“Oh dear,” he murmured.
“There is nobody around to see,” Joe assured him. “We will find a carriage soon enough.”
“Do you think anybody is going to stop for us?” Marguerite asked doubtfully. She squinted at the road ahead with a frown. “I mean, we look a little odd, don’t you think?”
Indeed they did. They were all wet. Three had been badly beaten. Marguerite was in her under things, and Joe was, well, just as handsome as the day she had met him.
That seems like a lifetime ago, she mused happily.
“What are you thinking now?” Joe asked suspiciously, not liking that look of calculation on her face one bit.
“I am thinking how much can change in a short period of time.”
“It has been a bit fraught, hasn’t it?” Joe murmured.
“How so?” Eustace replied.
“Well,” Marguerite began. “It all began with a marriage proposal.”
Eustace looked at Joe, his brows lifted.
“Not yet, but soon,” Joe promised.
Marguerite gasped and looked at him.
Joe lifted his brows. “Well, you don’t expect me to let you go now, do you? I mean, I have rescued you from kidnappers, fought for your life and shot someone on your behalf.”
“Dragged me through back alleys while being shot at, got me nearly drowned,” she continued inspecting the fingernails on her free hand.
“What?” Eustace, looking horrified now, turned to Marguerite.
“It is what happens when someone comes into contact with Sayers. Your daughter is beautiful, lively, spirited, strong, and utterly adorable. It should come as no surprise that she should attract the interest of someone like Sayers,” Joe replied. “None of it would have happened if it wasn’t for that man.”
“Well, it is over now. Thanks to you, I am still alive. I owe you,” she replied.
Marguerite looked at her father. “What happened to you at the recital by the way? Why did you leave me there?”
Eustace sighed. “You disappeared, my dear. Then I received a note that you had taken ill and was waiting outside for me. When I got there, Sayers men grabbed me and I was carted off to that warehouse.”
“Why did you go to the Carmichael’s recital in the first place? I understand you don’t normally socialise with them,” Joe pondered.
“Are they connected with Sayers?” Eustace asked with a frown.
“I don’t think so,” Joe replied honestly. “I think they just wanted to invite the Russian Count like everyone else has.”
Eustace nodded. “In my wisdom, I decided that it was time Marguerite got married.”
“What?” Marguerite cried.
Eustace nodded. “It is true. The Carmichaels ordered a clock from me and were so pleased with it that they invited me to their recital. It seemed like a gift from the Gods, so I accepted and made you, my dear, come with me. I had hoped that you would find a husband while you were there.”
He coughed and looked away when Marguerite glared at him.
“It looks like she has found a husband anyway,” Jacob muttered from behind them. He grinned at Joe when his brows lifted.
Joe didn’t argue. Instead, his grin grew wider when he turned his attention to the street they were walking down. It took a moment or two but he eventually became aware that Eustace was staring at him. When he looked at Marguerite’s father, Eustace held his hand out.
“Good luck,” he said.