Eli was hiding in his bedchamber. Twas not like he avoiding anyone. He merely had to live up to the lie he had created after he had come home from the cricket game with Mary. Together with Mary, he was able to convince his parents he had stayed in his chamber the entire afternoon. And when they came looking for him, he was stretching his legs by walking around the house.

Though they did not truly believe the story, they had not reason to suspect he was lying. And thus he had been able to spend that afternoon outside the house without being punished for breaking the rules. O how great life was.

The door suddenly opened and Ada entered. "You have received a letter," she said, handing him the paper she was holding. His name was written on it in an elegant handwriting.

"Well," Ada said, "will you not open it?"

He looked at his sister as she took a seat on the chair and moved her eyes expectantly to him. She raised her eyebrow, as if asking why he was waiting.

With a sigh, he opened the paper. Inside it was another letter, but he laid it next to him on the bed and read the letter first. Twas written in the same elegant handwriting as used on the envelop, and when his eyes travelled to the bottom of the letter, his suspicion was confirmed.

"Tis from Mary," he said.

"Mary?" Ada asked surprised. "What does she say?"

"Not much. Just that my presence is requested for our next challenge."

Ada picked up the letter next to him and opened it, ignoring Eli's resistance. "Tis an invitation to the Morris ball."

Eli snatched the letter out of her hands and read it, confirming that it was indeed an invitation. But he also read that it was an invitation for one.

"I must go," Eli said, leaving no place for doubt.

"What?!" Ada brought out.

He looked at his sister, confidence displayed in his eyes. "If I do not go, I will lose the bet, and I cannot have that."

"But it is tonight," she argued.

"I am certain I have clothing I can wear," he said while he walked to his wardrobe to check.

"I am not worrying about your clothing," Ada said, slamming the wardrobe closed. "You must stay at home, remember. You are punished."

Eli shrugged. "I can sneak out. And you can cover for me. Mama and Papa do not need to know."

"What?!"

"I cannot lose the bet by not showing up," he argued. "She would be too happy."

Ada crossed her arms. "So you would rather win a bet than be honest and kind to your parents?"

"I am not rude if they do not know I lied."

She sighed. "That is not how life works."

"Life only works if you live it. And if I am clocked up in the house, I cannot live it."

"So you will meet Mary and let me carry the consequences if they find out?"

"They will not find out," Eli reassured her, resting his hand on her shoulder. "Not if your lie is convenient enough."

A light started to shine behind her eyes. "So you depend fully on me, then?"

Suspicious of her words, Eli nodded. "Yes. Why?"

"Tis called blackmail, brother. And I shall use it."

His mouth fell open, but Ada was satisfied with it. She opened his wardrobe and took out some clothing. "Of course the lie must be convenient enough for Mama and Papa not to come to your room, nor wonder why you do not join us for diner. So how about you are heartbroken by what you read in the letter, and I am the only one you wish to comfort you?"

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Eli was certain Ada would be convincing. She was the most trustworthy daughter their parents had, so if she told them that Eli had a secret girlfriend who just ended their relationship, they might believe it.

Ada had insinuated that Eli did not go to the ball to win the bet from Mary, but to be with Mary. Obviously that was absurd. Mary was too childish for him, and she was a lady. Even if he would fall for her, he would never be able to pursue anything. She was lady was he was only a man. Even if people thought he was rich because his father was, they forgot he had to split the inheritance with his five other siblings.

But with the way he was behaving now, he did not have to expect a fair share of that inheritance. And even if he did and he would become rich, his father would have to die first. That was not something he was waiting for.

No matter how brutal the man could be in his punishments, Eli loved him. Twas his father, after all. The man who had taught him so many things, who had made him happy and told him about life. He knew he was a disappointment to him sometimes, but he also knew he loved him, no matter how many stupid things he did.

Like sneaking out of the house to attend a ball so that he could win a bet from a lady, while hoping his sister could lie convenient enough to make his parents believe an absurd story.

That was not the perfect scenario - not at all - but it had to do. He was very competitive, and he would not let a woman win - not even a lady. And besides, he-

His thoughts came to an abrupt stop when the carriage arrived at an enormous, in front of which many carriages were waiting to unload their passengers. His eyes kept returning to the huge building, for twas the biggest one he had ever seen before. This was truly a house?!

