"The Theobalds hold one of the largest parties each year during the Wickhurst Season and it is attended by most of the polite society. And they last for an entire weekend, an excellent opportunity for me," she said.

"I know what the bloody Theobald party is all about, Tori. I also know it bears fruit to many scandals."

"I know that, Levi." She had attended a few herself until she had grown tired of it three years ago. It was too crowded, with too many activities she could barely wrap her head around, and there were just too many games going on. Too many and too farfetched, in fact, that once she did not know she was part of the game until she was told she lost.

But this time she had to come.

"It will be easy to get an invitation," she said. "Margaret can easily gain one for me. Lady Theobald is good friends with your mother." Then she drew in a deep breath. "But it will be a challenge to escape Clarice," she murmured. "She may sabotage my plans."

"And why would she do that?" he asked with a frown.

She blinked away. "Because she knows I do not wish to marry Lucas."

The feeling that she was not being completely honest with him was there again. Yet he had no right to demand everything from her. Instead, he said, "The Theobald Ball is amongst the largest in the Town, Tori. You've attended some yourself. You know very well that it is easy to get lost."

A conspiratorial smile crept up her face. "Yes, of course, I also know that."

Levi sighed and said, "Now, remove yourself from my chamber."

"Pulling me here in the first place," she huffed, turning around to walk to the door, "when there are other rooms in the manor—" Tori paused when the knob refused to turn. "Did you, by any chance, lock the door?" she asked.

"You closed it yourself," he said, his voice muffled by the pillow. "Must be jammed. Try one more time."

"Well, it must be completely jammed because it is not turning." She tried knocking on the door, hoping to catch someone's attention from outside.

"Don't do that, you fool! You'll catch the attention of the servants. Or worse, my mother," Levi said, jumping off the bed to rush to her side. He reached for the knob and frowned when it did not turn.

"I told you, it is locked." She placed her hands on her hips and fixed him a hard look. "Now, how do you suppose we get out?"

"Bloody tarnation," he cursed through his teeth, giving the knob another turn. "It is jammed."

Tori frowned. "I don't see the Everard House having poor maintenance."

"You are suggesting someone locked us in? Then, who do you think would be—" he paused, his gaze connecting with hers. "The twins," they both concluded at once.

"I'll bloody murder them," he gritted out, stalking to the window.

"Where are you going?" she asked when he climbed on it. When he did not offer a reply, Tori scoffed. "Levi, you may think you're clever to jump through the window, but I do not."

"If you plan to spend the entire day locked with me in my chamber, you are not welcome. I will not stay here with you for another five minutes. We shall be in the gossip section of the Herald by morning should any of the servants discover us. I will not be like the Barton bloke."

"Barton?"

"The one caught in the same room with his sister's friend. That Barton bloke. Two years ago."

"How did you know—"

"I told you. The twins send me weekly missives."

"Levi, they found him in bed with the woman."

"In his bedchamber, yes."

"Naked," she added.

That painted a very vivid picture in his head. To distract himself, he looked down and groaned. "It is going to be quite a fall."

"You must be a fool to think you can survive it!" Tori said, suddenly beside him.

Startled, he shouted, "You nearly caused me to fall, you idiot!"

Tori blinked up at him. "I'm sorry, but it seems the idiot here is the one standing on the windowsill!" she hissed.

"Step aside," he ordered.

"Levi, your sister and I had spent hours in this very bedchamber when you locked us in many years ago."

"It was Nick's idea."

"We considered jumping out, but we were not as crazy to actually have done it," she continued, not hearing him. "I would not be here trying to save your life now if we did." She peered down through the window. "That is a big fall."

"Not if I can land perfectly."

She frowned. "Who do you think you are? Mrs Beagle?"

"I will not die."

"Of course, you will not. You will simply walk out of the garden with your limbs dangling by the skin."

He studied the ground below, and Tori could only shake her head with incredulity. She stepped back and stared at him expectantly.

