Twas time for Mary to go back home, she had said. So Eli walked her to the front of the house, at the slowest pace that was still normal. He liked the company of Mary, especially when he was locked up in the house. Twas good to see someone different from his sisters, brothers and parents.

They came to a stop at the edge of the property, and Eli knew she had to turn right. Yet she turned to him.

"I shall be waiting for your next bet," she announced.

"Good," he responded, "for I already have an idea that will make me win."

Mary shrugged. "I still have time to win today."

He laughed and shook his head. "I have not done the preparations yet."

"Then I shall expect your calling card tomorrow."

Again he shook his head. "Not tomorrow. It will take me longer than a day to make up another escape plan."

"Or you could stay inside your house and not lie, nor break your punishment," Mary suggested.

Eli laughed at her suggestion. Of course he would not invite her inside his house. His family would know and their fantasies would run wild. That would mostly feel like an embarrassment to Eli. There was no way he would invite her inside the house. Except...

An idea popped into his head, but he was not yet going to announce it. Mayhap it would fail while she would have her hopes up. Eli did not want her to be disappointed.

"I shall send you a calling card when all is ready," he told her.

She gave him a stern nod. "Then I shall wait for it."

She curtsied before him and Eli bowed to her, before she turned to the right and walked away from the house. Eli felt the urge to walk her home, for a lady should not be alone on the streets. But not only would he get the hate of his parents on him for breaking the rules of his punishment, he would also contradict Mary's believes of strong women. So he watched her until she rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight.

With a sigh and the hope that she would be alright, he walked back inside the house. His parents had left the parlour, but his siblings were still there. And when he passed, they called him inside.

"What?" he asked as all eyes were expectantly on him.

"Sit down, brother," Ivy said, pointing at the coach. "Make yourself comfortable."

Doubtful, he obeyed and took a seat on the place where everyone could see him. Too good, he realized, when Jim and Lee moved closer.

"So," Cora sighed, "lady Mary. She is pretty, is she not?"

Eli shrugged. "I do not know. You tell me."

"O Eli," Lee sighed. "You find her beautiful."

"Do not think we did not notice you flirting with her," Jim added.

"What?! I was not!" Eli argued, but it seemed he was the only one of that opinion.

"You take your sister's new friend and make her your love interest," Cora jested. "How mean of you to steal from your own twin."

"O no," Ada said before Eli could comment, "that was a lie. Mary knew Eli before I did. Remember she said she met me at the Birmingham ball? That was when she met Eli."

The mouth of the other four people in the room fell open while their heads turned to Eli.

"Is she why you have been sneaking out of the house?" Ivy asked.

"What?" Eli asked surprised. "Who told you that?"

"No one needed to tell us that, dumbhead," Jim said.

"Not even Mama and Papa believe you. Why would we?" Lee asked.

Eli sighed, but remained quiet. If he answered it, he would only feed their fantasies. But apparently silence was also not a good idea.

"So you did sneak out to be with her?" Cora asked while she bend forward as if she found the topic of their conversation very interesting.

"Not because of the reason you have in mind," he admitted frustrated. "I challenged her, and I sneak out to win different bets."

Ada suddenly laughed. "If only you would win any!"

Jim and Lee chuckled, but twas Ivy who asked: "why would you challenge her?"

"Because she was taunting me. She kept telling me how women were better than men, so I challenged her to prove it."

"And you are losing," Lee laughed. "You must not be a real man to be defeated by a woman!"

He threw his brothers a mean look, but Ada laughingly told the family: "he even lost a game of cards."

Every chuckled, but Jim and Lee's hard laughter filled the room.

"Now the question is," Cora said once everyone had silenced, "did he lose because he is bad, or did he let her win?"

All eyes turned to him, encouraging to answer. Eli sighed, then stood up. "I am not staying here any longer."

That made Jim and Lee gasp and look at each other. "Our brother is in love," Lee said with a mean glimmer in his eyes, making the other laugh hard.

"No, I am not," Eli argued before they could come up with a plan to annoy him with those words. "We are merely friends."

