Twas almost noon when she finally left the Kipling estate. She had found shelter there after she had run away from Eli and Mr. Jenkins. Though it had been late when she arrived there, Grace saw the frightened state she was in, and allowed her to sleep over at her house without asking questions.

She explained all in the morning, though. Grace understood she had run away, but not why she had met up with Eli in the first place. Again someone reminded her of his reputation. But this time, she must admit she agreed with the statement. She had seen him start a fight with a man for no reason.

True, Jenkins was touching her when he should not have, and him knocking the man down had saved her. But when Mary was saved and Jenkins was down, he kept kicking him like a madman. Jenkins was not a good, Mary must agree with that. But he also did not deserve being knocked down in the manner Eli had done.

The look he had had in his eyes also frightened her. The dark glimmer that was there did not leave her mind when she tried to sleep. She even saw his eyes in her dream – or rather nightmare.

The air outside was already quite warm, so she was happy that she had called for the carriage. It meant she had some protection from the sun.

It did not take the carriage long to ride over the street where Eli had fought with Mr. Jenkins. She also watched the Byron estate pass by, and promised herself she would not enter the house – or garden – again. How she would get her bag, she did not know. But she could live with one less nightgown.

As the carriage drove passed the estate and closer to her house, she watched the people who were walking the street. There were many more than during the night and it gave her a comfortable feeling. She felt safe.

One figure in the crowd of people caught her eye. His handsome face was covered with a bruise on his cheek, a black eye and a cut in his lip. The way he walked proved that his leg was hurting, but Mary could not find any sympathy for him. However much pain he felt, he deserved it.

The carriage drove past Eli, and Mary felt a little guilty for letting him walk home. But she found comfort in the fact that he was almost home – and also that he deserved it. So without letting the carriage slow down, she leaned back in her seat and waited until she arrived home.

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When she entered the house, the butler announced that her mother was in the sitting room. With a sigh, Mary turned in that direction. Though she did not want to, she must announce to her mother that she had safely arrived home.

She put up her best smile, then opened the door and flaunted into the room. "Good morning, Mother."

"Mary, you are home," lady Anne said as she looked up from her embroidery. "How was your night?"

"Unlike any other," she admitted, but made it sound like she had loved it. If lady Anne had only a little doubt, she would interrogate Mary like she was a criminal until she told the truth.

"How is Grace? I hope an illness was not the reason she did not attend the Birmingham ball."

"No, she is not ill. She is doing very well. They were merely preoccupied at the day of the ball because they had planned a visit to their aunt."

"And how is Joseph?"

Mary supressed a sigh. She had hoped that lady Anne would not ask about him as long as Mary did not remind her of his existence. But unfortunately, her mother was too excited about her "love" for him, that she did not need a reminder.

"He is great," she said, not knowing if she was lying or not. She and Grace had purposefully avoided him when they were at their estate, and she had not seen the man in the last few days. These were good days.

Well, except for the shock she had to go through last night, but that had nothing to do with Joseph Kipling. That was an Eli Byron matter, but that too she wished to deprive her mother of.

"Mother, may I visit the market today?" she asked, changing the subject as fast as possible. "I believe I need some fresh air after not sleeping a lot at Grace's house."

A smile appeared on the lady's face. "You are so shy when you speak of Joseph. He truly must have enchanted you."

Her eyes remained on Mary while she wanted to sigh. She truly was not enchanted by Joseph. In fact, the more she could avoid him – as subject or in person – the happier she was. Yet she could not tell lady Anne that, for then she would have to admit her lie.

"May I go the market?" Mary repeated her question.

"Of course, darling," her mother answered, concentrating back on her embroidery. "Ask Mrs. Wilson to chaperone you. And ask the cook if she needs anything from the market."

Mary gave her a relieved smile. "Of course, Mother. Thank you."

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She walked from stall to stall, looking at what the people were selling. Mentally telling herself what the objects were and how much they cost, was a good way of not getting lost in her own thoughts.

She kept wondering who Mr. Jenkins was and why he would beat up Eli when they merely passed each other. Either the man was too drunk to realize what he was doing, or he truly hated Eli. But if he did, what was the reason? Eli did not seem surprised at the sight of the man who was ready to fight, so it must be a habit to beat each other up.

But still the question remained: why?

"Aunt Mary!" Startled, Mary looked up and saw the eight year old Alice running to her. Her arms were wide, and her smile even wider. Mary picked up her niece and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, Alice," she said as she saw Victoria walk closer with her cook. "You are awake early."

"No, I am not. I have been awake for hours," the little girl argued.

"You are exactly like your father, then. Waking up at the first ray of sunlight."

"Quite so," Victoria agreed. "And then she finds the need to disturb everyone in the house."

Alice started kicking, asking Mary without words to put her down.

"But today she had too much energy," Victoria explained. "So I took her to the market with us. But I already regret it."

Mary watched Alice as she ran around her mother's skirts, until she noticed something in a stall in the distance and started running toward it. She heard Victoria sigh, as she saw her daughter running away.

"I shall leave you, so that you do not lose sight of her," Mary laughed.

"Thank you," Victoria said with a smile before she chased after the little girl.

