doesn't."

"He told me. He told me about his sister and how he hates her."

"He doesn't have that sentiment."

"Well, he doesn't want to see me."

"It doesn't mean he hates you." When she shook her head, he squeezed her hand. "We'll get you to a room and we'll wait for the doctor. And later, if you wish to talk or argue about this, we shall."

"Argue?"

He chuckled. "Yes."

***

Before she could contend, Freda and Roxie called for Gwen as well. Her maid hovered over her while Doctor Peters examined her head and eyes. Roxie and Freda were sitting at the foot of the bed, watching intently. Damon loomed behind the doctor while Price and Gale stood in the doorway, listening.

Doctor Peters closed his eyes for a moment to master himself. He straightened to give Gwen a patient smile before saying, "I can't see anything with your shadow casting over Miss Geneva, Miss Gwen."

Gwent jumped back and mumbled, "Sorry."

Doctor Peters cleared his throat and took a step back, causing Damon and Gwen to retreat. "Better," the doctor said with a tight smile before he came near Geneva again.

"Do you remember what day it is?" he asked her as after he examined her pupils.

Geneva saw Roxie mouth Tuesday, and she frowned. "I know it's Tuesday, Roxie."

"No cheating, please," Doctor Peters reprimanded. "Can you tell me your full name?"

She ignored Roxie's mouthing and answered the question correctly. When the doctor asked another question, she saw Damon stride toward Roxie and covered her mouth from behind, his brow furrowed with concern as more questions came in. "Well?" he asked when Doctor Peters finally straightened.

Roxie peeled Damon's hand off her mouth and asked, "Will she live?"

"She'll be fine," came the answer. "But she should be closely monitored until the morrow."

"I'm fine—"

"You'll stay in bed until we're certain you are," the doctor interjected. "If you feel any odd headache, dizziness, if you throw up, you call for me. Anything at all. Do you understand?"

Geneva nodded. "I'll go home—"

"No, you stay here, Miss," said Gwen. "Don't move."

"But—"

"You're welcome to stay," Damon said before he followed Doctor Peters to the door.

"Let's leave Miss Geneva alone to rest, girls," Gale said, making way for the doctor.

"If you feel any odd headache, dizziness, or if you throw up, you call for us," Freda told Geneva. "Do you need anything?"

"She needs to be alone," Price droned, walking over to pull Freda and Roxie away. "You rest well, Miss Geneva."

"Thank you," she said, feeling overwhelmingly awkward. She turned to Gwen and pleaded to go home, but her maid would have none of it. "They have better horses here, you see. If anything happens to you, Miss, they can call for the doctor faster than we can if we go home." Leaning closer, her maid mischievously whispered, "And we both know they serve better meals. Our supper will be grand."

As Gwen claimed, their supper was grand and slightly busy. While she did not join the Stratfords down for supper, she did not go by her evening alone with Gwen. A constant flow of visitors sashayed into the room. First was Harry, who assured her she was welcome. Next were Simone and the duke himself, who invited her to the wedding. Lydia came into the room with Gale and Price, the three of them arguing about the friend Matthew told them about.

"He was the cousin of his friend," Price corrected. "He died the next morning. Did he tell you?" he asked Geneva.

"No, I think it was the friend of his cousin," Gale said with a frown.

"Matthew doesn't have cousins."

"Of course he does. Father side of the family, I heard."

Their argument only broke off when Gwen asked them to stop, saying Geneva needed some quiet. "I'm asking respectfully, of course," Gwen added with a smile.

The three left the room when Roxie and Freda arrived to deliver tea, and the pair had to end their incessant questions about why she was their governess when the earl himself strode in with his cane. He told Geneva to rest well and asked the devils to read for him in his room.

It was almost her bedtime when Damon showed up with a book and told Gwen that she could rest for a few hours in the next room. "I'll watch over Miss Geneva," he said, taking a pillow from the bed to carry it to a nearby chair. "Go on, Gwen. You can leave the door open if it will make you feel at ease."

