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As they began walking, Ollie readjusted his top hat and collar and Evelyn surprised him by taking his arm. He resisted the urge to flex his hand upon her touch.

“I apologize for earlier,” she said. “For pulling away from you like that.”

Ollie looked down to her with a frown. “You don’t need to apologize for that.”

She gazed up at him from beneath the brim of her hat and gave him a small smile. His heart hitched. “I feel badly. I wish I knew why I have such severe reactions to touch sometimes.”

“There’s no deep explanation needed, Evelyn. You simply don’t like it. While it may be unusual, it’s how you are. It takes some getting used to for me, that’s all.”

“But I had told you earlier that I enjoyed you touching me. It wasn’t a lie. And then I went and did that.”

His heart skipped again at hearing those words and he cleared his throat.

“You had just been tied up by the Signature Swindler. I don’t think anyone would blame you for wanting to be left alone after that.

And anyway, look at you right now, walking with me arm in arm.

See? No harm done.” He gave her a crooked grin to mask the confusion he truly felt.

He paused in front of a neighbor’s home, as in a strange way, he didn’t want this moment with her on his arm to end. She looked up at him, long lashes framing her round, doe eyes. Around them, the street was dark, quiet. It felt like they were the only two people in the whole world.

I want to kiss you again , he wanted to say. But he wouldn’t dare. His pride would never recover from that recoil.

Instead, he lifted his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, eliciting a small, sharp inhale from her.

No words were exchanged between them, and the moment was nothing in the grand scheme of things, but it was one he would hold secret to his heart forever.

One he would look back upon wistfully some day when he was in his forties, fifties, slinging pints down the bartop, perpetually unmarried, probably back to his scoundrel ways.

Those days are over and you know it , that little voice of reason cut in. They will never come back. Do you even want them to?

Evelyn stared up at him with a softened gaze, her eyelids lowered as she searched his face. When she put him under her spell like this, he couldn’t think straight enough to answer his own question.

Kiss her, you bloody fool.

No, not yet.

What are you waiting for?

The perfect moment.

What if this is it?

But Ollie didn’t respond to himself. This was not the time. He didn’t know when the time would be, if it ever would be, but this wasn’t it. Too much had happened tonight, and she wasn’t ready. Not yet.

Though he did greatly regret that fact.

Dropping his hand to end the moment, he began walking with her again and, despite possibly losing the only moment he would have in his life to kiss Evelyn Sparrow a second time, Ollie felt like he floated above the clouds with her hanging on his arm.

But his head was pulled out of those clouds when he realized someone was standing in front of the house.

Warning snaked through him.

“Keep your head down and keep walking,” Ollie cautioned low enough so the unknown man couldn’t hear. Evelyn didn’t respond, and he didn’t know if she’d heard him, either.

Evelyn did, however, lower her head to conceal her face with the brim. Ollie wasn’t sure if that meant she’d heard or not, but at least she had her wits about her.

As they got closer to his home, he noticed someone else was leaning against the wall of his home, sleeping.

There was no chance he would be able to enter his home safely right now. Something about these men didn’t sit right with him.

As they walked by, he could feel the watchfulness of the standing man. Was he looking for Ollie, and would he recognize Ollie on sight?

Both men were dressed in plain, woolen jackets and flat caps. This, unfortunately, told Ollie nothing, other than they weren’t nobs. But Ollie had a strong suspicion they were somehow tied to the earl.

The standing man continued staring at Ollie and Evelyn as they walked by, his hands coolly shoved into his trouser pockets. Evelyn tightened her hold on Ollie’s arm. Ollie nodded at the stranger, hoping it would alleviate the tension.

And they passed the man by without incident. Ollie released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d held.

“Out for a stroll this late?” the man called after them once their backs were to him.

Ollie felt his body tense again. They stopped walking.

While his heart raced, Ollie looked back over his shoulder, trying to think of a response. “The wife has trouble sleeping. Sometimes a late stroll helps.”

“I give mine a shot of whiskey and she sleeps like the dead.”

Ollie forced a laugh and then turned back around, continuing to walk, trying not to pace too fast. Moments later, they turned the corner and were out of sight.

Evelyn immediately stopped and turned to face him. “Please tell me you know why those men were there.”

But Ollie could only shake his head. “No, but I don’t have a good feeling about it.”

Evelyn looked as if she were about to cry from exhaustion. “What do we do now? We can’t meander around London until they leave!”

It might not work, and it might be a bit mad, but Ollie came up with an idea.

