A few hours passed, and Marion saw that her mother was half-asleep, and extremely worn from caring for Lucy.

"Mother," Marion whispered. "you'd better get some rest. I can watch over Lucy."

Mrs. Poulton nodded slowly and left the room. Marion sighed and laid a cold cloth on Lucy's brow, she then collapsed into her mother's chair. She was feeling tired herself, but knew that she had to stay awake and watch over Lucy's condition.

"He'll come...He'll never leave." muttered Lucy.

Marion quickly stood to her feet and took Lucy's cold hand. "I'm here, Lucy. I won't leave you."

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her cousin's face. She squeezed Marion's hand and then grabbed onto her arm. Marion was surprised by how strong Lucy was, despite being terribly ill.

"Marion, he cannot harm me! Don't let him come near me!" said Lucy, her voice extremely frantic.

"Who, Lucy? Who are you talking about?" asked Marion.

"Lord Blackwood....He'll do it again, he swore that he will!"

"It's all right, Lucy. Lord Blackwood is dead. He can't do any more harm." whispered Marion.

"It's what he said to me, Marion. It's what he said."

"What did he say?"

"Twice...Twice..."

Before Lucy could finish her sentence; she began to feel woozy, and drifted back to sleep. Marion sighed and covered her with the blanket.. It didn't take her long to realize that she had said "twice," just as she did a few hours ago. Marion snuck down the hall to Mrs. Hamilton's room, and found her sound asleep.

"Mrs. Hamilton?" whispered Marion, getting no response.

"Mrs. Hamilton, can you hear me?" Marion shook Mrs. Hamilton by the shoulder.

Suddenly, Mrs. Hamilton began to stir. She turned on her side, to address Marion.

"Oh, is everything all right, Ms. Marion?"

"Can you look over Lucy for an hour? I have something that I must do."

Mrs. Hamilton yawned. "What is it?"

"It's not your concern, now will you look over her?"

"Of course, Ms. Marion."

Marion left Mrs. Hamilton room and then made her way downstairs and to the doors of her father's study. Naturally, like all doors, they were locked and the key was hidden. Fortunately, it was hidden in the simplest looking place: a small drawer in the foyer. Marion went to the table with the drawer and took out the key, and then unlocked the doors to her father's study.

Quietly, Marion stepped into the study and began to fumble around in the dark. Soon, she came upon a candle and, thankfully, her father usually kept matches next to candles. He was a fantastic lawyer, but sometimes, he was rather simple. Marion lit the candle and held it up to the six bookshelves, that were lined up against each wall.

"All right, Father. You know about the law, let's see about Latin."

Marion sat the candle down and then began to pull books off the shelves. She found may books dealing with the Latin language: historical books, books about law & justice, some old Bibles even. Not one of them had any of the words that she was looking for. After two hours of searching, she was beginning to feel extremely exhausted. She sat back in a chair and began to feel her eyes closing, and soon succumbed to slumber; dropping the book that she held to the floor.

The next morning, Mr. Poulton went downstairs and found that his study door was opened. He entered and saw Marion asleep in a chair, and at least forty of his books, scattered on the floor. He went to Marion and gently shook her by the arm.

"Father," Marion stretched out her arms. "did I wake you?"

"Actually, I've seemed to have waken you. What are you doing in here?"

"I came to read some books, I suppose that I fell asleep."

"Books on what?"

"Latin, of course. I've been trying to figure out what Lucy was saying."

"Darling, it's of no importance. Now, go and sit with your cousin until Doctor Watson arrives."

Marion sighed and rose from her chair and then went upstairs to Lucy's room. To her surprise, Mrs. Hamilton was wide awake and folding some of Lucy's clothes.

"Ah, there you are, Ms. Marion! I just thought I'd clean Ms. Lucy's room, we can't have her recover and see a mess around, can we?"

"Has she spoken at all?" asked Marion.

"Only to ask for something to drink. I'd say that's a sure sign of fair health, wouldn't you?"

"How is her fever?"

"Near the same, Ms. Marion. Although, she has a faint coolness to her forehead."

"Thank you for your optimism, Mrs. Hamilton, it's needed desperately. You may leave now."

Mrs. Hamilton curtsied and left the room. Marion soaked a cloth in cold water and then placed it on Lucy's forehead.

"If only there were some way to know." whispered Marion.

Marion went to the window and saw Doctor Watson's coach outside of the house. She saw him hop out and go up to the front door. She waited patiently, before Doctor Watson came into the room; carrying his bag and ready to check up on Lucy.

"Good morning, Ms. Poulton." said Doctor Watson.

Marion curtsied. "Good morning, Doctor Watson."

"How is she?"

"She's spoken a few times, only one convulsion, she's also asked for something to drink."

"Ah, good, her hypothalamus is strengthening."

Marion raised her eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"The hypothalamus is a gland, it controls thirst, hunger, body temperature. It's only weakened when someone becomes sick."

"I see."

Doctor Watson checked Lucy's pulse and gave a small smile. "It's steady, now."

He continued to check Lucy's vitals, and then stuck a needle into her arm, drawing blood, and then allowed the tip of it to drip into a vial.

"Well, I must say that her vitals are stronger than they were last night. Hopefully this blood sample will give us the answers that we long for. Her fever is still high, but I can say that's it's descended a great deal, as well. I have to say that you and your family are taking great care of her."

"Thank you, Doctor Watson."

