Eli looked at her with his eyebrows raised. Obviously he had not expected this. But that only made it better for Mary. Surprise was a good distraction, which gave her more chance to win.

When she realized he would not step inside, she did. Twas not common for a woman to enter the gambling room, but the men inside were too preoccupied with their game, that only a few heads turned.

She felt a hand go around her arm to pull her back. "You should not be in here," Eli told her sternly.

Mary shrugged. "You will not win so easily."

"I am not jesting, Mary. This is a room for men. Ladies should not be in here."

She turned her head toward him. "I appreciate you concern, but I have done this before. There is a table in the corner of the room where we can play without attracting too many eyes.

Eli did not seem convince, but Mary pulled her arm out of his grip and walked toward the table. He followed her, but he looked very uncomfortable. It made Mary doubt if he was uncomfortable to be in a man's room with a woman, or because he was the only man with a lower status.

She ignored her wondering and went sitting down. Eli came to sit in front of her. Avoiding his eyes, she took the deck of cards and started shuffling them.

"We shall play whist until one of us scores fifteen points," she announced, then started dealing the cards.

"Then you shall be sad I am not drunk," Eli said as he took the cards in front of them. Mary placed the left over cards to the side and turned the top one so that they could see the card. Then she took her own cards and looked at them.

"No, I am glad you are sober," she told him. "That way it will be even more embarrassing when you lose."

He scoffed, but did not react. Then, without agreement, he laid down a card on the table. "I do not live by the "women first"-rule."

"That is alright," she told him as she laid down a better card than his. "At least now, you will have laid down one card."

The winner took the cards and the top card on the deck, leaving Eli with the card underneath. Then she was allowed to lay down the first card.

"Do you often play cards?" Eli asked her. Mary assumed she was a better player than he had expected, for he was losing most of the games.

"I have two brothers and a tough sister," she responded. "I have probably played it more than you."

He laid down a card, Mary bettered it and took another win.

"You do not know that," Eli said, but he did not sound very convincing.

"I do not think Ada is the kind of woman to play card games," Mary said with a shrug while she laid down a card. "And I do not think Ada is very different from her sisters, thus I conclude they do not play card games either." Eli topped the card and took the win. But the winning card was low, so she was happy she lost. "And you never speak of your other two brothers, so I assume you do not like them very much, thus you do not play card games with them either."

"Or any game for that matter," he said, laying down a card. "Jim and Lee are annoying, and I avoid them as much as I can." Mary laid down a better card and took the win. "But I play with friends in pubs."

"And then you lose," Mary concluded, wining the last card of the deck.

"Or I pretend in the first round so that the winner will play easier." He laid down a card, which Mary easily better and won.

"You should never tell your strategy," Mary told him. "Unless it is untrue."

Mary won the first round of the game, but they had to play multiple rounds before one of them reached fifteen points. At first, Mary had more points than Eli, but his luck seemed to come back at the end of the game. When she had thirteen points, he won two points, scoring him at thirteen as well.

"This is getting rather exciting," Eli said. "Mayhap the winner should get more than just the win."

"Or the loser gets a consequence," Mary suggested.

"Did you have anything in mind?" He eyed her challenging and his tone was seductive. Whatever he had in mind, Mary did not want to know it.

She thought about his question for a while, until she found a consequence she found was perfect him. "Whoever wins may create a drink for the loser."

"You want to get drunk?" Eli said with a glimmer in his eyes and a wide smile on his lips.

She shook her head. "No one gets drunk from just one drink. No, whoever wins may create a drink with any flavour he can find in the house."

Eli's smile did not disappear. "I cannot wait for you to try the most disgusting combination ever."

"I love your confident," Mary told him. "That will make your defeat even more pleasant."

He stuck out his tongue, then laid his first card on the table. "Then you first ought to beat me."

Mary laid a card on the table that was better than his. "You make it easy."

With a sigh, he watched as she took the cards, then placed a new one in the middle of the table.

"Since I am invading your life as high class lady, I wish to invade all of you," Eli said. Mary startled at his last words, but what she had in mind was apperently not what he meant. "Tell me about your high class family."

"We do not behave like a high class family," she told him.

"Are your brothers and sister not all lords and ladies?"

"Yes," she said while laying down a card on the table. "But that does not mean we behave like it."

"Then tell me about them."

She shrugged. "What is there to say? Andrew is the oldest, he is the lord of Duncan. He married Victoria, lady of Blackburn, seven years ago, and they have two children."

"Only two?" Eli asked. Mary understood the question, for seven years was a long time for only two children if you knew that most people had four to six children. But Mary knew they had not planned on having only two children. In fact, she was fairly certain they both wanted more children, but neither of them wanted to bring Victoria's life in danger by doing so.

So she shrugged and said: "they had complications." She did not feel like she was at liberty to say more about it, for it was not her story to share – not that it was a story to be shared. Luckily, he did not ask about it.

"And the lady of Hawthorne?" he asked.

