As Madilyn went to bed that night, she had some thoughts on her mind. And she shared them with her husband once he came out of the dressing chamber.

"Do you think it is dangerous that Arthur knows we are on to him?"

He climbed in the bed in silence, thinking about her words. Finally he said: "I do not know. My brother has changed so much, I felt like I was sitting in front of a stranger."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled the blankets over them as he said: "but I do not think he would mean to hurt us. We do not have any prove yet, and he knows that. All he will do now, is hide better."

She dropped her head on his shoulder with a sigh. "Do you think Adelaide is in danger?"

Thomas stiffened, but quickly covered it up by planting a kiss on her head. "She has been living with him for so long now. I do not believe he will behave differently toward her. And Arthur does not know she knew of our coming. Surely he will not harm her."

She lifted her head and look him in the eye. "He harms her every day. But he makes certain the bruises are where clothing hides them."

With a sigh, he planted another kiss on her forehead, then said: "if we catch him, we might find a way to break off her marriage."

They remained silent for a while. All Madilyn could do was hope. Hope that Adelaide was safe, hope that Arthur would not come after them, and hope that in the end, all would be well.

Thomas suddenly pulled her down so that she laid flat on the bed. "Let us not worry about it now," he said while he climbed on top of her. "Allow me to distract you for a while."

Then he bend down to kiss her lips, and Madilyn knew that she would be distracted for hours indeed.

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Finally the winter had come to an end and the sun started shining. It had been almost a year since Madilyn met Thomas for the first time, and though her life had changed drastically and she had felt quite depressed, she could finally say she was truly happy. She had a husband she loved and who loved her, and together they had two beautiful and healthy girls. And if they kept making love like they had done the past two days, Madilyn was certain a third child would not be far away.

With the rays of sun trying to warm up Madilyn's face, she enjoyed the happiness and silence. She still feared for Adelaide, but she also knew her sister was strong. She had been living with Arthur for a while now, and so far she had managed. As long as Arthur was not too frightened, Madilyn believed he would not hurt her sister.

She walked back to the house, ending her morning walk, when she could not stop the smile from spreading across her face. In the doorway, Thomas was waiting for her. He was holding Hazel in his arms, while Gwendolyn was in Iris' arms. Madilyn took her oldest daughter from her lady's maid's arms and put her thick blanket right.

"Shall we walk?" Thomas asked. With a smile and a nod from Madilyn, they ventured into the large garden of Lindenberg. Twas still quite cold for the babies, but they were wrapped into thick blankets and were wearing thick clothing. And since they were not crying, Madilyn trusted they were not cold.

"Have you heard anything from Adelaide?" Thomas asked.

Madilyn shook her head. It had been only two days since they had visited Everton, but she had not been able to hide her worries. She feared Arthur might throw his anger out on his wife, and she was not certain he would know when to stop.

She had wanted to visit Adelaide again, or invite her to come. But if she did that, Artur would only become more suspicious than he already was. And when he was suspicious, he would only be more dangerous.

The attack on the Halbert house had been a success. The police had invaded the house and had found many children. Now they were still determining who the children were – which was difficult, for they were presumed to be all beggars without papers – and if they could connect them to the lord of Colston. They hoped to have an answer to those question in a few days.

"I do not want to worry about Adelaide too much, for that is not good for me," Madilyn told her husband. "My fears get worse every time I think of the bad things Arthur could do to her."

"She is strong," Thomas assured her. "In a few days, we might be able to connect Arthur to the child abductions, and then she will be freed from him."

"I truly hope so."

And with that being said, Thomas changed the subject of their conversation so that neither of them had to worry about things they could not control. They spend a few hours in the garden, talking and walking and watching Gwendolyn and Hazel fall asleep.

Twas truly magic to be holding her very own child while she was comfortable enough to fall asleep in her arms. And to know her husband was walking next to her, watching their other child with the same amount of love, only made it that much more amazing.

