"You do know of his reputation, yes?"

Mary was in her bedchamber with Adelaide. The latter had entered to ask about the ball, and Mary had no choice but to admit she had spend quite a lot of time Eli Byron. Usually Mary did not like balls, and Adelaide knew that. But this time, she had honestly responded she quite liked it. And that made Adelaide wonder why.

What Adelaide did not understand, was that May saw Eli merely as a friend – an acquaintance even. And although she really wanted to tell her friend, she did not want her to know she was to visit him tonight. Not only because Adelaide might tell lady Anne, but also because she might talk Mary out of going.

She sighed before she responded. "Mother had said a similar thing, though she did not give a description his reputation. Merely a warning."

"A warning you intent to ignore," Adelaide sighed, knowing her friend quite well. "Eli Byron is not a good man. Despite how kind he might seem, he has quite some enemies. Tis better not to be too close to the man."

"I am not frightened by enemies," Mary said, feeling quite tough. "As you might recall, you and I have the same one. But he does not decide my life. And neither will the enemies of a man have just met. Tis quite absurd to make me fear him."

"I do not wish to fear you," Adelaide said kindly, yet impatient. "I merely wish to make certain you care for your heart."

Mary sighed hard, becoming angry at what Adelaide suggested. "Tis not because I talk to a man, that I wish to give him my heart. You know me well, you must know that I do not intent to marry just any man. But that does not mean I cannot befriend such person."

"You do know you must marry one day," she tried.

"No, I do not! If I wish to be unmarried for the rest of my life, than that is my choice. And I shall live with the rumours that come with it."

Adelaide sighed. "Your mother is far too kind. She does not push you enough."

"She pushes hard enough," Mary assured her. "But let us not talk of me anymore. There was someone else who was very eager to speak to Mr. Byron."

"Then mayhap you ought to let that woman have his unfaithful heart," Adelaide said.

"Even if that woman is your sister?"

"My sister?" she said surprised. "Eleanor?"

"Yes, Eleanor. She seems quite smitten with the man," Mary told her.

"O dear," Adelaide sighed while she widened her eyes. Then she bowed her shoulders as if she felt defeated. "I fear she might cause her own destruction. She does not need my parents for that."

"It might teach them a lesson," Mary told her. "If their three daughters have lived through destruction because of them, then they might finally see it might be there fault."

"Madilyn has not lived through destruction," she said, certain of her sister's happiness.

"Not to us, no. And in Madilyn's eyes either. But to your parents' opinion, she is not living the live she deserves."

"That is true," Adelaide sighed again. "But then who does live up to their expectations? Not even Eleanor – their favourite daughter – will be good enough if she chases a man without title."

Mary shrugged. "Mayhap they will finally get what they deserve: humiliation and destruction of themselves."

-----------------------------------------------------------

Twas getting dark outside when Mary finally left the house. Her mother believed she was to sleep over at the Kiplings' estate, but if she were to ask Grace how the night had been, she would not tell lady Anne what the woman wanted to hear.

Everyone might warn her of Eli's reputation, but she knew that reputations were not always true. He would have to prove his danger before she would step away from him. And even then she might doubt, because she still had a challenge to win. And she would not give up because of the fear of another man.

Lady Anne had insisted she took the carriage. Luckily, Mary had been able to deny a chaperone, or else she would never have made it to the Byrons' estate. The carriage stopped in front of the Kipling estate, and Mary stepped out. Then she send the carriage back home.

Once it was out of sight, she turned away from the house her family expected her to enter and walked in the direction of her own house. The Byron estate was not far from Grace's house, so after only a few minutes, the large, dark building came into view. She took the steps up to the front door, but before she could knock, she heard a whistle down the stairs.

Turning around, she found Eli at the bottom, looking up at her.

"Please do not knock," he said. "My parents are not expecting a visitor."

"But you are," Mary said, wondering why she was not allowed to knock. Did his parents not know she was coming?

"No, I am not," he responded. "Not that they know of, anyway. Please follow me. We shall hide in the garden."

As Mary descended the stairs and followed him around the building, she asked: "why may they not know I came to visit?"

"Tis not my parents I am worried about," Eli admitted as she came to walk next to him. "Although they would not expect you to remain here all night without further intentions. Tis Ada who I worry about."

"Your twin sister," Mary remembered. She had seen her only once, but she was very beautiful. She had the same blonde hair as Eli, and the same sharp cheekbones, but her eyes were bigger than him. She truly was one of the most beautiful women Mary had ever seen.

"She believe your status is too high for mine," Eli explained.

"Then you must tell her I am no lady until I marry a lord – something I truly do not intent to do."

"If Ada has formed an opinion over something, she will not easily change her mind. So I might tell Ada what I wish. But as long as I cannot prove the opposite, she will not believe me."

