She had disappeared and he wanted her back.

A headache began to throb in Jason's temples as the three women who remained began to chatter and exclaim all at once- demanding, outraged, incensed. A litany of problems he had never thought he would have to solve suddenly lingered over Northwick like a dark, foreboding cloud... and there was only one that he wanted to solve above all else at present.

Lord help him.

"Diana, whatever do you mean?" his mother was saying, her arm around her older daughter as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"A divorce," Diana howled, "I want a divorce, I can't abide him a moment longer, mother! He's a... he's made a fool of me!"

Blanche had surprisingly stilled since her sister had entered the study, a worried frown on her face.

"Alright," Jason said, wondering how his father had ever managed this family, and, God rest his soul, Thomas had Jason's antics to curtail when his rakish son had been in his prime. "Will all the problems of the female populace in this chamber kindly line up in an orderly fashion?"

His mother stared at him. "This is hardly a time to be flippant, Jason."

"I am not." He ground his teeth, turning to Blanche suddenly. He had a duty to his family, and he loved them dearly, but right now he wanted to solve these matters as efficiently as possible so he could find Nicola before she fled to London, which she was surely trying to do. In all the probabilities he had thought about when it came to Nicola, that was the last thing he would have predicted her to do. Damn it. "Blanche, out with it. Did Nathaniel compromise you?"

He knew Nathaniel well and though the man was a considerable blackguard at times, Jason hardly conceived him the sort to cross that line with his best friend's sister. His assumption was correct when Blanche blushed guiltily and began to squirm under her brother's probing gaze, Diana's muffled sobs interrupting the pause in conversation. "Well," Blanche mumbled, "no, but-"

"So Nathaniel Southill has not compromised you, yet you wish me to call him out? In an illegal duel, that would possibly injure me before a bullet could be put in that man?"

"Did that beast touch you, Blanche?" Lady Blackwood suddenly registered what was happening between her youngest daughter and her son, horror dawning on her face. "Oh, I knew he was trouble!"

"No, he did not," Blanche said beseechingly, holding up her hands, "but he did leave the ball last night with a very pretty lady. If that doesn't warrant some sort of snub, I will throw a tantrum!"

Jason sighed, rubbing his head again. "Blanche, frankly, it is better you learn about the man now before your infatuation with him goes any further. Nathaniel is not the sort of man you want to be dallying with, trust me on this."

At that, a flash of hurt crossed her eyes but she notched her chin up and folded her arms, shoulders straight. Jason couldn't fault Blanche's strength and pride, even if she was one of the most unstable, mercurial women he had ever had to endure before. "There will not be any dallying," she muttered darkly. "I hate him."

Well, that settled one problem for now, he thought, and Kathleen appeared to mirror his sentiments, the relief on her face blatantly obvious. Which brought him to the next dilemma. "Wilhelmina will not be staying with us," he clipped. "She may visit. Tomorrow. For an hour."

His mother looked at him archly. "And what do you propose to do about Nicola in the interim? Hide her away until Wilhelmina cools off? After your little escapade with your paints last night, boy, time may not be on your side."

"What escapade?" Blanche demanded, glancing between the two of them. "What escapade with Nicola?"

They both ignored her. Jason stared at his mother, surprised. "How did you know- never mind, I don't want to know." He ran his hand through his hair, settling his palm against the coarseness of his jaw and cheek. "Plan's change, mother. Ours will have to be brought forward a couple of days."

"Best you inform her, then. If she is to endure Wilhelmina again, at least that will give her more courage."

"She doesn't need it," Jason mumbled. "I will happily send Wilhelmina to the outskirts of the country if she doesn't see reason tomorrow. The only reason I am tolerating the woman at present is for Nicola's sake, but my patience is wearing thin."

"What is going on?" Blanche demanded again, more frustrated now that she was exempt from information.

Her mother frowned and gave her quick shake of her head. "I'll explain later, Blanche."

Stroking Diana's back as the other woman's sobs subsided somewhat to listen to the transaction between her mother and brother, Kathleen was still looking between each of her children with a concerned air. "What is going on?" Diana sniffled, sinking closer to her mother for comfort. "I don't understand."

"There, there," Kathleen soothed. "Don't fret about that now, why don't you tell us what has happened to upset you so, love?"

Jason listened attentively as Diana explained the events that had led up to her barrelling into his study this afternoon. Apparently, she had received an anonymous letter from a mysterious woman who had been present at the masquerade the night prior and, it just so happens, so was Diana's husband who had then proceeded to organise not one, but two trysts, and several witnesses could account for his adulterous transgressions.

He studied the letter that Diana gave him to read. Though it was not unheard of for husbands to stray, Jason wasn't too pleased with the manner in which Diana was duped. She was hurting and she was his family. "If a divorce is truly want you want, Di," he said at length, tucking the letter into his pocket, "you will have our support."

"Somebody should call him out!" Blanche snarled, incensed at her sister's husband and the hurt she had been caused. She swooped into Diana's other side, burying her small length against her older sibling.

"Jason, truly-"

"Mother, should the threat of a scandal from a divorce take precedence over the pain of your child?" He levelled her with stern look and Kathleen pursed her lips, considering it. "It is Diana's choice. Whatever she decides, she will have my, and her family's, full support. My advice, for now at least, is that she stay on at Northwick for several days. I will send for her belongings and Charlie, and she can make a final decision in her own time, or now if she so chooses." He turned his gaze to Diana, softening at the open heartbreak and shame on her pretty visage. "It is up to you." Although he knew this situation was far from resolved and undoubtedly this wouldn't be the last time he was to handle the problem of Diana and her husband, for now at least matters could rest.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

Jason pushed off the desk, arching his brow at his mother. "Is there anything else?"

"Where are you going?" she demanded as he began to leave the room.

"I am going to stop Miss Eversley from escaping." He cast a meaningful glance over his shoulder. "You may wish to avoid the west wing of the house for the remainder of the afternoon."