Mary had been spending all her time inside the house. She dared not go out, for she might miss a letter from Eli.

It had been almost a week since she had last seen him – beat up and crying over the story of his past mistakes.

When he had not send her a letter the day after, she had written one to him, asking how his conversation with Mr. Jenkins had gone.

But a week later, he still had not responded.

She had send him multiple letters, asking him to respond and repeating her question, for mayhap the letter had never reached him.

But he had not responded to any letter.

So yesterday she had sent a letter to Ada. She wrote that Eli seemed to be ignoring her letters, and she did not understand why. Ada responded the same day. She said she also did not say, for he had been hiding in his room the entire week. Not even his twin sister could enter his room.

Whatever was wrong with him, neither women knew. But Ada invited her to come, for she was certain Mary would be able to speak with Eli. And mayhap she might be able to convince him to come out of his room, just like she had convinced him to speak with Mr. Jenkins.

So after luncheon, Mary told her mother she was going to the Byrons, then left as soon as possible. Now that she had a carriage at her disposal, for she did not have to be secretive anymore, it took her only a few minutes to reach the Byron estate.

The carriage had not even come to a standstill, when the front door of the house opened and Ada appeared. She waved at Mary, and she smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes. Mary assumed she was very worried about her brother.

She stepped out of the carriage and walked up the stairs to Ada.

"I am so happy to see you here," her friend told her. "I do not know what has gotten into my brother. Not even Jim and Lee can annoy him enough for him to open his door."

"He does not come out?" Mary asked surprised.

She shook her head. "He only exits his room to eat and wash. He will not even tell me what has happened for him to behave like this. It started when he returned from talking to Mr. Jenkins."

"Did it not went well?" Mary asked, fearing that it may not have. And if that were so, then she was to blame, for she convince him to go to the man.

"I do not know," Ada told her. "He has not said anything about it."

Mary sighed, then followed Ada up the stairs and through the hallway. Twas dark there, since all doors were closed. But her friend knew the way well and guided them both through without trouble. After passing a few doors, Ada stopped and knocked on a door.

"Eli," she shouted through the door. "Mary is here to see you."

There was a long silence, and Mary feared she had just arrived when Eli decided to exit his room. But eventually, his voice spoke: "send her away."

"I will not listen to that order," Mary said before Ada could respond to her brother's petulant statement. "I will only leave once I know what has happened with Mr. Jenkins."

"Nothing happened with Mr. Jenkins," he shouted.

"Then why are you angry?"

Silence.

Though he said nothing happened, Mary was not certain she believed it. Mayhap nothing happened indeed, and that was what was troubling him. But mayhap something did happen and that was the problem.

"I want you to leave, Mary," Eli said, an irritated and angry tone in his voice. But Mary did not listen to it.

"I will not. Tell me what happened with Mr. Jenkins."

There was a rumbling in the room before the door suddenly opened. "Nothing happened with Mr. Jenkins and I want you to leave now!"

She ducked under his arm that was holding the door open and entered his room. She heard him sigh before he threw the door shut.

"What is it you want, Mary? I wish for you to leave."

She ignored his question and asked one of her own instead. "Why are you so angry with me? Did I do something wrong?"

He sighed, then wiped his face like he felt powerless. "Mary, you should not be here. You-"

"Yet I am here," she interrupted. "So start talking, for I am not leaving until I understand why you suddenly hate me."

"I do not hate you!" he shouted like it was instinct.

"Good, then stop being angry." She crossed her arms and looked at him with a challenging look. Only this time she was not pretending to be challenging him. She truly meant to show he could not just break her. She was stronger than that.

"If I ask you kindly to leave, you will not do it."

"And I do now?"

He scoffed and turned his head away. But when she remained in the same position and did not leave, he eventually turned to her. "You are a lady, Mary. And we are not. You should not waste your time with us."

"What?!" Mary said surprised. How could he think that she found being with the Byrons was a waste of time? She loved her time with them, and she thought Eli had the same opinion. So why would he suddenly think it was a waste of time? Was that why he wanted her to leave?

"Eli, what are you talking about?"

He sighed and turned away from her. Mary could not see his face anymore, though she wished she could. What was he thinking? Was he happy with the words he spoke, or did they break him inside?

"You are too old to not be married yet. And when you spend your time with us, you do not give lords the chance to meet you and fall for you."

Mary shook her head, not understanding why Eli would suddenly start speaking of marriage. Did he not have the same thoughts she did? Had she been so wrong when she saw the smiles he gave her?

"Why would you be bothered with my marriage prospects when not even I am worrying about them?"

"You are a lady, Mary. You ought to marry a lord and proceed your family name."

"What?! But-"

"I cannot allow myself to deny you the chance of meeting a lord," he interrupted. "I will not be so selfish to keep you for me, nor will I let people see you in the company of a man with a bad reputation."

"Are you listening to yourself?!" she shouted.

"Yes, Mary. And my decision in a conscious one. You have helped me – a lot – and I am very grateful for it. But this is the moment where our paths divert. You must live your noble life, while I must live with the consequences of my mistakes. And whatever happens, we do not belong in each other's lives."

"What has gotten into you?!" she asked him, getting very angry at the nonsense he was speaking. He wanted her to leave because she was a lady and he was no lord? Since when did that bother him? And why it bother him if she was not bothered by it?

"I have realized that I can never be the man to make you happy. So whether you understand or not, I want you to leave before I ruin your life like I have ruined Emma's."

Mary stiffened. So that was what this was about?

"You worry about doing to me what you have done to Emma," she concluded. "But you must not be. You are a different man then you were back then, and I trust that you-"

"That is the problem, Mary! You trust me, and you should not. I am not a good man, but you have a reputation to uphold. And I-"

"I do not give anything about my reputation!" she shouted. "I do not care about what people say about me – or about you. I want-"

"Stop it, Mary!" he shouted. "You and I should not even know each other. And the stupid bet, I do not want it anymore. You may consider yourself the winner, congratulations. Now leave. Everything is settled."

"Is that what you want?" she asked insulted. "Is that what you truly want? That I leave? Well, if that is the case, then I wish you would have shown the better side of yourself and just asked me to leave. But no, you decided on the coward way. You went back to the stupid man you were before, and if you have to live with your consequences, then so it will be."

She opened the door and walked through it, but then turned to him and said: "you should not worry about my marriage prospects. Let me be the judge of who I love. Just know that the future I had in mind, has suddenly changed completely, because you can only see me like the rest of the world sees me: a rich lady who does not stand up for herself. Thank you very much for the reminder!"

Then, without another word, she slammed the door shut, putting all her anger in that one movement.

And on her way home, she did not have the strength anymore to hold back the tears that were burning behind her eyes from the Eli's first words.

Send her away.

Well, his mission was accomplished, was it not? She was away, and she did not have any intention of ever seeing him again.