Though her life had made a very sudden and unexpected turn, Madilyn was truly happy with it. She was certain she was more happy with Thomas – even though they had hated each other for a while – than she would ever be with the lord of Colston. Definitely now that she knew how he truly was bad.

Mayhap she might have seen her sister more if she married the bad lord, but she knew Thomas would do anything to save Adelaide. And that thought of Thomas willing to do anything for her, was more than the lord of Colston could ever give her.

The backdoor opened and the butler ran out. Thinking of the time they had spend outside, Madilyn assumed he came to tell them luncheon was ready.

"Why is he running?" Thomas wondered out loud.

Madilyn did not know, nor was she bothered. "Mayhap he wishes to sport more."

Thomas laughed at the remark, but his laughter died down quickly as the butler came near them and bowed for them. Then he rapidly said: "there is a fire, my lord, my lady."

"A fire?" Thomas asked as he jumped up. Madilyn followed her husband's movements, suddenly feeling ashamed of laughing at the butler's quick pace.

"Yes, my lord. At the east side of the building."

The east side, Madilyn repeated in her head. That was not where the kitchen was, so a cooking accident could not have been the cause. She gasped when she realized what room was on the east side.

Thomas realized it at the same moment. "My study."

He ran through the garden toward the east side and Madilyn followed. Surely, when they arrived there, the entire wall was covered with flames. An immense heat radiated off it, immediately drying out her eyes. She turned away and sheltered Gwendolyn with her own body while she walked away from the building.

Only when she was far enough away from the building, did she dare to turn around and watch the flames lick the nearby trees. The fire was eating every brick and every bit of dust that used to be the study.

She heard Hazel crying, but it sounded distant. She looked for Thomas, who was holding her, and found him still in the same spot, too close to the fire. He was not looking at the fire, though. His eyes were looking to the front side of the house. Madilyn did not see what he was looking at, but found it too dangerous for him and Hazel to remain so close to the estate.

"Thomas!" she shouted, trying to be louder than the roaring sound of the destructive fire. His head shot toward her and she motioned to come closer, which he – gladly – did. He seemed to notice only then that his daughter was crying, and quickened his pace.

"Did you see that?" he asked, his head turning back to the front of the house.

"See what?" Madilyn asked while she caressed Hazel's head and tried to comfort her.

"There was horse," Thomas said, apparently not bothered by his crying child. "A man on a horse sped away from the house."

"I would hurry away from a burning house as well," Madilyn responded with her eyes on Hazel.

"That was not just anyone," Thomas responded, his eyes staring in the distance. "That was Arthur."

Madilyn's head shot up. "Arthur? Are you certain?"

"Who else could it be?" he asked, looking into her worried eyes. "The study contained all the papers on the Colston case. The only one nearby and with the fear that I might discover something, is Arthur."

"It might have been a coincidence that the horse passed," Madilyn tried, but she did not believe her own words. The chance of Arthur doing something like destroying evidence, was far greater than the coincidence of a horse riding away from a fire he had nothing to do with.

"No, that man's silhouette," Thomas said with certainty, "that was Arthur's."

As Madilyn realized how she had underestimated what Arthur could do when he was frightened, she gasped when a second – more fearsome – realisation came to her. "Adelaide."

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As quick as the thought of her sister had come up, that quick Thomas and Madilyn had mounted their horses. The children were in the hands of the maids, while the other servants tried to extinguish the fire and fetch the firemen.

But the house was merely an object. Adelaide was a person. And saving a person – her sister – was far more important than watching the estate burn down.

Pretty quickly, they arrived at Everton. The sight of it, left Madilyn shocked. The front door was wide open and dirt had blown into the hallway. A window that gave view to the parlour was broken, the glass laying underneath it.

The house had been quite frightening before, but this made Madilyn feel terrified.

