"Stop that." I say to my younger sister who is biting her nails.

"I cannot help it; you know how nervous I get riding in these things." She continues biting them anyways.

Today, my sister and I are traveling in a carriage to the Prim's estate in London. "It is not like this is your first-time riding in one." Heaven knows how many times we have traveled; we may as well have seen half the world by now.

My younger sister Rebecca hates traveling in carriages, she suffers from motion sickness. I know she would much rather be sitting at home, brushing her curly golden locks with an ivory comb or porcelain brush. Always worried about her looks that one. There are many differences between me and my sister. The first being that I am older by two years, the second is that she is much prettier than I, and the third is that she is not as smart as I. Growing up, I always had to keep a close eye on her, she was always getting into trouble. Our mother died a few months before last spring, so now I must raise my little sister.

After chewing her nails to the bone, she decides to play with the locket our mother gave her. It was a golden locket with two little gold birds sitting on a golden nest centered with three shining white pearls on the pendant. No picture inside, but sometimes I wonder what picture mother would have put.

"Oh, how I wish mother was here." Rebecca says as she clasps her hand around the locket.

"I know, I miss her too." I also know for a fact that she would have scolded Rebecca for biting her nails.

I take my little sisters' hands; give them a quick squeeze and she thanks me with a loving smile. "How much do you miss her?" she asks.

I pause for a moment and think about the question. Our mother was not always the kindest or most proper person to be around, she had quite a temper with the mouth of a drunken sailor. Much like Rebecca, she was stunning to look at and had sparkling light blue eyes that matched mine. Mother's eyes were either cold and unforgiving or caring and loving. Rebecca got the doting pair of eyes because to mother, Rebecca could do no wrong.

As the carriage stopped and the driver announced that we had arrived, I was pulled out of my thoughts. I look out of the carriage window and see the Prim's estate, it was magnificent. The house itself was three stories with slate roofs, bay windows, and was wrapped in white paint. The estate was surrounded with pine trees that had freshly melted snow on the tips.

I am greeted with a hand as I open the carriage door. The hand belongs to a man in his early thirties, with short brown hair, green eyes, and a scar on his left eyebrow. He is wearing an overcoat and a three-piece suit. Complete with a silk tie and a patterned vest. Standing next to him is a tall man with slicked back raven hair and green eyes. He is wearing a three-piece suit, with a long coat, and holding a cane with a shining emerald jewel on top.

"Gooday Miss Winter, I am Mr. Prim, but you can call me Edgar." Says the man with brown hair. "This is my brother, Victor Prim." He gestures to the tall man next to him. Victor is quite appealing to the eye with a somewhat muscular build, but there is a certain warm and gentle charm to Edgar.

"Pleasure to meet you, I am Vanessa Winter, and this is my sister, Rebecca Winter."

Rebecca has her eyes glued to Edgar. "Good day to you both." She speaks.

I could tell that Edgar was quite taken with Rebecca's beauty; most people were. Seems he cannot keep his green eyes off her either.

He flashes a smile. "Tis truly a pleasure to meet you, Miss Rebecca." Edgar takes Rebecca's right hand and places a kiss on it. Rebecca starts to blush as Edgars' lips linger there a little bit longer than necessary.

We were invited to the Prim's annual Winter Ball, but since we had not found a place to stay during the winter, the Prim's offered their home to us. I do not care for the way Edgar keeps eyeing my little sister. Victor seems quite amused with my annoyance. I saw Victor lean and whisper something in Edgar's ear.

Edgar nodded and smirked. It was somewhat unbecoming, seeing a man smirk like that. "It is quite chilly outside, how about we take this wonderful conversation in the parlor room?" he asked.

We followed Edgar into the house, the parlor room was wrapped in dark red wallpaper. Filled with furniture, gas lighting fixtures, and lots of paintings. There was a fireplace with a gold clock and gold candles on top of the mantel. Hanging above the fireplace was the latest Albert Bierstadt. A mahogany bookshelf took up some of the room. It was filled with books written by Dickens, Brontë, and Tennyson.

"Quite the art collector, aren't we?" I ask Edgar.

His eyes did not meet mine, instead they were staring into my sister's eyes. "What can I say, I guess I enjoy the beautiful things this life has to offer." Edgar says, offering my sister a wink. She blushes and looks away from his emeralds.

"This house is quite gorgeous; can we see the rest of it?" asked my sister with hopeful eyes.

Edgar shrugged, "Why not." He offered a hand to my sister, and she took it as he led the way for her.

A hand touched mine and when I looked up, I realized that it was Victor's. He smirked as he took my hand in his. It was a simple gesture, but I could not help the blush that spread to my cheeks at his simple kindness.

We all finally leave the room, take a stroll down the hall. When we go inside the dining room. I could not help but notice something odd.