When Maxine opened her eyes again, the pain was there, but so was her husband as he was when she first regained consciousness. But this time she knew that to prevent another high dose of laudanum was to bear the agony.

She swallowed and her voice croaked when she tried to catch Maxwell's attention. "Max."

His head was bent, his eyes blankly staring at her hand in his.

"Max," she called again and quietly groaned when he did not move. "Are you sleeping with your eyes open again?" she managed to jest through a heavy breath.

At that moment, he did snap from his reverie and his eyes rounded with relief when their eyes met.

She would have thought he meant to pounce on her, but he did not. He moved closer to the side of the bed and hovered over her, searching her face with frantic eyes, gauging the pain. Maxine managed a faint smile as he said, "Maxie."

"Dare not ask for forgiveness," she croaked with warning. "There is none to give. But I would ask for some water, please."

He immediately jumped to get her a glass of water which he very carefully guided to her lips. She took a few sips before she shook her head and settled it back into the pillow.

Maxwell hovered over her again and his eyes were glimmering with tears.

His nose flared and for the first time Maxine witnessed Maxwell crying. Something clenched in her heart. She lifted her hand and he held it to his face as he continued to sob, his forehead against hers.

"You might not be able to walk again, love," he brokenly whispered.

Maxine chuckled, not because of the horrible news, but by her husband's utter honesty. "At the very least we are done with the bad news," she lightly said, closing her eyes to ignore the pain.

Maxwell sniffed and leaned away from her. He wiped his eyes with the pad of his hand before he forced a smile on his lips. "I did tell them you would not mind."

Maxine laughed this time, but the pain was starting to get irritatingly immense. "I am both hungry and in pain, Max."

Maxwell cupped her face and gently wiped away the tears from her eyes and rested his cheek against hers. "Which would you wish to address first?" he whispered against her cheek.

"My growling stomach, of course, you fool," she weakly snapped. "But do be quick as I am inclined to request for another dose of laudanum."

He left her side and rang for the maid and returned to her side. The way he looked at her as he brushed her hair off her forehead made Maxine realize how close she must have come to death.

"How is the carriage?" she asked.

"It would take a year's worth of your allowance to repair it," he whispered.

She closed her eyes again. "And the horses?"

"Found in the woods."

She swallowed through the pain. "The wheels broke off."

"Yes."

"Both of them."

"I know, love."

She opened her eyes and found him gazing at her in such tender a manner. He did not care how the accident happened.

"But I would have done something should you have not survived," he added, reading her mind.

Maxine sighed. "Where is the food, Max?"

"On its way," he said, standing up to go to the door to shout down the corridor. "A servant, please!"

Maxine sighed. "Did they cut my leg?" she asked.

He returned to her side just as a maid entered the door, heavily breathing. "A tray of food for my wife, please," he snapped at the servant and the woman immediately left with a nod.

"No, your leg is still attached to you, love," he said and then he started to frown.

"What is it?"

"Did you hit your head?"

"No. I cushioned it with my arms before the impact." She winced. "Glad I did. The carriage sure did roll down the street many times."

His face was serious, no sign that he was amused by her words. "You almost died, Maxie."

Maxine smiled. "But I did not."

He cupped her face and ran his thumb over her cheekbone. "You did not."

"Except my leg."

His jaw tightened.

"What is it you are not telling me?"

"Perhaps you did hit your head," he said with a smile. "You can no longer guess what I am thinking."

"It is the laudanum," she reasoned. "Now, tell me."

"When you are better, love."

"Apart from the pain, Max, I am better."

Her husband sighed. He looked over his shoulder at the door. "What is taking them so long? Are they preparing a feast?"

"Max," Maxine uttered with warning.

He inclined his head toward her again. His emerald green eyes looked straight into hers. "Gustav sent a message."

And he told her about what the western bandits relayed to Alex's father.

He gave her the letter and she read it. Twice. And then once more. Finally, she set it aside. She swallowed and drew in a breath.

When she kept her silence, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

Her lips quirked. "Did you hit your head as well?"

Maxwell narrowed his eyes at her. "Maxie."

She sighed. "Fret not, Max," she assured. When confusion formed on his face, she added, "I never knew her and I am not certain how I must feel. Disappointed, yes, but other than that fact, I cannot say for certain if I could feel the same pain I would should it have happened to my stepmother."

