Andrew was watching as brother and sister were coming toward the table he was sitting around. They seemed to be talking, but he could see from afar that Victoria was not her happy self. Was it because of him, he wondered.

Lord Blackburn had to roll the wheels of his chair quickly to keep up with his sister.

"Vicky," he heard him beg, "you know you ought to not listen to what they say. That is exactly what the ton is: one big scheme to make everyone else look bad."

She turned around to face her brother, away from Andrew. "I do not like looking bad. I like being not seen."

Andrew frowned. He knew Victoria did not like getting a lot of attention, but he thought she had changed that way of thinking. Yet now, she seemed to be returning to being a wallflower. But if he saw her angry posture, he thought of the words she once spoke. Mayhap she felt she was a cactus now.

The lord gave her a pitiful look. "You know that is not possible. Not anymore, that is."

"I came here hoping for your support, Malcolm," she said, disappointment and anger laced in her voice.

"I am supporting you, Vicky. But that does not mean I should keep the truth from you."

"It means you should make things sound more beautiful than they are."

"Do you want me to hug you while you cry in my arms and I tell you it will all be alright, while we both know that is a lie and I cannot predict the future."

She scoffed. Andrew could imagine Victoria was not the lady to show her weakness to anyone, not even her brother. What most would see as comfort, was probably torture for her.

"What do you want me to do, Vicky?" lord Blackburn said, raising his hands. "Do you want me to go to London and tell the ton they should leave you out of their whispers? Do you think they will stop then? Do you think they will not whisper more about you?"

She sighed angrily. Clearly she was not getting what she wanted from her brother.

What the problem was, remained a mystery to Andrew. He knew it made Victoria angry and that she was returning to her old, closed off self. He did not want that, so he did the improper thing and interrupted their squabble.

Standing up, he pretended he had only noticed them now and said: "Victoria, what a surprise to see you here."

Both siblings turned their heads to Andrew, who merely smiled and ignored the tension between the two of them.

"Victoria?" lord Blackburn asked, referring to the familiar way of addressing the lady. She threw her brother a mean look before walking to Andrew and offering him her hand. He kissed the top of it while he could not release her eyes. They seemed to ask him why he was here, but since she did not voice the question, he did not feel the need to tell her the truth.

"I believe the surprise on my side is bigger than yours. This is my brother's estate after all," she said, trying to sound friendly and happy, but it was obvious she did not feel that way.

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you alright? You seem..."

"Irked?" she completed his sentence. Instead of answering it, she turned away without another word.

"Vicky, where are you going?" lord Blackburn shouted after her as she passed him. She had not even deemed him worthy of a look.

"To find more support with my servants."

Andrew's frown deepened. She truly had something that bothered her very much, but not her brother. Not only was Andrew curious, he also felt the need to make Victoria happy again. So he walked toward the lord in his invalid's chair.

"Shall I talk with her?" he asked.

Lord Blackburn looked up at Andrew. "I will not stop you from trying. But be careful. She can say hurtful words when irked."

Andrew swallowed and nodded. He had not put it passed him that she could say hurtful words. In fact, he had expected her to use those words. But he hoped he did not have to feel the pain they caused, for he was not certain he would be able to laugh it away.

"What exactly has irked her so?" he quickly asked lord Blackburn.

He gave him a pity smile. "She is rumoured to be a witch."

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Victoria had slowed down her horse so that Andrew could catch up. She had ridden fast toward the forest, but she must have realized Andrew would not give up on trying to get to her. Their horses walked side by side through the forest, the only sound being their hooves.

Victoria had not said a word yet, and neither had Andrew. He had meant to speak with her and calm her down, but now he did not know how to start the conversation. The tension between them was too uncomfortable. Was she thinking of last night as well?

He had been quite drunk, but not like Victoria had been. He assumed it had been the first time she had woken up with a head ache because of many glasses of wine, yet her messy hair and awful posture remained one of his favourite memories. How could one still look so beautiful when feeling so awful?

