Her room had become boring and dreary. For a few weeks now, she had been seeing the same walls, the same ceiling and the same floor. The same chamber with the same furniture, and the same feeling inside her.

Incomprehension and pain.

She had repeated Eli's words in her head many times, and never did they make her feel better. Nor did they answer the questions she had in her head.

Why would he say those words? Why did he want her to leave? Had he meant to hurt her? Had he spoken the truth? What had convinced him to shut her out now?

Why was he thinking of marriage?

She shook her head. The last question was not one she ought to be bothered with now – although she could not deny she was.

Mayhap she ought to talk about it, Mary figured. Mayhap lady Anne could advise her with her many years of life experience.

Once she had made up her mind, she exited her bedchamber – something she lately only did to eat and wash – and walked toward the sitting room. As she opened the door, she started: "mothe-"

She trailed off, for lady Anne was not in the sitting room. With a sigh, she closed the door and walked to the parlour. Mayhap her mother liked those coaches more.

"Mothe-" she started again as she opened the door, but trailed off when she saw lady Anne in the company of Mary's sister. "Elizabeth!"

"Mary," lady Anne said with a smile, "I was just about to call for you. Your sister decided to visit."

"Yes, I can see that," Mary said, then walked to her sister to give her a hug. "It is good to see you here, at home."

"I must admit I have missed it," she responded. "But then, so much has changed that even if I was still living here, it would not be the same anymore."

"That is true," Mary admitted with a sad feeling. Everything had changed indeed. And sometimes she missed the way things used to be.

But when she saw her siblings happy with their spouse and children, she knew that although so much had changed, it had changed for the better.

"We were just talking about you," Elizabeth admitted once she sat back down on the coach.

"You were?" Mary asked, taking a seat next to her.

Elizabeth gave her a pity smile. "Mother just told me of what Eli Byron did."

Mary looked up surprised at her mother. "How do you know what happened with Eli Byron?"

The woman bit her lip, but eventually admitted: "Adelaide told me. She was worried about you."

That explained why lady Anne allowed her to be in her room the entire day without questioning anything. Mary had expected every day that the woman would come in like Adelaide did, and ask her why she was crying. But her mother had never knocked on her door, nor had she asked anything during dinner.

Mary sighed, but inside, she was happy Adelaide had told her mother. Now she did not have to do so anymore, and she could get straight to the point.

"I do not understand it," she said. "Have I done something wrong? Did I say something to upset him so much that he does not want to see me anymore?"

"He is a man," Elizabeth sighed. "We will never be certain how their mind works."

"Do not think that Eli Byron is like William, dear Elizabeth," lady Anne said. "The man is as straight forward as it gets."

"Well, then mayhap William ought to learn from him."

"For some reason," Mary said, pulling her family's attention back to the matter at hand, "he believes that because I am a lady and he is no lord, I should not spend time with him."

"Well, that is absurd," lady Anne said, but then she brought her finger to her lip. "Although also very wise, for most ladies would not wish to marry someone without title."

Mary noticed that her mother too was speaking of marriage, but she decided it was better to ignore it. Mayhap is was she who heard what she wanted to hear.

"But I do not understand why Eli would suddenly think that. He has never said anything similar before."

Elizabeth lifted her hands off her big belly. "I have learned that men do not do well with subtlety. If you wish to know something of him, you ought to ask him without beating about the bush."

"Well," lady Anne said with her eyes intent on Mary, "then I know what you must do."

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A few minutes after lady Anne's heroic words, the carriage stopped in front of the Byron house. Mary did not wait for the driver to open the door and stepped out of the carriage.

Her hands were shaking. She was nervous, though she did not know why. Was it because she might have to say three important words to him so that he is convinced she does not mind his reputation? Or was it because she feared another rejection?

She shook her head and took a deep breath. Twas now or never. Tell him the truth and convince him, or lose him forever.

She slowly walked toward the staircase, and while she was ascending the steps, the front door suddenly opened. An tall, angry looking man appeared, and Mary wished she could say she had never seen him before.

But his brown hair, his green eyes, thick eyebrows and long nose were features she would recognize everywhere. And every time she saw them – in her memory or in reality – she would stiffen like she was doing now.

What was he doing here?

Before she could say anything – like say his name in surprise – he started running forward, his eyes big and fearful. She followed him with her eyes, too startled by the sight of him to move when his hand raised it and pushed her shoulder in passing.

She felt fear clench her heart while she realized she was falling backward, head first toward the stairs.

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A stabbing head ache was the first thing Mary became aware of.

Her head hurt like something hard had hit it. And the rest of her body felt sore like she had been running all day long.

But underneath her, she did not feel the hard ground. No, it felt soft and warm. And safe.

So she dared to open her eyes. There was a bright light in the room that hurt her eyes, but slowly she got used to it and the pain ebbed away. Finally she was able to look around.

She recognized the room. The big window showing a green garden, a small desk in the corner of the room, a wardrobe in the other. The bed with four posters she was laying in was familiar, yet she could not say where she recognized it from.