He took her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Maxine swallowed through the pain coming from her leg. "Perhaps knowing the woman who brought me into this world is the biggest deprivation of my life, but it is not comparable to how it might be should I have been deprived of my father, my stepmother and my brothers—and the Everards."

He squeezed her hand once again. "And me."

Maxine chuckled. "And you."

*****

"Are you certain you do not wish to go home to Theobald to recuperate?" Gabriel asked.

"Wickhurst may keep its silence as of now," Samuel added, "and some may sympathize with your accident, but I cannot say the gossips shall cease. It will merely bring you strain, Maxine."

"Stop it, the two of you," Rachel scolded her sons as she smoothed Maxine's bedcovers. "Your sister shall recuperate wherever she wishes."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Merely saying, mother, that that husband of hers did not do a very good job keeping her safe."

"That husband of hers had not had enough proper sleep since your sister's accident," Rachel snapped. She turned to her husband who had been keeping his silence from the other side of the bed. "Tell your sons they have no say on this matter, Eustace."

Eustace tilted his head toward his sons. "Your mother called me by my name, sons," he said. "We all know what it entails."

Maxine chuckled and closed her eyes. "However can I sleep with this clamor?"

"Get out, the two of you," her father ordered. Gabriel and Samuel did as ordered, muttering under their breath.

Rachel bent over her and kissed her forehead. "Rest now, dear."

"Thank you, Mother," she whispered. Rachel straightened and looked at her husband. "Come, darling, let us leave her alone."

"One moment," her father said. Rachel nodded and followed her sons outside.

Maxine turned and gave her father an expectant look.

Eustace Theobald sighed and reached out to pat her cheek. "Your brothers are correct, my dear," he said. "Your husband ought to have locked you safe in a room before he went to Devonshire."

Maxine sighed. "You have learned of Osegod."

His face tightened.

"Father, whoever I would have been married to, I might still have had that accident," she said. "It was not merely because of Osegod's relationship with the Everards, but it is also because I am a Trilby bastard."

Her father shook his head.

"Fret not," she reassured. "They could not harm me more than they did now, could they?"

"You can never be certain."

"I am certain," she said but she did not reveal her plan. She let the silence linger a little while before she added, "I have gained knowledge that she died."

Her father immediately understood. "I am sorry," he uttered.

"Her own family ordered for her be killed."

Eustace's face tightened.

"And I shall not let them do the same thing to me," she promised.

He nodded and cupped her face. "We will always be here for you, Maxine."

"I know."

"I love you. You must know that."

"I know, and I love you too."

He cleared his throat and stood up. "Now, rest before your mother berates me."

Maxine waited until her father exited the room before she reached for the writing articles beside her bed.

It was time to write Amelia Trilby another letter.

*****

"How long will she wear that?" Maxwell asked the doctor.

The man started to speak but it was Doctor Johannes who supplied, "Until the bone has completely healed."

"It will be very heavy," he said, frowning at the leg brace surrounding Maxine's leg.

The old bone doctor opened his mouth to answer but Maxine interrupted by saying, "I have carried your brother's luggage too many times, Max. I am certain this is not as heavy."

Ralph laughed from one corner with Ysabella and Emma. Nicholas scowled at them.

"You will make it in time for the Seymour Ball, Maxine," Ysabella said, clapping her hands together.

Maxwell was still frowning at the brace, ignoring his family. "It had merely been a month since the accident," he said. "Are you certain she is ready?"

"I am," Maxine insisted before the bone doctor could utter a word. "Now, Max, do stop berating the doctors." She turned to both doctors and smiled. "I thank you for everything. I owe you both my life."

"And leg," she heard Emma say from one corner.

"And leg," she added.

"It was very good of you to have curled into a ball when the accident happened," Doctor Johannes said. "It saved your life." He examined Maxine's leg. "You shall have to suffer this brace for quite some time. And you shall have to bear the limp, I am afraid," he added.

Maxine nodded. "I do have a question, doctor."

"Yes, of course, my lady."

"Will I be able to bear a child?"

Ralph and Nicholas cleared their throats and quietly asked the other doctor if he would like tea. They were out the door with Ysabella and Emma before Doctor Johannes gave his answer.

"I believe, yes," he said. "Your injury is only on one limb."

"Thank you, doctor."

When Doctor Johannes left her alone with Maxwell, her husband turned to her. "Were you afraid you will not bear a child?"

