The next day…

Eliza took a deep breath and did something she thought she'd never find herself doing, knocking on the door to Herr Hildegard's funeral parlor. To her relief, sort of, Tilly answered, "Vat are you doing here? Did you get rid of him?" She asked. Eliza shook her head, "No, he said he loves you. Tilly, what is going on? Why did you say that he was a bad man? He seems rather kind." Tilly sighed and looked behind her. "Come, ve go for valk." She said, shutting the door behind her and pulling Eliza's arm up to lead her up the street.

As the center of town faded behind them and they headed towards a quiet park, Tilly began to speak, "I… I did not tell entire truth, Johann is not bad man, but his family do not like me. And he is not rich man. I do not wish to be poor." Eliza sighed, "But do you love him?" She asked. Tilly shrugged, "A little, yes. But I do not vish his family to control my life." Eliza raised an eyebrow at her, "And you don't think Mrs. Parker won't try to control you?" Tilly just scoffed, "I can handle her."

"Tilly, I told Johann to meet me at my office this afternoon. Why don't you come with me to talk to him? It's not fair to him, he deserves the truth." Eliza pleaded with her. Tilly stopped walking and turned to glare at her, "You tell me this but does not zee Inspector deserve the truth? He loves you, and yet you von't tell him how you feel." Eliza scowled, "We aren't talking about me. We're talking about you. You love Johann but not enough to marry him? So tell him so. My situation is not the same." Eliza said crossly.

"So you do not love zee Inspector?" Tilly asked slyly, ignoring Eliza's question.

"Of course I do!" Eliza snapped at her. She stood there stunned at her own response. It was the first time she admitted aloud, or even to herself, that she loved William. "Of course I do…" She said more softly, as if hearing the words again would clear her befuddled mind.

Tilly shrugged, "Fine. I vill come vith you to talk to Johann. I vill tell him to go home." Tilly brushed passed Eliza to head back to Eliza's office. Eliza, still trying to process her own feelings, followed Tilly, lost in her own thoughts.

William…

William looked up when he heard the knock at the door, smiling, thinking it would be Eliza. Instead it was Rupert, standing there looking nervous. "Inspector? May I?" He looked ready to run away as William began to frown. William gestured at him to come in and sit.

"I apologize for taking time away from you at work." Rupert said, eyeing the mess of files on William's desk. "It's fine. I could use a break anyway." William took out a bottle of whisky from his bottom drawer and poured himself a generous glass, knowing he would need it.

"Are you here about your upcoming nuptials?" William asked. Rupert nodded, "Yes, Fräulein Hildegard apparently does not care about much, other than my wealth. It's only that… I wonder what it would be like to marry for love…"

William wasn't quite sure why Rupert was talking to him, of all people, about this but he decided to be frank with the man, "Perhaps for some it is simply enough to find someone to tolerate their peculiarities." Rupert nodded sadly. He had correctly guessed that William knew of his romantic preferences.

"You are very lucky Inspector, to have Eliza return your love." Rupert said with a sigh. William's first thought was to be annoyed but then he sighed too, "I know she cares for me, love might be too strong of a word though." Rupert shook his head adamantly, "No, she would never have let you get so close to her if she did not love you. You must be patient with her, she is very strong-willed and stubborn, but so are you!" Rupert said with a laugh. William couldn't help but laugh too.

"So you still plan on marrying Tilly then? Does she know?" William asked. Rupert shrugged, "I think she suspects, I am under the impression that there is a man in Germany she was meant to marry but doesn't want to, so she does not care, she just does not wish to return to Germany." William fidgeted, he was debating telling Rupert about Johann being in London, when there was a knock at the door.

"Duke? The husband is in interview room 2." Honeychurch said. "Ah, then I will not keep you any longer Inspector. Thank you for your time!" Rupert said and left, passing Honeychurch on his way out. "Thank you Honeychurch, I'll be there shortly." William said. Honeychurch nodded and went to close the door. "Wait!" William called out, "Yes Sir?" Honeychurch asked. "Which husband for which case?" William asked, rifling through the files on his desk. "The murder one." Honeychurch replied. "Ah thanks." William said. Honeychurch left the moment William realized he had two murder cases with husbands as the potential suspect. He frowned and in the end decided to take both files to the interview room with him.

Eliza…

Eliza frowned, noticing that her office door was open. William hadn't mentioned that he was planning on stopping by today… "Will?" She called out hesitantly, pushing the door open. She heard Tilly gasp from behind her, "Günter…" She hissed.

The women entered the office, a man turned upon hearing his name. He looked like a slightly older version of Johann, same dirty blonde curly hair and blue eyes, but whereas Johann seemed to have a primarily sunny disposition, this man was his complete opposite, frowning and dour.

"Ah, Tilly, I see you are up to your usual schemes, seducing my brother away from Germany to chase after you here in London. Was that your plan? Take him away from his family, where he belongs?" His English was impeccable.