The horses and the people seemed so small when compared to the yellow bricked building. The windows were probably bigger than the size of one carriage, and the steps to the front door resembled an entire staircase.

Eli closed his awing mouth before the door to his carriage was opened, then exited it. He followed the many fancy lords and ladies to the front door. Looking at them, he felt very out of place. Though there was not a lot of difference in clothing between a man's clean attire and his every day outfit, their posture was much different. Eli did not have the haughty air they had around them.

The Morris ball was obviously more elaborate than the Birmingham ball and the others he had attended. Was a lady like Mary truly invited to chic events like this?

He followed the crowd inside until he arrived at the ballroom. The room was humongous. Giant chandeliers hung from the ceiling and an enormous table with refreshments was placed in one corner. The middle of the room was filled with dancing couples, while other lords and ladies were watching and waiting to take over their place on the dancefloor.

Eli was in awe with everything he saw - from the expensive tiles on the floor to the rare foods on the table and the wide gowns of the ladies. This was truly not a place where Eli belonged. And though he had heard of balls like this, he would never had imagined it to be this extravagant.

After a while of looking around, he found a family of four chocolate brown haired people. He assumed the oldest was the mother, attending the ball with her son and two daughters. To a stranger, they seemed to be fitting in. But when Eli looked at the details, he noticed they were all feeling out of place as much as he did.

The fidgeting of their fingers, the pretended smiles and the longing in their eyes for fresh air were things he felt too. They were all whispering to each other instead of talking to other people at the ball. Eli wished he had someone to whisper to as well. Someone to tell how grant and exaggerated he found this.

He lifted his chin and walked deeper into the ballroom, pretending like he belonged there. He walked in the direction of Mary, but not directly to her. He was not certain what she wanted, but he did not want to be seen by her family. They would ask for introductions, and he would have to admit he was no lord.

Also he recognized lady Hawthorne, who he had seen outside his father's office in the theatre. She probably did not have a good image of him, for his parents had been quite angry with him that day.

So it was easy to conclude that he ought to stay away from them. He walked passed them as subtle as he could, yet looked at Mary. He caught her eye and saw her expression change. She smiled at her family and said something to them - probably a reason to be excused - and then walked toward him. He met her in the corner of the ballroom, where they would be easily ignored by people.

"I believe attending the ball is the not the bet," he told her with his hands behind his back. He hoped that this way, she could not see how nervous he felt.

She gave him a smile. "Although seeing you feeling very uncomfortable is amazing, tis not why you are here. I shall tell you the bet soon, but my mother has forced me to promise a dance with Joseph. So why do you not enjoy yourself at the bar until I am ready?"

Joseph? Who is Joseph?

No bother. It did not matter to him who Joseph was. All he was curious about, was what the bet was. But Mary did not look like she was going to reveal that before she had finished her dance, so Eli nodded. "It might take me a while to find that place, but I shall wait there for you."

"Follow the men," Mary suggested. "Most of them go to the bar. And please, do drink a lot. That will make the bet easier for me." She patted his shoulder while saying those words, then turned around and walked away from him.

Eli was left alone to watch her leave. From this angle, she looked very beautiful, he must admit. She was wearing a night blue gown with a wide collar, allowing Eli to see a big part of her bare shoulders. She was not holding a fan like most ladies were, but she did look like a beautiful, elegant and young woman who was in search of a husband.

He shook his head before his thought took him too far from reality. Then he left the ballroom and followed a few men. Just like Mary had said, they let him straight to the bar.

Even this room was gigantic. How eery and silent was this house when there was no ball? A big chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, but unlike the ballroom, this room had warm and dark colours. Red walls and dark wooden furniture turned the place into a very nice bar.

Twas unlike the pubs Eli would visit. This was loud, yes, but men were not shouting at each other. There were merely too many men to make this room quiet.

Eli took a seat on an empty, small table. Twas against the wall, which made him a bit hidden from the lords, but close to the door so that Mary would easily find him. He ordered a glass of brandy and slowly drank it while looking around.