“Follow me,” he said, looking around to ensure they were alone. She didn’t argue.

Ollie snaked his way through the yards of his back neighbors—thankfully, only one dog barked—until he came to the stone wall of his property. With little effort, he boosted Evelyn up high enough for her to climb up on it. And then he followed. Thanks to a large tree, he was able to scramble up.

Both leapt down from the high wall and rushed through the darkness of his garden.

They entered the house through the back entrance, unnoticed.

Everyone would have been asleep at this hour so he put a finger to his lips, indicating they were to remain quiet. They hurried up to the second floor as soundlessly as they could.

The house was dark, and they peered out a front window through a gap in the curtains.

“Who do you suppose they are?” Evelyn looked over his shoulder. But all they could see were the tops of the men’s hats.

“I don’t know, but they’re clearly waiting for us.”

“You think they’re tied to the earl?” Evelyn asked, the concern apparent in her voice.

“Unfortunately, I do. But not to worry—they don’t know we’ve arrived home. Nor can they stay out there forever.”

A noise made them turn around, and Ollie felt Evelyn jump when Mrs. Chapman appeared in her nightgown with a lit candle.

Her face pinched. “Those two men kept banging on the door not long after you left for the evening. I told them to bugger off, but they wouldn’t.”

“Who are they?” Ollie asked.

“They said they’re journalists.” Mrs. Chapman hesitated. “They also said someone told the earl she’s staying here.” She jutted her chin to Evelyn.

Evelyn didn’t say anything, but she gripped the back of his arm. That she sought him out for comfort and support again gave him a little leap of happiness despite the seriousness of the matter.

“Go get some sleep,” he said to Evelyn. He suspected Mrs. Chapman knew more than she was sharing but didn’t want Evelyn to know the seriousness of the matter.

“Are you sure?” Evelyn asked before biting her lip.

But Ollie insisted again, and this time, she didn’t argue. Evelyn disappeared into her bedroom and the door clicked shut behind her.

Ollie turned back to Mrs. Chapman. “All right, tell me everything.”

Mrs. Chapman nodded. “They arrived pounding on the door ten minutes after you left, which was very lucky for you. I answered and they asked for you.”

“Did they say anything about Evelyn?”

“I told them you weren’t home, but they remained.

Several times I asked them to leave when, finally, they said they weren’t going to go anywhere because they heard Miss Sparrow was here and they were waiting for the police to show up, too.

I, of course, denied knowing anything, and Cook wants nothing to do with all the commotion, so she’s been keeping to herself. ”

“Wait. They said Evelyn had been found?”

“Yes.” Mrs. Chapman pursed her lips. “I pressed more because that didn’t make sense. Apparently, someone had advised the police that she was here. And the journalists wanted to be here to get photographs of the police carting her off.”

A wave of fear washed over Ollie. “Did they say who told the police?”

But Mrs. Chapman shook her head. “Who knows she’s here?”

Ollie tried recalling. His grandparents had seen her but hadn’t seemed to realize who she was. Maybe they’d finally figured it out. He wouldn’t put it past them to turn her in, especially with the way their dinner had ended.

Then there was Mr. James Burlington. He had suspected Evelyn was staying with Ollie, but that hadn’t been confirmed to him, either. Burlington hadn’t set his eyes on her. And he’d willingly helped Ollie get information on the Signature Swindler.

Of course, the blasted thief knew about Evelyn. This seemed the most obvious answer, and the simplest answer was almost always correct. The thief would get a large reward for turning her in, and he clearly liked money.

But that wasn’t all. His own family, plus Lady Litchfield, knew she was here. Mrs. Chapman and the cook knew, too.

Ollie didn’t think any of them would turn Evelyn in. But, like he had said to Evelyn before, that reward would tempt the most saintly nan. It was just too large a sum.

If anyone in his family, or his house, had turned Evelyn in, it would have been Victor.

The thought made him sick. Victor, as far as Ollie was concerned, was just as obsessed with money as the Signature Swindler. Couple that with the fact that Ollie had made all those big mistakes that had hit them financially.

Everyone had their limit. Was this Victor’s?

Ollie concluded either Victor or the Signature Swindler had turned in Evelyn’s location. Though he really hoped it wasn’t his own brother.

“Too many people know she’s here,” Ollie said in answer to Mrs. Chapman’s question. “And I have no idea whom amongst them it would be.”

“What are you going to do, Mr. McNab?” Mrs. Chapman asked in a soft, concerned voice.

“I don’t know. But for now, no one knows we’ve returned. This will have to be figured out in the morning.”