Geneva nodded when Gwen threw her an inquiring look. "Have your sleep."

When the servant left, Damon was already reading his book, his leg crossed over the other. "Do you want to talk about Matthew?" he asked.

"No."

"Then we can do so some other time. For now, go to sleep."

"I don't think I can."

He closed his book and frowned. "Why?"

"What if I don't wake up?"

He smiled. "You will. I'll try to wake you every now and then if you want."

She nodded. "I'd appreciate that. But I don't feel sleepy."

"Then we can talk."

"Tell me about the book you're reading."

And he did, but Geneva suspected he made it sound terribly boring. Before she knew it, she dozed off. However, he kept his word and woke her up now and then. Three times, he shook her gently, calling her name in the dimly lit room. She would open her eyes and he would ask her name. She would answer and go back to sleep. However, in the succeeding times, she grew more irritated and slapped his hand away.

By morning, when her eyes opened against the strong rays of sunlight, she saw Damon was quietly reading in the same chair, his dark brown curls almost light against the sun.

"I guess I'm alive," she sleepily said, causing him to look up. "Or I might be dreaming."

"You're alive. And you're awake," he said, closing his book with a soft smile. "I'm certain I look better in your dreams." When he stood, the door opened and Gwen rushed in carrying a dress.

"Fresh from home," Gwen said, face flushed from her early journey.

"I'll leave you for now," said Damon, walking near Geneva to take her hand and squeeze it. "I'm glad you're alive."

They both scoffed and she slapped his hand away. "Go."

When he was gone, Gwen displayed a dramatic shiver. "He's so smitten. I can't handle it."

Geneva laughed and climbed out of bed. "I don't think I've seen Webster. Have you?"

Gwen shrugged. "He went back to Birth three days ago."

"How do you know this?"

"He told me."

"When?"

"Met him in the market last week. You should change. Now that we're certain you're fine, they're expecting you to join them for breakfast," Gwen said, turning her around to unbutton her dress.

She smiled over her shoulder at her maid. "You missed this, didn't you? Our little adventures to Abberton House?"

Gwen grinned mischievously. "Of course, Miss. We should have more."

***

Simone and Daniel's wedding was grand. Nearly all of Abberton was in attendance, as well as others from Dafield. The ball was just as magnificent, but Geneva had to leave before any of her aunts' friends saw her.

However, on the days that followed, she spent more time in Windsong Manor. There, she met Matthew a few more times and got to know her brother. Most often, Damon would be with them, and she had to witness how he would try to convince Matthew to go to Coulway to study and become an inventor. But always, her brother would say he could not leave his family behind, which was hard for Geneva to hear because Matthew did not know he was spending time with the sister he thought had left them.

Damon did not discuss her family to her again whenever they were alone. And mayhap because he knew she was not ready. She had just met her brother. Was just getting to know him. In time, she would muster the courage to tell Matthew the truth, and in time, she would go beyond that hill and face the rest of her family.

Her mornings were spent reading letters from her aunts and writing back, and the rest of the day she would be out to join the Stratfords in their activities, or spend time with Gwen and Helene in the kitchen to bake bread or jar marmalades. And at night, she would take a walk with Damon to the Stratford Road, or spend hours talking inside the well with wine and cheese and the moonlight.

But there were also days when she was forced to take part in some odd activities. One afternoon, while she crossed the woods toward Windsong with a basket of bread she baked earlier to share with Matthew and Damon, Roxie and Freda called out to her, saying they had to show her something and no, it was not a frog.

After following them to the front of a cabin, she frowned. "What's wrong with them?"

"We found them loitering around this cabin," Roxie explained, petting one white kitten. There were three small ones inside the wheelbarrow.

"Where are you taking them?"

