For a long moment they sat in silence, each understanding the silent pledge that had been given.
After a while he said,
“I have promised to do as you wish. Do you have any other ideas for our voyage?”
“We would need a chaperone, otherwise the girls’ parents will say their reputations have been ruined.” She looked at him cheekily. “Then you might have to marry all of them.”
“This begins to sound dangerous,” he mused.
“You must think of someone respectable enough to satisfy the parents, but who won’t interfere in any way with what we are doing.”
“An impossible combination! No, wait! I know exactly the person we need. My aunt, a delightful lady. She ran away from home when she was only eighteen and married a curate, much to her father’s fury.”
His voice dropped as he added: “I believe
