Page 101 of Her Scandalous Pursuit

“Exactly. But if Gordon could offer him a reason for the failure other than that it simply doesn’t work, Wallace might continue to supply the professor with money while Gordon searches for a descendant of Anne Ballew to operate the Eye.”

“He has you.”

“I doubt he thinks I’m her descendant. I don’t think I’m her descendant. You’re the one she’s been visiting. It would seem more likely that you are the heir to her powers.” Desmond frowned. “In fact...they might think that very thing. After all, the Eye was in the possession of your family.”

“They’d be out of luck there, given that they’ve stolen the Eye from us.”

“That only means they might resort to force. You’re still in danger.”

“My grandmother is the one who claims to be able to use the thing.”

Desmond’s lips twitched up at the corners. “I’d take the dowager duchess over any opponent. But I think even she would surrender if your safety was at stake.”

“Well, whatever danger there is, all we have to do to end it is recover the Eye. Now that we know Gordon has it in his possession and he’s gone off to tell Wallace, all we have to do is find out where his estate is.”

“I have an idea how to do that.”

“How?”

“We know what time Gordon would have returned to the train station. As agitated as he was, he might have taken a train to Wallace’s instead of returning home. After all, he clearly is trying to avoid his usual haunts. I’m going to ask the ticket agent what he bought.”

“You think he will remember Gordon?”

He shrugged. “It’s worth a try. It’s a small place, not like Paddington, so my guess is they only have one or two ticket agents. Not that many people go through the station, and they might notice someone who isn’t local. He’s fairly noticeable—a rotund middle-aged man with red hair.”

Desmond’s theory proved right, for in the midst of Desmond’s description of date, time and physical appearance, the agent began to nod. “Aye, I remember him right enough.”

“Do you remember his destination?”

The man nodded. “Went to London.”

“Oh.” Desmond sighed.

“That’s why I remembered him,” the man went on. “He came up and asked about a ticket north, but he bought a ticket to London.”

“North?” Desmond asked.

“Do you remember where in the north?” Thisbe quickly said.

“Aye, I’ll think of it in a second. Was past Manchester.” He tapped his forefinger against his lips. “Ha! Preston!” He beamed. “That’s it.”

“Preston still leaves a good deal missing,” Desmond pointed out on the train home. “Is Wallace’s home in Preston? Or is that just the closest one can get by train?”

“It gives Smeggars and Grandmother much more to work with. Now they’ll know whom to ask. And even if they don’t, when we get to Preston, we can ask about. I suspect someone will know of Mr. Wallace. A wealthy widower never goes unnoticed.”

Thisbe was proven to be correct. Within two hours of relaying the news to the butler, Smeggars entered the room where Thisbe and Desmond were discussing their findings with Olivia and Uncle Bellard, and announced, somewhat smugly, “Mr. Wallace’s country estate is Groveton Manor, a rather splendid house just east of Preston.”

“Thank you, Smeggars. You are a jewel.”

Smeggars almost let a smile escape. “I took the liberty of inquiring as to the train schedules to Preston. It leaves rather late in the day, as it is an all-night journey, and one must change trains in Manchester. Would you like me to make the arrangements?”

“Yes. For tomorrow evening,” Thisbe told him. Desmond had checked the train schedules when they came back to Paddington earlier, but they agreed not to buy tickets until they had more information from Smeggars or her grandmother. “For Mr. Harrison and myself.”

“As you wish. Separate compartments, of course.”

“Of course,” Thisbe responded blandly, though she had little intention of using both. After Smeggars bowed and left, she turned to Desmond. “Though the train doesn’t leave until evening, perhaps we should meet earlier to, um—” she cast about for a reason “—discuss matters.”

He nodded. “We should probably make another round of searching the usual places. After all, we don’t know for certain that he has gone to see Mr. Wallace.”