He looked over his shoulder at her. "What are you looking at me like that for?"

She shrugged. "I am waiting for you to jump, Mr Barton."

"It's a big leap. I might die."

"I already told you that, yet you are still standing there. So, why should I care?"

He growled at her.

Tori rolled her eyes and went to his desk. She took a blank piece of paper and started writing.

"Tori, I am standing on the windowsill, about to jump to my death, and you find it the perfect time to write?"

"I'm writing a eulogy should you choose to be a complete idiot and jump," she muttered under her breath. "Although writing a good adulation will be very hard indeed, most particularly for dead fools," she nonchalantly added. Done writing, she cocked her brows at him. "But you are not a complete idiot, yes? You will not jump."

Levi sighed. "I was hoping there would be a way to climb down, not jump, pinhead," he said, jumping from the windowsill and back on the floor.

"Oaf," she snapped back.

"Cretin," he retorted.

"Nitwit," she scowled as she walked to the door with the paper.

"What are you doing?"

"Since it is prohibited to knock and cause a ruckus because you refuse to be the next Barton, I am hoping someone would come by and pick up this note." She slipped it through the gap in the floor and straightened.

"A servant could pick that up, you idiot!"

"That is why I wrote your name! No one has to know I'm here with you."

His eyes narrowed into slits as she walked to his bed and sat down. She folded her hands on her lap and fixed a patient smile on her face.

"Blast it," Levi uttered and paced before her.

They both waited in silence.

***

Jefferson, the butler, was walking down the hallway when he chanced upon the note.

I am locked inside.

–Levi

It took the butler longer than necessary to find the duplicate copies of the keys, for he could not find the set kept by the housekeeper. Without informing the rest of the family, the old butler unlocked Levi's door. He wore a dubious look on his face when Levi said, "It is safe. It's Jefferson," and he saw Lady Victoria rush out of the room after the furious Levi who screamed for the twins.

Knowing full well the two particular individuals responsible for the incident, Jefferson disappeared into the kitchen. Moments later, he realized the kitchen was not far enough, for he heard the shouting from the parlor.

"You are both eighteen! Act like proper ladies!" a furious voice of a man roared, causing the cook to jump and the maids to shake their heads.

"What have they done this time?" asked Charlotte, the housekeeper.

"They locked Lord Levi inside his chamber," Silas, Lord Benedict's valet who seemed to always know things before anyone else did, offered as he munched on a pie. "With Lady Victoria inside. Saw Lady Emma steal the keys earlier."

Before Jefferson could warn the servants not to share that information with anyone else, they heard Lady Alice shrill at the top of her lungs, "You took Tori inside your chamber?"

Lady Victoria's voice, which tried to appease everyone, was drowned by a series of moans from the other brothers, the twin's insistence that they were innocent, and finally Benedict's authoritative voice, saying, "Stop it, all of you. My God, I want to go back to Devonshire."

"Ysabella, Emma, come with me," Benedict's wife, Agatha said.

"Well, at the very least she can put those two to their proper place, having been once their governess," Jefferson heard Charlotte murmur under her breath. He had to agree, for if there was anyone who could put words into the minds of the twins, it might very well be Agatha.

"Oh, Margaret, what do I do with those two? And bring out the keys, the two of you!" Lady Alice Everard's voice called out. "And you, Levi, give me a proper and acceptable explanation why you were with Tori inside your bedchamber! Oh, good Lord, your father should not have left me alone with the lot of you. Levi, where are you going? Max, get your brother!"

"I am just pouring myself a drink, mother, as this seems to turn out to be a fantastic day."

"No sarcasm, Levi. You are talking to the woman who invented it!" Lady Alice said. "Now, explain to me why you dragged Tori into your bedchamber."

Hushed whispers followed as Levi answered his mother, and silence reigned from then on.

Jefferson sighed and shook his head. The servants continued their work with a sigh. Charlotte left to search for her keys, warning the others in the kitchen not to gossip about the incident.