Mary's smile did not leave her face as she heard her sister-in-law shout her daughter's name. But then she stiffened as she recognized someone else. She turned to Mrs. Wilson and said: "you may fetch what the cook needs. I see an acquaintance I wish to speak to."

With a nod, the chaperone turned and left Mary to walk alone in the direction of Ada Byron. Mary assumed the lady walking next to her was one of her sisters, for she seemed younger than Ada. Eli had told her Ada was his twin and that he was the second oldest, but that he had an older sister. So either Ada was considered to be older than him, or there was another sister.

Thinking about it, Mary realized she did not even know how many brothers and sisters he had. She knew the Byron family consisted of six children. But how many were boys, and how many were girls?

"Miss Byron," Mary greeted as she neared the two women.

"Lady Brompton," the oldest of the two said surprised. Her face clearly showed she did not expect to see Mary here, but she quickly recovered and pointed at the woman next to her. "This is Ivy, my sister. Ivy, this is lady Mary Brompton."

The youngest gave a small curtsy. "It is a pleasure to meet you, lady Brompton."

"Please, call me Mary. How is your brother?"

"Which one?" miss Ivy asked. "We have three."

"Eli is feeling quite horrible," miss Ada said before Mary could answer her sister's question. "He got drunk and beat up last night, and my parents punished him. He is not to leave the house, if that is what you wish to know."

"Oh," Mary said surprised, but also guilty. She knew about the beating up, and did not doubt that it was apart of why he was punished. That he got drunk was new to her, but since she realized his reputation was correct, she did not doubt he was good at drinking and getting drunk.

He must be punished indeed, but she now had to admit how he got beat up. "I believe I play a part in that," she told the two Byron sisters. "He invited me last night to stay the night and test who could stay awake longer." Saying it like that, she had to admit it sounded very childish indeed. But she could not give in to Eli either, for that was not who she was.

"When we walked on the street, a man, Mr. Jenkins, started beating him up." At the mention of the name, miss Ada and miss Ivy sighed, apparently recognizing the name.

"He did not tell us that," the oldest said disappointing. "He only said he went to the pub and that a man beat him up. He did not say it was Mr. Jenkins."

"He also did not say he met up with a lady," miss Ivy said, her eyes intent on Mary.

Mary fidgeted with her fingers. "I ran away when the fight started. And now I fear my bag is still at your house. But I do not wish to see Eli, for it might enrage him again."

"I can give you your bag, if you feel more comfortable that way. Mayhap you could come by this afternoon? I shall make certain Eli does not know."

"That would be very kind," Mary said relieved. "Thank you."

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"Look who decided to surprise us for luncheon," lady Anne said upon Mary's arrival. Her sister, Elizabeth, and her husband, William, had joined her mother in the parlour.

"Elizabeth," Mary greeted and took her sister in an embrace. She was six years younger than her only sister, but it felt like a whole lot more since Elizabeth got married and had children. "Are the children here too?"

"Yes," Elizabeth responded, "they are in the playroom. But why do you not stay with us for a while?"

Mary was quite suspicious of the question, felt like she had no other choice but to agree. So with a nod, she went to sit on a lone chair near her sister and mother, hoping their attention would shift. But as she looked up, she saw all eyes were on her.

"I went to lord Byron's theatre this morning," Elizabeth told her.

"What were you doing there?" lady Anne asked. "Will you work for the man again?"

"That is the plan, yes. I went to ask him, and of course he agreed. But as I walked out of the study, his wife and son were there."

Mary stiffened at the mention of lord Byron's son. She tried to tell herself her sister was not speaking of Eli, rather of the other two Byron boys. But then she remembered how miss Ada had said he had been punished by both his parents. So it would not be a surprise if he was at the theatre to receive the verdict of his punishment.

"Which one?" Mary asked anyway. "I have heard they have three."

"He introduced himself as Eli Byron," Elizabeth confirmed Mary's suspicion. "He said he met you at the Birmingham ball."

Her eyes were on Mary, and instantly lady Anne and William's eyes turned to her as well.

Mary swallowed. "Yes, indeed. We met."

"I do not know him well," Elizabeth started, provoking a sigh with Mary, "but his mother seemed quite angry at him."

"I have already been warned for his reputation, sister. More than once."

Elizabeth had a smile on her face as she looked at Mary. "I did not mean to warn you of his reputation. I merely wondered how you met him."

Again, Mary swallowed. She had preferred another lecture over his bad reputation, rather than admitting she had met him when she was walking the streets alone at night. So she deciding that lying was the best solution. "He suddenly started speaking to me. And so we met."

"What did you talk about?" lady Anne asked, her eyes interested.

"Er..." Mary was thinking of what she could say best now. Admitting the childish game, or another lie? "I was wondering how a man who is no lord, could be invited to the Birmingham ball."

"I thought he started speaking to you," Elizabeth noticed.

"Er... What? No, I started speaking to him," she stuttered. "Did I say it differently? Haha, my mistake. My apologies. May I go to the children now."

"Is this the man you were dancing with at the ball?" William suddenly said. Mary had to supress not only a sigh, but also an angry groan. Why did he have to see it? And why did he have to mention it when she was trying to get out of this situation?

"Yes," Mary admitted. "Yes, we danced. But know I really think I should say hello to the children."

Before anyone could say anything else, she stood up and left the parlour.