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Workers lifted their traveling trunks and brought them on board ahead of Cordelia and Evelyn, who followed directly behind.

As Evelyn reached the ramp behind her sister, she turned around one last time. One last hopeful time.

She looked over the crowd again, wishing Ollie were there. Would she run to him if she saw him? Or would she be steadfast in her decision in going to Paris?

It didn’t matter. Because Ollie wasn’t there.

With a swallow, she took the first step onto the ramp. Then the second.

She was now off of English ground, possibly forever. Step by heavy step, she climbed up the ramp until she reached the deck. As their trunks went left, Cordelia took Evelyn’s hand and led her right, along the crowded deck.

“What a crowd!” Cordelia said with awe as she pulled.

“Yes, I suppose,” Evelyn replied weakly.

Cordelia glanced back. “Why don’t we go to the rail? It will feel less crowded.”

“Oh, that’s not—”

But Cordelia pulled her again while shouldering her way through the crowd.

“ Excusez-moi .” Cordelia knocked a man to the side, who exclaimed his offense in French. “ Excusez-moi! ” Cordelia purposely pushed aside another as she said this sweetly.

Finally, they created their own space at the railing. Cordelia looked out at the crowd below. “Papa was in excellent spirits this morning,” she said.

“I can’t imagine why,” Evelyn replied darkly. “Because I’m leaving, perhaps?”

Cordelia shook her head. “I guess the earl came by.”

Evelyn remembered how furious her father was about the money they would owe the earl. “I’m going to throw up.”

Cordelia laughed. “Silly, the ship isn’t even moving yet. No, Papa was whistling as he was reading his newspaper this morning.”

Evelyn groaned, remembering the article about her.

“When I inquired about his unexpected good mood, it took some convincing to get it out of him, but he eventually said he no longer owed the earl money.”

Evelyn furrowed her brow and tried figuring this out. “How? He doesn’t have that kind of money.”

Cordelia gave her a one-shoulder shrug.

“Ollie doesn’t have that kind of money, either.”

“I don’t know where it came from, Evelyn, but obviously, it came from somewhere and I’m sure somehow Ollie had something to do with it.”

Evelyn scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?” Cordelia searched the crowd below. “The man is utterly mad for you and does anything you want him to. Lucky girl, by the way.” She sighed dramatically. “And here you are leaving him behind.”

Evelyn’s heart raced. “Hush up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t?” Cordelia feigned surprise.

“No.” She paused. “I’m not leaving him behind. He told me he was done running after me. He’s tired of me, obviously.”

“Do you love him?”

Evelyn swallowed. She wanted to deny it, but what was the point anymore?

“Yes. Unfortunately. But my decision is made and I’m not going to spend another moment thinking about it.

As soon as we arrive in Paris, all will be well.

” She was already on the ship, and her luggage had already been taken away.

The news about the earl had come too late.

They were all signs that Paris was the right decision.

As she said this, she realized she was twirling the ring on her hand.

She hardly ever remembered having it on.

She looked down at it and watched it sparkle in the sun.

As soon as she got to Paris, she would send it to him to decide what to do with.

It was his uncle who’d provided it, after all, and there was no telling where he had acquired it.

“You said he’s tired of you?”

“I literally just said that,” Evelyn replied, making sure the annoyance was clear in her voice. “Remember? I said he’s tired of running after me. And that he won’t keep doing it.”

Cordelia grabbed Evelyn’s arm. “Oh, really? Then why is he down there right now?”

Evelyn’s heart stilled. “What?”

“See for yourself.” Cordelia pointed. And sure enough, there was Ollie running toward the ship.

Evelyn gasped as Ollie weaved his way through the crowd. “Evelyn!” he shouted out as he searched frantically for her.

“But—how does he know I’m here?”

“I told him,” Cordelia said with a grin of mischief. “You two are quite silly. Just need a good shove in the right direction and you’ll figure it out together.” She looked at Evelyn. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. You think I’d let you ruin your life? Of course not.”

Evelyn, still not fully grasping what was happening, looked back to Ollie. He kept shouting her name.

She then looked over the railing down and along the side of the ship where the ramp was. On the dock’s end of it, workers were preparing to lift it away.

It was already too late.

“Ollie!” she cried out as loud as she could. “Ollie! Up here!”

Ollie stilled and looked up at the ship, but he didn’t seem to be able to find her. “Evelyn!” he called back, then he began making his way to the front of the crowd.

Everyone around Evelyn was quiet and watched her with interest as she began to climb up the railing just enough to make her stand above the crowd. She waved her hands about her head. “Over here!” she yelled.

The moment he popped out of the crowd and found her, she felt it. Somehow, she felt that snap between them, like their hearts coming together.

The crowd, both on the ship and on the dock, went completely silent.

Ollie grinned like a fool at finding her and cupped a hand around his mouth. “Where are you going?!” The words traveled easily with everyone quietly invested in what was happening.

“I’m going to Paris! What are you doing here?”

“I came to bring you home!” He paused. “But I’m too late!”

The crowd began to murmur at Ollie’s unforeseen barrier.

Evelyn looked down at the ramp. Then over to Cordelia. “What do I do?” she asked.

“Whatever you want to do, Evelyn,” Cordelia replied.

“He ran after me.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Even though he said he wasn’t going to.”

Cordelia gave her an encouraging smile.

“Ollie!” Evelyn shouted back. “I have to ask you a question.”

Ollie waited.

“Did you mean it when you called me the woman you love?”

The crowd became agitated now.

But they were so loud and excited that she didn’t hear his reply.

She climbed up one more rung and shouted back, “I can’t hear you!”

