A/N: hehe- sorry folks this is the end of baa baa black sheep XD

i hope you guys enjoyed it

Epilogue

Arriving at Uncle Neil's house a day later than expected during the evening, Cain was greeted warmly by his father's cousin. The servants took the bags up to Cain's room (he would be staying a couple of nights), while he was ushered into the dining room.

"Ah uncle," started Cain, as he accepting the starter, tomato soup and fresh bread, "that reminds me, would you accompany me back to the estates? There is a matter I wish to discuss with you and a few others."

"Oh…" Neil appeared to be startled, but recovered well, "of coarse, Cain, it's been a long time since I've seen little Mary-Weather."

Cain chuckled. "I would have brought her along, but her new tutor is settling. I don't think this one will last very long either."

This made Neil laugh as well. "You know your sister to well."

"She is… free spirited."

"Which can only be a good thing…" Neil suddenly looked troubled, his eyes had drifted back to the steaming soup in front of him.

"Uncle Neil… is… anything the matter?" Cain asked tentatively.

There was a moment's paused. "I understand a lady Dylan Sedgewell has been staying with you recently."

Again Cain laughed. "A friend of Mary's from the slums."

Neil looked worried for a moment. "Her family… what do you know of them?"

"Not much. Her father seems distant, her stepmother cares for her a lot, her step-grandmother seemed to hate her, and I know nothing of her biological mother or grandmother, except that her mother is dead. As for her siblings, she has two older brothers, two younger sisters and two younger brothers. Nothing else."

"That's not a lot."

"No," agreed Cain, "but she is not a very public person…"

"I know. She speaks very little at parties, though I was lucky enough to catch her on a talkative day a few months ago, she is very engaging, slaughtered the poor chap who tried to say that the working class should not have the vote."

Cain grinned into his glass of wine. The poor fool. He pitied anyone who tried to cross her. "Why uncle?"

Hesitating again, Neil replied, "you see… I had been doing a few background checks on Delilah… and it appears the Sedgewell name crops up a few times. Though I'm not surprised."

"Why?"

"Alfred Sedgewell, miss Dylan's father went to school with your father and I." Cain's eyes bulged. "The two were very good friends, I remember pranking the higher years and staff for years… always getting away with it too."

"Father and Count Sedgewell… that doesn't make any sense! Father's being trying to get Dylan to join for years, and she despises him."

"It makes a lot of sense… how else would Alexis found out about or to know to get her to join Delilah. There's been mention of her as well, but nothing conclusive. From what I got from the girl, Delilah would mean very little to her, she seemed passionate about her background in the slums."

'More than you know,' Cain thought dryly.

"It's worse than that, Cain," Neil warned, "it seems her stepmother is not all she appears either. There was a time when she and Alexis were involved with one another, though it was never clear… how involved they became. I knew of their contact right up to his supposed death."

The blood from Cain's face drained.

"Further more… her step-grandmother? It was not clear how it happened, but there was a close relationship between her only son and Natalie o'Toole, Dylan's mother. When it ended, we're not sure when, the boy was heart broken, he was never the same after that. I would not be surprised if the woman's hate steamed from that. As such, with her son-in-law and her daughter so closely linked with Alexis, it wouldn't surprising if she knew your father well as well.

"The entire family seems to have been involved with the Hargreaves for a very long time. Up until your father's death."

Cain frowned. "So… what little I know of my little sister's 'friend'… is a lie."

"I'm not saying that. There is just more to the girl than she has ever let on… I don't think she knows half of this."

"But if… if both her parents were involved so closely with my father… could that mean…" his face closed off as he considered the possibility quietly.

"Delilah? With her father being quite prominent… I would not put it past him."

"In that case, Dylan going home may put her in danger."

Neil shook his head. "I don't know, Cain, but this is certainly not the last we have heard from the Sedgewells… something is afoot within that family, and I know you of all people, especially for your sister's sake, will come to the bottom of it."

Cain nodded, subdued, returning to his soup almost silently.

Dylan was in danger, from her family, and possibly from herself. Yet there seemed to be nothing he could do, or would be allowed to do, to help her.

Delilah's arm seemed to reach far and wide across London… he dreaded the though of it reaching any further. Somehow, Delilah's presence felt as though it was over shadowing himself more and more. It was coming. What ever was planned… it was gaining momentum and it was coming.

Alexis stood in the study, leaning again the desk that Dylan had stolen the gun from. It had been over two weeks since she had fled, and still no answers could be found as to how.

Jezebel looked up at his father from the kneeling position at the floor, his long hair trailing on the floor beside him. His mind pondered what the card master was thinking… what would his plan be… his next move.

"Young miss Dylan is a sly character isn't she," Alexis said quietly, examining a piece of paper in his hand, "clever, manipulative and sly… I'm lucky to be immune to such traits… I possess them myself." He chuckled a little. "As does my cursed son…" there was almost a secret smile about his face.

Jezebel's blood ran cold on hearing this. As much as he hated his half brother, his love and care for Dylan over rode such emotions. What was he planning?

After her escape, Alexis had become somewhat quiet, thoughtful even. A clear sign that he was plotting. Evidently revenge.

"It's such a shame she refuses to join us," his voice was soft, almost regretful, "I do not wish to give up, on her… her contacts would be most helpful… yet I think her deadline of choice is drawing to a close. We may have to dispose of evidence…"

Jezebel kept his face impassive, yet his heart was thumping hard within his chest. He wouldn't… he couldn't… she was a child!

"Such a shame," Alexis repeated, "she is such a pretty little thing."

Looking up, he crushed the paper in his hand, fixing Jezebel with an almost angered look.

"Call our allied Sedgewells… we may need help now. Warn them to keep an eye on her. Keep her safe… not too safe of coarse- we do not need them knowing how much we need her help. We do not need her death on my hands just yet."

He laughed cruelly, walking out of the room, sweeping past the bent figure of Jezebel.

The younger man stood, glancing back at the piece of paper Alexis had just dropped. He almost started a little, then turned back. He could not let on he knew anything.

Yet as he walked out the room, following his master, the image on the paper was still in his mind. It was no paper, it was a photograph. Two children, a boy and girl. Both with hair as black as pitch, one with eerily golden green eyes, the other with impossible blue and green. The two had their arms round each other, their heads bent towards each other touching, their genuine smiles directed towards each other. They could not have been older than six or seven.

There was no mistaking their identity… but could they even remember such a meeting? Were they even aware at the time of both their parents union or understanding?

Jezebel doubted it, and he hoped it would stay that way.

The End

Maybe...