They had arrived at a small cottage in the back of the garden. Eli kindly opened the door for her and followed her inside. Twas a worker's cottage with a bed and a desk, and two windows to look over the dark garden.

"And what is your opinion over our difference in status?" she asked while she put her bag on the bed. She was not planning on sleeping, so she could use the object as storage space.

"That it is not on my mind," he simply said. "I merely want to win this challenge."

Mary nodded, seemingly content with his answer. But she could not deny the vague feeling of disappointment over his lack of care. If it truly did not bother him that much, it might be easy for Ada to convince him to leave her. And then Mary ought to let go of the only friendship she had with a man who did not expect her hand or kindness.

Eli moved a chair closer to Mary. "You may sit, if you wish."

"I do not," she told him. "I find it easier to stay awake when I am standing."

"Whatever you choose," he said, then pulled the chair away.

He leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the cabin from where Mary was standing. His eyes were roaming over her body, so she took the time to watch him too. His face was handsome, she already knew that. But he also had a good build. His arms were very muscled, and he seemed to have not an inch of fat around his belly.

He was truly a very handsome man in every aspect. Yet looks could be deceiving. And according to his reputation, his were. But Mary had a hard time believing what people said of him, for she had seen him as nothing but kind and stubborn. But mayhap it was all a façade. Mayhap his smiles and bows were merely a way to seduce her so that he could enjoy her in any way he wishes.

Well if that was so, than Eli was in for a disappointment. Mary would not give him what he wanted. Not without a promise first. And the way things were going now, she did not think he would ever give her that promise. Tis also not that she was hoping for it, yet it was not difficult to image a future with him.

She mentally shook her head. What on earth, Mary? Why would you think such a thing?!

No man had ever made her thing those thoughts, and Eli was not to be any different. He was no lord, and he had a reputation. Lady Anne would not only have a faint, she would have a full heart attack.

"You have quite the reputation, you know," Mary told him when she found the silence had lingered long enough. "Multiple people have warned me of your presence."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yet you are here."

In the darkness with only the moon to light the inside of the cabin, Mary could see the danger people saw in him. Yet she saw it more as mysterious than dangerous. Twas rather exciting than frightening.

"How many lovers do you have?"

He shrugged. "I do not count them."

His answers were short, but Mary did not believe it was because he did not want to speak to her. She believed he wanted to avoid the subject. And that knowledge made her even more interested about it.

"Where do you meet them?" she asked. "I am certain you do not sleep with them in the house where your family resides."

"I have a second estate."

"Merely for that purpose?" If she had to drag the information out of him, she would. She would not hold back because she ought to.

"And others," he said mysteriously.

"Like what?"

He shook his head. "Nothing that would bother you."

"Have you ever wondered about those women you make love to?" she asked, crossing her arms and analysing his reaction. "How you ruin them. How you take their bodies as if they belong to you, to then dispose of them."

"They like it," was his short answer. He crossed his arms as well and watched her reaction like she was watching his.

She hoped her face was neutral, for she felt very shocked at those words. He found it all too normal that a woman were to give a man her virtue, merely because he liked it. Did he truly think himself so much more important than a woman that he could lose his virtue while a woman could not if she wanted to marry well?

That was the way of society, and Mary was aware of that. But she had never found it fair. And this man was an extreme example of why she hated the rule. He could make love to any women he wanted, but a woman like Mary could not love a man if she did not intent to marry him. Whoever said men were more important?

"And what if you are to marry" she asked, "and your bride has lost her virtue to another man, like you have lost yours to another woman. Shall you marry her?"

"Do you have plans, Mary?" he asked with a smile. Twas too dark to see the meaning in his eyes, and it left her to wonder if he meant she should lose her virtue with him, or if he was merely jesting.

"Humour me all you want," she said. "But you must admit it is not fair. A man can marry while having made love many times. But a woman is ashamed once her virtue is lost while not having a ring around her finger."

"Tis the way society works. And I cannot say I find it a shame."

Mary scoffed, then pushed away from the wall and opened the door to the garden.

"Where are you going?" she heard Eli's voice behind her ask.

"To walk around," Mary responded. "It helps me stay awake."

She walked outside and heard his footsteps follow her. "I am such a bore to you that you feel like sleeping while talking to me?"

"Would it insult you?"

He pushed her shoulder so that she turned to the other direction. "Not in the garden," he told her, ignoring her question. "Ada might see if she looks through the window."

She allowed Eli to guide her back to the side of the house and onto the street. Mary realized it was the first time she walked the streets of London at night with a chaperone. Usually she would walk it alone.