Ollie cupped both hands around his mouth now. “I said, ‘Yes, I love you, Evelyn!’” He paused in thought. “I love you madly. I love you from here to every star in the sky, from the beginning of time to the end!”

“Oh my,” Evelyn said to herself. Then she shouted back, “I love you too, Ollie!”

The crowd laughed, no doubt charmed by the scene.

“Good, now, I have a very important question, Evelyn. Will you marry me? Make it real this time?”

“What does that mean, ‘make it real this time’?” someone near Evelyn mumbled to their traveling companion. But she ignored it.

Ollie continued. “I was thinking, Gretna Green is only a train ride away! We could be married before nightfall!”

Evelyn gasped to herself but immediately shouted back “Yes!” Tears of joy began to fall. “Yes, I’ll marry you!”

The crowd began cheering and whistling. Someone tapped her arm, and she climbed back down to the deck. It was a short, elderly woman wearing a large necklace of diamonds. “ Chérie ,” she said. “Shouldn’t you go to him now?”

“Oh! Right!” Evelyn started to panic. She turned to her sister. “I have to go.”

“I know.” Cordelia gave her a quick kiss on both cheeks. “Go. Now! And write me when you can!”

Evelyn nodded and began to run through the crowded deck. This time, there was no shoving through because the crowd parted for her, eager to let her through and watch the romantic saga further unfold.

As she reached the exit, though, she found a crewman roping it off and the workers at the bottom untying the ramp from the lower dock.

“I need to get off this ship,” she said to the uniformed man.

“Sorry, miss, but you’re too late.”

“Blast your rules!” She ducked under the velvet rope and began sprinting down the ramp as the uniformed man chased and shouted after her.

The crowd, however, cheered her on.

“Miss!” he shouted from somewhere behind her. “The police won’t be too happy!”

“I don’t care!” she shouted back, but suddenly, she realized she was approaching a large gap that dropped straight into the Thames.

Determined, Evelyn sped up, leapt, and cleared the nearly six-foot gap, coming to tumble down on the concrete.

The crowd gasped loudly.

But Evelyn was able to get back up to her feet just as Ollie came through the crowd and rushed to her. “Evelyn! Oh, blast it all. Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she sobbed. She would always be fine as long as Ollie was there. There would be hard days, of that she had no doubt. But he would be there with her for better or for worse. She finally understood that.

Ollie wrapped his arms around her tightly and spun her in a circle. Once he’d set her back down, he wiped away her tears, looked into her eyes with the purest love, and then pressed his mouth down to hers.

As everything around her seemed to still, the crowd absolutely screamed with cheers.

Ollie pulled away, breathless. “I love you, Evelyn. Please be my wife, my family, forever.”

She sobbed and nodded.

Ollie looked around as if he was just now realizing hundreds of people were watching them. “Unfortunately, I think we’re still going to be in the newspapers after this one.”

With a laugh, she buried her face into his neck. It felt like home, where she belonged.

“That’s all right.” He ran his hand over her back and then leaned down to her ear. “Erm, there is something I should probably mention.”

Evelyn pulled back and looked at him with fear. “What?”

“I quit my job. Well, technically, I said I was going on strike.”

Evelyn’s eyes went huge. “You quit? You told your brother that to his face?”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Yes. I just wanted to focus on us for now, figure out what it is to be married, to be a family. Because you’re my family, Evelyn.

I’ve been trying so hard my entire life to make my family fit a specific mold, but it never fit right.

I have to create my own family for that.

You, any children we have—you’re everything to me.

And I couldn’t go through life not being involved or present.

I quit my job so I can focus on us, and you can go back to your job at the National Gallery, like you’ve wanted to. ”

“Oh, Ollie.” Her voice cracked. “That is… That’s the sweetest…

” But then a body-shaking sob broke through.

She pressed a hand to her mouth. “I quit my job, too. Mr. Burlington was the one who turned me in for the reward money and I—I couldn’t work there anymore.

The director was perfectly pleasant, but my colleagues were just awful to me. I’m so sorry!”

Ollie rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Well. I was not expecting that.”

Evelyn laughed, still not sure she believed this was happening. “What are we going to do?”

He met her laughter with his own. “I have no idea. But we’ll figure it out. I’m not worried about it.”

She nodded.

“We do need to talk about the running thing, though. I love you, Evelyn. And I understand you run to escape uncomfortable situations. I don’t like running after you, but I also know I always will.”

Evelyn tilted her head. “That’s not why I run, Ollie. Well, not the whole reason.”

Ollie blinked. “It’s not?”

She shook her head, grinning. “No, silly! It helps elevate bad moods. It gives me such a rush—not unlike when I kiss you, I should mention.” She felt her cheeks burn.

“So, then we kiss more.”

Evelyn laughed. “Naturally. But also, I saw something today I think will help, too. Roller skates! If running gives me a rush, imagine what kind of mood speeding around London on roller skates would put me in. And we can do it together. And maybe if I move enough each day, I won’t want to keep running. ”

Ollie wrapped his arm around her and held her as close as he could as they began walking.

With utter excitement, and as the crowd went back about their business, Evelyn talked through her plan.

Perhaps, with the extra time they had now to be together, to strengthen their love, learn what it was to really be married, they would go roller skating together.

And perhaps, it would be just the ticket to keeping her restless legs happy.

“I have a good plan. We head straight to Gretna Green. Get married, spend the rest of the day, all night, and all morning in bed. Then, when we come back here, we go get those roller skates,” Ollie said with a smile.

Evelyn flushed as her vivid imagination set to work, but she grinned ear to ear.

“Yes, let’s.” But in thinking about traveling up to Gretna Green, she suddenly froze as she remembered something important.

She spun around to face the ship and was crestfallen to see it had already started moving down river. “My trunk!”