"Her condition is stable enough for her immune system to tolerate medication." Doctor Watson reached into his bag and pulled out a small brown bottle. "Give her a teaspoon of this every evening. It should help with the fever and her convulsions. I've got to get this sample back to my home."

Doctor Watson gathered his belongings and left the room, but Marion followed him. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

"Doctor Watson, you hold good morals in the highest regard?"

Doctor Watson, who had his back to Marion, exhaled sharply. "Of course."

"Am I to assume that includes honesty?"

Doctor Watson turned to Marion and closed the front door. "Yes, it does."

"You are my last resort, sir. I'm not a naive child, when I can say for certain that you are withholding information."

"What sort of information?"

"About Lucy. You know what she said, don't you?"

"I've no time for games, Ms. Poulton. I must go home-"

"Do you love your wife, sir?"

"What sort of question is that?"

"A simple one, Doctor Watson."

"I love Mary with every breath in my body."

"You would do anything for her, simply because you love her?"

"Yes, I would."

"Well, Doctor Watson, I love my cousin. In a different way, naturally, but nonetheless, it's love. I'm only doing this for Lucy's sake. You must understand that."

For a moment, Doctor Watson and Marion stared at one another. Marion sighed and started to walk back upstairs, when suddenly--

"Twice!" said Doctor Watson, Marion turned to him.

"What?"

"I shall rise twice. Mark me." said Doctor Watson, his voice quiet.

"What are you talking about?"

"That's what your cousin was saying."

"Are you sure?"

"Completely."

Marion shrugged. "I don't understand...Why were you afraid to tell me before?"

"Come to my house, during the evening. I'll explain everything."

Doctor Watson turned and left the house. Marion, a bit confused, walked back upstairs to take care of Lucy.

The same evening, just after supper, Marion was able to sneak out of her house and made her way to Doctor Watson's home. His wife, Mary Watson, was there to greet her.

"Good evening, Marion." said Mary.

Marion curtsied. "Good evening, Mrs. Watson."

"Come inside. They're waiting for you in the parlor."

"They?"

"Yes. Follow me."

Marion followed Mary inside and to the parlor. Marion was surprised to see, not only Doctor Watson, but Sherlock Holmes, an amateur detective, to say the least.

"Mary, could we speak to Ms. Poulton alone, please?" asked Doctor Watson.

"Of course, John."

Mary left the room and Marion approached Doctor Watson and curtsied.

"Ms. Marion Poulton, may introduce Mr. Sherlock Holmes."

Holmes stood and went up to the Marion; he took her hand in his own and held it.

"It's a pleasure, Ms. Poulton."

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Holmes. I've always wanted to thank-you personally for saving my cousin."

"It was the least that I could do." Holmes kissed Marion's hand and then released it.

"Have a seat, Ms. Poulton, please." said Doctor Watson.

Doctor Watson, Holmes, and Marion all sat down in separate seats. For awhile, there was silence between them; it was broken shortly when Holmes straightened his throat.

"Well, shall we tell her, Watson?" asked Holmes.

"I was thinking that we should prepare her." said Doctor Watson.

"Prepare me for what?"

Doctor Watson let out a sigh. "We wanted to speak to you about Lord Blackwood."

"A dead convict is not my concern, Doctor Watson. Especially when you know what he had done to Lucy."

"Ms. Poulton, there is no easy way to tell you this, but-"

"Lord Blackwood is alive." Holmes chimed in.

Watson turned to Holmes. "Thank you."

"My pleasure."

"W-What do you mean he's alive? The papers had reported-"

"Was there any photographs?" asked Holmes.

Marion shook her head. "I don't believe so."

"Then there was no proof." concluded Holmes.

"He was found hanging from a bridge. Doctor Watson, it was you who released that statement to the press."

Doctor Watson stood and walked over to his fireplace. "I lied." He finally said.

"Why?"

"To protect my reputation, mostly. Lord Blackwood threatened to destroy my medical career if I were to tell the press that he lived."

"So you preferred your reputation over honesty?"

"It wasn't just my career he had threatened to destroy. He told me that he would harm Mary. I had no other choice."

"I still don't understand...How could he survive?"

Holmes stood to his feet. "It's simple, really. He had used the same method before; only this time it was anchor that weighed him down. Infact, it managed to shift all of his weight, so that he was able to slip through the noose and fall into the water. He swam back to land, where Watson discovered him, they exchanged threats, and Blackwood won out."

"So he's still in London..." said Marion.

"Not at all. He's been placed in an Institution for the Criminally Insane in Devonshire. For a moment, I didn't believe the threats, and took him to Scotland Yard, where he pretended to be insane in front of the authorities. He was declared mad, and sent to the institute. I told Scotland Yard to keep quiet about his whereabouts, now taking the threats seriously, but I have been asking the owner of the insitute to re-evaluate Blackwood's psychosis. " explained Doctor Watson.

"And..."

Doctor Watson sighed. "They've refused."

"How could they refuse?"

"Because they believe him. They've brought into his little charade. I've not been able to convince them otherwise, neither has Mr. Holmes."

"That's why you were afraid to tell me what Lucy said...You knew she was referring to Lord Blackwood."

Watson nodded. "Yes, I did."

Marion sighed and stood to her feet. "Well, then there's only thing left to do."

"What do you mean?" asked Holmes.

"I've simply got to visit him." said Marion.