He had been more conscience during the night then she had been, yet he was not conscious enough to stop what he was doing. But she had liked it to. When he had kissed her the first time in the ballroom, he had pulled back when he realized they should not do it. But she had pulled him back and pressed her lips on his. That was when he could no longer stop himself.

He had carried her - while keeping his lips on her - through the hallway and to the parlour, where he had dropped her on the coach. She had looked gorgeous laying underneath him, and even if someone would have entered the room, he would not have been bothered enough to let go of her lips.

But pretty quickly, she had fallen asleep, passed out from all the drinking. A part of him had been happy she did, for he would not have been able to stop himself from taking her dress off her body. But another part of him was still craving for her skin and her passion.

He had rolled off her, forgetting he was on a coach. His mind had been too preoccupied with wild fantasies and memorizing at that moment, that he fell down hard. And the floor is where he had fallen asleep until the sunlight woke him up. She was still sleeping, and with a terrible head ache, he had watched her for a while. She had looked so peaceful and beautiful, but also breakable. All he had wanted to do, was protect the lady and be her personal hero.

Victoria's voice brought Andrew back to the present. "Please do not put the furniture in Duncan. It will rot there."

He had to think of her words before he realized she was talking about her brother's wooden furniture he had acquired. He laughed at her words and shrugged with on shoulder. "Mayhap I will use it to make new memories."

She scoffed and shook her head, but it did not look like a funny movement as it usually would. Something was truly bothering her. Was it the witch rumour, or was it him?

"So," he said, and he cleared his throat, "Blackburn is where you run to when you have a problem?"

Her head fell down, like she did not want to talk about it. Was she so disappointed in her brother that she did not even wish to speak of his estate?

"It seems so," she simply said.

Andrew realized she was not in a talkative mood. Mayhap he should change the topic?

"May I ask what happened to your brother?" he tried. "Why is he in the invalid's chair?"

For a while, she kept quiet, and Andrew was starting to think she would not answer it. But she surprised him, when she said: "we were horseback riding in the fields behind Blackburn." She shrugged. "Twas not unusual. Malcolm and I would be bored, or we did not want to be at home, so we would take our horses and ride out. We never told our father, for he would tell us to stay home, or at least take a chaperone."

Andrew looked at her. Usually when she was telling a story, she would smile every once in a while, but now there was nothing even similar to a smile. Her face was sad.

"We were riding through the high grass," she continued, "when suddenly the horses became restless. They had probably noticed an animal they did not like, but we did not see anything. I got to turn my horse around and ride away, but Malcolm's horse was uncontrollable. He started running wild and eventually rose. Malcolm fell off."

She stopped speaking for a while. A single tear fell out of her eye, and after whipping it away, she continued. "All I could do was look from afar how the horse was so uneasy, it ran around like an untamed animal. He did not seem to notice his owner laying on the floor, and ran over him. Malcolm screamed in pain, until he did not anymore. The horse had run away, but Malcolm did not move anymore."

Another tear fell down, followed by streams of sadness. She sobbed. "I got off my horse and ran to my brother, but all my efforts were too late. I thought he was dead."

She remained quiet while she tried to compose herself, but with the memory fresh in her mind, it seemed very hard. She took a few deep breaths, before she said: "I ran to my horse and drove it as fast as I could to Blackburn. I felt like she was moving too slow, yet I know she moved faster than ever before. I came home and broke down crying, telling my father what had happened. He picked me up and said he needed me. Now he needed me to show him to where Malcolm is. He said I had to be strong, for I would have to return once more and show the physician where Malcolm was. And then, he said, I would have to be strong and pray for Malcolm. I had to be strong for my brother."

Andrew swallowed. He could not image what would have happened to Victoria if her brother really had died that day. She would have never turned into the happy and courageous lady she is today. She would be all alone on this earth today.

After a long silence, Victoria told him: "the horse broke my brother's back, making him paralysed from the waist down. He had been unconscious for days, and I had done what my father told me to do: I had stayed strong and prayed for Malcolm. And when he woke up, I finally allowed myself to shed tears, for I knew they were tears of happiness."