"Whatever you say, Eli," Ivy told him. Her face held a similar glow as Ada's when she was talking about Eli and Mary. He stiffened at the realisation, for it brought up a question. Did Ada think the same as his siblings? Did she too believe he was in love with Mary? Was that why she allowed him to sneak out of the house?

He threw her a mean look, and she raised her hands, asking without words why he did that. But Eli did not respond to it and exited the room. Twas only when he entered his room and wanted to shut the door, that he noticed Jim and Lee had followed him. Like Eli had invited them, they entered his room and sat down on a chair.

"So, now that we have established you are in love, when will you ask for her hand?" Jim casually asked.

"The thing is," Lee explained, "when you are married, you will not live here anymore."

"And then we can use your bedroom."

"And Papa will like our play writings more than yours."

"So we will get more attention and love."

"Thus the conclusion is, when you are gone, we shall be happier."

Eli gave them both a stern look. "Then it is very unfortunate for you that you pulled the wrong conclusion. I am not in love with anyone and I shall not be leaving the house soon."

"That is a bit harsh, is it not?" Jim argued.

"You would not want the lady to hear that, would you?" Lee asked.

"And besides, when you are married, Ada will be encouraged to do the same."

"Thus there will be more space for us."

"And we will be happier."

"That is a nice dream," Eli told them, "but it will never happen."

Jim and Lee gasped, and Eli was relieved he had finally gotten through to them.

"You think it is nice?" Lee asked hopeful.

"You dream of her?" Jim asked with a similar hopeful look on his face.

"You will marry her?"

"And leave the house for us to rule?"

"Out," Eli obeyed. Jim and Lee stiffened, but they remained where they were seated. He walked closer to them and bend so that he could look them straight into the eye. "Leave now, or I shall tell Mama and Papa of your lovers."

They scoffed. "We do not have lovers," Jim told Eli.

"But you do," Eli argued. "Trust me, I know. And if you wish to keep it a secret from Mama and Papa, then you should shut your mouth and leave me alone."

"Tis not an embarrassment to have lovers," Lee argued. "Look at you. You have many."

"Do you wish for Mama and Papa to know that you have the same lovers? At the same time?"

They suddenly stood up.

"You would not dare to tell them," Jim said, but his face clearly showed he did not believe his own words.

"Do you want to take that chance?" Eli asked.

The twins threw him a mean look, but Eli was not frightened by it. He brothers could do to him what a rabbit could do to a fox: nothing. Thus he merely gave them a stern look, then watched them leave his room.

With a sigh, Eli fell down on his bed, relieved to be alone. This day had taken a turn he had never seen coming. Not only his own plan to speak with his mother about status and title was a surprise, but also Mary's visit and easy lies, and his family's insinuations were things he had not seen coming.

True, Mary was beautiful. She was a woman he could fancy. She was kind and funny, and easy going. And he also found she was quite special. Her values were similar to his, and she was strong enough to withstand his verbal beatings.

But she also was a lady. Even if he was in love with her, they could not be. She could never please her parents by marrying down, and he could never give her the title she deserved. The live she lived was much different from his, making a relationship between them downright impossible.

But then he rethought those thoughts. Mary might be a lady, but she did not behave like that. In fact, she had literally said she did not like the formalities she earned. She had asked the family she had just met to call her Mary instead of lady Mary. She walked the streets of London alone without bothering about what people might think. Would she really be bothered with marrying a man with no title?

"Are you thinking of her?"

Eli startled at Ada's words. She entered the room while he sat up straight and said: "no."

His sister walked to the chair Jim had occupied a few minutes ago and sat down on it. Her eyes held meaningful look as she watched him.

"You like her," she said.

"As a friend, yes," Eli admitted.

"No, as more. She makes you laugh."

"Yes, she tells jokes. They are funny."

"Not just the jokes, brother," Ada said as she stood up and walked toward him. "Just now, while claiming you were not thinking of her, you were smiling." She sat down and turned her body toward him. "And the way you were dallying with her in the garden, everyone could see you like her."

