“Don’t worry about the people,” Alex said. “You’ll intimidate most of them. You won’t have to say a word.”

“Silence is a powerful weapon,” Justin said.

“Especially,” Tom added, “when paired with a steely gaze, and fists the size of dinner plates.”

Neville’s mouth quirked. He’d never engaged in fisticuffs with anyone in his life. No one had yet challenged him. And if they did…

Well.

He supposed he could manage to fight, if it was Clara he was fighting for.

The carriage slowed as it approached the station.

Justin gave Neville a bracing look. “I admire you. I was too much a coward to go after Helena. In the end, it was she who had to come after me.”

“Jenny came for me, too,” Tom said. “Not but that I wouldn’t have returned to her given another day or two to work up my courage.”

“What about you?” Justin asked Alex. “I suppose you did something daring?”

“To win Laura?” Alex’s gray eyes flickered with humor. “That was fate. Pure and simple.”

Tom laughed. “In other words—”

“In other words,” Alex said, “she was obliged to marry me or face social ruin.”

“It’s as I suspected.” Justin smiled warmly at Neville. “You’ve always been the best of us.”

“You still are,” Tom said.

“Quite,” Alex agreed.

The carriage rolled to a halt. Outside the window, the railway station came into view. The train waited on the tracks, a gleaming black behemoth belching clouds of smoke and steam. Passengers were disembarking onto the platform, and others were beginning to board. All manner of people. Fine ladies, well-heeled gentlemen, and children bundled up in their winter coats.

Neville’s stomach clenched.

“We can wait with you,” Justin said.

“No.” Neville shook his head. This was something he had to do on his own. It was frightening, yes. Enough to make him feel rather ill. But this was his battle, not theirs.

The carriage shook as his trunk was removed from the roof. Danvers’s voice echoed, shouting to a porter to retrieve it. “First class passenger here!”

Neville looked first at Justin, and then at Tom, and Alex. He vaguely registered that his hands were shaking.

“Safe journey,” Tom said. “And good luck.”

“Good luck,” Alex echoed.

Justin gave Neville a solemn nod. It conveyed more that words ever could. You’re strong enough. Capable enough. You have nothing to fear.

Danvers opened the door. A gust of cold air blew into the carriage. “Train’s leaving,” he said. “Best hurry if you want to make it, guv.”

Neville climbed out. He only turned back once to raise a hand to his friends in a brief farewell. It wasn’t goodbye. But he was on his own now.

The layout of the railway station was somewhat familiar from when they’d all gone to fetch Alex last month. Neville easily found his way to the booking office. There, he purchased his ticket.