Five days had passed, and still, Col. Tavington and Lady Tavington had not completely gotten over their row, for they barely spoke, and when they did, it was in clipped, curt tones. Col. Tavington had thought his wife inconsiderate of Jae's situation, while Lady Tavington, though just as concerned as her husband, had thought his behavior rash and foolish, especially around their son, and though she didn't like to admit it for she knew it was for good reason, a part of her was slightly upset at him for paying so much attention to Jae and her sister, allowing her and Braden to slowly slip into the background.

You have a family of your own to look after, William. Don't forget us...

Meanwhile, Jae was looking more exhausted and pale by the day, for O'Hara had given her no rest, calling her in for private 'conversations', or whatever other excuse he could come up with in order to get her in his bed at every moment he came upon. The frequency of it all had reached a point to where Jae was almost too tired to even attempt a fiery tongue lashing of words during the rough encounters with him. Of course, he took immediate notice to her lack of 'enthusiasm' and began to be even rougher with her simply because he missed her fire and thought that harsher treatment might actually draw it out of her again.

"Darling, what is the matter with you? Where is your spirit?" the general asked the elder Barrington as the two of them lay together on his bed after one of their 'sessions'.

"Not here?" Jae shrugged, looking at him stonily.

"And why is that?" O'Hara drawled.

"Because, General, unlike you, I am not a sex machine, or addict; I can't give an "A" performance every time if I'm doing it nearly every hour of the day. I am a human, and I get tired."

Something you perverts have yet to comprehend...

"Well, you have time to rest now, with me." he replied arrogantly.

"Joy.." Jae replied with a glare.

I'd rather puke..

"Take advantage of the opportunity I have given you to rest, my sweet, and besides, it's not like you're going anywhere anyway, as I was rough with you and it is obvious that you cannot walk... again..." the general sneered.

"Yes, and you love that.." retorted Jae, trying to sit up to no avail, collapsing back down on the bed next to him.

Gen. O'Hara grinned evilly.

"Of course I do. Your company is most pleasurable."

"Whatever, my body is what you like, not my company. I'm leaving, even if I have to crawl out of here like I've had to do about ten times before."

Gen. O'Hara shrugged.

"Suit yourself, there's only an entire crowd of people out there because Mr. Middleton is hosting a ball."

Jae screwed up her face in anger and disgust.

"Fine," she said grudgingly, "I'll stay here. But as soon as everyone leaves, I'm going up to my room, and you are not following me."

"I suppose I could allow you the rest of the night off..."

Jae rolled her eyes.

"Alright, it's done. But you're not to leave until the last guest has left, which probably won't be until well past midnight, and it's only half past six now.."

Jae sighed.

Great...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where is your sister?" Col. Tavington asked Jula in a tense voice, trying to fight his way through a suffocating group of female admirers in an attempt of grab a glass of wine.

Good lord, this fighting through female crowds would be so much easier if my wife was here... unfortunately for me, she opted to stay in our room and watch Braden... damn her! She could have left him with a servant, or Jula...

"I don't know sir." Jula replied, snapping the colonel out of his thoughts. "In fact, I haven't really seen her at all today.."

"Really?" inquired Col. Tavington somewhat distractedly as he finally managed to fight off the stifling crowd and get some wine. "You haven't seen her?"

"No, not really. Well, she was at breakfast this morning; she looked quite pale and out of sorts, come to think about it..."

Col. Tavington's expression grew stern as his lips formed a concerned frown, to which Jula's expression also became anxious.

"Sir, what is happening to my sister?"

"I don't know-"

"You must know something.." Jula pleaded desperately. "This has been going on way to long for you not to have figured out at least something.."

"Jula, I know nothing."

Jula shook her head as tears began forming in her eyes.

"I can't take this! Jae's had so much crap going on, and it's all my fault!" she cried.

Several soldiers, including Lord Gen. Cornwallis, looked over in their direction, but the colonel didn't care; he wrapped his arms around Jula in a tight and comforting embrace, whispering soothingly to her in an attempt to calm her down.

"Hush, darling, everything will turn out in the end. I'm not sure how it will, but it will. And if I find any information regarding your sister, I shall inform you immediately."

Jula looked up at him and gave him a slight smile.

"Thank you."

"She's your sister; it's the least I can do. Now run along upstairs to your quarters; it's half past ten, and Mary is going to be expecting you and your sister for an early morning lesson."

"If you manage to find her by then.."

Col. Tavington nodded stiffly.

"We'll find her. To bed with you."

Jula gave a slight curtsy and then headed out of the banquet hall and up the stairs to her room, leaving the colonel to ponder her last words to him.

If you manage to find her by then... Well, I always see her at night, given it's at an ungodly hour, but she's always in her quarters by half past eleven... Still, whether Jae is in the right frame of mind or not to learn remains to be seen... goddamn it! Why the bloody hell do things have to get so complex!

Col. Tavington began to shake in anger. Then, realizing that his emotions were beginning to get the best of him, he quickly downed the glass of wine, dismissing himself from the ball, and headed upstairs to his quarters.