"I was not dallying with her," he argued, but Ada ignored it.

"She makes you different," she told him, "but the good kind of different. And I like her too. Mayhap you might claim you do not need my approval, but you do have it."

"Approval for what?" Eli asked, not understanding most of his sister's words.

"To take things further with her."

"I do not intent to take things further with her!" Eli argued loudly. "We are friends, that is all. We only speak because we have a challenge to win. If there had been no challenge, I would not speak to her."

"That is a good excuse," Ada said while she stood up. "But tis an excuse nevertheless."

She gave Eli a kiss on his cheek before she turned and left the room.

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

Eli had escaped the house once more. He felt a little bit guilty to break the rules of his punishment, but he had a good excuse. He had to arrange the preparations for his bet with Mary. And afterwards, he just happened to pass the Old Fir. There were not a lot of people inside, so he found it a good moment to visit the pub. No people meant no witnesses to see Eli break the rules.

He wondered why he suddenly felt the guilt over breaking the rules. He had been punished before, yet never felt guilty when he broke the rules. He had also never been afraid to be caught. Yet this time, all of that was different.

He remembered how Mary had suggested he did not break the rules of his punishment, but that was not what was driving him. Yes?

With a sigh he realized that life was hard. Mayhap he had just gotten older and learned a sense of dignity and respect for his parents. That must be the reason why he slightly hated himself.

"Mr. Byron, what a coincidence to see you here," a voice startled Eli. He looked up to find a familiar face walking toward him. He had a big smile and took a seat next to Eli.

"Mr. Cook," Eli said surprised. "You are from the neighbourhood?"

"I live a bit everywhere," the man vaguely told him. "So, what did you think of the Morris ball?"

"I, er... I did not stay very long," Eli admitted. "Tis not my kind of event."

"Ah, you stayed for the lady," Mr. Cook guessed correctly.

"Yes, I did," Eli admitted, then emptied his glass of brandy. "But everyone seems to speak of her, and I wish to speak of something else."

"What do they say about her?" he asked.

Eli sighed and looked at the man, but he looked genuinely interested. So despite not wanting to speak or think more of Mary, he said: "nothing much. Mere guessing and making fun of me."

"They think you like her."

He did not even say it as a question. Why did a man who did not know Eli, believe he liked her? Had he spoken of her so much that even a stranger thought that?

Mr. Cook took a sip of his drink. "I have already told you this before, but lady Mary is not a lady for you. She is of a different status."

"Yes, but she is not bothered by that," Eli argued.

"Is she truly not, or does she only tell you that?"

Eli shook his head. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"What if she likes you too?" Mr. Cook asked. "But she knows she is a lady, and she knows a mere man would not admit his love for a lady."

"I am not in love with-"

"Allow me to finish," he interrupted kindly. Eli sighed and ordered another drink, before he nodded to the man.

"Mayhap she tells you she does not feel like being a lady," Mr. Cook continued, "so that you would not hold back. And if she has you by her side, she will feel strong enough to defeat her mother's wishes of marrying a lord."

Eli shook his head. "Mary is not like that," he said, but doubted his own words. Did he truly know Mary? He did not even know her family. True, he knew their names, but he had never met them. Mary could say of them whatever she wanted, it did not mean it was the truth.

What if lady Anne was truly the person she ought to fear, because she would hate the man without title for whom her daughter was falling.

Twas only now that Eli realized he only knew easily proven facts about Mary's family. She had never told him anything about their personality or their way of thinking. Mayhap the Bromptons were indeed more strict than Mary led him to believe, and Eli did not belong in a family like that.

He had seen Mary easily lie to his parents about how she met Ada. Was the lady doing the same to him when she was speaking?

"I do not want to chase you away from her," Mr. Cook said, "but I know what it is like to not be loved by your family-in-law. I have an arranged marriage, and it does not go well. My family-in-law started hating me, and even my wife turned against me." He looked Eli sternly in the eye. "You do not want to marry someone whose family does not like you. And I am certain a noble family does not appreciate a mere man."