"To Doctor Skelton, of course. They're too tiny to be left alone. Lydia is out painting the viscount. Sisi's on her honeymoon. They would help us take the kittens if they're here, see?"

Geneva did not know how they convinced her, but she found herself walking with them as they wheeled the kittens out of the woods and down the road to Doctor Skelton's place, which was three miles away. The animal doctor checked the kittens and told them they were fine, but they should return them to the woods so their mother could find them.

"But what if she's gone?" Freda asked before taking a bite of the bread Geneva handed out to them.

Roxie popped the past piece of her bread into her mouth and took the wheelbarrow from Geneva. "We should try to find her."

And so it was that they gathered anyone else they could find to search for the mother. Gale and Price unwillingly searched the eastern part of the woods, while Geneva found Damon at Windsong and urged him to search south with her.

"They say Harry is searching west."

"He said he'll, but he's probably in the library playing cards with the old man." He took her hand and added, "We should go to back to Windsong. I've been waiting for you there for hours."

"But what about the cat?"

"It's the nature of the mother to find their young."

"But what if it could not? What if it cannot?" Geneva asked, pulling her hand away. "We have to find it."

"Geneva—"

"No, you don't understand. They need her. How else could they survive the woods?"

"They find each other."

"Not all the time!" she burst out, realizing too late that she did. Blinking away, she murmured, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he said, taking her hand.

"It could be somewhere searching for her kittens," she said, looking around. "Maybe we should bring them out. We're keeping them away from her."

"The devils took them back to the cabin where they found them. Do you want to go there and wait?"

She nodded.

They found their way back to the cabin and found the kittens inside a box. And they waited until everyone else found them and waited with them as well, emptying Geneva's basket of bread.

***

They stayed up late waiting for the mother, but it never showed up. After a long argument, everyone agreed the kittens should stay where they found them. The next morning, Geneva received news that the kittens were gone.

"And there was another loud discussion of who took them," Damon said as he relayed the information to Geneva while they sat under the tree outside Windsong. "The mother or the devils. It took us a while to believe them when they said they didn't."

She laughed. "It must be the mother," she said.

"Of course, it is," he said. "Or they found her."

The smile on her face died down. Whatever she had to say was left unspoken when the wind carried Matthew's cheerful greeting from afar.

"Good morning, Matthew," Geneva greeted back.

Reaching them, Matthew threw Damon a knowing smile, saying, "You've been taking Miss Geneva away from her tasks, Sir."

"Well, she has the morning free," Damon just said as Matthew joined them on the ground. "Where's your cow?"

"Home," the young lad said. "I came here to see you. Mother is celebrating her birthday tomorrow."

"She is?" Geneva asked, almost too eagerly.

"Yes, Miss. And she wants to invite Mr. Damon for dinner tomorrow."

"Me?" Damon asked, surprised.

"Yes," Matthew said, grinning at him. "And everyone else, of course."

"I'll tell the old man."

Matthew turned to Geneva. "You'll be coming, too, Miss Geneva, yes?"

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

Damon turned to look at her with his brows arched in question.

Geneva's heart was racing inside her chest. She wanted to say no, but the look on Matthew's face made her nod her head.

"Splendid!" said Matthew, jumping to his feet. "I have things to do for tomorrow's festivities. And no talks tomorrow about me studying in Coulway!" he added to Damon with warning. "My 'Pa's considering it now and it's scaring me."

"It's not scary at all," Damon said, covering Geneva's hand and giving it a squeeze. As if he was telling her the same thing.

"Of course it is," Matthew and Geneva said in unison.

The young man laughed and ran away.

"You'll be all right," Damon said beside her as they watched Matthew disappear over the hill.

Geneva swallowed. "I'll meet her."

"Yes. Finally."

"I'll meet the rest of them."

"Fortunately so."

"I'll be crossing the hill."

He broke into a smile and kissed her gently on the cheek before he lying on his back with a smile and a sigh. "Definitely finally."