Tilly crossed her arms over her chest and scowled, but not before Eliza noticed a flash of fear cross over her face. "Nein, I vas going to tell Johann to go home. I am to be ved to an Englishman." She said. Günter scoffed, "Really? And does your Englishman know about your prior relations with Johann?" He said this smugly, Tilly looked surprised, "Johann told you?" She asked shocked. "No, but from your reaction my guess was correct. Your future husband is in for a surprise on your wedding night Tilly. Ha!" Günter said.

To Eliza's surprise, Tilly looked sad, "Tell Johann to return to Germany. I do not vish to marry him. Take him and go, stay out of my life!" She shouted at Günter. Günter smirked and nodded, "Auf Wiedersehen Tilly." He headed out of the office, nodded at Eliza, and slammed the door behind him. Eliza cringed as it rattled in its frame.

Tilly sat down in a chair heavily. "He spoke in English to embarrass me. Please, do not tell Rupert." Eliza sat in the chair next to Tilly. "That you are not innocent?" Eliza asked, slightly rankled by the fact that Tilly had kept calling her a whore. Tilly nodded, "Ja, I did love Johann, once, a long time a go. Ve vere young, I… I vas very foolish." Eliza tentatively placed her hand over Tilly's, "I do not think Rupert will care." Tilly nodded, "I know. I vas going to tell him, after ve vere married. I am still going to marry him." She said firmly.

Eliza nodded, even though she wasn't sure it was necessarily the best course of action. "I vill go now. I do not think Günter will let Johann come back here." She rose from the chair and headed to the door and paused before exiting, "Eliza… Thank you." She said sincerely, then left.

Eliza sighed and slid lower down in the chair, rubbing her face with her hands. Why does love have to be so complicated?

Later that evening…

Eliza and William had reached their stoop at the same time. "Hi." They said simultaneously, smiling at each other. Each beginning to feel the burden of their day start to ease away. William opened the door and let Eliza in first. "Did you have a bad day too?" She asked him as she removed her hat. William nodded as he hung up his hat and coat, then helped Eliza remove her coat and hang it up too.

"Long day. But, something smells good." William said happily, feeling better at the prospect of a good dinner. "Mmmm…" Eliza said, dropping her purse on the hallway table and following the scent of food to the kitchen, William close at her heels.

"Hello you two!" Ivy said smiling as they entered the kitchen. "Ivy you are amazing!" William said, heading over to the stove to see what was bubbling away in the pot. He grabbed a nearby fork and speared one of the smaller potatoes from the pot. "Mmmm…" he said as he bit into it, savoring the flavor. He went to stab a larger potato but before he could pull it out of the pot, Ivy tapped the back of his hand lightly with her wooden spoon, "Enough of that! You'll spoil your appetite! Go wash up you two, I'll set the dining room table."

William meekly nodded and hurried off. Eliza and Ivy exchanged looks, and laughed.

When Eliza came back downstairs, William was already at the dining room table, impatiently waiting for her. "Oh good, you're here, now we can finally eat." He said, sounding put out. Eliza laughed and pat his shoulder as she walked to her chair, "William I was gone no longer than five minutes!" He shrugged, "It felt longer." He said sullenly, then brightened as Ivy came in with the food.

William shook his head, Eliza had just finished telling him about Günter's visit at her office. "I doubt Rupert will care much about Tilly's innocence, or lack thereof." He said to Eliza, having told her about Rupert's confusing visit to his office earlier that day. "I know. But my instincts are telling me that Tilly still cares for Johann a bit, and the main reason she doesn't want to be with him is because of his family." She sighed, aggravated by the whole situation.

"I don't suppose you have any more of that horrible Love Potion?" William said with a wry grin. "Will! That's terrible! Besides, it all exploded that day in the kitchen." Eliza said, but a part of her wondered if his idea could have worked. "Günter is supposed to take Johann home and Tilly still plans on marrying Rupert, and from what you've told me, Rupert still plans on marrying Tilly, so there is nothing to be done." Eliza shrugged sadly.

William looked at her, feeling bad. He knew she wished that Rupert, and perhaps even Tilly, could have a happy ending, but it was seeming unlikely. "Perhaps in the end everything will work out Lizzie. You can't do anything about it." She nodded, knowing deep down that he was right.

William pushed his chair back and stood, holding out his hand. Eliza took it and let him lead her to the drawing room. He sat down on the settee and to his astonishment, instead of sitting next to him and resting her head on his shoulder, as was her custom, she still sat next to him but instead, swung her legs over his lap, resting her head on his chest. William, too stunned to move, sat there frozen. Eliza silently took his left hand and placed it on her waist then moved her hand to rest it over his heart. William, his shock beginning to wear off, wrapped his other arm around her back and pulled her close. He rested his cheek against the top of her head.

Eliza closed her eyes, thinking over the part of her conversation with Tilly that she had not told William about. I'll tell him soon, how much he means to me. It's not fair to him, nay, to either of us, for me to hold back. I care for him so…

William, slightly confused as to Eliza's sudden affection, decided not to question it and just enjoy holding her, hoping that perhaps she was ready to progress with their relationship, sooner rather than later.