The storm had passed.

Well, mayhap it was just a drizzle for another storm.

No one could truly tell, Jefferson thought. With the masters of the household, a storm was always underway.

***

Before the week ended and Levi was due to leave, Margaret dragged him to the modiste with the twins. Ralph had apparently escaped the responsibility by saying he had an important acquaintance to meet.

"He must be with a mistress," said Ysabella. "I told you, Em, he is keeping one."

"Hush," Margaret reprimanded. "Do not discuss such topics outside."

Levi sighed, looking around Madame Vernice's shop, feeling out of place. Reassuring himself that he had done enough of his duty as a brother to the twins and a friend to Tori, he thought he could be patient for another two days.

"Then perhaps we should talk about the Theobald, Maggie," said Ysabella, turning in the settee to take their sister's hands in hers. "Please help us convince mother that attending the Theobald will not be too damaging."

"It is not the party mother is fretful about, Ysa," Margaret said. "It is the pair of you."

"But—"

"The Theobald party, ladies, is only for those who can survive it," Madame Vernice's voice interrupted. The woman narrowed her eyes at the twins and wagged her finger. "But for young ladies such as yourselves, you must stay away. You need more practice before you can enjoy the party."

Emma and Ysabella turned to Levi. "Levi, you tell them. We already spent hours talking about being proper. We learned our lesson, did we not?" asked Ysabella.

"I am not the one to decide," he said. "Go ask Ben."

The two of them groaned. "Ben does what mother tells him," Emma said. "He only pretends he has full authority."

"Then the matter is settled. The Great Alice Everard had spoken. You are not attending this year."

"Samuel said there are interesting games this year," said Emma.

"A treasure hunt, I heard," said Ysabella. "I can already see myself winning it. But apparently, we are to be trapped in Wickhurst."

"Now, now, do not be sad, my darlings," said Madame Vernice, pulling Ysabella out of the settee. "Come and see the gowns I prepared for you. You will love them. And who needs to go to the Theobald party when the party is right here?"

Ysabella pulled Emma along with her. Madame Vernice looked over her shoulder at Margaret, pausing as she did so. "By the by, Lady Margaret, please do tell your dear friend Lady Victoria that her maid can come by on the morrow. My note must not have reached her."

Hearing Tori's name, Levi straightened in his seat. "She is preparing for the Theobald then, is she?" he asked Margaret. "Getting more gowns, I see."

"Oh, well," said Madame Vernice, face crumpling in discomfort. "Not quite."

"Not quite? Why? Are there any problems with her gowns?"

"Oh, no, milady. They were quite in pristine condition. I was hesitant to take them, but she insisted."

Levi saw the confusion in Margaret's face. "Insisted?"

Madame Vernice blinked and frowned. "Why, her old gowns, of course."

"Her old gowns?"

"She needs new gowns for this season. She was short of a few townsends and offered her older gowns instead."

"Madame Vernice, I believe this neckline will not pass our brothers' judgement," Ysabella said behind Madame Vernice.

The modiste whirled around. "Which brother, dear?"

"Ralph."

"And Nick," added Ysabella.

"Well, let us simply tell your brothers there is a wide shortage of fabric this season!"

Levi was frowning not because her sister's gowns were lacking of fabric. He was frowning because of what he and Margaret just discovered. "Maggie, is there something happening with Tori that I am not aware of?" he asked.

"Of course, there is. But I cannot tell you," his sister replied with a brush of her hand. She looked bothered by the information shared by the modiste.

"Why is she selling gowns for new ones?"

"As you have heard, she was short of payment."

Levi crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat. He never took Tori as someone who would bother with new gowns if she could not afford it. In fact, he was used to seeing her wearing the same dresses now and then.

She was desperate to succeed this season. That fact was already established. He just never thought it was to this extent.

Bloody hell, what else was she willing to do to find a husband?