Everyone met in the breakfast nook at 7:00. Nancy already had eggs and ham prepared for them, along with pitchers of tea and coffee.

Rip noticed Blair looked exhausted, but chalked it up to the trip yesterday combined with everything else going on.

Soon, all three walked out to the street, with Nancy locking doors and gates behind them. They found a cabbie and climbed in, then headed for the train station.

“You’ve got the license, Sir Ripley?” Nancy asked as the cabbie’s wheels clattered over cobblestones.

He smiled and pulled it out of the pocket inside his suit coat normally reserved for an enhanced wrench. That tool was the first thing he found after appearing in this world, and had helped him out of several tight spots. For today, however, it was relegated to his interspatial wallet.

Nancy seemed talkative and cheerful. She did not normally leave the house with the other two, and for her this was something of a grand adventure.

Blair ignored her, leaning on Rip’s shoulder.

“Oh, how I wish we had been able to have a proper ceremony in Ravenswick! Everyone there will be so upset they missed it!”

Rip smiled and said, “Maybe we can hold a reception there later.”

“A reception?”

“Yeah. You know, a party after the wedding. Is that sort of thing common here?”

“Oh, yes! Of course there are parties. It’s just usually immediately after the wedding, the one where everybody is invited.”

“Well, this one will have to be well after our very private and very quick wedding. Circumstances.”

“Yes, indeed. I find it horrible, these circumstances. I was writing to . . .”

And so the conversation went, remaining mostly a nonstop monologue by Nancy. Rip listened politely while Blair closed her eyes.

At the station, he kept an eye out for Luddites or anyone else suspicious. But no one approached as they found the proper track for the line to Chelmsford. Rip bought three tickets and a copy of this morning’s Standard Trumpet so he would have something to read on the train.

The commuter left on time, slowly chugging out of the city. It stopped twice at minor stations on the edge of town, then continued up the line, stopping at each and every point along the way.

Rip tried not to grow impatient. He wondered if he should try and kick start the automobile industry. Steam trucks left something to be desired, in his experience. They were not as convenient as personal transportation with internal combustion engines.

Nancy continued talking, even when his attention drifted to the newspaper. To be polite, he glanced up at her every now and then.

Blair nodded off, her mouth open and her head leaning back in the seat.

Rip nervously glanced up at the first bridge they went under. But this time no one jumped to the train’s roof. He certainly hoped their plans did not leak. Hopefully, the Luddites would have no idea where, exactly, they were going today.

At last they arrived at Chelmsford and Blair woke up. The church was within walking distance of the station, and the rain held off, so they set out on foot. Nancy excitedly led the way to the parsonage near an old stone church.

They knocked on the door and she squealed with the delight when a woman about her age opened it. They danced in excitement while hugging each other.

Then things started moving very quickly and Rip never even got a chance to catch the vicar’s full name, or his wife’s. Nancy had briefed the couple extensively by letter, and they were prepared.

“Do you have the license, Sir Coulter?” the vicar asked, a kindly looking fellow with gray locks that seem to sprout from his head.

Rip handed over the scroll. The vicar expertly untied the ribbon and looked at it.

“Ah, yes. All is in order. Mother? Please hold onto this, don’t lose it. Now, let’s go to the church and you two follow me to the altar, please.”

His wife nodded, then ran to the church’s organ and began playing it as everyone else walked inside.

Moments later, after listening to several minutes of proscribed words that had to be said during any proper wedding, the vicar asked them if they accepted one another as man and wife, and to have no other so long as they lived, regardless of circumstances.

When they both said, “I do,” Nancy surprised them both by pulling out matching rings. In all the rush, neither one had thought about procuring wedding bands, but Nancy handed them over with a big smile. They slipped them on one another’s fingers.

Another surprise: both rings fit. Rip wondered just how Nancy managed to pull that off.

“I’ve a good eye for such things,” she said when he gave her a questioning glance.

Then she let out a yelp and said, “We’ve got to hurry and catch the train going back! Bye, Martha! I’ll visit again soon! Thank you, David! Let’s go, let’s go, you two!”

Nancy bustled them out of the church and down the street toward the train station again.

This time, Blair seemed a little more awake. She put her hand in Rip’s, feeling the gold band’s weight on his finger as they walked together.

They boarded a train heading back to Ethinium just seconds before it left the station. Blair snuggled next to Rip, tucking her hand through his arm and resting her head on his shoulder.

Nancy, sitting across from them, smiled and sighed.

“It’s just so romantic! You know, I never get to go on adventures with you lot. Thank you for letting me share in this one.”

Blair said, “This is hardly typical of our adventures, Nancy.”

“Oh, go on. Nonsense.”

“She’s right,” Rip said, “But you’ve been with us at least once when something happened. You were there when sewer troopers attacked the townhouse.”

“That wasn’t an adventure. That was an outright assault! Physical violence, it was.”

Blair said, “It’s sad to say, but most of our adventures do involve some measure of violence. Some quite a lot.”

Nancy’s expression sobered.

She said, “Well, let’s hope this one remains violence-free.”

The train passed under a bridge, the shadow darkening the car for a moment.

Both Rip and Blair looked up at the ceiling, listening. But they heard no footsteps above.

Rip smiled and said, “So far, so good.”