Maxine smiled. "Not truly, no." She gave him a wink. "I was more afraid I might not be able to do the act that would bring forth a child. I merely phrased the more proper question."

Her husband's laughter rang around their bedchamber.

*****

Months later, after endless days of therapy and exercises, Doctor Johannes was proven to be correct.

Maxine was relieved of the heavy brace, but her walk was never the same again. She limped for if she attempted to walk straight like a true lady, it triggered pain down her leg.

In the two months that she recuperated, Maxine was glad that they were in Kenward. The place offered the tranquility she needed to focus on her exercises. Her husband had never left her side and had been of great help, guiding her on walks, utterly patient with her pace.

But when she accepted the invitation to the Seymour Ball, he was surprised.

"Why?" she asked with a frown.

He shrugged. "I was afraid you would not wish to be seen in such occasions."

She scoffed. "Why? Because I have a limp?"

He simply shrugged.

"Max, the only acceptance I desire now after everything that I went through is that of our families." She shrugged. "They accepted a bastard. I am quite certain they will accept a limping one."

His lips quirked into a smile. "I do not enjoy the Seymour Ball, Maxie, but I have never been to one with you. Why the bloody hell not?"

She limped toward him and was quite ready to give him a kiss but he turned and walked over to the drawer beside the bed.

"You must have this then," he said, returning to her. In his hand was a plain silver bracelet and hanging around it were blank slots, all of them in different shapes.

"And I assume the emerald pieces match these?" she asked with a smile, examining one very closely.

He shrugged. "I was hoping you would want to learn how to do it."

Her eyes widened. "Assemble jewelry?"

He nodded.

Maxine wound her arms around her husband's neck. "Gladly."

He bent down as he said, "Another pair of hands for extra help."

She chuckled against his lips.

It would be very much later before they could start on her jewelry assembly training as her husband led her to the bed.

*****

Maxine was apparently surprised that she was able to readily and easily grow accustomed to the staring.

All her life she had dreaded this moment and she must say she wasted years doing so.

It was not bad at all.

Or perhaps her family made it possible to bear.

Both women invited Maxine to the public park in Wickhurst before the Seymour ball the other day and Maxine was quite certain it was both to provoke and dare the gossipmongers. Both women openly laughed and talked with Maxine, all three of them very aware that the ladies and their friends were listening. Lady Gedge, the biggest gossipmonger in Wickhurst was the twin's apparent target.

In fact, Ysabella and Emma did not leave her side even until the Seymour Ball and Maxwell had to push them away, saying, "My wife did not die in that carriage, but she sure shall with suffocation from you two."

Wakefield saved his wife from her brother's wrath by asking her to dance. Samuel, who was left alone by Ralph, turned to Emma, saying, "You owe me a dance."

"No, I do not, Samuel."

"Do you remember what I did for you the night Wakefield stopped Ysabella from going to Devonshire?"

Emma groaned.

Samuel gave Maxine a wink before he grandly offered his arm to Emma who sighed and said, "One ought to pay her dues after all. But just one dance, Samuel."

Maxine smiled after her brother and Emma as they joined Wakefield and the other dancers. She turned and found Lady Alice with Margaret and her friends, chattering as though it was naught but an ordinary day.

But for Maxine it was no ordinary day.

No matter how scandalous it had been, this was her first real ball after she came out into society.

She had attended countless of them in the many Theobald weekend parties, but never as a part of it.

The Seymour Ball was amongst the grandest in Wickhurst. It was attended by the most affluent gentries around and she must regretfully admit that she quite liked it.

"Is your leg in pain?" Maxwell asked beside her, his hand going to the small of her back.

"No," she replied, tilting her head up to him with a smile.

"Then we must dance," he said, pulling her toward the center of the ballroom before she could protest.

The small crowd before them parted as they passed, most of them warily staring at Maxine's limping pace. Were they counting the steps she took before her fall?

It was only when they stopped and Maxwell faced her and took her hand in his, pulling her closer by the other hand on her back, did Maxine realize he was showing everyone that he was with her. And that she was his wife. And that she limped. And that he did not care.

After some time, they escaped to the gardens to escape the crowd. As they walked, she looked up at him and asked, "What did you decide to do with Osegod?"

He nonchalantly looked around them, giving Maxine a chance to revel at his beauty. He was hers, she thought with pride.

