Anne swallowed back her tears and looked up. She wanted to be left alone and yet she was grateful for the gentleman's compassion. "Alice..." she said quietly. Poor Alice... "But..." she suddenly remembered, "but please don't tell anyone in Castleton. They might know 'er."

"Barristers have to keep what people tell them secret. You can trust me, I won't say anything." Nate said. He knew an Alice too - his brother's new wife - but still it was a very common name. "You must care for your sister a great deal. Here, perhaps you would like to sit by the window to admire the view." Nate answered to try and change the subject and lighten the mood.

That was one thing at least, and Anne felt grateful for the promise. She moved to the window seat, even though right now she didn't care about the stupid landscape. She hated it. Still, she appreciated the gesture. She looked up at him with softly. "Thank you," she said and she meant it.

Nate nodded wordlessly. Simple kindness helped distract him from intrusive thoughts about having to soon face Tobias. Things were obviously serious if Nate was using his brother's full name rather than the infantile 'Toby'. The train jerked to a stop once more and Nate looked out, it still wasn't Castleton.

Anne did end up staring out of the window, but the stream of consciousness that it produced made her feel hopeless. Alice would live out the rest of her days in misery and there was nothing she could do. And so she would be miserable for the rest of her days. Perhaps they were all destined to either die or be miserable. What was the point?

She snapped out of it when the train came to a halt again. Still no Castleton. She turned back to the gentleman. "Have ye missed Castleton?"

Conversation was better than her own depressing thoughts. Anne was surprised at how social she was now that despair was looming.

Nate stared flatly at his newspaper, but the words were just meaningless, he read right through them. The girl's question stopped his staring.

"hmm? Have I missed it? Well, it's a place with a lot of memories for me. Some good, some bad. I'd just rather be somewhere else."

Anne didn't know how to respond to that. She nodded to show she understood, even though she didn't understand at all. She went back to looking out of the window again as the train left the station. They were following a river valley, but across rose a high moor. She thought she recognized it. The next stop would be Castleton.

The train slowed to a gear-grinding halt, the place name on the sign read CASTLETON. The large bold lettering underscored the truth that they had in fact arrived. Fully aware of his last experience disembarking from a train, Nate opened the door himself with one hand, and clutched his small case in a vice-like grip with the other.  No porter was going to help him this time, maybe ever again. Stepping from the train, he remembered that he was travelling with a lady.  Fisherlass or not, she should be attended to.

"Can I help you with your things, Miss?" he asked.

Anne felt flattered that the gentleman should offer to help her. Most men like him wouldn't even acknowledge her existence, let alone offer to help her. But she clutched her bag tighter and said "Oh, no, thank you, ser," and alighted unaided. He was still a man she didn't know and her father's warnings were fresh in her mind. Plus, she didn't want Tobias to see her interacting with a strange man and tell her father.

"Nathan?" Came Tobias's voice, all surprised.

Nate's brother stood on the platform with a puzzled expression on his face as he looked from Nathan to Anne.