"Mary," a voice softly spoke. She turned her head to look at the chair that was placed next to the bed. Eli was sitting on it, looking at her with his beautiful brown eyes, his expression worried, yet he was smiling.

She returned the smile. "Eli," she spoke, hearing her voice was weaker than she meant for it to sound.

He lifted his hand and caressed the top of her head. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," she admitted. Then she closed her eyes and thought of why her head hurt. What had happened?

With a gasp, the memory came back of the tall man at the front door of the Byron house. Startled, she sat up straight, but then immediately reached for her head. The quick movement made her feel like something had exploded in her brain.

"Careful," Eli warned her. He moved to sit on the bed and laid his hand on her forehead. "You feel warm. You should rest some more."

"No," she said, and started shaking her head. But she quickly stopped that, for that movement too hurt her head. "No, that man."

"Mr. Cook?" Eli asked. "Do you know him?"

Mary's eyed widened at the use of the name Cook. If she could, she would stand up and find that man so that she could choke him with her own hands!

"He is not Mr. Cook," she told him with hate in her voice. "That is my brother, Arthur."

"What?!" Eli brough out. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen open. He did not move anymore, just stared at her.

"The Cook family is who is murdered so that he could take their name and estate," she explained, her anger directed at the man not present. "What was he doing here?"

"He, er..." Eli stuttered. "I invited him. But I thought he was a friend. He gave me advice about... about you."

Mary stiffened. "Me?" she asked. "What did he say about me?"

"That you..." he swallowed and looked down at his hands. "That you would never want to marry a man who is no lord."

"That bastard!" she brought out. She remembered how Thomas had told her and her mother that Arthur's goal was to take revenge on his family by taking away everyone they held dear. He wanted his brothers and sisters to feel the same he felt when he was banished and disowned by his own family. And he had found out that the best way to hurt someone, was by hurting their loved ones.

So that was why Arthur befriended Eli – because the bastard had realized how much Eli meant to Mary. By becoming friends, he could influence Eli's thinking of Mary and chase him away from her.

Now he certainly deserved to be killed!

"Everything he said," Eli softly said, "it was untrue?"

She took his hand in hers and searched for his look. "I do not know what he has said. I did not even know he was in London. But I do know that all he means is to harm us. Take revenge on the way we treated him all those years ago."

"But what do I have to do with that?" he rightfully asked.

Mary pursed her lips. She did not want to tell him he had been used, that he had merely been a puppet to Arthur. But she also did not want to lie. It might be difficult, but twas better to know the hard truth than a sweet lie.

"If you would leave me," she carefully told him, "then I would be hurt. And Arthur would get what he wants."

There was a silence while Eli seemed to take in her words. His eyes were still looking down at his hands, but she could see the sadness in his eyes. It took him a while to finally conclude: "he played me."

"And he failed," she said, then added: "I hope."

His head shot up, and though his eyes looked close to crying, there was a smile playing on his lips. "He certainly did."

A warm feeling spread across Mary's body, starting in her heart. She was happy with his words – and relieved – but she still had a few questions.

"Was it because of him that you sent me away?"

He bit his lip and nodded his head. "He made me believe things..." He swallowed. "I am not proud of it."

She squeezed the hand she was holding, and gave him a smile. Then she asked: "what did he say to make you believe him?"

He shrugged. "It all sounded true. He said he knew you and your family enough to make judgements, and it sounded like he was genuine."

"But what words did he use?" she wanted to know. It might give her an insight on which words convince Eli to push her away. If she knew that, she knew what he cared about.

"He said that you should not be around me. That I waste your time while lord wish to speak to you and gain your attention."

She scoffed. "You belittle yourself too much. You are not just a man."

"But I am no lord either," he said, meeting her eyes. "I am merely known because my father is."

He was still doubting about his connection with her, Mary realized. He still did not know if she truly did not care for her title as lady. So she reassured him with the words: "I am merely a lady because my father was a lord. And even though he passed, people still call me a lady, though I carry no title."

"But you are family of lords and ladies," he argued.

"That does not make me a lady. Also, I do not want to be one, for it limits one's freedom. I would prefer to be a mere woman like you are a mere man."

Eli shook his head. "But you deserve so much more."

"What I deserve, is happiness, is it not? And even if it is a mere man who is able to give that to me, is that not much better than a rich man who does not even like me?"

"But what about your family?" he asked.

Mary was relieved that he did not doubt her anymore, but she hoped it would be easier to convince him of her family's believes than it had been of hers. So she laughed and shook her head. "Do not worry about my family. They take in even the oddest of people."

Eli scoffed. "I am odd?"

"If you like me, then yes, you are."

He frowned. "Who says I like you?"

Before Mary could even looked shocked, Eli could not hold back his laughter. Relieved, she laughed along. And as she listened to the great sound of his happiness, she realized what he meant with his last words.

He liked her.