"Benedict had formally sent the man the answer and it is a no," he said. "The Everards will remain Everards. Osegod is not our business as Margaret has pointed out. But we have given him a subtle warning that should any of the Everards begin to meet unusual accidents in the future, we would call on the Town Guards to launch a very open investigation, one that shall be thoroughly published on the Herald every day."

He took her hand in his and clasped them together as they walked. "Are you quite certain your letter to Amelia Trilby would be deemed effective?"

Maxine smiled. "Very much so."

*****

Dear Amelia,

I regret to say that I have you to blame for my accident. Should you find yourself innocent, please bother not to relay it to me for I shall have none of it.

I merely wish that you stay out of my life as you did from the moment I was born.

And I would appreciate it very much if my family and I, the Theobalds and the Everards, will no longer have any sort of accident of your orchestration, directly or not.

But should you opt to continue with whatever plans you may be concocting, know that an entire village of bandits is witness to the horrible act your family did to one of your own.

I never grew up into your family and do not wish for anything more. I have asked my brothers to do their best to make it certain that the townspeople do not discover the truth of my connection to your family. In return to this, I hope that you keep your silence and your hands off us all.

My silence will remain, but should anything happen, know that my husband's attorneys shall be inclined to set into action with written testaments from everyone who knows you. That includes my father.

A woman who is your blood but never yours,

Maxine Theobald-Everard

Amelia delicately folded the letter and placed it on her desk just as Osegod strode into the room, face fuming with fury.

"They refused!"

Amelia calmly stared at the angry handsome man before her. He had aged well, but it seemed that only his features did. His brain remained at the state it was in decades ago.

"And I can no longer threaten them. It is too bloody dangerous."

"I agree, Alan," she said, nodding her head.

He let out a heavy breath. "I have always thought they would do the same as the others."

"But they did not and you must accept it."

He paced before her table. "We have to let them believe they are safe for now. We must find a way to get to them like the others."

"I am afraid my ace has been injured and now refuses to help, thank you very much to your genius plan."

But Osegod was not listening. He kept pacing and talking. "You must find someone else to be a part of them. That bloody bastard niece of yours was useless to start with." He stopped and stared into her dark eyes. "I must know their secrets." He planted his hands flat on Amelia's table as he hovered over her. "One of them is on to me. One of them knows about that whore and the child. If the people and my peers learn that I have fathered a cretin, Amelia, my life is over. And so is yours." He pushed away in fury, running his hands through his hair. "They will never vote for me again. And that brother of yours will lose his seat amongst the Leaders before he could even run for another term." He pointed a finger at her. "I want to know what the Everards know."

Amelia nodded. "I will do it."

Osegod shook his head. "That niece of yours could have done us good if you merely played her correctly."

Amelia sighed. "It is better to have someone who has always been a Trilby to be part of the Everards, not some bastard who shares our blood but never ours." She smiled at Osegod. "Fret not, Alan, I have one in mind."

Osegod nodded. "You ought to for I will not let one rich, spoiled family from Wickhurst ruin my life!" And without another word he left as fast as he came, leaving the door open.

Vega walked in and her niece sat on the chaise by the window. Amelia watched the beautiful woman look out to see Osegod leaving the estate and climbing into his carriage.

"I wonder if we are doing the right thing helping that horrid creature rise to power," Vega said before she turned to meet Amelia's eyes from across the room. Her niece stood up, her golden dress sashaying along with her. "This can lead the Trilbys into so much trouble should Osegod be found out and the League learns of our secrets."

Amelia offered her niece a smile. "Fret not, Vega, dear," she said as she clasped her hands together. "Fret not about Osegod for I have him in the tips of my fingers like a humble, obedient dog. Like a wooden puppet that is not aware it is one and who believes the hands holding the strings are its friends. He simply is not aware of it just yet. And it shall be that way for now." She stood up locked her arm around Vega's, leading the young woman out of the study. "Once Noah takes over the Leaders, Osegod shall have his well-deserved respite, as your grandfather used to say. He does look tired with each passing day, does he not?"

"But he shall not have it should the moment come, Auntie. He will fight against you if he can," Vega pointed out. "He is as hungry for power and success as everyone else."

"But power and success merely comes to those who are no fools, my dear," Amelia contradicted. "An arrogant fool never knows the extent of his success until he realizes the height of his fall." They walked out of the study. "And believe me, my dear, Osegod shall fall. Someday. As to us," she gave her niece an alarming smile, "we are not fools, are we?"