This was truly not the place for a simple man like Eli. His father might be called a lord, but Eli was glad he was not truly. Spending nights in houses like this, felt like a golden cage. Everything looked pretty and beautiful, but you felt like a prisoner to all the rules.

"May I join you?"

Eli looked up to the man who had said the words. A tall, brown haired man with a long nose was looking down at him. His green eyes were very intense underneath those thick eyebrows, yet they also seemed kind at the same time.

Eli nodded at the man and pointed at the chair in front of him. "Of course. There is no one using the chair, I assume."

The man went sitting down and looked at Eli with a smile. "You look quite out of place. Is this your first ball, perhaps?"

Eli shook his head. "No, I have gone to many balls before. Tis only the first extravagant ball I attend."

"And you quickly find your way to the bar," the man laughed.

"My apologies, but I am afraid I do not know your name."

The man bowed his head. "Vincent," he said. "Vincent Cook."

"Eli Byron," he introduced himself.

A flash of familiarity crossed Mr. Cook's eyes. "The son of lord Byron. I did not know you attended balls like these. Is your father here to?"

"No," Eli admitted, shaking his head. "I was invited by a lady."

"A lady," Mr. Cook said interested. "May I know who this lady is?"

"Mary Brompton," he said with a nod. "Do you know her?"

"I do," the man answered, suddenly less enthusiastic. "She is quite... uptight."

"How do you mean?" Eli asked, truly wondering what the man meant with that. Was Mary not always called childish? Uptight was certainly not a word he would describe her with.

"Not only Mary, of course. But the entire family. They are quite notorious and influential. They are important to the ton, no matter how much they hate them."

"I do not know, honestly," Eli had to admit. "I have only met lady Mary so far. I do not know the rest of the family."

Mr. Cook looked at his hands and swallowed. "You might not like to hear this, but I fear that lady Mary is out of your league. She is a lady, part of a notorious family. But you are only a man. No lord, no title. What could a lady of her standing begin with a man like you? Tis an unlikely pair, even as mere friends."

"I believe you have no say in who lady Mary befriends," Eli argued.

"Of course I do not. But her family does. All their children are lords and ladies. And you may not think that that was coincidental. Their mother, lady Anne, is very keen on the title their children carry. She would never allow lady Mary to marry a mere man."

Though Eli somehow hated the sound of that, he sternly told the man: "I have no intention of taking my friendship with lady Mary further than what it is. There is meaning behind our meetings, and it is not to start a courtship of some kind. I know my place, my lord."

"Of course you do," Mr. Cook quickly said. "I did not mean to imply that you did not. I only want to save your heart from being broken by a lady like lady Mary. She can be quite brutal, I have heard."

"I do not need to protect my heart if I do not intent to give it to her."

"Of course not, sir. My apologies for the inconvenience. I truly did not mean to insult you. I hope you can forgive me."

Eli took a deep breath to calm him down, then nodded at the man. "Yes, of course. My apologies for lashing out at you."

"No worries, sir. I did not take it as an insult. Now if you excuse me, I see my companion has arrived."

After a short bow, Mr. Cook left and Eli was alone once again. He wanted to sort through his thoughts, think of what the man had said, but he did not have the time for it.

"Are you drunk yet?"

He looked up to find Mary standing behind him. "I did not even have time to finish my first drink," he admitted.

"Then drink it quickly. I cannot be away from my family for too long."

Eli gulped down the drink in his glass, then stood up. "Drinking quickly makes one drunk easier. Tis unfortunate for you that I am trained."

"Very unfortunate indeed." Without another word, she turned around and walked through the hallway. She did not look behind if Eli was following, but if he did not, he was certain she would claim the win. So he stayed close.

However Mary knew how to navigate through the building, was a mystery to Eli. Mayhap it was because she had been here many times before, or mayhap she was following the men in front of her. He noticed that the longer they walked, the more she looked over her shoulder.

Eventually, the hallways were more and more empty the further they came. Finally she slowed down and walked toward one door, looking over her shoulder once more.

"Why do you keep looking over your shoulder?" he asked her.

"Because my family cannot see me enter," she opened the door they had neared to reveal what was inside, "the game room."