"Elizabeth?" she asked surprised, but then remembered her sister had said she had seen Eli outside lord Byron's theatre office. "She married William, the lord of Hawthorne eight years ago. They have three children."

"Your family does not seem to want a lot of children," Eli said.

Mary shook her head. "They do – just look at Thomas and Madilyn. But Elizabeth too had some complications. Though they seem to be over now, for Henry and Evan are only two years apart."

"Your sister looks a lot like you," he noted.

"Mayhap she looks similar," Mary told him, laying another card on the table, "but our characters are the opposite."

"True," Eli agreed. "Lady Hawthorne frightens me while you do not."

Mary could not stop the sudden outburst of laughter that escaped her. "She frightens you?"

"Yes," Eli answered, laying a lower card on top of Mary's. "I met her outside my father's theatre study, and she was very intimidating."

"How so?" Mary asked as she took the last card of the deck. Now they had to play against each other until all their cards are gone.

"She seemed a little too curious when I mentioned your name."

"Yes, that is the way my family works," Mary answered, taking the cards in the middle and placing a new one. "They are too curious."

"Why was she in the theatre?" he asked, laying a card on Mary's, then taking the two cards and laying a new one down.

"She works there voluntary," Mary answered as she laid a card down, then took both of them. They both had only two card left.

"Why would a lady want to work voluntary at a theatre?"

"Because she is quite obsessed with the theatre."

She laid one of the two cards in her hand down on the table, Eli did not top it. Claiming both cards, she laid her last one on the table. Again, he did not better it. She took the two cards, and then the counting started. She looked at Eli, hopeful for her win.

"How many points do you have?" he asked.

"You first," she said and looked at his cards.

"One," he admitted. "You?"

"Two," she said with a smile. "Which means I reach fifteen."

He bit his lip, something he seemed to do every time he tried not to be angry. Mary's smile widened at the sight of his defeated face, and longed for the sight of his face when drinking what she had in mind.

With a meaningful look, she stood up and walked out of the room and toward the bar. She heard Eli's footsteps following her, but he did not say anything. O how it must hurt his ego to have lost a card game from a girl.

She walked inside the bar and ignored the bar man who was serving drinks. She took a few bottles out the cupboards on the back wall and poured bits of them inside an empty glass. When the colour of the liquid had an odd brown colour, she moved it closer to him. She did not have to ell him anything. She just raised her eyebrows, and he understood.

He took a deep breath before his hand slowly moved to the glass. He looked at her, and she nodded at him. This was going to be fun.

She saw him swallow before he brought the glass to his lips. He did not drink it yet, but looked at the liquid.

"Do I have to drink the entire glass?" he asked unsure.

"All of it," she answered. The fear in his eyes was great to see for Mary. She did not regret making up the consequence for the loser. This was far better than merely winning the bet.

"Please prepare some water," he said. She laughed at his order, but did what he asked. Once he saw the glass of water at the ready for him, he brought the glass back to his lips. Then he swallowed one more time before moving his head backward and downing the drink.

Quickly he moved his head back forward and swallowed the drink. His face was contorted, and it was the greatest thing Mary had ever seen. Obviously it was disgusting, but for her it was pure joy. Seeing a man who thought himself to be though while having a contorted face because of a drink, was amazing to watch.

She could not hold back her laughter at the sight of him, but he did not seem to find it funny. He seemed eager to spit out the liquid, but did not.

"That is disgusting!" he said, his face still not having its normal look.

The statement made Mary laugh even harder, but she managed to say: "you must drink it all."

He nodded, but it seemed more like he tried to convince himself instead of tell her she was correct. Quicker than his first sip, he downed the rest of the glass in only three swallows, after which he shook his head as if the taste in his mouth would disappear.

Without looking at Mary – who had tears in her eyes from laughing – he took the glass of water and emptied it as fast as he had taken his last three swallows of the liquid.

"Bleh!" he said, expression the truly disgusting flavour that would probably remain in his mouth for a few more hours. "That was absolutely disgusting. I am never drinking that again!"

Mary wiped away the tears and tried to stop laughing, but it was quite hard. Never had she been so amused when watching a man drink alcohol.

"I need something stronger to lose the taste," he said and started walking toward the cupboards. Mary stopped him, filled the empty glass with water and gave it to him. He shared a look with her, question obviously displayed there. But seeing Mary would not budge, he took the glass and drank it all. Then he handed it back and moved his head to the bottle of water.

Mary understood what he meant and filled the glass again before handing it back to him. He emptied it again, and finally was fulfilled.

"Now I need fresh air," he said. Without waiting for Mary to answer, he turned and walked out of the bar. She followed him through the hallway and realized he did not know where he was going. She gave him a push so that he turned in the right direction.

As they were walking, Mary was happy he had not asked why she did not allow him to drink alcohol when he claimed he needed something stronger to down the flavour. She had her reason for it, but she was not friendly enough with him to tell him such a story. But if he asked, she did not know if she would be able to tell him a lie.

But what she also realized, was that she was not the only one who was holding something back. Eli had said that he was a bad gambler and that he owed Mr. Jenkins money – the reason why the man beat him up.

