They all nodded but without the firmness that came with conviction. The situation was tough to sort. It was frustrating to not have a clear way forward.

Brogan rose from his seat to top off his glass, and Stone walked with him. Hollis, Martin, and Fletcher put their heads together, trying to devise a plan for getting more information.

Elizabeth, who sat beside Barnabus, turned her attention to him. “How is Gemma holding up? It must have been an overwhelming thing for her to have her family find her, knowing who and what they are.”

He nodded. “She’s wary, but she’s always been strong. Being with the Donnellys has helped.”

“I suspect being with you would help more,” she said.

“I did ask her if she’d come back to Finsbury, but she was not amenable to the idea.”

That seemed to surprise Elizabeth.

“She doesn’t want to bring this danger to my house on account of my patients and the women and girls I help to rescue.”

“I can understand that,” Elizabeth said. “But I suspect she is also protecting you.”

“Like Sorcha does for Duncan?”

With a half smile that was one hundred percent mischievous, Elizabeth said, “I haven’t the first idea why you’re asking me. Mr. King is the author of that penny dreadful.”

Elizabeth was, of course, Mr. King. But no one outside of the Dread Penny Society knew that.

“Well, Mr. King saw fit for his protective heroine to spend time with the not-entirely-incompetent hero rather than send him on his way ‘for his own good.’”

“Mr. King’s brave hero also isn’t choosing to keep his distance,” Elizabeth tossed back. “I can’t imagine Duncan’d be making the least bit of progress otherwise.”

“I have made a little progress,” Barnabus said. “Gemma kissed me last night. Well, I kissed her, but she did too.”

“Each other,” Elizabeth said dryly. “The description you are searching for is ‘each other.’ ‘We kissed each other.’”

He could smile at that. “Is it terribly obvious I don’t have a great deal of experience with this?”

“What is terribly obvious is that you love her.”

“I do. Took me a devilishly long time to put the right word to it.”

“Has she told you how she feels?”

He shook his head. “Not recently, at least. She told me once, years ago, but I—”

“Broke her heart?” Elizabeth guessed with every indication she already knew the answer.

“I don’t know how much of those tender feelings I crushed with my idiocy.” He wanted to believe he could mend what he’d broken. “I’m hoping I can convince Gemma to stay in London through your wedding. That’d give me some time to court her as I ought to have done from the beginning.”