And having a male chaperone was also a first. No woman ever had a male chaperone, for men were the people women needed protection from. But if a woman who was walking with another woman was safe enough to walk around the streets with men, why could one women not be enough? Twas not like the chaperone was stronger than the lady she was serving, and could therefore safe her should something inconvenient happen.

"Where is you second estate?" Mary asked, finding the silence too boring.

His dark eyes looked down on her. "You do know that if you keep talking to me, you keep me awake too?"

Mary nodded. "I am very aware of it. But mayhap it is a strategy." She noticed his posture changing, but he did not respond. "Now answer my question," she encouraged. "Where is your second estate?"

"Just outside London," he told her.

"Do you know you are quite a bore?"

His head suddenly turned to him, his eyebrows raised. "What makes you say that?"

"You barely answer. It makes me feel like I speak too much."

He shrugged and looked in front of him again. "Then shut up."

She threw her head back and laughed. Once she finally stopped, she saw him looking at her. "Do not think you can get me to shut up by not responding to my words. I can talk a lot."

"I do not doubt that," he murmured.

Before Mary could respond, a man shouted "hey!" from across the street. But twas not the kind of "hey" that meant "hello". There was a rather angry tone to the voice.

She heard Eli sigh next to her, before he turned to the man with the long, black coat who was crossing the street.

"Byron," the man shouted with a low voice. Eli slowly walked closer to him, his chin held high and his posture confident.

"Jenkins," Eli said as a way of greeting, but there was nothing kind to his voice.

"You think you can hide from me, aye?" the man – Jenkins – asked.

"I did not mean to do such thing," Eli calmly said. "But I do ask if we can postpone this discussion. Tis not sight for a lady to see."

Mary stiffened, frightened of what Eli meant. The only thing men could do to each other that was not the sight for a lady, was fighting. So was Eli certain this man would fight him, or did he have the intention of beating Jenkins up?

"A lady," Jenkins said interested while his eyes searched Mary. "She's a pretty lady. Your newest replacement?" His eyes turned back to Eli, but his posture showed he was planning on holding back because a lady was watching.

"I believe it is best you leave, Jenkins," Eli said. "You are too drunk to not do anything stupid."

The man threw his head back and laughed. "You think I would not beat you up if I were sober?"

Mary's heart started racing when the man turned his head back to her. Then he stumbled toward Mary, and quite soon she could smell the foul scent of alcohol that surrounded him.

"I might make a different decision when it comes to the lady if I were sober," he said, blowing his disgusting breathe in her face.

His hand grasped her arms and he came closer to her. Mary tried to pull away from the man's grip, but he was quite strong for a drunk man. She started panicking as one of his arms went around her waist, and before she knew it, a scream escaped her throat. She started slapping the man, but he did not seem to feel it. His grip tightened and she started pushing him away, but he held on too tight.

Suddenly he let go of her and fell on the floor. She took a few steps back, fearing what he might do if he stood back up. Eli was standing behind the man, massaging his fist. His eyes were on her, but they did not look kind. She felt her breath accelerate as she saw the darkness in his eyes.

He looked too comfortable, massaging the fist with which he had just kicked a man. The confident posture he had told her he had done this more than once, and the look in his eyes told her he was truly dangerous. His reputation must be true if a man crossed him on the street and felt the need to beat him up. Mary did not know why that was, but she did know it frightened her.

His eyes were on hers and did not leave her, but they did not held any kindness in them. Mayhap it was the darkness, or mayhap he was truly looking at her with a dangerously lusting look.

A movement in her eye made Mary turn her head. Jenkins was standing up, his eyes no longer on Mary, but on the man who knocked him to the ground. Eli seemed to ignore him and keep his eyes on Mary, until Jenkins' fist landed on his cheek.

He took a few steps back to collect the kick, but quickly recovered. With a furious face, he walked closer to Jenkins, his fists balled at his side. Jenkins saw it too, but while looking at his hands, Eli's foot came up and kicked Jenkins in his manhood.

While doubling over, the man let out a evil rumble that was supposed to be a laughter. "Is that," he was able to say, "how you wish to protect the lady?"

Eli's jaw tightened, and before Mary realized it, his fist had landed on Jenkins' belly. He fell down on the floor, but the rumbling kept escaping his throat.

While the man laid defencelessly on the floor, Eli slammed his fist on Jenkins' jaw, making the man spit out blood. Mary gasped at the sight of it, but Eli was not ready yet. He stood up and looked at Mary, but quickly turned his eyes back to Jenkins.

Eli's foot kicking the man was the last thing Mary saw before she turned around and ran away from the two fighting men. She was too frightened to stay. Too frightened that the man might overpower Eli and come back to her, but also too frightened that Eli might win and devour her like his eyes told her he wished to do.

Expect for the groans and sounds of skin touching skin, Mary's shoes were the only sound that filled the empty streets.