She followed Thomas inside the estate that felt quite like an abandoned house. The hallway was empty, and no one was in sight. They walked from room to room, but did not find anyone here. Thomas decided to go into the service corridor, and they quickly found the kitchen. A woman was there, sitting on a lone chair with a cup in her hands. She stared at a blank wall.

"Miss," Thomas spoke, startling the woman. Her eyes moved to Madilyn and Thomas, but she did not jump up or come to their aid, like what was expected of her. Thomas and Madilyn shared a look, both knowing something was terribly wrong.

"I am looking for my sister," Madilyn told the woman. "Lady Adelaide. Do you know where I can find her."

She heard her own voice shiver, but ignored it. Though she was frightened that something might have happened to Adelaide, she could not let her fear take over.

"Her ladyship is in her bedroom," the woman said with a monotone voice while she was staring in the distance. "His lordship has left."

Madilyn look at Thomas, who merely nodded before he turned her around and urged her to walk away from the kitchen.

"What is with her?" Madilyn whispered as they were walking to the large staircase.

"If Arthur has left," Thomas explained, "and his wife remained, the staff knows something bad is about to happen to the family. Arthur is not a good man, and he did not hide it. Either he will come back soon to destruct everything, or he will not and they lose their pay. Whatever it is, they fear for their lives."

Madilyn found it an awful thought. The woman had not done anything wrong to deserve a sudden destruction like this. Nor was she prepared for it. She had given her life serving Arthur, and now all was to be taken away from her, leaving her with nothing.

She tried to push the thought away as she walked up the stairs and into the master bedchamber. The room was one big mess, like a dog had run lose and messed up everything. The blankets were crumbled and messy on the bed, the drawers of the closet were opened and clothing was all over the floor. The windows were left open and the curtains – with a tear – were blowing around the room.

The room was such a mess, that Madilyn almost did not notice Adelaide laying on the bed. She was crumbled up in a ball, almost invisible for whoever entered the room. She resembled the crumbled up blankets next to her.

Madilyn quickly ran to her sister and held her head in between her hands. Adelaide's face was bloody, a cut on her lip and a big gash across her forehead. Her cheeks were red and her eyes teary.

"O dear," Madilyn sighed. Adelaide wrapped he arms around her sister, and not much later, her body started shaking and the sobs came. Madilyn saw the tear in her dress and the blood on the bed and on the floor. Twas not hard to imagine what had happened, and looking at Thomas' face, he knew it too.

Arthur had truly become an evil man if he had turned against his own wife. Had he found out she knew about Thomas? Or did he not need her anymore?

"He hurt me," Adelaide whispered through her sobs. "He hurt me where people can see."

"Tis alright, Adelaide," Madilyn comforted her. "He will not hurt you anymore."

"But the memory... The memory will stay." Adelaide pulled away from Madilyn, her face full of worry and panic. "He abused me. I said no, and he ignored it. It hurt, Madilyn. It hurt so much."

The tears started flowing again, and Madilyn did not know of anything else to do but wrap her arms around her sister and allow her to cry in her arms.

"You are safe now, Adelaide," Thomas spoke. "And if you wish, you may come home with us."

"He said he would ruin you," she whispered.

Madilyn swallowed and shared a look with her husband. He nodded, and Madilyn admitted: "he tried to burn down the house, but we are alright."

Adelaide moved away and looked at her sister. "And you children?"

"They are alright too. No one is harmed. Tis merely the study that was burnt down."

"Everything I had discovered, I will find it back. And then we will catch Arthur," Thomas promised. It seemed to calm Adelaide down to know that everyone was alright. But she still looked frightened and terrified, and Thomas saw it too.

"Would you feel safer in London?" he asked her. "You may stay with us if you wish."

Madilyn look hopeful at Adelaide, then let out a sigh of relieve when she nodded.

"I would grateful," she told Thomas, her tears coming back. And as Madilyn took her sister in her arms once more, she gave her husband a thankful smile. She truly was very lucky when it came to Thomas.