Mary might have won the bet, but she could not deny Eli was a good player. Too good to owe someone money. His story about Mr. Jenkins was humbug.

She assumed that just like she, he had a reason not to tell her the truth – or the entire truth. She would not ask for it, for she did not want to admit her demons. But it did render her curious.

Finally, after a few more pushes, Eli had found the door to the garden. The night had already fallen and the air was colder than during the day, but twas still warm. Warm enough not to need a coat.

She walked next to Eli and looked at him. "Now that you have invade me, allow me to invade you," she said, ignoring the double meaning behind the expression. "Tell me about your family."

He looked at her and nodded. "You already know my sister, Ada. There-"

"And Ivy," she interrupted.

"You met Ivy?" he asked surprised.

She shrugged. "She was at the market with Ada."

"Ah, of course. I assume you have befriended her too."

"I have only met her once," Mary argued. Not that her argument was a good one, for she was certain she could make friends with just one meeting. Was Eli not a good example of that?

"Ivy is the only Byron who is engaged," he told her. "To Benjamin Jones."

"Wait. Is Ivy the oldest?"

Eli laughed, then shook his head. "No, Ada is. Just a few minutes, though. Ivy is two years younger than us. But mentally she is the most adult of us all."

"And the other twin? Jim and Lee?" she remembered.

"They are twenty and the most annoying. So let us not talk of them. The youngest is Cora. She is only eighteen, but takes after Ivy. I am certain she will soon find herself a husband too. She-"

"Mary!" Startled, Mary turned around to find Grace running toward her. Twas quite unladylike to see her lifting her skirts and not trying to fall over it, but Mary would have done the same. She walked closer to her friend, hoping it would distract her friend from Eli.

"What are you doing here?" Grace asked. Mary assumed she referred to the garden, for that was the place where a lot of things happened that should not be known – like meeting lovers or forbidden sweethearts.

"I needed some fresh air," Mary lied. She saw Grace look over her shoulder at Eli, so she distracted her friend. "Why are you here? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing happened," Grace said, her eyes turning back to Mary and seemingly forgetting Eli was there. "But you should not be here. You ought to be in the ballroom, dancing with Joseph."

"I can chose who I dance with, Grace," Mary said, angry at the reminder of her pretend love interest. "But like I said, I needed some fresh air. Twas too crowded inside."

"I believe you have had enough time to catch a breath now. Come back inside or I will fetch your brother."

Every word she spoke made Mary angrier at her friend, but she did not know where the feeling came from. Was it because she truly did not want to dance with Joseph, or was it because she preferred to be with Eli?

She decided not to wonder about that too much, for she feared the answer might be both. "You do not have to fetch Andrew. I shall be inside soon."

Grace looked at Eli again, then nodded. "You should."

Without another word spoken, the lady turned around and ran back inside. Mary sighed and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down, before she turned around to Eli.

"I would seem I ought to fear your brother more than your sister," he commented.

Mary laughed, and she felt the anger wash away as the moment suddenly got lighter. "You should not fear my sister or my brothers. The only person you ought to fear, is my mother."

"That woman?" he asked, pointing inside the house. She looked at what he was looking at. Twas lady Anne indeed, but also Grace. The latter was whispering something in lady Anne's ear, making them both turn their head to Mary.

"She looks so kind," Eli said.

But Mary did not find it funny. She appreciated that he tried to make light of the situation, but it would not work. If lady Anne heard how long Mary had been away from the ballroom, she would come to fetch her personally. And if she then saw Eli, she would demand an explanation. Mary was not certain which one she should give: the truth or a lie. So it was better to avoid the dilemma.

"Looks can be deceiving," she said with a sigh. "But I am afraid it is my time to leave you. My mother will soon come, and tis better if she did not see me talking to a man without chaperone."

"Of course," he said. "I understand. It is best if I leave for home. I do not want my parents to find my bedchamber empty."

Mary nodded. "Then I shall be waiting for you next bet."

"Be prepared," he told her. Then bowed. She curtsied, then turned around and ran to the house. Lady Anne and Grace saw her coming and they quickly parted. Grace walked toward her brother, while lady Anne walked toward her daughter.

"Who was that man you were talking to?" she asked when Mary was close enough.

"Er, no one special," she said. "He merely asked for directions."

"I appreciate your kindness, Mary, but you should not be in the gardens alone," lady Anne argued.

"I told Grace that I needed some fresh air. Has she not told you that?"

"She has," her mother said, "but you should have asked Joseph to accompany you."

She supressed a sigh and nodded. "Of course, Mother."

"Tis not like you ought to do everything with him, of course," she said while she led Mary inside the ballroom. "But if you dally with other men, your love for him will not be obvious."

She opened her mouth to argue, but quickly closed it again. She did not want to admit her lie, but she also hated making her mother believe something untrue. It made her feel disappointed with herself.

She comforted herself by promising that soon she would tell. She would have to, for if Joseph ever proposed, she would tell him no.