Page 111 of Her Scandalous Pursuit

“Turn them in to the authorities,” Thisbe replied. “What else would we do?”

Desmond grimaced and exchanged a glance with Carson.

“What?” Thisbe said. “Why did you look at each other like that?”

“You have more faith in the authorities than I,” Desmond told her. “Wallace is known in this town—a wealthy, respected man. We are three strangers. And I—” He glanced down at his shirt and trousers, torn here and there and stained with dirt, Gordon’s too-large coat hanging over them. “I look as though I’ve been lying on the floor of a carriage all night. They don’t know that your father is a duke, and how can you prove it?”

“You think they won’t believe us.”

“Would you?”

Thisbe was forced to agree. “Probably not.”

“Even if they did believe us, I suspect Gordon and Wallace wouldn’t receive any punishment,” Carson offered. “They’ll put it all on Grieves, who actually performed the abduction and the theft, and he will be the only one to go to prison.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Thisbe muttered. After a moment of silence, she went on, “But we can’t let them go without any sort of consequences.”

“Given your grandmother’s web of gossips, they’ll be punished,” Desmond said. “Wallace will be socially ruined in London. Gordon won’t dare show his face in the scientific community.”

Thisbe studied him. “You don’t want Gordon to be punished, do you? Even after what he’s done to you!”

“I know—it’s not reasonable. But...however wrong his motives were, he did help me a great deal. I can’t bring myself to wish him imprisoned.” Desmond shrugged.

“I could,” Thisbe retorted.

“Ah, but that’s how you can tell our Desmond isn’t an aristocrat,” Carson told her lightly. “He lacks that requisite hardness of heart.”

“Grieves walks away without any damage,” Thisbe grumbled.

“A man like Grieves will wind up in jail sooner or later,” Desmond said. “Or dead in the gutter.”

The walk back into the city seemed much farther than it had when Thisbe made it earlier, fueled by fear and anger, but eventually they reached the edge of town. Prosaically, their first stop was a tavern, and all of them agreed they were starving.

Thisbe looked around the place with great interest, and Desmond said with some amusement, “This is the first time you’ve been in a tavern, isn’t it?”

“Not quite. I went into the Double Roses with Grandmother the other day.” She ignored Carson’s startled look. “But this is the first one I’ve seen with customers. It’s quite interesting. It’s a lot cleaner and better appointed than the other tavern. Oh, would you two stop looking at each other and smirking? It’s most annoying. It’s scarcely my fault women aren’t wanted in taverns.”

“It’s not that.” Desmond squeezed her hand. “It’s your reaction to the place.”

“Most women I know would find it ‘low and distasteful’ rather than ‘interesting.’” Carson pulled out a chair for her at one of the tables.

“Nor is it my fault that you know boring women. Now, if you two are done laughing at me, what should I do with this?” Thisbe set the box on the table. “It looks rather odd sitting here.”

“There.” Carson covered it with his hat.

The hat looked odd as well, but at least Thisbe didn’t have to look at the box, which made her deeply uneasy. Now that she’d touched the Eye, she understood the danger better. She was more certain than ever that she needed to keep the Eye out of Desmond’s hands.

He seemed quite placid in the Eye’s presence—indeed, she and Carson were more fidgety than he. But she couldn’t stop thinking of Desmond’s unmoving shock when he looked into the glass. They needed to get the Eye back in her grandmother’s hands as soon as possible.

But when they reached the train station, they discovered that they had missed the last train south. The next train to Manchester would not arrive until the next morning. Thisbe sighed. “There’s nothing for it but to find an inn. The town is large enough they may have one that’s comfortable. Fortunately, some of us weren’t kidnapped and were able to bring money with them.”

She knew that Desmond would have been hard-pressed to pay for a room and the ticket home, anyway, but she was pleased to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t embarrass him. She led them to the baggage office and retrieved her sturdy fabric bag. She opened the case and pulled out a coin purse. “I’ve plenty for the inn and tickets for all of us.” She looked at Carson. “I’ll warrant you didn’t carry much with you, either.”

“I didn’t have time to go home and fill my pockets,” Carson agreed. “Since you are so flush, I think we need to do something about him.” He nodded toward Desmond. “No respectable inn will look favorably on his attire.”

“True.” Thisbe studied Desmond’s ripped, dirty clothes and the peculiar look of his coat, which was both much too large in its girth and ludicrously short in the arms and hem. “We can probably all do with some freshening up in the lavatory here, and then we’ll find you some decent clothing.”

It was a relief to put the Eye away in her bag. Thisbe shoved it down to the very bottom, covering it with her clothes. Desmond reached down to pick up the case, but she grabbed it. She wasn’t about to let Desmond be so close to the Eye the rest of the day.